8 X. PEARCE. 30K BINDER ~.\xn — Bsoi Maaafactnrer. icokuk, Iowa. V'^ ^ /•^ a H^j^JL^ oCo ( LIBRARY UHIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE %t T H £ ;0 -|'^ ^ O ! DKT nf t^f :-lrV«:4 \';\.:_'''* f » f^«-^ /" DEDICATFn BY IlKll MOST GKACI0U8 AUTHORITY TO MAJESTY THE QUEEN. THE INDIAN EMPIRE: HISTORY, TOPOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, CLIMATE, POrULATION, CHIEF CITIES AKD PROVINCES; TRIBUTARY AXD PROTECTED STATES ; MILITAKY POWER AND RESOnRCES ; RELIGION, EDUCATION, CRIMK ; LAND TENURES ; STAPLE PRODUCTS ; GOVERKMENT, FINANCE, AND COMMERCE. WITH A PULL ACCOCST OP THE MUTINY OF THE BENGAL AEMT ; OF THE INSUEEECTION IN WESTEEN INDIA; AND A.N EXPOSITION OF THE ALLEGED CAUSES. \ BY R. MONTGOMERY MARTIN, {/I AUTHOR OF THE ** HISTORY OP THE BRITISH COLONIES, ETC. ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS, PORTRAITS, AND VIEWS. VOL. I. HISTORY, TOPOGRAPHY, POPULATION", GOVERNMENT, FINANCE, COMMERCE, AND STAPLE PRODUCTS. THE LONDON PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED: 97, 9S, 99, & 100. ST. JOHN STREET. LONDON; AND 35. HET STREET. VTW YORK. INDEX VOL. I. OF THE "INDIAN EMPIRE." Abdallin, or Dooranis, 173. Abul Fazil, axitbor of Akher Namah and Ai/eM Akbery, 91, 108; assossi- nntion, 1 M. Adit Shah dipinufi/ at fieejapoor — orij^in, 96 ; wur witii tlutnayuti, 130 ; extinc- tion hy Auruiiifzebc, 150. Administraiinn ofjitstice, 550, 551. Afqhans, or Pataru, SfJ. A/r/han war — opinions thereon, 435. Afghanistan, 27 ; rcci'ption of Moham- medanism, 56 ; war with Aurnniizebe, 1*17 , Shah Soojali restored by British troops, 437 ; British beleaguered in Cabool cantonments, 440 ; capitula- tion and retreat, 442 ; massacre in the JugduUuek Pass, 443 ; British reoccu- pation of Cabool, 445 ; jiroceedings of " army of retribution" denounced by Lord Brougham, 44 7 ; destruction of Great Bazaar and Mosque, 448 j evacu- ation of the country, 448, Agra occupied by Baber, 81 ; captured by Lake, 3%; topography, 481. Ahalya Bye. (See Hnlcar I'rincipalitg). Aheer, or shepherd, 249. Ahmedmigqitr, 98; kingdom subjugated by Shah'jehan, 130. Ahmed Shah {Emperor), accession, 173; deposition, 175. Ahmed Shah Doorani, King of Afgha- nistan, 3; invades India, 173; obtains cession of the Punjab, 175; gains the battle of Paniput, 179. Ajnteer, 106. Akber (Emperor), birth. 88 ; early perils, 91; accession, 107; Hindoo marriages, 110; conquests, 110; character, 115; personal appearance, 116; death, 116; vast wealth, 119. Aibur Kha?i, the Wallace of Cabool, 440, 442, 445. Alexander the Great, 21, 25; invades India, 27; Indian marches, 29, 36; departure and ileatli, 35 ; cities or mili- tary statiims fttunded by him, 37; his commercial policy, 37, All Verdi Khan, or Mohabet Jung, vice- roy of Bengal. 170, 243; death, 271. Allahabad and Corah, sold by E. I. Com- pany to Shuja Dowlah, 326. Almora (see Kinnaon), 413. Aliimgeer JI. (Emperor), accession, 175; assassination, 176. Amber, or Jeypoor, 106; Rajah Jey Sing II. builds Jeypoor, 162; condition of principality in 1745, 249. Amboynai Dutch government torture and execute English factors, 209. Ameer Khan, Mohammedan adventurer, 392, 393, 408, 416. Ameer-ool-Omra ; Ameer, Emir, or Mir, 75. Ameers of Sinde, division of power, 449; patriarchal administration, 450; con- quered and deposed by British, 452 ; case of Ali Morad, 452, 459. Amercot, Rajpoot principality, 88, 106, 452. Amrul Rao, 393, 394. Anjengo settlement, 253. Arcol, founded, 251 ; occupation and de- fence by Clive, 204. Aria (Kingdom nf), 48. Armegaun, station formed there, 211. Army (Anglo-Indian), state in 1765. 304 ; increased to enforce collection of taxes, 312; hired by Shuja Dowlah to extirpate Rohillas, 329 ; arrears of par, 352; sepoys faithful, though nearly starving for want of pay, 30 1 ; arrears in 1780, 365; state in 1793, 378; European and native force join British in Egypt, 388 ; dissatisfaction of Euro- peans at Madras, 409; state in 1817, 410; military expenditure, 422; con- dition before the mutiny of 1857, 553 — 555 ; tabular view of Europeans and natives employed, 565. Arracan, ceded to E. 1. Company by King of Ava, 425. Artillery, early use in India, 96. Afteerghur, 104, 105; obtained possession of by the first Nizam, 1 59 ; captured by the English, 398. Asiatic Society of Bengal, 375. A.\oca, edicts of, 86. Asnf Jah (see Cheeii Kilich Khan), 156; meaning of term, 160. Attack Fort, 113. Aurungzebe(Emperor),(j; character, 133; usurpation, 135; imprisons his father, 135 ; procures the death of his brothers and nephews, 135 — 139; illness, 140; Hindoo insurrection, 147 ; rebellion of his son. Prince Akber, 148; personal appearance, 151 ; his armies, 151 ; last campaign in the Deccan. 152; death, 153; will, deci'eeing division of empire among his sons, 153; peculiar direc- tions for his funeral, 153; farewell letters, 153; conduct to Hindoos and to conquered enemies, 154 ; anecdote, 229. Auto da Fe'at Goa, 193. Ayeen Akbery, 570. Baber (Emperor), early history, 79 ; invasion of India, 80 ; autobiogra- phy, 80 — 82 ; foundation of Mogul empire, 83 ; death, character, and career. 84, Bactria (Kingdom of), 48 — 50. Bahadur Shah, or Alnm Shah Bahadur, £»y;cror (Prince Mauzim), 140; geue- rous mediation on behalf of King of Goleonda, and seven years' imprison- ment, 150; accession, 154; wars and death, 155. Bahadur Shah, King of Gu/erat, opposes Hum&yun, 84 ; killed by Portuguese, 85. Bahar, or Behar (M.Tgadha), 15, 18, 107. Bahmani kings of the Deccan, origin of dvnasty, 93 ; good King Mabmood Shah I., 93, 94 ; Humayun the Cruel, 94 ; extinction of dynasty, 96. Baird (Sir David), 381, 3S2. Bamlu, Seik lender, 155 ; capture and execution, 157, Banians, native bankers, 218. Banks (Indian), 565. Ba/ipoo Gokla (.Mahratta general), 417, 418. Barred Shah dynasty of Bedar, 101. Barlow (Sir George), provisional admin- istration, 406 ; breach of treotiea, 406, Batrrala, defended by Ranee against Portuguese, 191 ; massacre of English for slaughter of a cow, 230. Balla, extra pay, 304, 428. Battles, Paniput (1526), 81; Paniput (1556), 108; Huldighat (1592), 112; Samaghur(1658), 134; Cujwa (1659), 137; Kurnaul (1738), 164; Paniput (1759), 179; Plassy (1757), 278; Buxar (1764), 299 ; Chercoolee (1771), 319; Baroilly (1774), 329; Porto Novo (1781), 354; PolUoor (1781), 355; Assaye (1803), 395; near Delhi (1803). 396; Laswaree (1803), 397; Argaum (1803), 398; Kirkce (1817), 417; Corygaum (1818), 418; AshK* (1818), 419; Mahidpoor (1817), 420; Tezeen (1818), 420; Meanee (1843), 451; Hyderabad (1843), 452; Maha- rajpoor (1843), 452; Puniar (1843), 452; Moodkee .wd Ferozshah (1845), 454 ; .Miwaland Sobraon (1846), 455; Chillianwallah (1849), 456; tabular view of principal battles, 460 — 463. Beechwa, Mahratta weapon, 143. Beejanuggur, Hindoo kingdom, 96 ; ex- tinction, 97. Becjapoor, conquered by.^urungzebe, 150. Beera, or fmn. 111. Benares, 1 7 ; Rajah Cheyte Sing depoied by Warren Hastings ; resistance, de- feat, and banishment ; annexation of principality by E. I. Company, 360 — 352 ; natives resist a house-tax, 410. Benfeld (Paul), intrigues in the Car- natic, 34 7. Bengal, 106; state of presidency in 1707, 234; in 1757, 271 — 282; revenue and expenditure in 1760, 290; corruption of officials, 294 ; general profligacy, 17G0 to 1770, 307; civil service in 1772, 322 ; supreme council. 331. Bentinck (Lord William), character given by Jacquemont, 428 ; administration, 428—431. Berar, or Nagpoor (see Bhontlay family), invaded by Patans and Pindarries, 409, 414; subsidiary force established in Berar, 414; annexation, 459. Bemadotte, captured by British at Cud- dalore, 353. Bemier, Shah Jehan's French physician, 132. Bhairatpoor (Khan of), rewarded by Lord Ellenborough, 450. Bheels, 141. Bhonslay family establish principahty in Berar, 168; Pursojee, 168; Ragojce, 394 ; Cuttaek and Balasore surren- dered to E. I. Company, 399; Appa INDEX TO VOL. I. OF THE " INDIAN EMPIRE. Sahib usurps the throne, 414; joins Peishwa against English, 418; defeat, flight, and obscure death, 420. Bhupal. 416. Bhow (Mahratta term), 177. Bhurtpoor {Jat fortress of), 249, 405, 420. Bikaneer {Rajpoot state of), 106. Bishops of Calcutta— MiddUton, 421 ; Heber, 421 ; James, 421 ; Turner, 421. Bo-mba}/, island ceded by Portugal, 216; transferred by crown to E. I. Company, 217; population. 217; presidency, 315, 340—345; topography, 481. Boodliism,\i,\!i; .\lompra, 422 ; Shwe- da-gon, or Boodhist temple, 424. Bore, Macedonian galleys injured by phenomenon, 34. Boughton (Gabriel), obtains trading pri- vileges from Shah Jehan, 214. Brahminism, 13, 15. BrahminSj character of, by Abul Fazil, 117. Briggs {Colonel), translation of Ferishta's History of Mohammedan India, 55 ; and of the Sigar ul Mutakherin, 156. Brinjarries, itinerant corn dealers, 370. Bruce' s Annals of E. I. Company. 231. Brgdon {Dr.), survivor of Cabool mas- sacre, 443. Bullaee, Bullawa, or Dher, Hindoo func- tionary, 572. Bundelcund, 106, 395; annexation, 398. Buonaparte, letters to Tippoo Sultan and Zemaun Shah, 377. Burman Empire, 423 ; migration of Mughs, 423 ; first Burmese war, 423 ; titles of kings of Ava, 423 ; English invasion, 424 ; second Burmese war, 456. Burnes (Sir Alexander), 438, 439. Bit^sy, French commander-in-chief, 261, 263 ; captured by English, 285. Byadhee, Hindoo functionary, 572. Caaba, or Kaaba, at Mecca, 52. Cabool, severed from Mogul empire by Nadir Shah, 167; Zem,mu Shah, 377, 388, 433 ; Shah Soojah and Dost Mo- hammed, 433. (See Afghanistan). Cabot {Giovanni or John), 197. Calcutta — settlement formed, and Fort William built, 224 ; presidency created, 235; soil purchased in fee-simple, 240; Mahratta ditch formed, 243 ; Fort William besieged and taken by Surajah Dowlah, 273 ; the " Black Hole," 273 ; Fort William recaptured by Clive and Watson, 274 ; supreme court in 1780, 337; topography, 481. Call, consort of Siva, 253 ; human heads offered at her shrine at Chittledroog, 348. Calicut {Hindoo principality of), 182; Portuguese defeated, 18C. Cananore {Hindoo principality of), 184. Candahar, comiuired by Baher, 80 ; lost by Shah Jehan, 131 ; kingdom founded by Ahmed Shah, an Afghan, 172; Cashmere incorporated with Candahar, 219 ; city occupied by Shah Soojali and the English, 436. Canovj, ancirnt Hindoo city, 65. Carcoovt, or clrrks, 141. Camatic, extent, 93 ; singular misnomer, 251 ; English and French support rival nawabs, 263 ; history during the 18th century, 270 ; renewal of hostilities, 283; suflVrings of population, 315; annexation, 387 ; Camatic debt and firm of Palmer and Co., 421. Ciuhmerc, 41 ; history of, 113; " saffron meads," 127 ; favourite retreat of suc- cessive emperors, 249 ; severance from empire, 249. Casie^ 14 ; interference with, at Vellore, 407. Cazi, or Mohammedan judge, 117. Champaneer hill-fort, 102. Chanderi, 106. Chandemagore, French settlement, cap. tured by English, 275 ; condition in 1757, 275. Chandraairi {Ray eel or Raj a lis of), 213, 218. 250, 253. Changi. standard of Mewar, 112. Charnock {Job), 222. Cheen Kilich Khan, 1 56 ; known as Nizam-ool-Moolk, the !Nizam, and Asuf Jah — intrigues at Delhi, 158 ; governor of Malwa, 158 ; founds an independent power in the Deccan, 159; becomes vizier, 160; called " the old Deccani baboon," 160 ; quits Delhi in disgust, 160 ; returns to the Deccan, and establishes his government at Hy- derabad, 160; courted back to Delhi, 162 ; character, 162, 167 ; death, 173. Chelah, 118. Child {John and Josiah), 220. Cholera, or Black Death, traverses India in 1817, 419. Chout, levied by Sevajee, 146, 249. Chowkeedar, Hindoo functionary, 572. Christianity in India, 529 — 535. Chunar fortress, captured by Humayun, 86. Cities {principal Indian), 481 — 485. Claccring {General), 331 ; quarrel with Warren Hastings, 336 ; death, 337. Climate, 486—491. Clive {Robert, Lord), birth and early career, 258 ; attempts suicide, 258 ; narrow escape at Arcot, 264 ; marriage, 203 ; obtains jaghire from Meer Jatfier, and great wealth, 281, 287 ; created Baron of Plassy. 301 ; subdues mutiny of English officers, 305 ; traits of character, 305 ; irregular gains, 306 ; parliamentary inquiry, and suicide, 307, Cochin, 184; rajahs ill-treated by the Dutch, 244 ; tribute to English, 410. Coins, 565 ; dihnar, 62 ; dirhera, 62, 69 ; fanam, 75; gold fanara, 311; boon, 97 ; pagoda, 75, 235, 384 ; pice, 217 ; rupee, 217; sicca rupee, 294; shah- ruki, 81 ; tunkha, 570. College of Fort William, 402. Combermere {Viscount), at Bhurtpoor, 426. Commanders-in-chief- — Coote, 355, 357, 358 — (see Comwallis and Harris) ; El- phinstone — captivity, 439 ; death, 445 ; O -'-h, 445. Commerce (Indian), 560, 562. Conolly, three brothers, 441 ; John, 441; Arthur martyred at Bokhara, 447. Coolcurny , hereditary village accountant, 98. Coolies (Hill), 141. Coorg, 253; captured by Hyder All, 348; insurrections under Tippoo Sultan, 307 ; Rajah Veer Rajundra supplies the English with grain in the invasitm of Mysoor, 379 ; annexation, 430 ; ex-rajah in England, 430 ; daughter god-child to Queen Victoria, 430 ; question regarding rajah's funded pro- perty, 430 ; landed tenure in, 569. Cornwallis (Lord), governor-general and commaiidei'-in-chief, 366 ; establislu'S a fixed land rent tliroughout Bengal, 366; zemindar settlement, 573; judi- cial system and foreign policy, 367 — 373 ; second administration, 405 ; death, 406. Covenanted and uncovenanted services, 549. Crime, statistics of, 542 — 544. Crishna, or Krishna, 17,253. Crishna Kumari, Princess of Oodipoor. 408. Cvnjee, or rice-water, 265. Currency, insufficient, 311. Cutwal, or magistrate, 101, Dacoits. or Decoiis, 330. Dalhousie (Marquis of), review of ad- ministration, 459. Danish E. I. Company, 205 ; settlements in the 18th century, 234, 245. Debt {Indian). 365, 374, 422. Deccan, sufferings of inhabitants during wars of Aurungzebe, 152. Dehra Doon annexed by E.I. Company, 413. Delhi, 41 ; slave kings of, 72 ; sacked by Timur, 78; captured by Baber, 81; new city built by Shah Jehan, 135; earthquake, 159; seized by Nadir Shah — massacre of citizens, 165; captured by Mahrattas, 178 ; seized by Rohillas, emperor blinded, and his family tor- tured, 373 ; taken by Lake, 397. Dellon (French physician), imprisoned by Inquisition at Goa, 193. Dennie (Colonel), 436, 444. Deo, a good spirit, 175. Desmookhs, 141 ; meaning of word, 157. Devicotta, capture of, 258 ; occupation by English, 259. Deu-annee, 300 ; of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. obtained from Shah Alum. 303. Dhar (Puars of). 161, 320. Dhungurs of Maharashtra, 249. Dhurna, species of dunning, 169. Diamonds, and other precious stones, 497. Diseases (Indian), 491. Diu occupied by Portuguese, 190. Doiit Mohamjncd, 433, 436, 437, 443. Duelling prohibited by E. I. Company, on penalty of dismissal, 366. Duff's (Captain Grant), History of the Mahrattas, 149. Duleep Sing (Maharajah). 454. Dupleix, French governor-general, 248 ; political intrigues of Madame Dupleix, 259 ; brilliant success, 263 ; reverses, 208 ; super.session and death, 269. Durrahs, or camps, 239. Dustucks, or passports, 416. Dutch power, rise of, 195; Cornelius Houtman, 195 ; E. I. Companies, 196 ; dividends, 206 ; position in the 18th century, 233 ; lucrative trade, 245 ; hastilities with English, 288 ; decreased importance, 317; cession of settlements to English, 421, 427. Dyt, an evil spirit, 175. East Indiamen, 227. Education, 537, 538. Edwardes (Major Herbert), 456. Ellmburovgh (Earl of), ordejs evacna- tion of Afghanistan, 445; "song of triumph," 448 ; recall, 453. Elphinstone (Mountstuart), British resi- dent lit Poona, 416; enibatsy to A - ghaniston, 434. English E. I. Companies, origin, 5, 6, 197; first company, 196; chartered and protected by Elizabeth, 200 ; terms of charter, 201; first fleet, 202; in- crease of navy, 204, 227; commence- ment of trade with Bengal, 212; par- Uamentory discussions, 212 ; statisticii, INDKX TO vol.. I. OK THIi INJJIAN KMriKE. lU 212, 213; (lividends, 213; liontilities with AurunKzrbc, 221 ; ronvoy pilKriin vcHscis to Mfcai, 227 ; hostilily of rivjil nmipniiies, 228 ; rival JigriHMi-H nt Mogul court, 229 ; large importution of piece goods, 229 ; union of rompanics, 23H ; wtir witli Fn-ru-h, 2r)l ; bribery and corruption, 301 ; parliamcntiiry interference, 309 ; compiiny on verge of bankruptcy, 312 ; *' regulating act" of parliament, 312 ; breach of faitli with the emperor, 324 ; renewal of charter (1793), and financial ]H)sition, 371 ; finances, -122,428; renewal of charter (1833), 431. English Rmsian Company, clmrtered by Queen Klizabetl), 198. English Turkey Compaug, 199. Etal Rao, faitliful Mahratta leader, 3M. Eunuchs, 120. Eusofzie Afghans^ 1 13. Execution by blowing from guns, prac- tised by Lally, 283 ; by Munro, 299. Famine in 16C1, 139; in Bengal, 1769- '70, 310 ; in the Carnatic, 350 ; in the Uecean, 400, Fcdcgan, zealots of Almowut, 72. Eeizi, brother of Abul Fazil, 1 15. Ferdotm, author of Shah Namah ; death, 66. Ferishta, Mohammedan historian, 55 ; his works, 102; definition of Christian doctrines, 232. Feroksheer {Bmpero?-), 156 ; accession, and free use of the bow-string, 156; war with Sciks, 157; murdered by Seyed brothers, 158. Fish {Mogul Order of the), 262. Foujdar, or military governor, 117. Francis [Sir Philip), 331 ; reputed author of Junius' Letters: wounded in duel with governor-general, 339; resigns, and returns to England, 339. F^eJich East India Companies^ 7, 205 ; company formed by Colbert, 218 ; un- successful as tnulers, 227 ; position in India in the IHth century, 235 ; Dumas governor-general, 24G ; war with Eng- lish, 254 ; proceedings in the Carnatic, 261; power at its height, 263; no military post left, 286 ; extinction of company, 287. French officers in natitie service — Per- ron, 390 ; Ventura, Court, and Allard, 454. French possessions in India, 349, 350 (see Buonaparte); republic negotiate with Tippoo Sultan, 379 ; Pondicherry seized by British, 389. Gadi, or Hindoo throne, 162. Galloivag {General), 427. Ganges, steam navigation, 430; source, length, &c., 480. Geography of India, extent and bounda- ries, 41)4, 465 ; aspect of provinces and districts, 510, 511. Geology, 492—494. Ghaut {Bala and Payeen), 251. Ghazis, or Ghazeps,'^\, 96, 108, 436. Gheria captured from the Angria family, 271. Ghor {House of), 71. Ghuznee {House of), 59; population, 66 — 69 ; termination of dynasty, 70 ; city taken by English, 436 ; sandal-wood gates, 445 ; destruction of fortress, 447. Gillespie {Rollo), 411. Goa captured by Portuguese, 97, 187; Inquisition established, 193. Gohud {Rana of), ill-treated by E. I. Company, 405 ; Lord Lake's appeal on bis behalf. 405. Golconda, last independent Mohamme- dan state destroyed by Aurungzebe, 150. Gomantahs, or native agents, 295. Gomhroon, 208. Gfinedulees, 174. Goorkas, spread over Ncpaul, 410; origin of dynasty, 411 ; infantry, 445. Gosaen, Hindoo religious mendicant, 146. Government {Anglo-Indian), 545—548. Governors - general — Warren Hastings, 331—365; Marquis Cornwallis, 366 — 374 ; Sir John Shore (afterwards Lord Teignmouth), 374, 375 ; Earl of Morn- ington (afterwards Marquis Wellesley), 370 — 404 ; Marquis Cornwallis, 405^ 406 ; Sir George Barlow (provisional), 400, 407; Earl of Minto, 408—410; Lord Moira (afterwards Marquis of Hastings), 410; John Adam (provi- sional), 422 ; Earl Amherst, 422— 428 ; Butterworth Bayley (provisional), 428; Lord William Bentinck, 428— 431 ; Sir Charles Metcalfe (provi- sional), 431 ; Lord Auckland, 431 — 433 ; Earl of Ellenborough, 443—452 ; Sir Henry (afterwards Lord) Hardinge, 453 — 455; Earl (afterwards Marquis) of Dal)iousie, 456 — 459. Great Moguls, Emperors, or Padshahs, of the House of Timur. {See Timur, Babcr, llnmaymi, Akber, Shah .fehan. Shah Alum, Aurungzebc, Bahadur Shah, Jehander Shah, Feroksheer, Mohawrned Shah, Ahmed Shah, Abnn- geer II.) Enormous wealth of Great Moguls, 119 ; crown and tiirone, 120; peacock throne, 135; seized by Nadir Shah, 166. Grunth, Seik scriptures, 155. Gunpowder (alleged use in India, a.d. 1008), 64. Gum, 155; Guru Govind, 155. GiLzerat, kings of, 101 ; Mahmood Be- garra, 103; Bahadur Shah, 85. 103; conquered by Akber, l.iO ; chout and surdeshmooki granted to Mahrattas^ 161, 249. GtralioTf 106; Gwalior fortress, a state prison, 120, 128; Bastille of Hindoo- stan, 136; taken by Rana of Gohud, 344 ; permanent occupation by Sindia — standing camp established, and city founded, 416. Hafz, poei of Shiraz, 9L Halhed's Digest of Hindoo Laws, 323. Hamilton's {Captain), New Account of the East Indies, 211. Hamilton {Surgeon), cures Feroksheer, and obtains privileges for E. I. Com- pany, 239. Hanivay {Jonas), 172. Harauti, Rajpoot principality, 106. Harbours {Principal), 512. 513. Harris {Ijird), commander-in-chief, 398; governor of Madras, 582. Hastings {Marquis of), character of his administration, 421; death, 422; his wife, the Countess of Loudon, 422. Hastings {JVai'ren), 200; advocates na- tive rights. 299 ; early history, 321 ; made governor of Bengal. 322 ; sells children of robbers as slaves, 330 ; appointed governor-general, 331 ; per- son and character, 331 ; cliarges of peculation, 332 ; contest with Nunco- mar, 335 ; repudi.ites resignation ten- dered by his agent 336 ; marries Baroness Imhoff, 337 ; duel with Fran- cis, .139 ; conduct to Rnjah of BenarPB, 360 ; flicH by night from lU-uawh, 301 ; extorts money from Begumft of Oude, 303 ; torturcN their nt;ed hcrvant«, 363 ; private purse of MrM, Hfititings, 364 ; return to England, 365 ; impeachment, 305 ; acquittal, poverty, and death, 366. Heber, Bishop of Calcutta, 421. Hedaya, Mohammedan law code, 323. Herat, seized by Uoht Mohammed, 433. Heroic, or vanguard, 122. HetknrecH, Concan mountaineers, 151. Hindoo anfhors, 153. Hmdoo-Koosh, 25, 26, 4GG. Hindoos, character of, by Abul Fazil, 117. Hindoostan, 13. Holcar, or Indore Principality, origin of family, 101 ; Mulhar Rao, 161 ; suc- cessful administration of the good prin- cess Ahalya Bye; person, character, and administration, 390—392, 580; Jeswunt Rao, 392; sack of Indore by the Pindarries, 393 ; predatory war with the English, 399 ; idiocy and death, 408 ; Jeswunt Rao's concubine, Toolsoe Bye, 419; her career and death, 420, Ilooghly taken by Shah Jehan from Por- tuguese, 130; made the royal port of Bengal, 131 ; trading post established by English, 213. Humaynn {Emperor), 84 ; memoirs, 85 ; exile, 87; restoration, 92; death and character, 92. Hyderabad, capital of the Deccan, his- tory during the 18th century, 270. Ilyder Ali, of Mysoor — early career, 285 ; agreement with Lally, 285 ; seizes Bed- nore and Malabar, 316; detects con- spiracy for his assassination, 317 ; op- posed by Peishwa, 319; quarrels with Tippoo, 319; extortion and economy, 345; confidence in Swartz, 350; French officers in hie service, 353 : avoidance of pitched battles, 354 ; flight from Polliloor, 355; death, 356; treatment of English prisoners, 359 ; tyrannical assejjsment, 571. Imad Shah dynasty of Betar, 101. Imaum Hussyn and family murdered. S8 ; fate of Imanm Hassan, 265. Impey [Sir Elijah), 331 ; condemnation of Nuncomar. 334 ; recall, 338. Imports and Exports, 563. India, 113; Arrian's account, 36; Me- gasthenes' account, 38 ; edicts of Asoca, 38 ; early divisions, 40 — 44 ; social condition, 43; laws, 44; position of women, 44 ; astronomy, trigonometry, geometry, decimal notation, chrono- logy, 45; geography, medicine, litera- ture, 46 ; music, painting, sculpture, architecture, fetes, police system, dress, currency, 47 ; condition when Akber began to reign, 93 — 107; commercial intercourse with Europe, 181 ; condi- tion in the middle of the 1 8th century, 249, 253, 308; state at the close of Lord Dalhousie's administration, 459. Indo- Mohammedan dynasties (table of), 180. Indus river, crossed by Alexander. 228. Inquisition in Portuguese settlements, 193. Interest (legal rate), 313. interlopers, 203; favoured by Cromwell, 216; Skinner's case, 217; treated as pirates, 225. Invasion of India — Semiramis, Sesostris, Hercules, and Cyrus. 19; Alexander the Great. 26; S^^leucus, 37 ; Arab inva- sion of Western India, 56 ; Mahmood IV INDEX TO VOL. I. OF THE " INDIAN EMPIRE. of Gbuznee, 62 — 68 ; Shahab-oo-Deen, of Ghor, 71 ; Moguls from Tran- EOxinna, 73 ; Tiruur Beg, or Tamerlane, 77 ; Baber, 80 ; Persians under Nadir Shah, 162; Afghans under Ahmed Shah Dcorani, 175, 176 ; threatened by Zemaun Shah, .S77. Investment (mercantile) of E. I. Com- pany, 237; Bengal investment of 1771, 311. Islands on the coast of India, 511. Jaghire, origin and conditions, 306. Jain religion, 16. Jansi, or Jhansie, 162, 459. Jats, Jits, or Juts, 68 ; rise under Au- rungzebe, 152, 249; agriculturists, 177; progress, 249. Jebbttrn, magical incantation said to have killed Lord Pigot and Hyder Ali, 357 ; performed by order of Tippoo Sultan, ' 3S0. Jee, Mahralta adjunct, 141. Jehander Shah {Ejnperor), accession, 155; violent deatli, 156. Jehanyeer {Eviperor), Prince Selim, 114; autobiography, 119; accession, 120; habits of intoxication, 190; edict against use of tobacco, 121 ; captivity and rescue, 126 ; death and character, 127. Jellalabad (see Sieges), destruction of for- tress, 447. Jengis, or Ghengis Khan, 72. Jessulmer, Rajpoot principality, 106. Jeypoor (see Amber), 106. Jezail, Afghan rifle, 443. Jezia, or capitation-tax on infidels, abo- lished by Akber, 118; reimposed by Aurungzebe, 147. Jhalor, Rajpoot principality, 106. Jhelum, or Hgdaspes river, crossed by Alexander, 29. Johur, Hindoo self-immolation. 111. Jones {Sir Harford), Persian embassy, 409. Jones (Sir William), 165; death, 375. Joowaree, coarse grain, 161. Jnanpoor {Kingdom of), 107. Jugdulluck Pass, massacre of English, 443. Jummoo {Lords of), 453. Kalloras, Persian adventurers, 449. Kanhojee, or Canojee Angria, of Kolaba, 168 ; piracies of his sous, 243. Kativar, or Surashtra peninsula, 101. Khaji Khan, the Mohammedan historian, 135; true name and position, 139; negotiations with English at Bombay, 227. Khan Jehan Lodi. and his sons, 129. Khans of t'andeish, 105. Khilji (House of), 73 ; Khiljies, 437, 442. Khitlut, or Khelat, 168; form of recog- nition necessary to legal succession, 426. Khotbah, 93, 107. Khyher Pass, 444. Kidd {Captain), executed for piracy, 227. Kidnapping of native children by Euro- peans, 330. Koh-i-Noor diamond, 433, 434, 435. Kolapoor {Rajah of), 174; principality, 253. Koord-Cabool Pass, massacre of English, 412. Koutb Shah dynasty at Golconda — origin, 99 ; extinction by Aurungzebe, 150. Koran, 53. Kotah Principalily, 400; Regent Zalim Sin<;, iW), 401. Kudapa {Nabob of), 261, 202. Kumaon, taken from Goorkas ; annex- ation, 413. Kurnotil, Patan chief of, 253, 261 ; annexation of principality, 443. Kurpa, Patan chief of, 253 ; captured by Hyder Ali, 349. Kurrachee, annexation, 450, La Bourdonnais, governor of the Mau- ritius, 247 ; able administration, 247 ; capture of Madras, 255 ; imprisonment and death, 255. Lahore, capital of Punjab (Sangala), 31, 41; occupied by Mahmood, h7 ; royal residence transferred from Gbuznee to Lahore, 70 : burnt by Baber, 80. (See Rvnjeet Sing). Lake {Lord), noble conduct at Las- waree, 397 ; intervention on behalf of native piinces, 405 ; resignation on ac- count of breach of treaties, 406; death, 406. Lally {Count), 282 ; surrender to Eng- lish, 286 ; return to France ; death by the guillotine, 286. Lambert's {Commodore) proceedings at Rangoon, 457. Land, tenure of, 323 ; Warren Hastings' method of raising revenue, 323 ; Lord Cornwallis' perj)etual settlement in Bengal, 366, 367 ; Munro's ryotwar assessment, 421 ; general account of land tenures, 567 — 5S2. Land-revenue in each presidency, 566. Land-tax in each presidency, 581. Languages of India, 503 ; Pali or Ma- gadhi, 38, 39; Tamul, Canarese, Mah- ratta, and Urya, 41; Persian, 124; Hindoostani, 124; Mahratta, 250. Latter {Major), success in war with Ne- paul, 411. Latter {Captain), assassinated at Prome, 458. Law {John), Scottish adventurer — E. I. Company, and other projects, 246. Laws — Digests of Hindoo and Moham- medan codes, 323. Lodi {House of), 79. Lueknow, capital of Oude, 276. Luhburs, plundering expeditions, 416. Lushknr, or Leskar, Indian camp, 124. Maajun, intoxicating confection, 116. Macartney {Lord), governor of Madras, 355; probity, 366; duels, 366. Macherri (treaty witli rajah), 406. Macnaghten {Sir \V.), 437 ; Lady Mac- naghten, captivity and rescue, 446, Madras, founded, 213 ; raised to a presi- dency, 213 ; formed into a corporation, 221 ; first English church erected by Streynsbam Masters, 232 ; state of presidency at beginning of 18th cen- tury, 234, 235 ; salaries of officials, 236 ; captured by French, 255 ; re- stored, 257; history, 1761 to 1/74, 315—320; incursions of Hyder Ali, 318; money transactions of English officials with Mohammed Ali, 345; dealings with Hyder Ali, 351 ; his secoiul invasion, 352 ; Colonel Baillie's detachment cut off by Ilyder, 353, topography, 481. Maha Jibarat, or Great M'ar, 17. Maha liajah, 325. Maharashtra, 140, 250. Mahi, or Order of the Fish, 262. Mahmood of Ohuznce, peison and cha- racter, 01 ; thirteen expeditions to India, 62—08; death, "69. Mahratta state, rise of, 140; reign of Rajah Sevajee, 145 — 149; Rajah Suni- bajee, 149 — 151; national flag, 151; mode of fighting, !52 ; Rajah Shao, 155; chout levied in the Deccan, 155, 157; power at its zenith, 177; condi- tion in 1772, 321 ; in 1800, 38'9; mili- tary force in 1816, 415. Mahrattas, 140; characteristics, 370. Malabai — Portuguese proceedings, 184; Syrian Christians persecuted by Portu- guese, 193. Malcolm {Sir John), life of Clive, 305 ; Persian embassy, 388, 409 ; political agent at Poona, 416. Malwa, kings of, 104; Mandu founded, 104; conquered by Akber, 109; revolt of governor Cheen Kilich Khan, 168. Maritime stations {British), 513. Maruar, Rahtore principality, 106. Massulnh boats, 235. Mauritius, or Isle of France, 24 7 ; French governor assists Tippoo against the English, 377 ; taken by English, 409. Mau'ulees, 141, 151. j Meer adel, Mohammedan judge, 117. Meeran (the Chuta Nabob), career, cha- racter, and death, 281 — 289. Meer Cossim Khan made Nabob of Ben- gal, 290; able administration, 292; deposition, 297 ; war with English, 298 ; defeated at Buxar, 299. Meer Jaffier Khan conspires with English against Surajah Donlah, 275 ; made Nawab of Bengal, 280; deposed, 290; replaced on the musnud, 297 ; death, 300. Menu {Institutes or Code of), 14, 569. Merut, or Meerut, 1 06. Metcalfe {Sir Charles, afteru-ards Lord), 421, 573. Mewar, Rajpoot principality, 106, 249. Mildenhall {John), embassy to Jehangeer, 200. Military contingents of Native states, 525, Military resources of India, before the mutiny, 525. Military stations {British), 513. Mmeralogy, 495. Mir Cholam Hussein, Mussulman his- torian, 156. Miras, form of landed tenure, 572. Missions (Christian), 529 — 535. Missionaries (Amo-ican) — Price and Jud- son negotiate with the King of Ava, 425. Missionaries (Banish) — Swartz, the only ambassador Hyder Ali would receive, 350. Missionaries (Btitch) — Baldseus, 231. (Frejich) — Zavier, 191. Alogul Empire at the death of the Em- jieror Akber, 117. Moguls, as distinguished from Turks and Tartars, 81, 82. Mohammed — birth, person, character, career, 52 ; Hejira, or flight, 53 ; death, 54. Mohammedanism — rise in Arabia, pro- pagation in Africa and Europe, 54, 55 in India, 56. Mohammed Ali, Nawab of Carnatic, 266 ; maladministration, 315; puts Moham- med Esoof to death, 316; a worse ruler than Hyder Ali, 345. Mohammed Shah (Emperor), accession, 158; politic mother, 159; triumphs over Seyed brothers, 159; just and merciful, 166; his death. 173. Mohiin Lai (Moonshee), 438, 447. Monetary system, 559. Monsoon, 487. Moolloh. Mohammedan priest, 164. Moorsaun (Rajah of), in Alighur, 580. INDKX TO VOL. I. OF TlIK " INDIAN EMPIRE." Moomhed Kooli Khan, viceroy of Bengal, clmractpr mill oiiiuliiit. 2-10; ilcntli, 21.'!. M'iplah, or Mti/iil/ii. :117. M„ran Kao, Irudcr .if Mahr.il I .. m.T- cciuvii-s 2fil; (■sl..lilisl.fs lumscll ..t Gniilv, 207; Funinilcr to lljilir Ali, iin-1 liciUi .'ilB. Moiilimi. iir Mdiilhm, 77, 107, 'ir.B. itfoHnlfai«,v— extent, |iositi.in, elevation, and Reology, 4GG— 470. Momitaiii paxsrs, 471. Mnnra (f^'ir Hector), at Polliloor, S.'i.'j. Mimro (.S'lr Thumns). novern.ir of Ma- ,|,.„s— exorbitant laml assessment, 421 ; death, 422 ; deseriiition of ancient vil- lage system. •'>73. lUnnmlKlars. IIH. Miixxulman aul/m-x, 15S. Muthiij of ICni^lish soldiers at Bombay. 220- of sepoys under Mnnro, 298 ; of English ofiieer.'i under Clive, 305 ; sep.iys at Vellore. 407; sepoys at Bi.rnickpoor, 424. Mvtira. 05 ; capture by Ahmed .Sliah Doorani, and massacre, 175. Mi/tipnurie {Rajah of). 580. Miisoor, origin of state and name, 25:i ; historical summary, 270 ; restoration of Hindoo dynasty, 383; revenue in 1799, 3H4 ; Poornea, good and able Hindoo minister, 384. Nabob, or Nawab. 221. Nadir Shah, of Persia, 3 ; early career, 103 ; invasion of India. 105; immense plunder obtained in Delhi, 100; re- turns to Persia, 107; character, ap- pearance, and stronc; voice, 107; crimes .-.nd assassination. 172. Ncf/ijoor. (See Bcrar). NiKias. or Snake godx, 113. Noii. 109. Naik Sviahdar, 156. Nnirs of Malabar, 183. Nana Furnai^cfie, 390. Nannk, first Guru of the Seiks, 155. Napier {Sir Charles), proceedings in Sindc, and controversy with Outran); 419. Narwar {Principality of), lOG. Nnvii {Indian). 555. Nearvhia; Ale.'iander's admiral, 32 ; voyage from the Indus to Persian gulf, 35. Nemnd, religious impostor, 159. NepanI, war with Goorkas. or Nepaulese, 411,412. Nizam-ool-Moolk. (See Cheen Kihch Khan). Nizam Shah dynasty at Ahmednxtygvr, origin, 98 ; regency of Chand Beeby, 99; extinction of kingdom. l.'^O. Nizams of the Veccan, or Hijderabad— declaration of independeni^e, ! 5B ; French corps of Nizam Ali di.sbandeJ by Marquis WcUesley, 378; military strength in 1810, 415. Nizamnt Svddnr Adnwliit, 324. Northern Circars. 2ij9. North- fVesteni Proriiiccf — land revenue, area, and population, 514, 515; land tenure. 570. Nour Malial (afterwards Empress Noiir Jeban), birth, early life, 121 ; her jewels, 122; rescues the emperor, 120 ; widow, hood and death. 127. Nvkara. or state drum, 120. jVimcomar— history, 313, 335; beard in council against governor-general, 333 ; trial and execution, 335. Nuieerec tiattalions, 413. Nuzur, or Nuzzvr, 108. Ochlerlony {General Sir David), 409, 411, 41,3; d™th, 421,425. fjniirhvnd pro.-ures r.-lease of Burvivorn of m.i.k Ilol.', 274, 277; intriguen with Knglisb, 270.277; deci-ived by forg.-d tr.'i.ty.279; discovery of deceit, innunity, and death, 280. Onrrha. in Bund.dcnnd, lOG. Opium motiopoly. 305 ; growtli or use of opium )irohibited by Tijipoo Sultan, 37" ; not used by Ameers ol Sinde, 450. Ormn: {Islaud if), 208. (Jrri/, his Indian policy, 24C, 254. Osl'cnd E. I. Company, 24 1 . Ottde, or Ayodhya, 15, 17; Sadut Khan, viceroy, 104;' his dcth, 100; Shuja Dowloh, nawab-vizier, 314 ; obtain- ment of Robilcund, 329 ; death. 330 ; Asuf-ad-Dowlah— i-hara<;ter, 302; Be- gums of Oude ill-treated by Hastings, 303 ; tribute reduced by Cornwallis, 307; disputed succession, 375; Sadut Ali chosen. 375 ; Vizier Ali causes death of British resident— escapes, is captured, and imprisoned for life, 386 ; Gliazi-oo-deen lends money to E. I. Company, 4 13 ; is suffered to assume title of king, 421 ; financial transactions, 422 ; annexation, 459. Oudipoor, or Oodipoor, capit.al of Mewar, founded. Ill; Uana I'ertap, 1 11 ; Rana Cmra, 123 ; Rana Raj Sing rescues the intended bride of Aurungzebe, 148 ; restoration of territory by Bahadur Shah. 155 ; condition in 1745, 249 ; in 1772^ 320; excellent minister, Umra Chund, 320 ; sacrifice of Princess Chrisna. 408. Ovsely {Sir Gore), Persian embassy, 409. Oiitram {Sir Jamr.), controversy with Napier, 449. Overland Route, 430. Palihothra, King Chandra Gupta, 38. Pan. HI. Paima. in Bundelcund, lOG. Parker {Chovans of), 106. Paropamisvs, 25. Parthia {Kingdom of). 4R, 50. Patels, Hindoo village functionaries, 141. Pegu, annexation of, 458. Peons, native police. 221. Pepjjer, sale of, 200 ; demand for, 208 ; stock of E. I. Company seized by Charles 1., 213 ; Malabar pepper, 232 ; Banee of Garsopa, " the pepper queen." 253 ; Company agree with Hyder Ali for monopoly of purchase, 319. Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, 43. Perron, 395, 396. Peslmwer, or Peshnirvr, 65. Peshiras, or Peishtras, 98 ; Brabmin dvnasty at Poona founded by Balajee AViswanath, 160; Bajee Rao, character and person, 101 ; defies Nadir Shah. 169; death. 109; Balajee Bajee, cha- racter and death, 179 ; summary, 270 ; Mahdoo Rao opposes Hyder Ali. 317, 319; death, 320 ;Narrain Rao (Peishwa) murdered. 340 ; traits of character, 341 ; Ragoba supported as Peishwa by English, 341 ; Anundee Bye, wife of Ragoba, 340, 390 ; Bajee Rao (the last Peishwa), 390 ; faithlessness and un- popularity, 394 ; concessions to E. I. Company. 415; hostility — defeat at Kirkee, 417; flight from Poona, 418; surrender, and residence at Beithoor, or Bithoor, as a British stipendinry, 419. Pcllnh, native town, 33. Piijot {Lord), governor of Aladras, 347; attempt to bribe, 347; arrent, and death in prison, 347. Pindarries, 319, 390; etymology, 414; duppression by Lord IlaKtings, 415 — 420; fate of lendcrK, Heeroo and Bur- run, 410; Kurecm Khan, Wahil Mo- hammed, an.l Chectoo, 420. Pitt diamond, 238. Polygars, 571. Pimilii-herry, capital of French possen. sions, foundi-d, 247; wise government of M. Martin, 246; surrendered by I.ally to Coote, 286. Poona, 141; made Mahrattn capital by Peishwa Babijec Bajee, 174,250,270; annexation, 419. Popalaliiin, 498—503; 514—525. Portuguese dominion, rise, 182; Vase.o de Gama, 182; Alvarez Cabral, 183; Duarte Pacheco, 185; conquest of Malacca, 187; bigotry and corruption, 194 ; position at the end of the 10th century, 194; position in the 18th century, 233. Portuguese viceroys, or govemort-general — Almeida, 185; Albuquerque, If 6; Soarez, 188 ; Vaico de Gama, 189 ; De Sousa, 190. Poms, 29 ; defeated by Alexander, 30. Potail, or Patel, 141, 572. Pottinger {Eldred), 434, 446. Potlinger (.Sir Henry), 449, 450, 458. Pousta, deadly drink, 139. Press — deportation of Silk Buckingham, 422; restrictions. 4 28 ; restrictions re- m.ived, 431 ; English and Native, 539. Prester {John), 192. Prithee nidhee, meaning of term, 161. Prize-money obtained at Gheria (1750), 271; ill effects, 298; Benares (1781), 302 ; Seringapatam (1799), 382 ; Agra (1803), 396; Bhurtpoor (1826), 427; Sinde (1843), 449 — 151. Puar {Udajee). origin of principality of Dhar, 161, 320. Pupgee, Hindoo village detective, 572. Punchayet, Hindoo village jury, 324. Punjab, invaded by Alexander, 29 ; divi- sions. 41 ; invaded from Ghuznee, 63 ; Mahrattas expel Dooranis, 177; pos- sessed by Seiks, 321 ; annexation, 456. Puranas, Hindoo sacred writings, 16. Purdhans, ministers of state, 161. Pursaee, Hindoo village functionary, 572. Pniirarree, village registrar, 572. Railtvays, 565. Rajast'han.or Rajpootana, 106 ; condition in 1772,320. Rajpoots, 42 ; character, 71, 122, 176. Ramayana, Hindoo epic poem, 16. Rainoosies. mountain tribe, 141. Rampoor (Fyzoolla Khan, chief of), 330. Ram Shaslree, Mahratta judge, 341. Rangoon, capital of Pegu, 422. Renies, or Ranees, of Malabar and Canara, 97. Religion, 527. 535, Rerenue and Expenditxtre, 556 — 558. Rfrenue system 3.Ao\iieA by Akber,117,570. Rivers of India, 472 — 477. Rivers of Afghanistan, and the north- west frontier, 478. [Roe {Sir Thomas), 120, 123; mission to Jehangeer, 205 ; advice to E. 1. Com- I pany regarding official salaries. 302. Rohilcund and the Rohillas, 171; founder, 249; Nujeeb-oo-Dowlah. 313: pos- sessions of various chiefs. 327 ; English troops hired by Shuja Dowlah, to ex- tirpate Rohillas and conquer country, 329 ; Hafiz Rehmet slain, 329. VI INDEX TO VOL. I. OF THE " INDIAN EMFIRK. Rohtas Forty in Behar, 85. Rohtas Fort, near the Indus, 88. Roushenia, a relii^ious sect, 113. Rumbold {Sir Thomas), governor of Ma- dras, 348 ; favoured by Lord Hastings, 421 ; connexion with the house of Palmer and Co., 42L Runjeet Sirtg, of Lahore, 409, 4M \ undue roncessions raade by Lord Auckland, 435; death 436,453. Runn of Cutch, 68. Ryotwar settlement in Madras, 573. Sadhs, or Satnamist 147. Sadras. Dutch settlement, 268. Salaries of E. I. Company's servants, 222,313. Sale {Sir Robert), 424; Lady Sale wounded in the Koord-Cabool Pass, 442 ; her captivity and rescue, 446. Sal forest, bordering Nepaul, 413. Salt monopoly, established by Clive, 306, 310; profits, 365. Sanitaria, at hill-stations, 513. (Sa^/ara, capital of Mahratta rajahs, IGl, 174, 251; administration of Rajah Pertab Sein. 431 ; deposition of rajah. 432; annexation of principality, 459. Savanoor, Patan chief of, 253, 261, Seiks, or Sikhs, revolt during reign of Aurungzebe, 152 ; origin and early pro- ceedings; doctrines; Gurus or chiefs — Nanuk, Guru Govind. and Bandu. 155 ; number and position. 321. Selirngfnir, portion of Delhi citadel, 136. Senapvttee, commander-in-chief, IGl. Senassies, religious mendicants, 330. Sepah sillah, Mohammedan viceroy, 1 17. Sepoys, 235; gallantry at A rcot, 264 ; at Je'Ualabad, 444. Serinyapata7n,how populated, 349 ; situa- tion, 371; state when captured by Lord Harris, 382. Sevajee, birth, parentage, and education, 141; daring boyhood, 142; rebels against Beejapoor government, 142; assassinates Afzool Khan, 143; wars with Aurungzebe, 144 ; surprises Mogul camp, 144; plunders Surat, 144; es- tablishes seat of government at Raighur, 144; assumes title of rajah, 145; en- thronement, and costly gifts to Brahmins, 219; treacherously captured by Au- rungzebe, 145 ; escapes from Delhi in a basket, 145; first levies chout, 146; civil policy, 146; conquers territory from Beejapoor, 148; surlden death, 148; character, 148, 149. Seyeds, lineal descendants of Mohammed, 156 ; Seyed rulers of Delhi, 78. Seyed brothers — Abdullah Khan and Hus.vein Ali ; political career, 156, 158 ; their death, 159. Shch Alum {Emperor), 176, 289; ar- rangement witli E. 1. Company, 293, 303 ; enters Delhi under Maliratta pro- tection, 315 ; blinded by Rohillas, 273 ; taken under Iititi--h protection. 396. Shahamet AH, author of Sikhs and Af- ghans, 447. Shah Jfhfin [Emperor), or Prince Khoo- nim, 119; rebels against his father, 125 ; refuge in Oudipoor, 125 ; ac- cession, 128 ; murders his brothers, 128; revenue survey, 131 ; hisrhihlren, 132 ; deposition, 135 ; review of his reign, l."i5; miserable captivity, 139; deiith. 146. Shah Soojah, of Cabool, 433—445. Shastrax, Hindoo scriptures, 414. Sheer Shah, Afglian usurper, 88. Sheiahs, followers of Ali, 62, 98, 133; denounced by Nadir Shah, 164; strife with Sonnites or Sunnis, in Delhi, 175. Sheik -nl-Jubbnl, or Old Man of the Mountain. 72. Shipping (India built), 402. Shroffs, native bankers, 218. Sicca, royal right of stamping coin, 93. Siddee, or Sccdee, of Jinjeera, 220. Sieges— Chittore (1568), 111; Hooghly (1632), 131; Raighur (1690), 151; Devicotla (1748), 259; Arcot (1"^1)' 264; Pondicherry (1760), 286; Rock of Amboor, 318; Wandewash (1781), 354: Cuddalore (1784), 359; Mangalore (1784), 359; Savendroog (1791), 370; Seringapatam (1792), 371 ; Seringa- patam (1799), 380; Alighur (1803), 395; Agra (1803). 396; Aseerghur (1803). 398 ; Gawilghur (1803), 398 ; Delhi (1804), 401; Bhurtpoor (1804), 401; Kalunga, or Nalapanee (1814). 411: Deothul (1814), 412; Almora (1816), 413; Maloun (1816), 413; Aseerghur (1818). 420; Malligaum (1819), 421 ; Bhurtpoor (1825-'6), 426; Herat (1838), 434; Khelat-i-Nuseer (1839), 447; Ghuznee (1842). 444; Candahar (1842) 444 ; Jellalabad (1842), 444; Mooltan (l^^^), 456; Rangoon (1852), 458. (For statistics of Sieges, see 460 — 463). Simla first resorted to by Lord Amherst, 427. Sinde^ Aiah conquest of, 57, 58 ; its rulers, 106 ; taken possession of by Nadir Shah, 167; Tatta pillaged by Portu- guese, 193 ; rule of the Ameers, 434 ; exactions of E. I. Company, 435; an- nexation, 449 — 452. Sindia, or Gwalior Principality, origin of family, 161 ; Jeiapa Sindia, 171 ; Ma- hadajee Sindia's force disciplined by European officers, 373; De Boigne, 373, 390; arrogance of Mahadajee, 374 ; Dowlut Rao, 374, 390, 392 ; war with Holear, 393 ; Oojeen and other places captured and rifled by Holear, 393 ; troops commanded by M. Perron, (see Perron), 395 ; subsidiary force stationed at Gwalior, 399 ; Dowlut Rao's character, 416 ; supports Pindar- rics, 416; death, 427; his favourite "wife, Baiza Bye, adopts a sou and as- sumes th*> regency, 427; death of adopt*ii prince, and new adoption, 432 ; war with English — Gwalior captured ; fortress permanently occupied by Eng- lish, 452, Slavery in India, 117. 118, 349, 507. Somnauth {Temple of ), 07; sandal-wood gates taken by Mahinood to Ghuznee, 67; restored by order of Lord Ellen- borough, 445. St. Helena occupied by English, 216. St, Thomas, or Meliapoor (near Madras), occupied by Englisli, 257. Stuart {General), treacherous arrest of Lord Pigot,347 ; misconduct at Cudda- lore, 358 ; arrested and sent to England by Lord Macartney, 359; duel with Lord Macartney, 366. Subsidiary forces {British) — Nizam, 371 ; Peisiiwa, 373 ; general view, 526, Suddur Dewaimee AdauHut, 324. &'(/mroo, German advtnturer, 297 ; Begum Sumroo faitliful to Slmh Ahiru, 373. Sirjee,or Shirzce Rao (ihatkay, 393, 400. Strohiy Rajpoot state, 106. Sirpa, dress of honour, 168. Siyar-ul-Mn(akherin, 156 ; translations liy General Briggs, and a Frenchman, l'70. Smith {Sir Harry), at Aliwal, 455. Sonnites or Sunnis, traditionists, 62; strife with Sheiahs, 99. Sonthal insurrection, 459. Stoddart {Colonel), cruel death at Bok- hara, 446. Subahdar, native officer, 117. Sumbajee, rajah of the Mahrattas, son of Sevajee, 149; capture and execution, 151. Sunnud, edict. 287. Surajah lJoivlah,\iceYoy of Bengal — cha- racter, 271,275; deceived by Clive, 276; betrayed by Meer Jaffier at Plassy, 278 ; defeat, flight, capture, and assas- sination, 282 ; fate of conspirators, 335. Suraj Mul, chief of the Jats, 177. Svrat, 103; fort burned by Portuguese, 189; visited by Dutch, 208; annexed by English, 387. ' Surdeshmooki — Aurungzebe negotiates its payment to the Mahrattas, 153; ex- planation of term, 157. Suttee or Sati, of Mifchta Rye, 391; self-immolation prohibited, 428. Swedish E. I. Company, 242. Tabular jnejo of Anglo-Indian army, 565. Battles and sieges, 460 — ■ 463. East India banks, 565. — Imports and exports,563, 564. Indo-Mohammedan dy- nasties. 180. Land revenue of each presidency, 566, 582. Land revenue, area, and population, 5 1 4— 538. Mountains, 466 — 4 70. ■ Mountain passes, 471. Population, 500, 501. Rivers in India, 472 — 477. , — ^ — Rivers in Afghanistan, and on the north-west frontier, 478. Table-lands of British India, 479. _ Table-lands of Afghanis- tan and Beloochistanj 480. Tributary and protected states, 519—524. Taj Mahal, erection of the, 130. Talookdars, 571. Talpoors of Sinde, 449. Tarijore, 252 ; native troops disciplined by Flemish officer, 253 ; English interfere in a case of disputed sovereignty, 258, 259; historical summary, 270 ; capture and restoration by E. I. Company, 34" ; Rajah Serfojee, the aeeomplisiied pupil of Swartz, 387 ; annexation, 387. Tara Bye, Mahratta princess, 153; cha- racter, 175 ; death, 179. Tariff, 505. Tatla, 34. Ta.n/a, 26, Tadiles. 26, 29. 'J'ea, first importation into England, 217. Tcgnapatam, or Fort St. David, founded, 223 ; progress, 236. Tenasserim ceded by King of Ava, 425. Thome {Robert), 197. Thornlon^s {Edward) History of India, 431. Thvys, or Phansigars, 429. Tilac, the accursed number, 111. Timnr Beg. or Tamerlane, 70; auto- biography, 77; c!i))ture of Delhi, 78; person and character, 77, 78; House of I Tiniur,. 81, INIJEX TO VOL. X. Ol' TllK INDIAN ii-MriRE. VII Tijipna Sultan mcnnrcs Mndrns, 318; character, 3.')7 ; cruelty to liiif^liili prisoners. 3f>9 ; persecutes tlic '• Portu- guese Nnznrciics," 307 ; circulnr hunt, 367 i forcihlc conversions, 3(17 ; his work, The Kini; of Jfislnricf, 307; intrifiucs with French republic, 377; killed in defenilinR his ciipital, 380 ; person and i^ovcrnnicnt, 382 ; liberal provisicui made by Lord Wellesley for Tippoo's family, 383. Tod'n {Colonel) Annuls of Rajatt'han, lOG, 122. TndnrMul {Rajah), Hindoo financier, 570. Tor/htai {Home of), 74 ; cruelties of Mo- iiammed Toghlak, 75; ciicular hunt, 75. T'ltnlt of Ilumaynn at Delhi, general re- ceptacle for murdereil [irinces of the House of Timur — Emperor Feroksheer buried there, 158. To/iassPS, 235. Torture Commission, Madras, 577. i'rarancore, sovereignty inherited by Tamburetties, or princesses of .\ttinga, 253 ; historical summary, 270 ; appeal to E. I. Company against Tippoo Sultan, 3G8 ; annexation, 410. yVeaerson aiui character, 377 ;. subsidiary system, 385 ; proter!ts Rajpoot principaliti(8 against Mahratta aggressions, 399 ; eradi&iteti French influence in India, 402; recall, and character of administration, 403, 407; attacked by Paull; grantof money by E. I. (Jomijany ; death, 404 ; views on land-tenure, 578. Wellesley {Colonel), afterwards Duke of Wellington, 382 ; military command in Mysoor, 383 ; pursuit and death of Dhoondea Waugh, 383 ; war with Mahrattas, 394 ; Assaye, 395. Willonyhliy {Sir Huyh), voyages, 197 ; death, 198. Wulsa, immigration in war-time, 315. Wuttm., inheritance, 160. Yogees, Hindoo ascetics, 28. Zamorins of Calient, or Tamuri rajahs, 182; wars with the Dutch, 243; Slaan Veeram Raj driven to suicide by Hyder Ali, 318 J secret name of the Zamorins, 423. Zavier {Fran(ois), comes to India, 191. Zemaun Shah, projected invasion of India, 377, 388; deposed and blinded, 433; vicissitudes of fortune, 433, 448. Zemindar, 107, 571. Zemindar system, established in Bengal, and IJahar, 573. Zinar, Brahminieal cord, 111. ERRATA.— VOL. I. Page 388, heading: for An(jlv-Inilian army join Brifisli in Jnd'ui, read E(pjpt. ,, 396, „ for haitlc of Aiiijhur — rjaUaut de- fence, of Delhi — 1803, read gal- lant defence of Aliyhur — battle near Dc//ii— 1803. ,, 401, „ for si'cf/c of Bhurfpimr — defence of Delhi, read defence of Delhi— sieye of Bhurfpoor. „ 413, col. 1, line 11, for il/aroun, read 3/f(foH)i. ,, 42G, „ 1, line 0, dele words nothiiuj but. ,, 489, heading: i'or decrement, re^d diminution. ,, 489, col. 2, line 52, for comjetation, read con- gelation. „ 492, „ 1, line 19, for rerepresentatives, read rejiresentatives. 506, col. 2, 507, „ 2. Page 503, Table : alter heading from resume of censuses to piipulatiun returns, and dele males and females. line 3, for Suuthats, read Son- thals. line 16, for homogeuety, read homogeneity. Pages 550, 551, headings: aher modes of administer- ing justice in India, and mode of administering Justice in India, to administration ofjue- tice in India. for codification, read code. 2, line 4 (of note), for a honour, read an honour. Page 552, heading : „ 553, note, col. DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER FOR PLACING THE ENGRAVINGS.— VOL. L Frontispiece — Lord Palmerston. Vignette — Encampmeat on the Sutlej. Map of Britisli India - - To face page View of the Palace of Agra from the River _ _ - - To face page 112 View of Bombay, showing the Fort - - 217 View of Madras - - - To face page 57 Table of Distances to be placed at end of Vol. DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER FOR PLACING THE ENGRAVINGS.— VOL. XL Frontispiece — Lord Clyde. ' Vignette — Death of General Neil. Lord Viscount Canning - To face page 1 The King's Palace at Delhi - - - - 116 Map of Northern India - - _ - 125 Mutinous Sepoys dividing Spoil - - - 215 General Sir Henry Havelock, K.C.B. - - 276 The Nana Sahib leaving Lucknow - - 346 The Palace at Agra - - To face page 358 i Capture of the Guns by the Highlanders - 377 Portrait of Kooer Sing - _ - _ 400 The Relief of Lucknow by General Have- lock 420 Blowing up of the Cashmere Gate at Delhi - 442 Capture of the King of Delhi by Captain Hodson - - - - - - -447 Seik Troops di\iding the Spoil taken from Mutineers _ _ - To face page 479 Titties' Correspondent looking on at the Sacking of the Kaiserbagh - - - 479 Death of Brigadier Adrian Hope - - - 493 Mahomed Suraj-oo-deen Shah Ghazee - 159 Zeenat Mahal, Begum or Queen of Delhi - 453 DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER FOR PLACING THE ENGRAVINGS.— VOL. III. Frontispiece — Hindoo and Mohammedan Buildings. Vif/nette— Scene near ChiUah Tarah Ghaut, Bundelcund. Troops encamped at the Entrance of the Keree Pass. ... To face page 1 The Ganges entering the Plains near Hurdwar 2 Hurdwar, a place of Hindoo Pilgrimage - 3 Assemblage of Pilgrims near Hurdwar - 4 Hurdwar, the Gate of Hari, or Vishnoo - 5 Mussooree and the Dhoon, from Landour - G The Abbey and Hills from ncai' Mussooree - 8 Snowy Range from Landour - - - 9 Snowy Range from Tynee - - - - 11 Village of Naree ------ 12 Bridge at Bhurkote ----- 13 View near Kursalee ----- 14 Kursalee, a Village in the neighbourhood of Simla -..----15 View on the River Jurana - - - - 16 Falls near the source of the Jumna, above Delhi 18 Fugitive Sepoys taking refuge in a Mountain Fastness, near Jumnootrce, on the Jumna 18 Snowy Mountains, Northern Bengal ; source of the Jimina ------ 19 Fugitive Sei)oy6 crossing the River Tonse by Rope Bridge 20 Gungootree, the sacred source of the Ganges 21 The Village of Khandoo, Himalaya Moun- tains -23 Village of Roghera and Deodar Forest - 24 The Choor Mountains ----- 25 Jerdalr, a Hill Village; Ghurwal - - 2(i Grass-rope Bridge at Terec, Ghurwal - - 27 View near Jubberah, Northtrn Bengal - 2S View at Deoijun, near Umballah - - - 29 Mohuna, nerfr Deobun ----- 30 Valley of the Dhoon, Himalaya Mountains - 31 The Forti'ess of Nahun, in the dominion of Oude - - - - -To face page 32 Fortress of Bowrie, in Rajpootana - - 33 The Pass of Makundra - - - - 34 Scene in Katteawar — Travellers and Escort 36 Zanghera, or the Fakeer's Rock, on the Ganges -------37 Colgong, on the Ganges - - - - 38 Seik IiTegular Cavalry - - - - 39 Tomb of "Shere Shah, Sasserain - - - 41 City of Benares ------ 43 Benares - - -.- - - -44 Hindoo Temple, Benares - - - - 46 Sarnat, a Boodh Momunent, near Benares - 47 View of Cawnpoor from the River - - 48 Agra, the scene of the late insurrectionary outbreak -------50 Taj Mahal, Agra 51 Jumma Musjid, Agra ----- 52 Agra— from the Jahara Bang - - - 53 Akber's Tomb, Secundra - - - - 54 Futtehpoor Sikri ------ 55 An old Fort at Muttra - - - - 57 Dellii, showing the entrance to the Palace - 58 Cootub Minar, Delhi 59 Tomb of Humayun, Delhi . ... 60 A ruin on the banks of the Jumna, above Delhi 61 Ruins, old Delhi 62 Ruins, south side of old Delhi - - - 63 Calcutta from the Esplanade. No. 1 - - 64 Ditto Ditto No. 2 - - 66 Fort George, Madras - - r - - 70 Bombay Harbour in the Monsoon - - 74 Simla, near Belaspoor - - - - - 76 Fortress of Shuhur, Joypoor, Rajpootana - 80 Hindoo Temple at Chandgoan - - - 81 Perawa, Malwa ------ 82 King's Fort, Boorhanpoor - - - - 83 Jumma Musjid, Mandoo - To face page 84 The Water Palace, Mimdoo. - - . 58 The Fortress of Dowlutabad - - - 86 Aurungzebe's Tomb, Rozah - - - 87 View of Sassoor, in the Dccean - - - 88 Tombs of the Kings, Golconda - - - 89 The British Residency at Hyderabad - - 91 Bcjapoor ------- 92 Sultan Mahomed Shah's Tomb, Bejapoor - 94 Seven-storied Palace, Bejapoor - - - 96 Palace of the Seven Stories, Bejapoor - - 97 Mosque of Mustapha Kh;in, Bejapoor - - 98 Tomb of Ibrahim Padshah, Bejapoor - - 99 Taj Bowlee, Bejapoor - ... - 101 Asser Mahal, Bejapoor - ' - - - 102 Singham Mahal, Torway, Bejapoor - - 104 Hindoo Temples and Palace, Madura - - 106 Entrance to the Cave of Elophanta - - 106 Triad Figure, interior of Elephanta - - 107 Cave of Karli - - - - - -III Front View of Kylas, Caves of EUora - - 112 Excavated Temple of Kylas, Caves of EUora 113 Dus Outar, EUora ----- 115 Rameswur, Caves of Ellora - - - - H5 Skeleton Group in the Rameswur, Caves of. EUora 116 Interior of Dher AVarra, EUora - - - 117 Sutteeism on the banks of the Ganges - - 119 View of .\llahabad, showing the Fort - - 122 View of Lucknow ----- 124 Dewan Khass, or Hall of Audience, Palace of Delhi 128 Agra— View of the Princiiial Street - - 130 Tomb of Elmad-ud-DowIah, Agra - - 132 The Residency, Lucknow - - - - 134 The HiU Fortress of (iwalior - - -140 View of Delhi, from the Palace Gate - - 143 INTRODUCTION. The Anglo-Tiulian Empire ! what do these words represent in the minds of the people of Britain? They spealc of dominion over a far-distaut sunny land, rich in barbaric gold, precious stones, and architectural beauty, occupying upwards of a million square miles of the most varied, fertile, and interesting i)ortion of this globe, and inhabited by more than one hundred million of the human race. j The early history of this wonderful country lies hid in deep obscurity. Not the obscurity that naturally attends insignificance, but, far otherwise, caused by , the dense veil which Time drew around Ancient India, in thickening folds, during ] centuries of deterioration ; leaving the ruins of magnificent cities, and widely- | scattei'ed records graven in mysterious characters on almost imperishable materials, to attest the existence of civilised races — regarding whom even tradition is silent — at a date long prior to the Christian era. | Whence India was peopled, is quite unknown ; but thirty different lan- guages, and an e(iual diversity of appearance and character, dress, manners, : and customs, seem to indicate long-continued immigration from various quarters. The Alexandrine era (b.c. 330) throws light on little beyond the Macedonian invasion of the north-western frontier ; the Arab incursions (a.d. 709) afford only a few glimpses of the borders of the Indus ; and the thirteen expeditions of Mahmood the Ghuznivede (a.d. 1000 to 1025), give little beyond a vague and general idea of the wealth of the country and the dense population of the Western Coast, whose idolatry INIahmood was empowered to scourge with the strong arm of an Iconoclast; though he himself was but an instrument in the hands of Providence ; and in battering down guardian fortresses and destroying temples and shrines dedicated to false gods, had evidently no higher motive , than that of pillaging the dedicated treasures, and carrying away the worshippers into slavery. From this period we can faintly trace the progress of Mohammedan con- quest in India, to the establishment of the dynasty known as the Slave Kings of Delhi (a.d. 1208.) Its founder, Kootb-oo-deen, originally a Turki slave, established the centre of Moslem dominion in the grand old Hindoo capital, chiefly by reason of the disunion which had arisen among the leading Rajpoot princes upon the f^iilure of a direct heir, and the consequent jealousies and disputes regarding tlie succession. INTEODTJCTION. Then the page of history becomes more and more legible until it records the invasion of Timor or Tamerlane (a.d. 1398), the terrible details of the siege of Delhi, and the general massacre in which it terminated ; and all the horrors enacted before " the apostle of desolation " took his departure, carrying off men and women of all ranks and ages into slavery, and leaving the devoted city without a government, and almost without inhabitants. The succeeding Indian annals, though confused, are tolei'ably full to the commencement of that important epoch which comprises the reigns of the Great Moguls. This brings us within the pale of modern history : we can note the growth and decay of Mogul dominion, and trace, at least in measure, the operating causes of its extension and decline. Viewed as a mere series of biographies, the lives of the Great Moguls attract by incidents, which the pen of fiction, fettered by attention to probability, would hardly venture to trace. The members of this dynasty had a decidedly literary turn, and several of them have left records not only of the public events in which they plaj'ed a leading part, but also of the domestic scenes in which they figured as sons, husbands, or fathers. The value of these memoirs in elucidating- or corroborating the histories of the period, is, of course, very great, and their authenticity rests on solid grounds, apart from the strong internal evidence they afford of having been actually AAritten by the persons whose names they bear. Nothing can be more characteristic than the intense self-adulation with which Timur, or Tamerlane, narrates his perfidious and sanguinary career, except perhaps the peculiar power of observation and analysis brought to bear on new scenes which mark the autobiography of his descendant Baber, who, following in his footsteps, invaded India from Cabool, and, after a fierce struggle on the plains of Paniput (a.d. 1526), gained easy possession of Delhi and Agra, and succeeded in laying the foundation of an extensive empire. numayun(A.D. 1530), Akber (a.d. 1556), Jehangeer (a.d. 1605), Shah Jehan (a.d. 1628), all encountered vicissitudes of the most singular and varied character; and the Mogul history increases in interest until it culminates in the long reign of Aurungzebe (a.d. 1658), the ablest and most powerful, but the most ambitious and bigoted of his race. During his sway the predatory hordes of Maharashtra Avere formed by the Hindoo adventurer, Sevajee, into a poAverful state; the hated and despised Mahrattas grew strong upon the spoil of independent kingdoms demolished Ijy the haughty emperor ; and finally, his troops, vA^orn by incessant toil, became mutinous for want of pay and provisions, and suffered their aged leader to be hunted even to the death by foes he had been accustomed to treat as utterly contem])tiblc. The decay of the empire, Avhich commenced several years before INTRODUCTION. the death of Aurnngzebc (ad. 1707), then became rapid; usurping viceroys, rebelling against their government and warring with the rulers of neighbouring states or provinces, aggravated the internal disorganisation. Nor were external foes wanting to complete the work of destruction : adventurers of all creeds and comi)lexions fought fiercely over the ruins; while, distancing meaner com- petitors, Nadir Sluih (a.d. n."?!)) and Ahmed Shah (a.d. 1759), the robber kings of Persia and Alfghanistan, swooped down like vultures to secure their share of the carcass; and the chief cities of India, especially Delhi, repeatedly witnessed the most sanguinary enormities, and continued to do so until, one by one, they became gradually included in the widening circle of British supremacy. And why dwell thus on the past at such a crisis as thi.s, when the mag-ic circle of our power has been rudely broken — when Delhi, filled to overHowing- with all the munitions of war, has been treacherously snatched from our unsuspecting- hands — and \\hen the Crescent; raised again in deadly strife against the Cross, has been reared aloft as if in testimony that the Moslems who came into India i)roclainiing war to the death against idolatry, have quite abandoned their claim to a Divine mission, and are ailecting- to make common cause with the Hindoos, whose creed and practice they formerly declaimed against with so much horror and disgust? Now Mohammedans and Hindoos unite in committing crimes of a character so deep and deadly, so foul and loathsome, that we find no parallel for them ; not in the relentless, inventive vengeance of the Ked Indians ; not even in that crisis of civilised infidelity, that fierce paroxysm of the French Revolution, still shudderingly called the " lleign of Terror." The Red Republicans made public avowal of atheism 5 and awful was the depravity into which they sank, world-wide the shame they incurred : but recantation soon followed. These treacherous Sepoys, who have so suddenl}' risen in a body, violating every oath of fidelity, every tie of feeling and association — they, too, have their watchword : it is not " There is no God j" it is " Death to the Christians !" As in France, no religious persecution, but rather a state of conventional apathy, leavened by the poison of Voltaire, Diderot, Condorcet, and their clique, preceded the atheistical and sanguinary outburst ; even so has it been with India. Efibrts for the extension of Chi-istianity have been wholly exceptional; the rule has been tolerance, amounting to inditierence, in all religious matters. Few who have been in the habit of reading Indian periodicals, much less of mixing in Indian society, will deny that, however manifest the desire for the diffusion of the Gospel might be in individuals, the government had remained markedly neutral. INTEODTJCTION. The Mussulmans, let it be repeated, subjug-ated and g'overned India in the character of anti-idolaters. The}' tolerated — and barely tolerated — the heathenism around them, to which their aversion was, for the most part, quite undisguised; and they were al\va3-s eag-er for individual conversions. Their open assertion of the superiority of their faith was viewed as natural by the Hindoos; nor does any angry feeling- appear to have been excited, save in exceptional cases of actual persecution. Aurungzebe certainly' alienated a larg-e portion of his subjects by reviving a long--abandoned capitation-tax on infidels; and Avhether he did this from a desire to refill the treasury emptied by incessant warfare, or from sheer big-otry, the result was the same. Many causes (among- which may be named, not as the avowed ones, but certainly not as the least powerful — sloth and sensualit}^, fostered bj' an enervating- climate) have concurred in rendering- the Indian followers of Mohammed comparatively reg-ardless of that integ-ral portion of their creed which enjoins its extension by all and every means. But no earnest believer in the Koran can be tolerant of idolatry ; and therefore, when we hear of Moslem and Hindoo linked tog-ether in a most unprovoked crusade ag-ainst Christians, it is manifest that the pretext is altog-ether false, and that the Mussulman, who is taught by the book he deems inspired never to name our Blessed Lord without reverence, or idols without abhorrence, cannot now be actuated by any relig-ious motive, however perverted or fanatical, in violating- the first principles of his faith and by affected sympath}' with the professors of a creed heretofore declared utterly polluted and debasing-, using- them as dupes and tools in carrying- out an incendiary plot, the planned details of which only Devil-worshippers, possessed by unclean spirits, could have been supposed capable of conceiving- and executing-. The conspirac}', beyond a doubt, has originated in the desire of the Mohammedans to recover their lost supremacy in India. Its immediate and secondary causes are involved in temporary obscurity ; but the j)rimum mobile must be sought for in the pages of history. It is true the flame has spread like wildfire : but the important question for those who are capable of grappling- with the com- plicated bearings of this all-eng-rossing- subject, is not — what hand applied the match ? but how came such vast masses of combustibles to be so widely spread, so ready for ignition ? To understand this in any satisfactory degree, the inquirer must be content to begin at the beginniug-j by carefully weighing- the fragmentary I records we possess of the history and character of the Hindoos as a distinct people, noting the causes Avhich led to their gradual subjugation by the Moslems; next, those which paved the way for the introduction of European INTRODUCTION. Powers; iiud, liistly, the establisliinent mid operation of British supreirisicv throuo-liout. ]ii(liii. The indiiFereiicn wliieli the British nation and its ruh-rs have so long" evinced to the study of Asiatic histor}', has been most unfortunate. Wrapped in fancied security, we. have been too i<^'norant to be anxious, too indolent to be watchful ; and the kw who have felt it an imperative duty to speak words of warning- by bringung- the experience of the past to bear upon the sig'ns of the present; have found themselves set down as alarmists on this point at least, whatever their g-eneral character for ability and sound judg-- ment. Yet the fact is certain, that almost every leading* authority from the date of our earliest assumption of territorial power, has dwelt forcibly on the necessity for unsleeping* vigilance in the administration of Indian affairs. This conviction has been the invariable result of extensive acquaintance with the natives, and it is abundantly corroborated by the recorded antecedents of both Hindoos and Mohammedans. The history of India, whether in earl}^ times or during" the Mohammedan epoch, is — as the brief outline sketched in preceding- pag-es was desig-ned to indicate — no less interesting- as a narrative than important in its bearing; on the leading* events of the present epoch, which, in fact, cannot, without it, be rendered intelligible. The struggles of European Powers for Asiatic ascen- dancy, form leading- features in the annals of each of these states. Portug-al was first in the field, and lono" and fierce was the combat she wao-ed to maintain exclusive possession of the rich monopoly of Oriental conunerce. The Dutch (then known as the Netherlanders) enjoyed a share of the profits in the capacity of carriers between the Portug-uese factories and the northern nations of Europe ; but when, in 1079, the>' formed themselves into a separate g-overnment in defiance of the power of Philip of Spain, that monarch, who then g-overned Avitli an iron sceptre the united king-doms of Spain and Portug-al, forbade the employment of the Dutch as inter- mediaries — a prohibition which led to their trafficking- on their own account, formino- various trading- settlements in the East in the commencement of the seventeenth centur}', and supplanting* their former employers. The first attempts of Eug-land were made, at the same period, b\' a company of London merchants, warmly eucourag*ed by the Queen, who signed a charter on their behalf on the last day of the sixteenth century. During* the following- century the English continued to be simply traders, with no cravings for political or territorial ag*g*randisement — absorbed in the business of buying- and selling-, and anxious only for the safety of their fleet, Avhich rapidl}' became more formidable and extensive in proportion to the rich u INTEODUCTIOK freig'ht it Avas destined to bear throug'h seas infested with pirates, and fre- quently preoccupied b}' hostile European squadrons. The eig'hteenth century opened upon an entirely new phase of Indian annals. The deca}^ of Mog'ul power, which had, as has been stated, com- menced before the death of Aurung'zebe in 1707, was greatly accelerated by that event, and by the Avar of succession which followed, as a natural con- sequence, the death of a Mog-ul emperor. The will of the deceased ruler decreed the division of his dominions among' his sons ; and had they consented to this arrangement, and cordially united in carr^'ing- it out, their allotted portions might possibly have been consolidated into distinct kingdoms. But brotherly love rai'ely flourishes under the shadoAV of a despotic throne ; and the House of Timur formed no exception to this rule, having- evinced a remarkable tendency to fratricide throug-hout the entire period of its Indian career. The younger sons of Aurung-zebe went to war with their elder brother, each on bis own account, and died the death they had provoked, leaving" the survivor, Bahadur Shah, to rule as best he might the scattered territories styled the Empire. Anything- more devoid of org-anisation — of any approach to unity — than the so-called Empire, cannot well be conceived. When Aurung-zebe snatched the sceptre from the hands of his father. Shah Jehan, and condemned him to life-long- captivity, the dominions he usurped were comparatively well g-overned, and might, under the sway of a ruler of such unquestionable ability, such indomitable perseverance, have been consolidated into a comparatively homogeneous mass But the unhallowed ambition at whose shrine he had sacrificed the liberty of his father and the lives of his brothers, still hurried him on, rendering- him reckless of the internal decaN^ which was manifestly at work in the very heart of his king-dom, while he was lavishing- his resources in spreading- desolation and ruhi, lamine and the sword, throug-h every independent king-dom within his reach — extending- his own only in name, throwing- down gfovernments and ancient land-marks yet erecting- none in their stead; becoming- terrible as a destroj-er, when he mioht have been creat as a statesman and a consolidator. A right view of the character of Aurung-zebe, and a patient investigation of his career, is absolutely necessary to the obtainment of a clear insig-ht into the state of India at the period when the English East India Company began to exchang-e their position of traders on suiierance for that of territorial lords. The first steps of this strange transformation can hardly be said to have been voluntary. The Eng-lish merchants were still essentially traders. An exami- nation of the East India House records (and no attempt has ever been made to g-arble or hide them away from friend or foe), will prove to the most pre- INTRODtrCTION. judiced observer, tliiit, its a body, tliey persistently opposed tbe acquisition of dominion. Nothing- short of complete iiiditFerence can account for the exces- sive ig-nornnce of Indian politics manifested in their official correspondence. It may, indeed, be urged that English factors in a foreign land, in addition to their characteristic reserve, are naturally much engrossed by the duties and cares of their calling, and, apart from prejudice, may well be excused for a degree of preoccupation which prevents them from making- any very vio-orous effort to penetrate the barriers of language and creed, manners and customs, which sepnrato them from the ])eople with whom they come to traffic. A time arrived, however, when the English could no long-er be blind to the alarming- political and social state of India. Evei-y 3'ear, much more every decade, the disorganisation increased. Certain native Hindoo states, such as Mysoor, Travancore, the little mountainous principality of Coorg-, and a few others, had been exempted, by their position or their insignificance, from Moslem usurpation. With these exceptions^ strife and anarchy spread over the length and breadth of India. It was no oro-anised struiiji-le of race or creed ; for Mussuhnan fought against Mussulman, Hindoo against Hindoo, and each ngainst the other ; Affghan warred with Mogul, Mogul with Ilajpoot; Mahratta M'ith all. The hand of every man was raised ag-ainst his neighbour: the peasant went armed to the plough — the shepherd stood ready to defend his flock with his life; the energy and determination of local authorities kept up some degree of order in their immediate districts; but, in general, the absence of a government strong- enough to protect its innocent subjects from internal vice or external aggression, was manifested in the fearful audacity Avith which the Pindarr}-, Dacoity, and Thug, the trained marauder, thief, and assassin, pursued their murderous avocations, in the blaze of noon as in the darkness of midnight. The Hindoos fell back upon the ancient village system, which the usurping Mohammedans had vainly striven to destroy ; and the internal organisation of the, '■ little municipalities, each possessing its own Potail or Mayor, enabled them to parrv', or at least rally from, attacks from without. The English laboured for the effectual fortification of the various factories gradually established in different parts of India, and included, according to their situation, in the three presidencies of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. Armed neutrality, however, would have been barely practicable, even so far as the numerous warring native powers were concerned. The conduct of their European rivals rendered such a position quite untenable. The French East India Compan}- had, so far as trade was concerned, proved a decided INTEODTJCTIOX. failure : its employes were very inferior to the Eug'lish as factors ; but as political ag'ents, they jjossessed diplomatic instincts peculiar to themselves. Dumas, Dupleix, and the g-ifted La Bourdonnais, saw clearly the oppor- tunity afforded for the territorial establishment of their nation, and they eagerly took part in the quarrels around them, making- offensive and defensive alliances with the neighbouring" states, interfering* in cases of disputed succession, and taking-, with bold and unfaltering* steps, the apparent road to political power. None of the English functionaries approached their rivals in ability 5 but they could not be blind to the increasing" dang'er of their situation ; and the example set by the French, of drilling- iiati^'e troops and org-anising- them as far as possible in accordance with European notions, was followed throuo'hout the British settlements. Then came the inevitable struo-gle between the two powers whose unsleeping- rivalry had so often evidenced itself in strife and bloodshed at the vei'y ends of the earth. At first they met in indirect hostility as the auxiliaries of native princes j but the first indications of European war were eag'erl}- seized on as a cause for direct opposition, and a fierce strug-gle ensued, which eventually left the English complete masters of the field. While the Carnatic, in Avhich Madras is situated, was the scene of this contest, the English in Beng-al were sub- jected to the most oppressive exactions by the usurping- Mohammedan g-overnor, Surajah Dowlah, whose seizure and pillag-e of Calcutta in June, 1766, was marked by the horrible massacre of the " Black Hole" — a deed which, up to that period, even Mohammedan annals can hardly equal in atrocity; but to which, after the lapse of a hundred years, man}" terrible parallels have been furnished. The tiding's spread like wildfire through the British settlements, and the conviction became deep and g-eneral, that it would be madness to trust to the faith or humanity of such men as the depraved Surajah Dowlah and his Moslem compeers. The Mog-ul Empire had become an empty name so far as the distant provinces were concerned, and there war. absolutely no native state either strong" enoug'h to protect the Eng-lish settlements, or just enoug-h to be trusted. Never was the indomitable resolve of Britons in a foreio-n land more sternly tested, or more triumphantly evinced, than when their fortunes seemed at the lowest ebb — when the French and the Mohammedans, in different quarters, menaced then- overthrow and extinction. "To drive these dogs into the sea 1" was then, as now, the fervent aspiration of every Mosleui regarding" every European. But they wished to squeeze the orange before they threw awaj^ the rind. Tiiey were themselves divided, and had plana of individual aggrandizement to can"}" out ag-ainst each other, and INTEODUCTION. g^enerally over the Hindoos ; and tliey well knew tlie value of European co-opf'ration nnd instruction in the art of" war. Tlie recapture of Calcutta was speedily efFected by a force of 900 Euroi)eaii troops and 1,500 Sepoys, commanded by a ci-devant writer, who had turned soldier, and risen to distinction in the Carnatic war. Robert Clive — for it was he — looked round and saw tlie opportunity ofTered for exchangino- the precarious footing- then occupied by his countrymen for one of far g-reater importance and security. The Hindoos were daily becon)ino' more impatient of the Mohammedan yoke, and the haug-lity Mussulmans were themselves divided reg-arding- their ruler, whose reckless proflig-acy and violent temper had g-iven man}^ of them provocation of a description which excites, in an Oriental, feelino-s of the fiercest and most endurinof reveno-e. The English watched the course of affairs with deep anxiety, and soon ascertained that, in violation of a treaty entered into after the reconquest of Calcutta, Surajah Dowlah was plotting- with the French for their destruction. Unquestionably, this procedure justified them in adopting- hostile measures against their treacherous foe ; thoug-h it does not even palliate some of the minor details, in which the crooked policy of Clive appears in painful contrast to his braver}^ as a soldier and his skill as a g-eneral. Tiie result was the battle of Plassy (a.d. 17o7), rapidly followed by the permanent establishment of Eritish dominion in Beng-al. After this, the tide of success flowed on fast and full. If the reader will patiently peruse the pages of this history, he will see that our power has increased with marvellously little effort on our own part. As, Avhen a stone is flung- into a river, the first small circle expands and multiplies beyond calculation — so, in India, have we g-one on extending- our 1-imits, as from the action of some inevitable necessity; less from our own will, than because we could not stand still without hazarding- the position already g-ained. True, there have been most distressing- instances of injustice and ag-g-ression ; but these are the few and comparatively unimportant exceptions. So far as the g-eneral obtainment of political ascendancy in India is concerned, we may quote the apt comparison used by an old Eajpoot prince to Colonel Tod, in 1804, as conveying a perfectly correct idea of our process of appropriation. Alluding to a sort of melon which bursts asunder when fully matured, Zaliin Sing- said, "You stepped in at a lucky time; the p'foot was ripe, and you had only to take it bit by bit."* The manner in which we have acquired power in India, is one thing; the use we have made of it, is another and more complicated question. For ray * Annah of EajasChan, Yol. I., p. 766. 10 INTEODUCTION. own part, I have long* watched the Anglo-Indian g-overnment with feelings of deep anxiety, and have laboured to the utmost of my ability to awaken the British nation to a sense of the responsible and critical situation they had been led to occupy. It is now close upon twenty years since I was permitted, by the East India Company, to edit the official records of a survey made by Dr. Buchanan in Eastern India ; and the impression on my mind was so forcible, that I could not refrain from prefacing- the selections with a declara- tion that the handwriting was on the wall, and nothing- but a complete and radical alteration of our system of government, could avert the punishment justly merited b}^ our misuse of the great charge committed to us. The ijrimar}^ reason of this misuse I believe to be the false and wicked assertion, that " we won India by the sword, and must keep it by the sword." There is another aphorism, much older and of much higher authority, which Ave should do Avell to think on — " They that take the sword shall perish by the sword." AVe did not conquer India by violence : we came as peaceful traders, and spent long- years in that capacity ; and during* that time we succeeded in impressing- on the minds of the natives a lively conviction of our energj", ability, and integrit}'. When the crisis came — as come it did, without our knowledo-e and o-reatly to our discomfiture — countiuo--houses were turned into barracks, bales of piece-goods helped to make bai-ricades, clerks and writers were metamorphosed into military leaders, and, while themselves but learners, drilled the natives round them into a state of discipline before unknown. Thus was formed the nucleus of that army on which we have leaned as if that, and that alone, had been the means of our obtaining- dominion in India. For the perfect org-anisatiou of that mighty force, Avhich lately numbered 300,000 men, we laboured with unwearied patience ; and to this g-rand object we sacrificed every other. So long- as the Sepo3'S were duly cared for, the condition of the mass of the people was a matter of com- parative indifference. It was not the Great Ruler of the Universe, whose inscrutable decrees had placed this vast tract of heathendom in the hands of a people who professed to serve Him and Him only ; rejecting- every tradition of men 5 rel3'ing- only on the mediation of His Sou ; resting for guidance only on His written word ; asking only the interpretation of His Holy Spirit ; — not so ! The Anglo-Indian dominion had nothing whatever to do with any such religious speculations. We were not bound to set before the people the example of the faith which we aflb(;t to believe the very leaven of the earth. Until the last few years we did not view it even as a case of stewardship. We were not even called upon to exert our energy for developing INTEODUCTIOIf. 11 the pliysical resources of (Iio country, and lunelioratiiio^ the coiulition of the mass of tlu! people. jVud wliy? Because free Britons, in the niidilh! of tlie nineteenth century, have seen fit to assume the position of military despots, drownin;^- the conviction that India was a God-given trust, in the viigMie notion of its being- "an empire of opinion;" and then sinking', by an easy transition, from rationalism into the more jjopular notion of sheer force — "an empire of the sword," held I)y the migdit of our own strong- arm. Scepticism and cowardice lie at the root of our present disasters: delibe- rately have we chosen the fear of man, which blinds and enervates, rather than the fear of God, Avhich enlightens and streng-thens. With infatuated credulity we have nursed in our bosom the serpent that has stung- us to the quick. Tolerance is, indeed, an essentially Christian quality; but who shall dare assume that praise for the Christianity which was nmde in tlifr persons of high Protestant (1) officials, to bow its head before the licentious ])roflig-ac3^ of the Mussulmans, and the heathen abominations and disg-usting" im])urities of the modern Brahminical priesthood, and to witness, in silence, the spiritual enslavement and pliysical deg-radation of the mass? We thoug-ht, perhaps, both Mussulmans and Brahmins too enervated by their respective org-ies to be dangerous as enemies. This but proves our utter ig-norance of the Oriental character, especially as developed in the ' Mohammedans. Let the reader glance over the history of their founder (and I have striven to sketch it in a subsequent pag-e, in faithfulness, and not Avith the pen of a caricaturist), he will see in the False Prophet the type of sensuality, big-otry, ambition, g-rounded and rooted in the fiercest fanaticism; and that type has been perpetually reproduced, and will continue to be so until Mohanmiedanism shall be swept from the foee of the earth. How soon that may be, none can prophes}' ; but the g-eneral rising- now taking- place among- the Mussulmans in Africa and Syria, as well as in India, are pointed at by many observers as preceding- nnd indicating the death-throes of this once powerful, but already deeplv sunken race. For us, if we would hope to conquer, it must be by turning- to the Lord of Hosts, as a nation, in deep repentance and humility: then only may we Justly look for present help, and anticipate for the future that gift in which we have been so 'nmentably deficient — " a rig-ht judg-ment in all things." Thus favoured, we shall not shrink from the responsibilities of an evang-elized nation ; but shall understand, that there is no surer way of obtaining- respect in the eyes of the quick-witted Hindoos, than by a consistent adherence to our religious professions. The means commend themselves to every unprejudiced person really versed in Indian affairs; and, assuredly, none 12 INTRODUCTION. other will be blessed of God. AVe cannot hope to pass off indifference for tolerance : the Mohammedans see through the flimsy disg-uise, and bid the heathen throw off the ig-nominious yoke of Kafirs (infidels.) Christianity the}' reverence, and dread to see lis manifest any tokens of it. "Well they may; for nothing- else will cover our head in the day of battle. That day has come. May we now have g-race to control the fearful passions provoked by the most horrible outrag'es ; and may the memory of our own shortcomings towards Godj enable us, if He gives the victory, to use it mercifull3\ Let us not forg-et, that the innocent blood spilt in the last few weeks, cannot blot out the memory of the debt which England owes to India.* The Parliament of Britain now must dictate the course to be followed in a matter of vital importance to the nation whose opinions it represents. The portion of the British public impressed with sound and practical relig-ious views, is, happily, hirg-er and more influential than would appear to superficial observers. The fact is indicated in the increase of missionary enterprise, the extension of education, and, indirectlj',. in the prog-ress of public improvements, and the initiation of reformatory measures. The faulty judicial system, the partial and vexatious land-tenurcj the defective monetary circulation of India, have come under discussion ; and if, as God in mex'cy g-rant, Britain is permitted to retain the brightest jewel in her crown — the most valuable of hei transmarine possessions — it is ferventl}^ to be desired that we may apply ourselves dilig-ently to remed}'- all deficiencies, to repair, as far as possible, past neglects, and provide ag-ainst future emerg-encies. The details of the present terrible episode will be g'iven fully in subsequent pag-es ; day by day that close seems approaching, with the record of which the Author hopes to be enabled to terminate this Work. * The pecuniary debt is wlioUy on the side of England. The cost, alilie of civil and military government, including the payment of the royal troops, has been entirely defrayed from the Indian revenues : so, if we succeed, must be the expenses of the present insurrection. The money remittances to England from the three Presidencies average five milhon sterling for the last sixty years. There is scarcely a country in the United Kingdom but lias had the value of its landed property enhanced by the investments of fortunes, the fruit of civil or military services or of commercial success in Hindoostan. Again, how many British statesmen and commanders have had their genius elicited and educated in India. A noble field has been annually opened for the youth of Britain, and an expansive tone given to society by t!ie constant discussion of great subjects. The merchant and the manufacturer can best estimate the importance of a large, increasing, and lucrative marltet, free from high or hostile tariffs ; and the advantage of an almost unlimited command of commodities, the regular obtain- ment of whicli is essential to the steady employment of their operations. Nor must it be forgotten, that Indian Imports and Exports, to the amount of tliirty million sterling, now furnisli profitable employment to the best class of mercantile shipping. : S ^ if Si's m i&nrts of l^e potrng. The first mutiny fat Berhampore\.. Mutiny and massacre at Meerut,.... Kevolt and massacre at Delhi, Tlie Mogul empire pruclaimed, Mutiny and massacre at Lucknow,. Cawnpore invested by Nana Sahib,. >' Surrender of the garrison -Feb. 25 -May 10 . " 11 . " 12 . '• 31 .June 6 .. " 26 . " 27 ■July 16 ., " 17 » The second " If Relieved by Gen.llavclocl g SS 2 ) CO <^ J = -> *! ..-v-Vl )^^^^,ry;v (Ebtnis of the Ruling. IJclh! invOHted Ijv Oen. Barnard,... ..June H " The HrHt aKHauU, ..Sopt 14 " The city taken, .. " 20 Caiitiiri! of till; KIni! .if Delhi .. " 21 Death (if hlH HotiH and KratidHOn "Lucknow InveBted hy Nana Hahlb.. .. " 21 ..Auk 4 .. rolieveabyGeu. llavolo<:k,..8ept 2S T II E INDIAN EMPIRE. CHAPTER I. EARLY HISTORY, JIVTTIOI.OGICAL AND TRADITIONAL— PERSIAN AND OTHER INVA- SIONS— GHKKIC EXPEDITION AND CONQUESTS OE AM'.XANDER- PI.UNDICKING INCURSIONS OE iMAHMOOn THE GHUZNIVEDE — MOHAMMEDAN CONCiUESTS, DOMINION, AND DOWNFALL— RISE AND PROGRESS OF liRITISH POWER AND SUPREMACY. Ancient History, to the time of Alex- ander. — India or Iliiuloostiiu, with its noble rivers, diversified climate, jiroductive soil, and extensive coast-line, oli'cred advantages for colonization, which were availed of at a very early period in the history of the hnman race. Of its iirst inliabitants we know little, beyond their being, as it is generally believed, still represented by various bar- barous tribes who yet inhabit the mountains and forests, and follow rude religious prac- tices that are no part of the primitive Hin- doo system. By whom or at what time these \icre subdued or expelled there is no ground to rest anything more than a sur- mise; and of the many that have been, or might be, hazarded on this difficult but in- teresting subject, perhaps not the least I'ea- sonable is the supposition based on the varied craniological development, and distinct lan- guages of the existing Hindoo race — that thcj' were originally composed of numerous migrating hordes who, at intervals, poured iu from the wild Mongolian steppes and Turkoraanian ranges, from the forests of Scythia, the arid shores of the Caspian, and the sunburnt plains of Mesopotamia ; from the plateaux of Persia, the deserts of Arabia, and even from the fertile valley of the Nile, allured by the extraordinary fertility of this most favoured portion of the Asiatic con- tinent, or driven from their native land by tyranny or want. Time and eircumstances gradually fused the heterogeneous mass into something like homogeneity; the first step to which was probalil}' made by the introduc- tion, in a rude form, of that village system which so nu^rkedly characterises India when viewed as a whole, and which, under the scourge of sanguinary wars, and the heavy o exactions of native or foreign rulers, lias ever been the mainstay of the people. The invaders, if such they were, probably brought with them the elements of civilisation; and the peaceful pursuits of pastoral and agri- cidtural life would necessitate a certain amount of concentration, as no single man or family could dwell alone in a country whose dense jungle required combined la- bour, both to clear it for use and guard it from wild beasts. All this, however, relates to a period concerning which we possess no liistorical record whatever — in which must have originated what may be termed Brah- ininical Hiudooism, whose rise and early progress is shrouded in dense obscurity. From the internal evidence afforded by the system itself, so far as we arc acqiuiinted with it during its early purity, it would seem to have been framed by a snudl confederacy of persons, whose knowledge, both religions and secular, Ijcing far in advance of their age, had enabled them to draw up rules for the guidance of their countrymen, both as regarded their duty to God and their fel- lows. Fully aware, as it would appear, of the great fact, that human institutions have strength and permanence only when based on a religious principle, they set forth their own scheme as the direct ordination of the "Self-Existent One," the "Great First Cause," whose attributes they described in a tone of solemn grandeur not uubefittiug their high theme ; and to enforce their precepts and heighten their influence, made much use of the rude lyrics extant among the people, to which they added others. These were com- piled under the name of the Yedas (a word derived from a Sanscrit root, signifying to know), by one ^'yasa, who lived iu the four- 14 CODE OF MENU— NINTH CENTURY, B.C. teenth century before the Christian era. In describing the religious creed of the Hindoos, and commenting on the opinions entertained respecting the comparative an- tiquity of Brahminism and Boodhism, the most ancient sacred writings of each of these great sects will be noticed ; but here it is only necessary to remark, that the Vedas bear incontestable evidence of having been written at difierent periods, some being in very rugged Sanscrit, others, though an- tiquated, coming within the pale of that language in the polished form in which Sir William Jones found it, when he declared it to be " of a wonderful structure, more per- fect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either."* One only of the Vedas, the Soma Veda, has yet been translated into English. The translator. Dr. Stephenson, of Bombay, leans to the opinion of its having been com- posed out of India, but brought there by the Brahmins from some northern country at a very remote period. Another authority, after a careful examination of the same book, has arrived at a directly opposite conclusion. f Be this as it may, there are expressions in the Vedas which prove that the majority of the detached pieces of difl'erent kinds of poetic composition which they comprise, were written in a country where maritime commerce was highly esteemed, where a sa- crificial ritual had already been fixed, and mythological legends abounded. The fre- quent reference to war and to chariots in- dicate, moreovei', the previous establishment of sepai'ate states, and the cultivation of military art. The first comprehensive view of the state of society among the Hindoos is aflbrded by the code of laws which bears the name of Menu, and is supposed, but not on very convincing data, to have been compiled in or about the ninth century, b.c.J Whe- ther Menu himself were a real person- age or no is an open question, and one of little importance, since his appearance is merely dramatic, like that of the speakers • Astatic liasearches, vol. i., p. 422. T Arthur's Miasio7i to the Mysore, p. 441. X Sir W. Jones supposed the Code to have been compiled about 300 years after the Vedas {As. It., vol. vii., p. 283) ; but Klphinstone fixes the date at some time about half-way between Alexander, in the fourth century, li.c, and the Vedas in the four- teenth. (Vol. i., p. 430.) § Cast, the common woi-d, is not Indian, but Vm'^- lish ; and is given in Jolinson's Dictionary as derived from the Spanish or Portuguese, casta, a breed. In in the dialogues of Plato or of Cicero. No hint is given as to the real compiler, nor is there any clue to the ancient commentator Calluca, whose endeavours to gloss over and explain away some doctrines of Menu, seems to indicate that opinion had already begun to change, even in his day ; while many suc- ceeding commentators, and some of very ancient date, speak of the rules of Menu as applicable to the good ages only, and not extending to their time. The chief feature in the code is its di- vision of the people into four classes or casts ;§ namely, the Brahmins or sacer- dotal ; the Cshatriya or military ; the Vai- syas or industrial ; and the Soodras|| or ser- vile. The three first classes were termed the " twice-born," their youths being admitted, at certain ages, by a solemn ceremony, to participate in the religious and social privi- leges of their elders ; but the fourth and low- est cast was rigidly excluded from all these. The degradation of the Soodras has given rise to the idea of their being the people whom the superior classes had conquered ; and similar inferences may be drawn from the fact that, while the " twice-born" were all strictly forbidden, under any circumstances, to leave, what, for want of a better term, may be styled Hindoostan Proper ; the Soodra, distressed for the means of sub- sistence, might go where he would. It ap- pears, however, from the code, that there were still cities governed by Soodra kings, in which Brahmins were advised not to re- side. From this it seems probable that the independent Soodra towns were situated in such of the small territories into which Hindoostan was divided as yet retained their freedom, while the whole of the tracts south of the Vindya mountains remained un- touched by the invaders, and unpenetrated by their religion. Ou the other hand, it is remarkable that neither the code of Menu, nor the more ancient Vedas, so far as we ara at present acquainted with their con- tents, ever allude to any prior residence, or to a knowledge of more than the name of Sir W. Jones' Translation of Menu, the word em- ployed is " class :" the Brahmins constantly use the Sanscrit term as signifying a species. \\ Tliere are few things more perplexing in the study of Indian history than the various modes of s])elling proper names and other words, which have resulted from the difficulty of re|iresenting them in the characters of our alphabet. In tlie present work, tiie author has deemed it advisable to adopt that best known and most easily read, in preference to what might have been more eriticallv correct. HINDOO CHRONOLOGY. SOLAR AND LUNAR DYNASTIES. 15 any country out of India. Even mytho- logy goes no farther than tlic Himalaya mountains for the location of tlio gods. Witli regard to the condition of the Sooth'as, it appears to have hccn in many points similar, hut in some decidedly prefcrahle, to that of the helot, the slave, or the serf of the Greek, the Roman, and the feudal sys- tems, excepting only its stern prohibition of any share in the ordinances of religion. But this might have originated in the probable circumstance of the conquered people having a distinct creed of their own, to prevent the spreading of which among their discii)les, the Brahmins* (in whom, Elphinstone has well said, the common interests of their class, mingled, probably, with much pure zeal for their niouotheistic faith, was deeply rooted) united religion and rank so closely in their able scheme, that to break through, or even in minor observances to deviate from the strict rules of duty laid down for the guidance of the several regenerate classes, was to forfeit position, and literally to incur the penalty of a civil death, far passing excommunication in severity, and to place themselves under a ban which wearisome penance could alone remove. One passion — and it would seem only one — was strong enough to break down the barriers of cast. A mixed race sprang up, who were gradually formed into classes, and divided and subdivided, until the result is now seen in an almost countless number of small communities. In subsequent sections, in describing manners, customs, laws, and government, it will be necessaiy to show what these were in the days of Menu, atul the changes which graduallj' took place up to the period of English dominion ; but at present wo are more immediately concerned with that difficult sidijeet, the chronological succession of events in Hindoo history. Oriental research has, as yet, revealed to us but one Hindoo work that can be strictly considered historical, the Annals of Caxh- mere, ably ti'anslated by Professor Wilson, which refers chiefly to a limited territory on the extreme northern frontier of India, and contains little more than incidental men- tion of Hindoostau and the Dcccau. There is, besides, an evident and not unnatural desire on the part of the native writer to aggrandize the rulers of Cashmere at the • Elphinstone suggests a doubt " whether the conquerors were a foreign peop'.e or a local tribe, like the Dorians in Greece; or whether, indeed, they were not merely a portion of one of the native states (a religious sect, for instance,) which had outstripped expense of the neighbouring princes, which gives an impression of onc-sidcdncss to a production possessed, notwithstanding, of much value aiul interest. The student is, therefore, compelled to fall back upon the wide field, as yc't but very partially explored, presented in tlie sacred books, the legislative records, and the two great epic poems. The knowledge obtainable from these sources is, in too many cases, rendered comparatively useless, l)y the misleading chronology taught by the Brahmins, apparently as a means of sustaining the claim of their nation to a fa- bulous antiquity. The periods employed in the computation of time arc equally strange and imsatisfactory, and arc rendered pe- culiarly puzzling by the astronomical data on which they arc partially founded. A complete revolution of the nodes and ap- sides, which they suppose to be performed in 4,.320,000,006 years, forms a calpa, or day of Brahma. In this are included four- teen manwantaras, or periods, each contain- ing seventy-one maha yugas, or great ages, which again comprise, respectively, four yugas, or ages, of unequal length. These last bear some resemblance to the golden, silver, brazen, and iron ages of the Greeks, and are alone considered by the Brahmins as marking the periods of human history since the creation of the existing world, which they believe to liave occurred about four million years ago. The first, or satya yuga, lasted 1,728,000 years, through the whole of which a king named Satyavrata, otherwise called Vaivaswata, lived and reigned. This monarch is described as having escaped with his family from an uni- versal deluge, which destroyed the rest of the world. From him descended two royal lines, one of which, under the designation of Soorya, the children of the sun, reigned at Ayodhya orOude; the other, Chandra, or the children of the moon, at Pratisht'hana or Vitora, in the tract between the Jumna and Ganges, through the 1,296,000 years of the second, or trcta yuga ; the 8f) 1,000 years of the third, or dwapar yuga ; and the first 1,000 years of the present, or eali yuga, at which time both the solar and lunar races became extinct; as also a distinct cotempo- rary race, the descendants of .Tarasandha,who began to reign in Magadha or Behar, at the their fellow citizens in knowledge, and appropriated all the advantages of the society to themselves." — Jlhtnrii iif India, vol. i., p. 90. t It is evident that in the time of Menu there were no slaves attached to the soil. IG RESIDENCE OF EARLY HINDOO PRINCES AND BRAHMINS. commencement of the call yuj^a. I'he last reigning; prince of the Jarasaudha family was slain by his prime minister, who placed his own son, Pradyota, on the throne. Fifteen of the usurping race enjoyed the sovereignty to the time of Nauda, who, in extreme old age (after a reign, it is said, of 100 years), was murdered by a Brahman, by whom a man of the Maurya race, named Chandra- Gupta, was placed on the vacant throne.* The genealogies of the two parallel lines of the sun and moon are derived from the sacred writings called the Puranas.f Sir AYilliam Jones framed his list from the Bha- gavat Parana; Captain Wilford subsequently collated his genealogical table of the great Hindoo dynasties from the Vishnu and other Puranas;J and, if critical research should eventually succeed in enabling us to correct the errors of Indian chronology, much information may be obtained by means of those lists respecting the early rulers. Wanting this clue, the student will find abundant material for theory, but the historian little that he dares make his own ; for the narratives given in the Piiranas abound in discrepancies regarding time and place, and are so blended with myths and allegories, that it is next to impossible, at present, to separate truth from fiction, until the period of the^Maha Bh.arat or Great War.§ The scene of the adventures of the first princes, and the residence of the most fa- mous sages, appears to be uniformly placed, both in the Purauas, and the far older in- • Accordiiiff to Mill (vol. i., p. 160) ; but Elphin- stone states Chandra Gupta to have been ninth in succession from Nanda. — Vol. i., p. 261. t Tiiere are eighteen Puranas, which are considered to have been composed between the eighth and six- teenth centuries, A.D. ; but several of the_ authors ap])ear to have made use of much more ancient MS. histories to interweave among their own. X The lines of the Sun and Moon, and the Magadha dynasty, are given at length by Colonel Tod, in the first volume of his vaKuible and voluminous work the Annals of Rajaslhan. They were extracted from the Puranas by a body of pundits, and differ more or less in various parts from those published by Sir W. Jones, Mr. Bentley, and Colonel Wilford. Tod's view of the vexed question of early Hindoo records may be understood from his careful enume- ration of various traditions which all " appear to point to one spot, and to one individual, in the early history of maidund, when the Hindoo and Greek ap- proach a common focus, for there is little doubt that Adnath, Adiswara, Osiris, IJaghes, Bacchus, Menu, >Ien(:s, designate the patriarch of mankind, Noah" (vol. i., p. 22). The solar and lunar lines he con- fciders to have been established 2,2.10 ye.irs, B.C., about a century and a half after the flood, the former bv Ichswaca the .son of Vaivaswawo Menu, the latter stitutes of Menu, in a tract called Bramha- verta, because of its sanctity, situated be- tween the rivers Seraswati (Sersooty) and Drishadwati (Caggar), 100 miles to the nortli- west of Delhi ; and about 65 miles long by 20 to 40 broad. || Probably the next territory ac- quired lay between that above-mentioned and the Jumna, and iucluded North Behar, this country being mentioned in the second place under the honoured name of Brahmar- shi, while Brahmins born within its boun- daries were pronounced suitable teachers of the several usages of men.^ At Oude, in the centre of Brahmarshi, the Puranas, (in which the preceding early stages are not noticed,) fix the origin of the solar and lunar races, from one or other of which all the royal families of ancient India were de- scended. Some fifty to seventy generations of the solar race, who, in the absence of re- liable information, appear little better than myths, bring down the Purana narrative to Rama, the ruler of a powerful kingdom in Hindoostan, and the hero of the oldest Hindu epic — the Ramayana. The chief incident is the carrying off of Sita, the queen of Rama, by Ravana, the king of the island of Lanka, or Ceylon. Rama leads an army into the Decean, penetrates to Ceylon, and, with the assistance of a strange people allegorized as an army of monkeys, led by Hooniman, their king, gains a complete victory over the ra- visher, and recovers his wife, who vindicates her fidelity by successfully passing the or- deal of fire. According to the system of by Boodha, who married Ichswatoo's sister Ella, asserted to be the earth personified — Boodha him- self being " the parent and first emigrant of the Indu [Sanscrit for the moon] race, from Saca Dwipa or Scythia to Hindust'han" (p. 45). In another place Tod describes Boodha as the great progenitor of the Tartars, Chinese, and Hindus, " Boodha (Mercury), the son of Indu (the moon), [a male deity] became the patriarchal and spiritual leader, as Fo in China ; Woden and Teutates of the tribes migrating to Europe. Hence it follows that the religion of Boodha must be coeval with the existence of these nations ; that it was brought into India Proper by them, and guided them until the schism of Crishna and the Sooryas, worshippers of Bal, in time depressed them, when the Boodha religion was modified into the present mild form, the Jain" (p. 58). § See Prinsep's Thcful 7'nhles, Professor Wilson's edition of the I'ishnu Purona, Sir W^. Jones and Colonel Wilford's articles in Asiatic Jicscarches, vols. ii. and v., and Dr. 11. Buchanan's Hindoo Oencahirjics. \\ Menu, book ii., v. 17, 18: 'Wilson, preface to Vishnu Purann, p.lxvii. ^ Menu, book ii., v. 10, 20; Elphinstonc, vol. i., p. 388. NATIVE PRINCES MENTION KD IN THE RAMAYANA. 17 deifying great men after their decease, whieli gradually erept into Brahuiinism, Rama, upon Ills death, was honoured as a f;od, aiul Ids iniafjc worship])pd, his natural form heiu;; declared to have been an i^iearnatiou (the seventh) of Vishnu, one of the three persons, or prinei|)l('s, of the Hindoo 'J'riuity. A remarkable passage occurs in the Uaina- yana, in wliieli mention is made of certain forcifin princes,who were invited by Dasaratha (the father of Kama) to be present at the As- wamedha* or solemn sacrifice of a horse about to be ofl'ered up by the aged monarch, to proein'C from the gods the bli^ssing of male posterity. The names mentioned are the " sovereign of Kasi or Benares, the rajahs of Magadha or Behar, of Sindu and Su- rashta (Sinde and Surat), of Unga and Savira (of which one is conjectured to mean Ava, the other some district situated on the Persian frontier), and, in fine, the princes of the south or the Deccan. lleeren, who cites the above passage from the Ram'ayana, adds — " they are represented as the friends, and some of them also as the relations of Dasaratha, by no means however as his vassals. It is therefore evident that the author of the most ancient Hindoo epic poem considered India to be divided into a number of separate and independent princi- palities. "t This opinion, however, is not founded en indisputable grouiuls, for many of his auxiliaries appear to have stood to Dasaratha in the relation of viceroys, or at least inferior chieftains. The antiquity of the poem is unquestioned ; the author, Val- miki, is said to have been cotemporary with the event he has so ably commemo- rated, i but we have no means of fixing the date of either poem or poet except as some- where between that of the Vedas and the Maha Bharat, since king Dasaratha is de- scribed as deeply versed in the precepts of • Aswa is thouglit to be the etymon of Asia, niedlia signifies " to ivill." t llceren's Historical Jiesearchcs, Oxford Transla- tion; 1833: vol. iii., \).2'.n. I "llama preceded Crishna: but as their histo- irians, Valmika and Vyasa, who wrote the events tliey witnessed [this point is, however, questioned], were cotemporaries, it could not liave been by many years."- -(Tod's Annals of Rnjasihaii, vol. i., p. 457. § The origin of the I'andon family is involved in fable, invented, evidently, to cover some great dis- grace. According to tradition, Pandoo, whose capi- tal was at Hastinapoora, being childless, his queen, by a charm, enticed the deities from their spheres, and became the mother of Yoodishtra, IJhima, Ar- jooua (the famous archer), Nycula, and Sidcva. On the death of Pandoo, Yoodishtra, with the aid of tl;o priesthood, was declared king, although the illc- the Vedas and Vcdangas, while on the other hand an epitome of the Ramayana is given in the Maha ]iharat. After Rama, sixty princes of his race ruled in succession over his dominions, but as no more mention is made of Ayodha ((Jiule) it is possible that the kitigdoni (which was at one time callc'd Coshala) may have merged in another; and that the capital wa.s transferred from Oude to Canouj. The heroic poem, entitled the " Maha Bharat" or Great War, afibrds an account of many historical events, in the details of a contest between the lines of Pandoo§ a]id of Curoo, two branches of the reigning lunar race for the territory of Hastinapoora, supposed to be a ])hice on the Ganges, north-east of Delhi, which still bears the ancient name.|| The rivals are supported by numerous allies, and some from very remote parts. The enumeration of them appears to aftbrd evidence similar to that deducible from the above cited pas- sage of the Ramayana, that there were many distinct states in India among which a con- siderable degree of intercourse and connec- tion was maintained. Not only are princes from the Deccan and the Indus mentioned, as taking part in the struggle, but auxilia- ries are likewise included belonging to na- tions beyond the Indus, especially the Yavans, a name which most orientalists consider to apply exclusively to the Greeks. ^f The Pandoos are eventually conquerors, but are represented as having paid so dearly for their victory, in the loss of their friends and the destruction of their armies, that the chief survivors quitted their country, and are supposed to have perished among the snows of the Himalaya.** The hero of the poem is Crishna, the great ally of the Pan- doos, who was deified after his death as having been an incarnation of Vishnu, or even Vishnu himself. He was born of the gitiniacy of himself and his brothers was asserted by Dnryodhanu, the nephew of the deceased sovereign, who, as the representative of the elder branch, re- tained his title as head of the Curoos. For the whole story of the Maha Bharat, and it is a very interesting one, see the Asiatic liiscarc/ics, and the comments of Tod in the early part of his Amtals of Rajasthan. II Kljihinstone, vol. i., p. 390. 5[ Tiie Greeks, or lonians, are descended from Javan, or Yavan, the seventh from Jai)het. — (Tod's liajasthah, vol. i., p. 51. •• Tod surmises that they did not perish thus, but migrated into the Peloponnesus, and founded the colony of the Heraclida>, stated by Volney to have been formed there 1078 years, H.e. See the reason for this conjecture, based chiefly on the supposition of the Pandoos i>eing the descendants of the liidian Hercules, pp. ■iS, 51. 18 MAGADHA ICINGS TO CHANDRA GUPTA, OR SANDRACOTTUS, royal family of Mattra on the Jumna, but brought up by a herdsman in the neigh- bourhood, who eonccaled him from the tyrant who sought to slay him. This phase of his life is a very favourite one with the Hindoos, and he is worshipped in an infant form by an extensive sect, as also under the figure of a beautiful youth, in commemoration of the time he spent among the " gopis" or milkmaids, dancing, sporting, playing on the pipe, and captivating the hearts alike of rural maidens and princesses. Among the numerous exploits of his more mature age was the recovery of his usurped inheritance, whence, being driven by foreign foes, he removed to Dwarika, in Guzerat, where he founded a principality. He soon however became again involved in civil discord, and, according to Tod, was slain by one of the aboriginal tribes of Bheels. The Maha Bharat describes the sons of Crislina as finally returning to the neighbourhood of the Jumna. The war is supposed to have taken place in the fourteenth century, b.c, about 200 years before the siege of Troy, and the famous and lengthy poem in which it is commemorated is, as before stated, attri- buted to Vyasa, the collector of the Vedas. The princes who succeeded the Pandoos, are variously stated at from twenty-nine to sixty- four in number; they appear to have transferred the seat of their government to Delhi ; but little beyond a name is recorded of any of them. The kings of INIagadha or Behar (the line mentioned as cotem- porary with the latter portion of the dy- nasties of the sun and moon), play a more conspicuous part in the Purana records ; they afford a connected chain from the war of the INIaha Bharat to the fifth century after Christ, and present an appearance of proba- bility, besides receiving striking confirma- tions from various quarters. Tlicy arc fre- quently referred to in inscriptions sculptured on stone, or engraved on copper plates, conveying grants of land, or charters of privileges and immunities, which are very numerous, and not only contain the date of the grant, and the name of the prince by whom they were conferred, but in most cases enumerate, also, certain of his pre- decessors. The first of the Magadha kings, Jara- sandha, is mentioned in the Maha Bharat as the head of a number of petty princes. The ruling monarch at the conclusion of the war was Sahadcva ; the tliirty-fifth in suc- cession from him was Ajata Satru; and in his reign, according to high authority,* Sakya, or Gotama, the founder of the Boodha religion flourished, and died about 550, B.C. This date, if reliable, does good service by fixing the era of Satru ; but other eminent writers consider Boodhism of much earlier origin ; and some as coeval with, or even older than Brahminism.f The sixth in succession from Satru was Nanda, who, unlike his long line of regal ancestors of the Cshatriya, or military class, was born of a Soodra mother ; his ninth suc- cessor, who bore his name, was murdered by Chandra Gupta, J a man of low birth who iisurpcd the throne. This Chandra Gupta has been, after much research, identi- fied with Sandracottus, the cotemporary of Alexander the Great, and thus a link had been obtained wherewith to connect India with European history, and also with that of other Asiatic nations. The foregoing particulars have been given on strictly In- dian authority, for although much extrane- ous information may be obtained from early foreign writers it is difficult to ascertain how to separate truth from fiction. § Ac- cording to Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Cicero, the first Indian conqueror was Bacchus or Dionysus, afterwards deified, who led an army out of Greece, subdued India, taught the inhabitants the use of wine, and built the city of Nysa. The Egyp- tians, who spared no pains to fortify their claim to the highest antiquity and earliest civilization, and never scrupled to appro- priate the great deeds of the heroes of other countries, as having been performed by their own rulers, maintained that Osiris, their conqueror, having first added Ethi- opia to his dominions, marched thence to India through Arabia, taught the use of wine, and built the city of Nysa. Both these stories evidently refer to the same person ; namely, the Indian prince Vaisva- wata Menu; whom Tod, the pains-taking but wildly theoretical Maurice, and other writers affirm to have been no other than the patriarch Noah. Be this as it may, one of the most valuable of ancient writers, Diodorus the Sicilian, declares, on the authority of Indian tradition, that Bacchus (Vaisvawata Menu) belonged to their own nation, was a lawgiver, built many stately * EIpliiiiRtnne, vol. i., pp. 209,201. t See note to page 14. i Chanilra Gupta signifies "protected by tlip moon." § .lustin stales that the Scythians conqiiercd a great part of Asia, and penetrated to Egypt l,r>00 years before Ninus, first king of Assyria. INDIAN INVASIONS.— SEMIRAMIS, SESOSTRIS, HERCULES, & CYRUS. 1!) cities, instituted divine worship, and erected everywhere courts of justice. Tlic alleged invasions of Semiramis,* Sc- sostris,t IlcreuleSjf and Cyrus, are all denied by Arrian, except tliat attributed to Her- cules. Strabo disjiutcs even that, adding; that the Persians liired inerceiiarics from India but never invaded it.§ The whole question respecting the nature of the alleged con- nection c-vistiug between India and Persia, is one which scarcely admits a satisfactory explanation. Before the time of Cyrus the Great (the son of King Carabyses, the con- queror of Babylon and the Shepherd whose coming to perform the pleasure of the om- nipotent God of the Hebrews, was foretold by Isaiah) ||, Persia was no more than an • The Assvrian invasion, acoordinp; to the chrono- logy of Capellus, took place about 1970, a.m. It was planned by Semiramis, the widow of Ninus, who, after consolidating her husband's Bactrian conquests, resolved to attempt the subjugation of India, being led tliereto by the reported fruitfulncss of the soil and the riclies of its inliabitants. She spent tliree years in assembling an immense army, drawn from all the provinces of her extensive empire, and caused the sliipwrights of Phoenicia, Syria, and Cyprus, to send to the frontier 2,000 shijjs or large barks, in pieces, so that they might be carried thence to the Indus, and there put in array against the naval force of the Indians. All things being ready, Semiramis niarohed from Bactria (Balk) with an army, which it has been well said, " the Greek historians have, by tlieir relations, rendered less wonderful than incre- dible j" for they describe it as having consisted of 3,000,000 foot, 000,000 horse, 100,000 war chariots, and 100,000 camels, a portion of the latter being made to resemble elephants — by means of a frame- work being covered with the skins of oxen ; this device being employed to delude the Indians into the belief of the invaders being superior to them even in this respect. Stabrobates, the king of tlie countries bordering the Indus, on receiving intelli- gence of the intended invasion, assembled his troops, augmented the number of his elephants, caused ■4,000 bo.ats to be built of cane (which is not subject to rot, or to be eaten by worms, evils known to be very prevalent at the pre.sent day), to occupy the Indus ; and headed his army on the eastern bank, in readi- ness to su))port them. The attacking fleet being victorious, Stabrobates abandoned his position, leav- ing the enemy a free passage ; and Semiramis, mak- ing a bridge of boats, crossed over with her whole force. The counterfeit elephants, which play an important part in the narrative, were marched in front, and at first created great alarm ; but the deception being revealed by some deserters from the camp, the Indians recovered tlieir spirits. A fierce contest ensued, in which the Assyrians had at first the advantage, but were eventually totally over- thrown, and Semiramis fled, accompanied by a very slender retinue, and escaped with great difficulty to lier own dominions. Such is the tale related by Diodonis Siculus ; and, however little to be relied on in many respects, it may at least be cited in testi- mony of the reputation for wealth and civilization inconsiderable kingdom, uftcrwards compre- hended in a single province, retaining the ancient name of Pars ; but the conquests of the youthful general, on behalf of his uncle and I'atiier-in-law, Cyaxares, King of Media, whom he succeeded, enabled him to unite the thrones of Persia and Media, as well as to sway neighbouring and distant states, to an extent which it is at present not easy to deline, though it was amply sufficient to form what was termed the Persian empire, 557, B. c. His eastern frontier certainly touched the verge of India ; but whether it encroached yet farther, is a matter of doubt, and has been so for centuries. Nor is it even an established point wdierc India itself terminated ; for although Elphinstouc and enjoyed by India at a very early period. With regard to Semiramis, recent discoveries of ruins and de- ciphering of inscriptions have placed her e.xistence as an historical personage Ijeyond a doubt. t The invasion of Sesostris, king of Egypt, A.sr. 3023, is alleged to have been as successful as that of Semiramis had proved disastrous. Desu-ing to render his subjects a commercial peo])le, he fitted out a fleet of -100 ships in the Arabian Gulf, or Ked Sea (being the inventor, it is alleged, of ships of war), by means of which all the countries stretching along the Ery- threan or Arabian Sea tolndia were subjugated. Mean- while he led his army through Asia, and being every- where victorious, crossed the Ganges and advanced to the Indian Ocean. He spent nine years in this expedition, but exacted no other tokens of submis- sion from the conquered nations than the sending annually of presents to Egypt. Perhaps this story, recorded by Diodorus Siculus, and quoted by Harris and by Robertson (who discredits it), in his Histo- rical Disquisition coiiccrnint/ Ancient India, ]). 6, may have originated in the eflbrts of Sesostris for the extension of commerce ; but the success of his plans, whether pursued by warlike or [jcaceful means, could have been at best but short-lived, since, after his death the Egyptians relapsed into their preWous anti-maritime habits ; and centuries elapsed before their direct trade with India became of importance. t The Greek accounts of Hercules having been in India is tliought to have arisen from the fact of there having been a native prince of that name, who, according to the Hindoo traditions cited by Diodorus Siculus (wlio wrote -14, B.C.), was after his death honoured as a god, having in life excelled all mere men in strength and courage ; cleared both the sea and land of monsters and wild beasts; founded many cities, the most famous of which was Palibotbra, where he built a stately palace strongly fortified, and rendered impregnable by being surrounded by deep trenches, into which he let an adjacent river. Whea liis numerous sons were grown up, he divided India equally among them ; and they reigned long and happily, but never engaged in any foreign expe- ditions, or sent forth colonies into distant countries, being content with the resources of theh own fertile doMiains. § Arrian's Indica: Strabo, lib. sv. ; Elphinstone, vol. i., p. 440. ■ « Isaiah ; chap, xliv., v. 28. 20 DARIUS CODOMANUS OF PERSIA PHILIP OF MACEDON— b.c. 337. other writers follow Strabo in declaring the Indus, from the mountains to the sea, to have formed its western limit, other autho- rities eonsider the territory of the Hindoos to have stretched far beyond. Colonel Wil- ford adduces a verse in their Sacred Writ- ings, which prohibits the three ujoper, or " twice-born" classes, from crossing the In- dus, but says that they were at liberty to pass to the other side, by going round its source.* Amid so many difficulties and con- tradictory statements, it is only possible to note the points which seem most reasonable and best authenticated. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, was raised to the throne of Persia, b.c. 521, by the seven nobles who conspired against Gomates, the Magian, by whom it had been usurped after the death of Cambyses, the son and successor of Cyrus, whose daughter Atossa he afterwards married. Desiring to know the termination of the Indus, and the state of the adjacent countries, with a view to their conquest, Darius built a fleet at Cas- patyrus, in the territory of Pactyica on that river, which he entrusted to a skilful Greek mariner named Scylax, who fulfilled his in- structions by sailing down the whole length of the Indus, thence coasting to the straits of Bab-el-iMandeb, and ascending the Arabian gulf to the port at its northern extremity. The account given by Scylax of the fertility, high cultivation, and dense population of the country through which his route lay, incited Darius at once to attempt its acquisi- tion. By the aid of the Tyriaus, who were intimately acquainted with the navigation, he brought a numerous force on the coast, while he himself headed a laud attack. According to Dr. Robertson, he subjugated " the districts watered by the Indus ;'t while Colonel Chesney speaks of his conquests as limited to the " Indian territory westward of the Indus. J" Both appear to rely exclu- sively on the testimony of Herodotus, who states that " the Indians" consented to pay an annual tribute of 360 Euboean talents of • Asiatic liacarches, vol. v!., p. 58.5. t Jh. Kobertson's Historical JUisrjuisifinn, p. 12. j Colonel Chesney's Siirvei/ of the liicers Tigris and Euphrates. London: 1850; vol. ii., p. 180. § Herodotus, lib. iii. and iv. II During tlio reign of Artaxerxes, the third son of Xerxes (llie Aliasuerus of the book of Esther), Ctesias, the king's physician, and the author of a voluminous history of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and I'ersian empires, wrote a book on India, founded upon the accounts he obtained from the Persians. His works are not now exUuit^ though various extracts are to be gold, or a talent a day — the Persian year being then considered to comprise only 360 days. The sum wotild appear to be over- stated ; for a single talent, at the lowest computation, was equal to £3,000 English money ; and even, though India may have then deserved its high reputation as a gold- producing region, this tax would have been very onerous. It is, however, certain, that at this time the force of Persian gold was known and feared by neighbouring states, and had a powerful share in enabling the successors of Darius to keep together the chief part of the widely-scattered dominions, which he displayed great ability in even par- tially consolidating and dividing into satra- pies, or governments ; of these his Indian possessions formed the twentieth and last.§ Xerxes, the son and successor of Darius, had a body of Indian troops in his service ; but he discouraged maritime intercourse, considering traffic by land more desirable ; and indeed he and his successors are said to have adopted the Babylonian policy of pre- venting invasions by sea, by blocking up the navigation of some of the chief rivers, in- stead of guarding the coast with an efficient naval force. We find but few traces of India || during the remaining reigns of the Persian mo- narchs, until the time of their Last ruler, Darius Codomanus, who succeeded to the sway of a disorganized territory, consisting of numerous provinces, or rather kingdoms, differing in religion, languages, laws, cus- toms, and interests ; and bound together by no tic of a permanent character. A power- ful enemy was at hand, in the neighbouring kingdom of Macedon, which had sprung into importance almost as rapidly as Persia, and in a similar manner, having been raised by the talents of a single individual. Philip had acceded to the government of an ordinary state, weakened by war and dissension ; but taking full advantage of the comiiianding geographical position ot the country, and the warlike spirit of its hardy sons, he ren- found in different autliors. They are all unfavour- ably commented on, especially that on India, by se- veral Greek writers, who pronounce them fabulous. Plutarch, Aristotle, and even Strabo, notwithstand- ing tlieir severe censures, have, however, not scrupled to borrow from the jiages of Ctesias such statements as ai)i)eared to them probable ; and Diodorus, as well as Herodotus and Athenseus, are said to have drawn largely from the same source. Xenophon, w)io was ]ieisonally acquainted with (.'tcsias, speaks of him with great respect, though differing from many of his opinions. ALEXANDER CROSSES THE HELLESPONT TO IxNVADE ASIA. 21 dered it the centre of arts and civilization, second only to Persia in power, and supe- rior even to Persia in inflnenee, on account of the state of corruption aiul excessive luxury into which that enipire liad fallen. The free (Jrci'iaii repui)!ies, weakened hy strife and division, became for the most part subject to Macedonia, whose ancient consti- tution — a limited monarchy, which it was the interest of the community at large to maintain — proved a source of strength alike in olfensive and defensive warfare. Still TMaeedonia appears to have been in some sort triljutary to Persia; and it was pos- sibly a (lis[)ute on this point which had led Philip to form the hostile intentions he was preparing to carry out, and which Arses, King of Persia, was occupied in endeavour- ing to prevent, when both were suddenly arrested in the midst of their schemes; Pliilip, who had escaped so many dangers in the l):ittle-field, being stabbed in his own jialace during the bridal festivities of his daughter Cleopatra, by Pausanias,* a Mace- donian youth of rank ; and Arses was poi- soned about the same time. The tender age of Alexander was for- gotten in the enthusiasm raised by his manly and powerful eloquence, lie assured the assembled Macedonians, previous to the funeral obsequies of his father, that though the name was changed they would find the king remained ; — and he kept his word, elevating none of his personal friends, but continuing the able statesmen and generals in the positions in which he found them. By extraordinary address, this youth (for * The motive of Pausanias is variously stated as having been the instigation of the Persian monarch (in which liglit Alexander chose to view it) ; a desire to revenge a personal insult; or otherwise, from un- governable ])t\ssion for Olympias, the mother of Alex- an large shield called the aspis, and armed with a long sword and with the famous sarlssa, a spear measur- ing four-and-twenty feet. The ordinary depth of the phalanx was sixteen ranks, the best soldiers being placed in the foremost and hindmost ranks, which formed as it were the framework of an engine ■whose efiicicncy depended on its com])nctness and uniformity of movement. — Rev. Connop (now Bishop) ThirlwallsWreeco, vol.vi., p. 147, until his wounded horses became so un- governable ainong the heaps of slain, by which they were hemmed in, that the mo- narch was with difficulty resetted from the melee, by the valour of his brother Oxathres, and placed in another chariot, in which he fled, hotly but imsuccessfully pursued by Alexander, who had himself been slightly injured in the thigh. f Tlie loss of the Persians is stated by Arrian at 100,000, including 10,000 horse; the most valuable part of the baggage had been conveyed to Damascus, but was soon after captured by Parmenio, Alexander's ablest general, through the treachery of its governor. J Meanwhile the family of Da- rius — his mother, wife,§ and children — fell into the hands of the conqtieror, who showed them much personal kindness ; but when earnestly solicited to release them at the price of any ransom he might name, haugh- tily replied, that he would listen to that request only if asked in person, and on con- dition of being addressed as king of Asia, and lord of all once possessed by Darius. The insulted monarch had no resource but once more to prepare for war, which he had still ample opportunities of doing with a fair prospect of success, for the troops of the eastern satrapies, including some of the most warlike in his dominions, were on their way towards Babylon, and a few months might again see him at the head of a more nu- merous and more powerful host than that defeated at Issus, and Alexander might yet meet the fate of the younger Cyrus. Nearly two years elapsed before the kingly rivals again met. Meanwhile the conqueror pursued his meteor-like cotirse, astonishing the world by his unequalled daring, yet consolidating his successes as he proceeded, by the consummate and thoroughly con- sistent policy with which he used all things as instruments of his great designs ; dili- gently and ably promoting the material wel- fare of stibjccts (made such by the sword), t Arrian, lib. ii., cap. xii. j A loyal subject, moved with indignation, slew the traitor, and laid his head at the foot of his injured master. § Statira, the beautiful and beloved wife of Darius, died soon afterwards in childbirth, and Alexander caused her to be interred with every mark of honour; his conduct towards her throughout, so ditfcrent from the usual licentious cruelty of Asiatic con- I qiu'rors, excited a feeling of lively gratitude in the ' iireast of her ill-fated husband, who never forgot this one redeeming feature in the conduct of his un relenting opponent. TYRE, JERUSALEM AND EGYPT SUBDUED, b.c. 832-1. 28 humouriiif? jncjudicc, flattoriug national vanity, rcwaidiiif^ individual service with unbounded nuiniliccuce, but at tlie same time violatin;; in every action the recog- nised rights of men, and showing himself throughout utterly unscrupulous as to the amount of sufl'criug he iullictud, whether in subduing patriots to his will, or inflicting signal vengeance on those who, from the purest motives, ventured to oppose hiui. The island-city of Tyre, after a seven mouths' siege, was conquered by him, through the unconscious fullilment of a 'scripture pro- phecy, in joining the island to the main, by a causeway 80O yards in length. The Ty- rians defended themselves to the last with unfaltering determination ; and, probably to check all thoughts of capitulation, executed their Macedonian prisoners and east them into the sea in the sight of the besiegers, who, when their hour of triumph arrived, made this cruel act the excuse for the most unmitigated ferocity. With the exception of the king and some of the principal peojile, all were involved iu a fearful doom ; 8,000 perished in the first slaughter, 2,000 pri- soners were crucified by order of Alex- ander, and 30,000 (including a number of foreign residents) were sold into slavery.* I Gaza was next subdued : the citizens, to the last man, died in its defence, and their ■women and children were sold as slaves. Alexander then ruarched upon Jerusalem, ■whose high priest Jaddua, had excited his ■wrath by refusing to violate the fidelity due to the Persian monarch in furnishing the invader with a supply of troojis and pro- visions during the siege of Tyre. The Chaldeans and Phoinicians — ancient ene- mies of the Jews — accompanied the con- queror, buoyed up with the hope of sharing in the anticipated plunder, but they were witnesses of a very different result. Wheu the array approached the Holy City, the High Priest, attended by the priests and Levites in their sacerdotal vestments, fol- lowed by a multitude of the inhabitants, decked in ■white feast-day robes, came out to meet Alexander, who, recognising, as he afterwards declared, iu Jaddua, a figure shown to him in a dream at Dios, struck ■with pious awe, ■went up to the temple as a worshipper, and sacrificed according to the • Arriun. Curtius, howovei-, states ihat ij.OOO persons were rescued by the Sidonians. t Tliey probably showed him Daniel, chaps. 7 & 8. X Whiston's Juscphus, book xi., chap. viii. § The ajiproacli to the harbour of .\lexandria was Jewish ritual. The priests informed him of his position as the fulfillor of the prophecy of Daniel, t than which nothing coulcl be more gratifying, either to the ambitious designs or superstitious tendencies of Alex- ander, who took his departure, after luuking munificent offerings, and bestowing extra- ordinary privileges on the Jewish nation. J In January, oIJl, ihc Greeks penetrated into Egypt ; and the people, whose reli- gious prejudices had beeu cruelly insulted by their Persian masters, welcomed the approach of the conciliating conqueror, whose late worship of the God of Israel did not hinder him from sacrificing to their monstrous idols — even to Apis. Sailing down the western or Canobic arm of the Nile, he proceeded to found the greatest of the many noble cities which bore his name, on a sitc§ which he saw would render it an emporium for the commerce of the eastern and western world ; it was colonised w ith a mixed population of Greeks and Romans — the abolition of the alienating prejudices of race being a marked feature in his mighty plan for the establishment of an universal empire. After imitating the exploits attributed by Greek legends to his famous predecessors, Hercules and Perseus, In-aving the bare rocks and burning sands of the Libyan desert, and questioning the oracle of the temple of Ammon, erected in its famed Oasis, he re- turned to Memphis, completed the an-ange- ments needful for the peaceable government of Egypt, and proceeded to Tyre, the ap- pointed rendezvous of his fleet and army, to prepare for a final contest wifh Darius. In the autumn of the same year (331) he crossed the Euphrates, advanced at fidl speed towards the Tigris, where he had expected to meet the hostile force, but being disappointed, rested a few days on the left bank, and then, continuing his march, came up with Darius, whom he found encamped in one of the wide plains between the Tigris and the moimtains of Kurdistan, at a village named Gaugamcla (the camel's or di'omedary's house), about twenty miles from the town of Arbcla, which gave its name to the battle. To the last, Darius had endeavoured to make peace with Alexander, oflcring him the hand ot dangerous; for this reason the famous beacon tower, reckoned among the seven wonders of the world, was built by the first Ptolemy, on a rock near the eastern point of the island of I'hai'os, and threw a light to a (lisUmcc, it is said, of nearly forty miles. 24 BxiTTLE OF ARBELA, 351, b.c— DEATH OP DARIUS. liis daughter, with a dower of 30,000 talents I in gold, and intimating even willingness to divide the empire ; indeed it was probably the hope of some such compromise being effected that induced him to allow the Greeks to cross the Euphrates and Tigris unmolested. The numbers of the respective armies would seem to liavc warranted him in the expectation of being able to dictate rather than solicit peace ; but his munificent terms were not the less unhesitatingly re- jected by the invader, though Parmenio and the Council urged tlieir acceptance. Accord- ing to Arrian, Alexander's force amounted to no more than 40,000 foot, and 7,000 horse; but this is evidently exclusive of the Asiatic levies, which there is reason to be- lieve he had raised. The Persian army has been variously stated by Curtius, Diodorus Siculus, and others, at from 200,000 to W0,000 infantry, and from 40,000 to 200,000 horse, besides the Indian contingent of 200 war chariots and fifteen elephants, ranged in the centre of the mighty host, near the per- son of the monarch. During the weary night preceding the combat, Darius passed along the line by torch-light, cheering his soldiers, all of whom were, by a mistaken policy, kept continuously under arms, from momen- tary fear of a surprise. The dreaded attempt is said to have been actually suggested bj' Parmenio to his sovereign after the latter had retired to his tent, but rejected on the ground that it would be alike ignoble and impolitic to steal a victory, instead of gain- ing it by a fair trial of strength. In the morning the battle commenced, and was long and stoutly contested; the Indo-Scy- thian troops being, we are expressly told by Arrian, among the flower of the Persian army, and figliting valiantly to the death. The strife became very intricate, hostile bodies intermingled witli each other in fierce combat, and the issue seemed to promise little short of annihilation to both parties, when a circumstance, slight in itself, turned the scale. A dart flung by Alexander, who was on horseback, killed the charioteer of Darius ; and the confusion tluis occasioned gave rise to the general belief that the king himself was slain. A complete [lauic en- sued ; the Persians fied in irremedialjle con- fusion, followed by Alexander — who was, however, obliged to renounce the pursuit and return to rescue Parmenio, who com- manded his loft wing, from the critical position in which he had been placed by the resistless onset of the INIassagctian horse. There is no credible statement of the amount of life sacrificed on this eventful day; for that of Arrian, which records the loss of the Persians at 40,000, and the Greeks at 100, can scarcely be entertained. This contest scaled the downfall of one powerful empire, and crowned the conqueror with the fallen diadem, although the escape of Darius was still felt as affording serious cause for anxiety. After allowing his army a brief revel among the luxuries of Babylon, and drain- ing the treasury of Susa of its vast stores of unwrought ingots and golden darics, Alex- ander proceeded to Persepolis, and though he met with no resistance, suffered the stately city to be plundered by his soldiers, excepting oniy its magnificent palace, (which he afterwards set on fire with his own hand,)* and the citadel, which ancient writers agree in statitig to have contained the pro- digious sum of 120,000 talents, or more than £27,000,000 sterling. t Four months elapsed before he resumed the pursuit of Darius, who had meanwhile gathered together a small force, and intended to take refuge in the Bactrian satrapy of Bessus ; but this dis- loyal servant, considering his master's for- tunes desperate, conspired with the satraps of Arachosia and Aria either to kill or to deliver him to the Greeks, according as might best serve their private purpose — the securing independent possession of their satrapies. Alexander, after marching rapidly through Media, had reached a mountain pass called the Caspian Gates, before intelli- gence arrived of the plot; he exclaimed bitterly against the treachei-y to which his own am- bition had subjected the royal fugitive, and pressed eagerly onwards to his rescue. The conspirators fled before him, and Darius re- solutely refusing to accompany them, was left mortally wounded in his chariot, where his lifeless body was found by Alexander, who buried it with regal honours, provided for the maintenance of Sisygambis (his mother), married his daughter Statira, took charge of the education of his other children, and declared his determination of punishing the assassins. Artabazus, the faithful and long- tried adherent of Darius, then ninety-five years of age, he took into his own service, and evinced his res[)cct for his fidelity by unremitting kindness to him and to his sons. * .\t tlie siifjn-estion, it is siiid, of 'I'lmis, an Athe- nian cn\ii't.i'saii, made to liim wlion I'.patod with wino. Both I'lntarcli and Arrian record his immediate -ind undisguised rcj^ret for the deed. t Qiiintiis Cnrtius, lil). v., cap. 5 ; Diodorus Sicu- lus, lib. xvii., cap. 18 ; Iiislin, lil). xi., cap, 11. GREEKS CROSS THE PAROPAMISUS, AND CAPTURE BACTRTA, 320,8.0. 25 Bessus finding himself disappointed in his hopes now braved the worst, by Ijoklly as- suming the tiara, and the title ol Artaxcrxca King of Asia, in defiance of the pretensions of Alexander, who wished to be coiisi(h'red as the avenger and rif^htfid siiecessor rather tlian the eoniiiieror of Darius, and to receive even from his ]\Iaee(h)iiian sul)jeets the spe- cies of adoration offered by the Persians to their king, as a preliminary to tlic divine honours, to which an oraelc had declared him entitled. The Macedonians viewed these pretensions with undisguised aver- sion, and several of his bravest subjects, including I'hilotas and his father Parmenio, the beloved general of Philip,* became, under different pretences, victims to their opposition to this glaring impiety. f Bar- zaentes, one of the confederates of Bessus, took refuge among the Indians on the bor- der of his eastern satrapy of Arachosia, but was delivered up by them to Alexander, who caused him to be put to death ; Sartabar- zaues, another of the traitors (and a double- dyed one, for he had voluntarily sworn alle- giance to the conqueror), was slain in battle, and the arch conspirator Bessus alone remained. He had consulted his personal safety by fleeing across the vast mountain barrier of India, a part of which is there called the Paropamisus,J trust- ing that the natural difficulties of the coun- try would greatly impede, if not entirely block up, the pursuit of a hostile force. He probably little knew the zeal with which, from very childhood, Alexander had striven for accurate geographical knowledge, eagerly questioning the ambassadors of his father's court as to the routes they had traversed, or heard of, so as to give the wisest of them some partial insight into the schemes even then passing through his brain. On arriving at the root of the chain, he was probably well acquainted with its general direction, as well as the defiles by which it might be traversed, especially since, during his so- journ in Phceuicia, he had had abundant opportunity of ascertaining the nature of • It is recorded by Plutarch, that Philip ohee said the Athenians were lucky to be able to fir.d ten gen- erals every year ; he, in the course of many years, had only found one, Parmenio. t The famous quarrel in which, during; a carousal, Alexander slew his tried friend t'leitas, who liad pre- served liis life in battle at the risk of his own, arose from the same cause; as did also tlie execution of Callisthenes, though on the avowed charge of having incited a conspiracy among the royal pages. t This range (according to Alasson) is distinct from the true Indian Caucasus, or Hindoo Koosh; — the trade with India, and the means by which it was carried on, by land as well as by sea. At the foot of the pass by which he intended crossing, Alexander founded an- other Alexandria (ad f^ancasum), where he planted a colony of M;iecdoiiian veterans; then, undeterred by the severity of the yet unexpired winter, he avoided the dangerous period of the melting snows, by commenc- ing his mountain march, which lasted fifteen days, and was rendered arduous and hai'as- sing, not oidy from the natural causes of cold and fatigue, but also by scarcity of pro- visions. Bessus had laid waste the whole country between the lower valleys on the northern side, and the left bank of the Oxus, before he passed over with his troops, after which he burned the boats which had conveyed them. Alexander having captured the town and fortress of Aorni, and IJaetra the chief city of Baetria (supposed to be the modern Balk), committed the eliarge of the newly-acquired territory to the venerable Artabazus ; then dismissing some of the more infirm, or least willing, of the Mace- donian troops and Thcssalian volunteers, he proceeded across a strip of the great desert, which stretches from the Caspian to the high table-land, containing the .sources of the Oxus and Jaxartes. On arriving at the former river, no boats or building materials could be procured, and the breadth was little less than 800 yards ; but even this obstacle was overcome, and the whole of the troops transported safely over on skins stuffed with straw. The passage being aecorapjislied after six days' labotir, the Greeks pushed across the desert in a northerly direction, ] but were met by envoys from two of the chief followers of Bessus, who fell a victim to the same treachery he had practised to- wards Darius ; and being delivered up by his followers, Spitamenes and others, sutlcrcd a cruel and ignotninious death. ^ The ob- tainmcnt of the avowed object of the expe- dition did not put a stop to Alexander's progress. According to Plutarch it was about this period that he first entertained the name is derived from " par" and " pam," signify- ing hill and Jhit — the region around consisting of flat-topped hills. § He was publicly stripped and scourged, his nose and cars were cut off, and (according to Curlius and Diodorus) he was eventually surrendered to Oxa- thres and other kinsmen of Darius to he executed; but by some accounts he is represented as having been, by order of Alexander himself, torn limb from limb, by means of two trees, to which he was bound, being first bent and then sufi"ered to spring back. — See Langhorne'sPlutarch,ij/(So/'.,Jfca:o«rf<'>-,vol.i¥.,p. 186. 20 COUNTRY OF TAXILAS, AND SITE OF ITS ANCIENT CAPITAL. the idea of followiug up his conquests by that of India. He had now reached a de- lightful region of great beauty and exuberant fertility, whose pastures afforded him fresh horses to supply the loss sustained in march- ing through mountains and deserts ; thence he advanced to the capital of Sogdiana, called Maracanda, since known as Samar- cand, in whose citadel lie placed a Greek garrison. Still proceeding northwards, he founded another Alexandria on the Jaxartes, and was involved in some sharp contests with the Asiatic Scythians, in one of which a body of Macedonian horse were surprised and slain, and in another he was himself wounded. After repressing disturbances among the Sogdians, on whom he wreaked a cruel vengeance for what he thought fit to call rebelUon to his self-constituted autho- rity, he proceeded at the close of 329 to take up his winter quarters at Bactria or Zariaspa. For the next twelve months he found ample employment in stifling the efforts for indej)endeuce of the Scythians, Sogdians, and the Bactrians, incited by Spitamenes, the most active and determined enemy he had yet encountered in Asia. This chief's motive appears to have been dissatisfaction at receiving less reward than he had expected for the surrender of Bessus. ; By a remarkable retributiou he was in turn I betrayed by his own troops, who, desirous I • Taxila must have been a large and splendid city, but its site is still a matter of dispute. Schlosser places it at Attock, and Kennell at or near tlie same place. On the route leading thence to Lahore, are the ruins of a very ancient town of unknown name and origin, which is also supposed to have been Taxila. Abundance of Greek and Bactrian coins have been found in the numerous ruins and cupolas or topes which are scattered over the plain on which the present small village of Manikyala stands. One of these topes or tumuli (examined in 1833-34, by Mons. Court, an engineer officer tlien in the service of Kunjeet Sing) was 80 feet high, with a circum- ference of 320 feet, solidly built of well-dressed quarried stones, some of huge size, cemented with lime ; while a range of small columns, the capitals ornamented with rams' heads, surrounded the base. The Hindoos resort to the sjjot to offer up the first cuttings of the hair of their male children, a custom said to liave been prevalent in ancient Greece. There are about fifteen smaller topes near the jirincipal one ; and, indeed, similar t\miuli abound in different parts of Affghanistan, at Cabool, Jcllalabail, in the Khyljer hills, ^^ic. They are generally constructed of sandstone, and of a nummulitic limestone (full of shell impressions), such as is found in the ]'"gy])tian pyramids. In one of the topes, which had a height of sixty or seventy feet, a cell was discovered at ten feet from tlie ground-level, whose four sides corre- sponded witli tlii^ cardinal points; it was constructed in a solid manner, and covered with a massive slab dangerous of conciliating their powerful foe, cut off the head of their leader, and offered it as their own propitiation. Several of his confede- rates still lived and took refuge in the mountainous region about the tipper valleys of the Oxus, with other chiefs who perse- vered in the struggle for liberty. They were not, however, of sufficient importance to detain Alexander any longer in the coun- tries where he had already spent nearly two years, and which had been subdued only with much difficulty and large expenditure of blood and treasure, as well as by diplomacy; for example, by his marriage with Roxaua, the daughter of Oxyartes, an influential Bactrian chief, he converted a enemy to a firm friend. Greek Invasio.v of India. — In the spring of 327, Alexander prepared to attempt the conquest of the almost unknown countries bordering and beyond the Indus. The pres- tige of his success, and the generosity with which he treated all who submitted to his sway, induced a native ruler to send a friendly embassy before the armyn^uitted Sogdiana. The name of this prince was recorded by the Greeks (who are unfortunately prover- bial for the manner in which they distorted foreign words to suit their own pronuncia- tion) as Omphis, or Mophis ; but he was commonly called Taxiles, from Taxila,* the capital of his country, which lay between containing inscriptions, some resembling the writings of the Rajpoots of the Himalaya, others the Ethio- pian character. In the centre was a copper urn or cylinder, encircled by eight copper medals, (some apparently of the Winged-cap Sassanian dynasty,) with a wrapper of white linen tightly adhering to the surface, which fell into shreds on being exposed to the air. The copper enclosed a silver urn, the in- tervening space being filled with a moist paste, devoid of smell, of the colour of raw umber, in which lay a thread of cotton gathered up into a knot. The silver, from age, had become quite brittle, and crum- bled into bits between the fingers, as the metals found at Nineveh have since done. Within the silver ves- sel was a much smaller golden one, and seven silver medals with Latin characters. The gold cylinder contained four small, worn, golden coins of the Gra-co-Scythian, or Gra»co-Indian type, but of a far inferior fabrication to the silver ones; there were also two precious stones and fovir ])erforated pearls (which had been pendants of ear-rings), fragments of a vitreous nature, and small transparent yellow substances, willi decayed organic matter. The country around, as ])rovcd by the quantity of ruins of old iiouscs, must have once been verv populous. Whether these topes or mounds served for royal mausolea, or lioodhistical shrines, or botli, is doubtful : they were possibly the consecrated tombs of kings or of per- sons of distinction. Some curious coincidences are observable between the ancient monuments and the sepulchral tumuli or harrows discovered in Kssex ALEXANDER'S CAMPAIGN IN AFFGU/VNISTAN, 3i37, n.c. 27 the upper Indus ami the Ilydaspcs (Behiit or Jholum), the vrestcrmost of the five great vributarifs, from whieh the whole eastern basin of the Indus, down to tlieir confluence, is called the Punjaub (five rivers). From Bactria and So^diana, as also from ilio ncighbourini; Scythian hordes, auxil- iaries were raised to the amount of 70,()()() pel sons, of whom 80,000 were youths, levied to servo at once as hostages and soldiers. Altogctl-.er tlic Greek force (exclusive of a corps of 10,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry left in Bactria, nndcr the command of the satrap Amyntas) consisted of 120,000 foot and 15,000 horse. After crossing the Para- pamisau chain, in ten davs, (apjiarently by a riifi'crcnt route to that which had been taken in the winter of 329,) through a pass de- scribed by Arrian as " high, narro'.v, and short,'' the troops reached Alexandria ad Ca\icas\>m, and from thence proceeded to a town named Nysa,* which would appear to have been the same city alleged to have been founded by the Indian Raeehus, or Dionysus. The inhabitaiits are said to have dexterously turned Alexander's claim to be considered as a son of Jupiter to advantage by entreat- ing him to spare and protect the city founded by his " celestial brother ;" and as an e\'i(lenec of the truth of their statement, they pointed to the abundance of vines, wild and imcnltivatcd, growing in their valleys, and to the ivj' and laurel first planted by the hand of Bacchus, of which the Mace- donians had, until then, seen none since they left Greece. Alexander offered sacrifices in honour of his divine predecessor, and per- mitted Nysa, which is described as an aris- toeratical republic under a discreet ruler named Acuphis, to retain its libcrtj' and laws.f On proceeding to the banks of the river Copheues, he was met at liis own re- quest by Taxiles, and several chiefs from the and other parts of Englaiul, which contained, like those of the Punjaub, various bronze urns, enclosing fragments of burnt bones, coins, glass, and even a similar brown or light yellov.- liquid or paste. Virgil, also, in the JEiivid {\i., 215), describes the Roman custom of burning the dead; milk, wine, blood, and other mtincra, supposed to be grateful to the de- ceased, were poured on or mingled with the ashes, and money was usually added to defray the fee of Charon for ferrying the departed spirit across the Styx. • The locality of tlie different towns and rivers mentioned bv Alexander's historians, is much con- tested by modern geographers. The site of Nysa is pointed out by M. Court, at Ashnagur (whose sub- urbs are scattered over with vast ruins of unknown d&te) ; that of Alexandria ad Caucasum is variously placed at Ghuznee and at a place called Siggan ; 1 while the Cophfiies is supposed to denote cither tlie region west of the Indus ; they brought him presents, and promised to gratify his desire for trained elephants, by the gift of all they possessed, which, however, amounted only to five-and-twenty. The army was then divided ; one ])ortion, under IIej)ha;stion and Perdiceas, took the direct road to the Indus, with orders there to prepare a bridge of boats for the passage of the main body, whieh Alexander conducted by a more nor- thern route over difficult mountain paths, to meet the hardy and warlike tribes, men- tioned by Arrian under the names of the Aspii, tlie Thrynei, and the Arsjei. In a contest with the iidiabitants of one of the towns, he was wounded, and tlie Greeks in their rage (having carried the double walls,) g.ivc no quarter, but slaughtered all without distinction, and reduced the place to ashes. The whole of this campaign in the high laiuls of Affghanistan was marked by de- termined bravery on the part of the moun- taineers, and sanguinary cruelty on that of the invader, who had no other plan for sub- duing a people, who desired — not generosity but justice, not to be well governed after his fashion, but to remain independent after their own. In the country of the unoffend- ing Assaccncs]: he behaved with especial barbarity. Having encamped before their capital, ]\razagu, he made three determined attacks with battering-engines on different days, during whieh he was wounded in the leg and arm ; the result of a fourth assault was yet doubtful, when the Affghan chief was slain, and the garrison were suffered to capitulate on the condition that 7,000 mer- cenaries from the Punjaub, who had been engaged ii\ tlie service of the deceased leader, should join the Greek army. They accordingly marched out and encamped on a hill for the night, but evinced so much reluctance at the thouglit of fighting against river formedby the confluence of the Cahonl with the PeiitlJsher, or else the eastern branch of the Sel- muuil, now known as the Tarnuck. The reader desirous of understanding the grounds upon which these and other opposite opinions rest, will find them fully discussed by the highest Indian authorities, in the jiages of the various yVsiatic journals, and in the works of Rennell, Vincent, Elphinstone, Vigne, Burnes, Chesney, Masson, Long, &c. t Recorded by Arrian, Quintus Curtius, and Plu- tarch in his Life of AUxander. J Arrian says they had been subject to the Assy- rians, then to the Medes, and subsequently to the Persians. The Orita; are described by the .'lanit; a-.Uhority, as a nation whose country extended along the sea-coast for about 150 miles; and who wore the dress and arms of the other Indians, but differed from them in language and manners. 28 AORNUS CAPTURED— THE INDUS CROSSED. their countrymen, that Alexander, suspect- ing them of an intention to desert, caused them to be suddenly surrounded and cut to pieces. He then set at nought the capitu- lation by storming the defenceless city. The strongholds of Ora and Bazira vrere next reduced, the inhabitants of the latter place fled to a hill-fort on the right bank of the Indus, whose name seems to have been lost by the Greeks in that of Aornus,* a term indicative of its extraordinary height, above the flight of a bird. Here Hercules ■was said to have been defeated, and Alex- ander, desirous of excelling the exploits of even fabled heroes, and of proving himself not to be deterred by natural difficulties, pro- ceeded to the attack ; passing, it •would ap- pear, through the district of Peucelaotis, and taking possession of the chief city, Peucela, whose ruler, Astes, had fallen in the thirty days' siege of the force under Hephsestion and Perdiccas on their march eastward. Aornus he captured by forming a mound across a hollow of no great depth, but of considerable width, which separated a neighbouring hill from the pyramidieal rock itself; thus a vantage-ground was gained to the surprise and terror of the besieged, * Aornus was probably a general name for a stockaded mountain, such as that already mentioned in Bactria, and most likely Hellenized from the Sanscrit Awara, or Awarana, an enclosure. Its position is considered by some authorities to have been a little distance above Attock,wlule others con- sider it to be found at Peshawer, in front of the Khyber Pass, and reconcile this opinion with the statement of Arrian and Strabo, that the Indus flowed at the base of Aornus, by declaring that these writers evidentlv deemed the Cabool river the true Indus. T It seems to have been during his stay at Taxilu that Alexander had fij-st tlie opportunity of gratifying his curiosity respecting the doctrine and practice of the Hindoo ascetics called gymnosophists by the Greeks. At Corinth, struck by the imperturbable stoicism of a man, who had nothing to ask, but that he should stand from betwixt him and the sun, he is reported to have exclaimed, that were he not Alex- ander he would wish to be Diogenes. In India he must have witnessed a far more interesting spectacle. The Greek philosopher had no higher object in his dogged abstinence from the comforts of civilized life than to place himself beyond the reach of wliat, in his blindness, he called chance or fortune ; but the Brahmins sought, by self-inflicted tortures, and un- ceasing exposure to the severe influences of their burning sky, to win by slow degrees a release from mortality, and absorption into the Divine essence. Alexander was utilitarian in all his views; it might therefore be sujiposed lie could Iiave little sympathy with men w lioni lie might have considered as visionary enlhusiasts.buthewas also extremely superstitious: his great intellect groped in darkness, unenlightened by any rav of revealed truth, which could show him the fundamental error of striving to found a univer- Ba), or at least an Asiatic cmjiire, liy means of uii- who endeavoured to escape at night-fall, but were pursued with great slaughter into the plains beneath. The accounts given by Arrian of the next steps of Alexander's pro- gress are scarcely reconcileable with those of Diodorus and Curtius ; btit it appears that he was compelled to return to the moun- tains to suppress insurrection, and that the people fled before him. He despatched his generals, Nearchus and Antiochus, to scour the country towards the north-west, while he himself opened a road, which no army had ever before trodden, to the banks of the Indus, and on his way captured some of the fugitives, who, among other information, told him that their elephants had been left in the thickets on the west side of the river. These animals having been obtained by the aid of native hunters, vessels were con- structed, in which the force dropped down the stream to the bridge prepared for them by Hephfestion and Perdiccas, with the assistance of Taxiles, who came out with his army and elephants to meet Alexander on his arrival at the eastern shore of the Indus, and conducted him with much pomp to his capital.-|- Taxiles appears to have been very desirous to obtain the assistance of the limited conquests, gained at a terrible cost of blood, tears, and moral degradation. Still he was no mere conqueror; it was not simply a selfish ambition that prom])ted him — far less any brutal, or rather demonia- cal, love of fighting. He ever strove to conciliate strange nations, by respecting their religious obser- j vances, as the best means of retaining permanent dominion over them ; and it was probably a high political motive which rendered him solicitous to converse with the Brahmins (or rather Yogees), fifteen of whom were congregated in a grove near the city. The eldest and most honoured, called by the Greeks, Dandamis, refused either to visit or write to Alexander, declared (according to Strabo) to a total disbelief of his alleged Divine origin, and expressed equal indifference to persuasions or threats ; gifts he needed not, and he added, alluding to the Hindoo doctrine of metem])- sychosis — " If he should put me to death, he will only release my soul from this old deere])it body, which will then pass into a freer and purer state ; so that I shall suffer nothing by the change." One of the Yogees, named Sphines, called Calanus by the Greeks was, however, prevailed upon to go to Alex- ander, who, being much pleased witli his discourse, carried him with him throughout his expedition, and even back to Persia. Calanus was there attacked with illness ; and considering it as a summons from above, being then seventy-three years of age, pre- pared to terminate his life. Alexander having vainly laboured to dissuade him, caused a magnificent funeral ])ile to be raised, which Calanus, though weak with pain and illness, ascended with unfalter- ing resolution, singing hymns of ])rayer and praise. He then calmly com])osed his limlis, and without moving, was consumed in tlie sight of the king and the whole army.^( (Vi/f Arrian, Strabo, and Plutarch.) PROGRESS FROM THE INDUS TO THE IIYDASPES OK JUKLL.M. 29 Greeks in carrying on war with a neighbour- ing and powcri'ul ])rincc, whose proper name has not deseended to us, but only that of Ills i'atnily, I'orus.* Alexander sent a pe- r(!niplory summons, rc'(iuiriiig tribute and allegianee, to whieii the Indian prince replied that he would come to the borders ot' his kingdom to meet the invader, but it should be in arms. His kinsman, a neighbouring ruler of the same name, whether from jealousy or induced by the munifieent pre- sents made to Taxiles, despatched an em- bassy with od'ers of submission. It is jjrobable that Taxiles received an enlarge- ment of his territory by the annexation of some of the newly-coni(uered districts on the west of the Indus; but the price paid by him was nothing less than the loss of liberty, since a Greek satrap was appointed for this part of India, and a Greek garrison stationed in his chief city. With forces strengthened by 5,000 Indian recruits, led by Taxiles, Alexander resumed his march in the middle of the year 326 ; for so it would uppcar from the statement of Aristobulus, that he expe- rienced the eommencement of the summer rains, which are not known to fall in the Punjaub before June or July. Ou his road to the Hydaspes he was intcnaipted, in a defile through which his road lay, by a nephew of Porus named Spittacus, or Spi- taces, with a body of troops. These he soon dispersed, and arrived without further oppo- sition on the right bank of the river, where he beheld the hostile army drawn up on the opposite side, the intervening stream being deep, rapid, and, at the time he reached it, probably little less than a mile broad. Al- though well provided with boats, rafts, and floats, Alexander was too prudent to attempt forcing a passage in the face of an equal if not superior enemy, and had therefore re- course to stratagem to disarm the vigilance of his antagonist. After making excursions in various directions, as if uncertain where to attempt crossing, he ordered magazines of provisions to be formed, as if for a long * Tod says that Porus was a corruption of Pocru, the patronymic of a branch of the royal Lunar race (liii/ast'han, vol. i.) ; and Kennell states that the pre- aeccssor of the prince in question reigned in Cauoge or Canouj, on the Ganges, which, according to Fe- rishta, was then the capital of all Hindoostan (Me- moir of a 3Iap of Jlinilouatati, \>. 51). t The precise spots at which the army encamped upon the Hydaspes, and crossed it, are not ascer- tained. Strabo points out that Alexander marched as near as possible to tiie mountains, and this useful indication is considered by Masson to establish his having followed the high road from Attock to sojourn, and gave out that he intended awaiting the termination of the monsoon, which it is probable he would liave rcullv done but for intelligence that auxiliari(!s were on their way to strengthen the enemy. Night after night, bodies of cavalry rode noisily up or down the right bank, and Porus repeatedly drew up his elephants and proceeded towards the quarter whence the clamour arose ; until, wearied by false alarms, he paid no attention to the movements upon the opposite shore. Alexander having selected a spot a day's march distance above the eamp,t wliere the river made a westerly bend, and a thickly-wooded island divided the stream, left a strong division at the first station with orders to remain there until the elephants should be withdrawn from their menacing position, in which case they were to attempt the passage forthwith. The same command was given at the series of posts (horse and foot), stationed between the camp and the place of embarkation. Here preparations w'ere made, under cover of the wood which clothed the projecting bank of the river, the din of axes and hammers, which might otherwise have attracted atten- tion, (notwithstanding the feints previously resorted to) being overpowered by pealing thunder and torrents of rain, that lasted through the night hours, but ceased at day- break. Alexander set out, accompanied by Perdiccas, Lysimachus, and Scleucus, with the flower of the jNIaeedonian cavalry, and the Baetrian, Sogdian, and Scythian aux- iliaries. In passing the wooded island before mentioned, they were first seen by the In- dians, who immediately gave the alarm. The invaders landed, on what they thought to be the river bank, but really on another island, separated from the main by a channel swollen by floods into a formidable stream, which however proved fordable, and the whole division was, after some delay, landed, and drawn up in order of battle. The cav- alry numbered about 5,000, the infantry probably nearly 20,000. Porus, perceiving Jhclum, which probably was then as now the most nortlierly of tlie Punjaub routes, and the one almost e.\clusively practicable during tlie monsoons. Con- sequently Porus took up his position on the eastern bank of the Jhelum at the point to which he knew Alexander must come, that is near the present vil- lage of that name, in whose locality, the sites of NiciPt and Bucephala, (though on ditl'erent sides of the river) must be sought for. Pennell places the encampment opposite where the fortress of Rotas afterwards stood; and Vincent (who supposes the wooded island passed by Alexander to have been Jamad) about twenty-eight miles below Kolas. 30 BATTLE BETWEEN ALEXANDER AND THE INDIAN KING PORUS. that Alexander's tent remained in its place, and that the main body were apparently still at the encampment, regarded his actual approach as a stratagem to tempt him from an advantageous position, and merely sent forward his son or brother Hages with 2,000 horse and 120 war chariots, whom Alexander charged fiercely, with the whole of his cavalry. Hages and some 400 of his followers were slain, and the chariots, which had been with great difficulty brought over ground turned into a swamp by the rains, were all captured. Porus, on learning this disastrous commencement, left a part of his elephants to contest the passage of the Greeks stationed under Craterus at the en- campment, and advanced to the decisive con- flict, with a force (according to Arrian) of 30,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 300 cha- riots. Beyond the swampy ground, near the river, lay an open sandy tract, affording firm footing, and here he awaited Alexander's approach ; his 200 elephants, bearing huge wooden towers, filled with armed men, being drawn up in front of the line, at intervals of a hundred feet, occupied with infantry ; while one-half of the cavalry was posted at each flank, and the chariots (each containing six armed men) in front of them. After a long and quick march, Alexander arrived in sight with his cavalry, and lialtcd to allow time for the foot to join him. Observing the disposition of the enemy, he instantly apprehended the necessity of depriving Porus of the advantage he must obtain from the almost invincible strength of the elephants and chariots when brought to bear in a direct attack, as well as the superior num- bers of the opposing infantry, by a skilful use of the mounted troops, in which his strength lay. An attack on the enemy's left wing, would, he foresaw, dvavf the cavalry into action for its protection. Therefore, ordering the horse-bowmen to advance, lie followed up tlic slight disorder caused by their arrows, by charging with the rest of the cavalry ; while the Indian horse from the right being brought up, as foreseen, Ccenus, in accord- ance with previous orders, charged them in the rear, and the Macedonian phalanx ad- vanced to take advantage of the confusion that ensued. Tiio engagement became very complex; the clepliauts hemmed in and maddened by wounds, turned their fury in- discriminately against friend and foe, until many were killed, and the rest, spent with pain and toil, ceased to be formidal)lc. Another general charge of liorsc and foot was made by the Greeks ; the troops of Porus were completely routed, and fled, pur- sued by Craterus and the division from the right bank, who, having by this time effected their passage, engaged with ardour in the san- guinary chase. As is usual with Alexander's historians,* his loss is stated at an extremely small, and that of the enemy, at a proportion- ably large amount. The more moderate statement of Diodorus Siculus, gives the number of the slain on the side of Porus, at 12,000, including two of his sons and great part of liis chief officers, besides 9,000 taken prisoners. The loss of the Macedo- nians is given at less than 1,000. Porus himself, mounted on an elephant, to the last directed the movements of his forces ; and, although wounded in the shoulder, (his body was defended by a corslet of curious work- manship which was proof against all mis- siles,) would not retire until his troops were hopelessly dispersed ; then he turned his elephant for flight, but, being a conspicuous object, was speedily captured, and carried, while senseless from loss of blood, into the conqueror's presence. Alexander, who had observed his gallant bearing during a con- flict of seven or eight hours' duration, asked him how he desired to be treated, but could obtain no other answer than "as a king;" and, on observing that " this a king must do for his own sake," Porus replied that, " nevertheless in that all was included." The quick perception of character, which was one of Alexander's distinguishing and most ser- viceable qualities, taught him that Porus might prove a valuable and trustworthy auxiliary. He reinstated him in royal dignity, added considerably to his dominions, and brought about a reconciliation, in form at least, with Taxiles. On the Hydaspes or Jhelum, the conqueror founded two cities ; one near the field of battle, named Nicsea, and another near his landing-place, named Bueephala, in honour of liis famous horse, which, having accompanied him thus far, sank from fatigue, wounds, and old age, in the hour of victory. Craterus was left to superintend the building of these cities ; and the main body were allowed a mouth's rest, probably chiefly on account of the continu- ance of tlic lieavy rains. Alexander himself, with a select division of horse and foot, pur- sued his aggressive marcii through the rich and populous valleys on the north of the * The details recorded hy Arrian, Diodorus Sicu- lus, QuinUis Curlius, and Plutarch, vary consido- rably, hut the general tenor is the same. REFUSAL OF GREEK ARMY TO MARCH TO THE GANGES. 31 territory of Poms, to the river Aecsincs or (CliciKib,)* rccciviuf^, iiccordiiiff to the Greek liistoriaiia, tlic subiriissiion of thirty-seven cities — none coiit;iiiiiii<; less than 5,000 in- lifihitauts, — all of which he amiexed to tlic kinj;(loiii of I'orus. Tlic younfjcr Porus, called the coward, fled from his dominious, from the fear that the favour siliown to his kinsman portended his ruin, and took re- fuge at the court of Nanda, the reigning monareli of the Pi-aehii or Prasii — who swayed nearly the whole of Eastern India. Ani()isarcs, the king or chief of a tribe of mountaineers, and Doxareus, another native rajah or prince are mentioned by Arrian, as tendering their allegiance; the former sent a present of forty elephants. After crossing the Uijdraoles [Ilavee), Alexander traversed the country of the Cathreans to attack San- gala, a city of great strength and impor- tance, which seems to have occupied nearly the same site as the modern capital of the Sikh monarchy, Lahore, on a branch of the Ravee, near the edge of a small lake.f The Cathaeans or Cathcri, (supposed, by Sanscrit scholars, to be a corruption of Cshatra, a mixed race, sprung from females of the warrior class, and men of inferior cast,) J had confederated with the IMalli and Sudracjc, or OxydracPE, that is, the people of Moultau and Outeli. On approaching Sangala, the Greeks found the Cathteans entrenched on an isolated hill, behind a triple barrier of waggons. YUcxander, at the head of the phalanx, forced the three lines, and car- ried the place by storm ; but with the loss of 1,200 killed and wounded. This vigorous resistance was revenged by sanguinary car- nage — 17,000 of the Cathasans were slain, 70,000 made prisoners, and Sangala razed to the ground. Despatching Porus (who had arrived during the siege with about 5,000 men) to place garrisons in the Cathasan towns, Alexander continued to advance to the south-cast, received the submission of two princes, called by the Greeks Sopithes§ and Phcgelus, and arrived at the banks of the Hypliasis [Bcyuh), just above its junc- tion with the Hesudrus [Sutlej). The limit of his eastern progress was at length reached, for, even under his leadership, the weary and home-siek army would pro- ceed no farther. He could Lave given * Alexander called it Acesines ; the ancient native name was Chandrabaglia — the moon's gift. t Burnes, vol. i., p. 156.- — Masson does not con- sider the Sangala of Arrian to have denoted the Indian city of Sagala, whose site is now indicated by that of Lahore, but places it at Hareepah. them, at best, but unsatisfactory grounds of encouragement to continue their course. The narrow boundaries assigned by the geo- graphers of the day to India, and the eastern side of the earth, were manifestly incorrect; the ocean wliieh he had been taught to be- lieve was separated by no very vast distance from the banks of the Indus, liad receded, as he advanced to an immeasurable dis- tance ; and he had learned that beyond the Ilydaspcs a desert, more extensive than any yet encountered, parted the plains of the Punjaub from the region watered by the tributaries of the Ganges — a river superior to the Indus, having on its banks the capi- tal of a great monarchy, that of the Prasii and Gangaridse, whose king could bring into the field 200,000 foot, 20,000 horse, and several thousand elephants. The king himself is however represented to have been looked upon as an upstart and a usurper; and Alexander might probably have hoped to be enabled to carry out his object, by similar divisions among the natives to those which had materially aided him in his par- tial conquest of the Punjaub. The very dangers and difficulties of tiie attempt were but incitements to one whose object was universal empire — to be attained at the hazard of life itself, which he unhesitatingly imperilled in every battle. With passionate eloquence he reminded the Macedonians that the Ilydraotes had already become the limit of their empire, which extended west- ward to the ^Egean Sea, and northward to the river Jaxartes ; and he urged them to cross the Ilyphasis ; then, having added the rest of Asia to their empire, to descend the Ganges, and sail round Africa to the pillars of Hercules. — (Arrian, lib. v., cap. 25.) Finding this appeal without eflect, or at least overborne by the recollection of the fatigues and privations undergone during the preceding campaign in the rainy season, Alexander angrily declared that he should proceed, attended only by those who de- sired to accompany him ; the rest might return home, and say that they had forsa- ken their king in the midst of enemies. The silence and deep gloom which pervaded the camp at length convinced Alexander that no considerable portion of the army could be prevailed upon to cross the Hy- X Masson dissents, believing them to have been the Catti, a nomadic Scythian tribe. § According to .Arrian, Sopithcs submitted in the descent of the fleet from IJucephala, whence three days' journey brought Alexander to the territory of this prince, where Strabo says there were famous salt 32 DESCENT OF THE INDUS COMMENCED BY ALEXAMDER. pliasis. He found either a pretext or a reason for yielding to the general wish, in the unfavourable auspices which attended the sacrifices offered for the purpose of con- sulting the gods respecting his future ad- vance; and, after erectiag twelve colossal towers or altars, in token of liis gratitude for having been brought thus far safe and victorious, and reviving, by horse-races and gymnastic exercises, the drooping spirits of his troops, he conferred on Forus the gov- ernment of the country towards the Hypha- sis,* and commenced retracing his steps. At the Aeesines he found the city which Hei^haestion had been ordered to build, ready to receive a colony, and there he left the disabled mercenaries, and as many natives of the neighbouring districts, as were willing to join them. At the Hydaspes, he re- paired the injuries caused by floods to Nicrea and Bucephala, and was reinforced from Greece by 6,000 horse and 7,000 in- fautry.t The fleet, (comprising 2,000 ves- sels of various kinds, whereof eighty were war galleys, which part of the army had been employed all the summer in construct- ing, while the rest, wanted for transport and provisions, had probably been seized from the people of the counti-y,) was completed and manned, and the command entrusted to Nearchus. Having divided his army into four corps, of which the main body, with about 200 elephants, were to advance along the eastern bank, Alexander himself em- barked, and proceeded without impediment to the confluence of the Hydaspes and Aeesines, where, owing to the narrow chan- nel and high banks between which the united rivers were then pent np, rapid and strong eddies were formed, which so asto- nished the sailors as to deprive them of the self-command necessary to fulfil the instruc- tions previously given by the Indian pilots. Several of the long galleys were much shat- tered, two sank with tlie greater part of their crews, but the shorter and rounder vessels sustained no injury. J A headland on the right bank aftbrded shelter to the fleet, which Alcxaiuler left to undergo the neces- sary repairs, while he proceeded on an inland expedition to the westward against the Secvi or Saivas, a people evidently thus named from their worship of the second member of the Brahminical Triad, whose symbol they marked upon their cattle. Then, crossing the river, he marched eastward against the Malli and Sudraese, the latter of v/hom ap- pear from their designation to have been derived from the Soodra caste, while among the former the Brahmins decidedly pre- dominated. They did not intermarry, and had little or no fricndh' intercourse. The sudden danger which threatened their inde- pendence had driven them to a partial junc- tion, and their aggregate forces are stated at the lowest at 80,000 foot, 10,000 horse, and 700 chariots, but want of unanimity in the choice of a leader had prevented their combination. The Malli especially seem to have relied confidently on the strength of their fortified towns, and on the natural advantages of their peninsula, which was protected to the north by a desert of con- siderable extent. As it was on this side that they might be expected to feel most secure, Alexander struck across the desert into the heart of the country with a division of light troops, while two separate corps, un- der Hephajstion and Ptolemy, traversed it in other directions to intercept the fugitives he might drive before him. By marching day and night, with a very short intermission, he appeared early on the second morning before one of the strongholds, in which, as likely to be last attacked, many of the natives had taken refuge. A great number were surprised unarmed without the walls, many were put to the sword, the rest fled into the town, which, notwithstanding a gallant defence, was speedily stormed, and the people massacred without distinction. The inhabitants of the neighbouring villages forsook them, and some fled to the Hy- draotes, pursued in a forced night march by Alexander, who, on coming np to the ford, made considerable slaughter among those who had not yet crossed, and then, plunging in the stream, pursued the fugitives on the opposite side. IManj^ took refuge in an- other fortified town, which is described by the Greeks as if inhabited by Brahmins only, and these are mentioned as a different race from the Malli, who fled to them for shelter. Here the most determined resis- tance was ofl'ered ; when the besieged could no longer defend their walls against the mines ; — tins seems to refer to the Salt range of Pindi Waden Khan. • According to Arvian (lib. vi., cap. 2), by the final arrangement of the affairs of the northern Pun- jaub, Porus gained a fresh addition of territory, and became lord of (in all) seven nations and 2,000 cities. t Quintus Ciirtius, lib. ix., cap. fi. X The chief obstructions appear to have been worn away, for the passage is no longer formidable. CONTESTS WITH THE MALLI— ALEXANDER WOUNDED. 33 superior skill of tlic assailants, they re- trciitcfl to tilt; citadel, and tliis beinf; stormed, set fire to their houses; and almost all, to the number of 5,000, perished l\^\\t- in^^, or in the llamcs. The last memorable contest with the MalJi, occurred in the taking of their capital, wliieh Burncs con- siders to be represented by Moultan, but llenncll supposes to have been at Tolumba, nearer the Ilydraotes. Ilavin;^ dispersed the hostile army drawn u]) on the hif^h and steep banks of this river, Alexander en- circled the town with his cavahy, and the next morninr; commenced the attack on two sides. The besieged retreated to the citadel, j'.nd the king and his troops, cutting their way with the hatchet through a postern, arrived at the foot of tlic wall. Here Alexander eagerly called for scaling lad- ders, but these, from the supposition that all resistance was over, had been mostly left behind. Two or three were liowever brought; seizing the first, Alexander fixed it himself, mounted and gained the top of the wall, which it seems was narrow and with- out battlements. The soldiers, alarmed for his safety, crowded after him with such im- patience that the ladders broke with their ■weight, and Alexander, in his splendid armour, with but three companions, stood a mark for the enemy's missiles from the nearest towers and the adjacent parts of the fortress. The JIaccdouians beneath, en- treated him to throw himself into their arms. He liesitated a moment, but to turn his back upon his foes, even under such cir- cumstances as these, was a step he could not bring himself to take ; and, probably remembering that his guards would dare a thousand deaths for his rescue, he lea])t down into the citadel, and alighting on his feet, took his stand against the wall, shel- tered also by the trunk and spreading boughs of a tree. Here he defended him- self, until joined by his three associates, one of whom (Abreas) speedily received a mortal wound from an arrow, in the face. Almost immediately afterwards another arrow pierced Alexander's corslet, lodging deep in the right breast ; and, after a short struggle, fainting through loss of blood, he sank upon his shield. His remaining companions, Peucestes and Leonnatus, though both wounded, stood over him until they were * It must be remembered that cities, so called, are very easily founded in the east. For this purpose a fort or castle, and walls of brick or mud, marking out the limits of " the Pettah" or town suffice for a joined by their friends, who, by various ex- pedients, (such as driving pegs into the clay walls,) had climbed the top, and forced a gate from the inside, through whieli num- bers jiourcd in, carried off their king, and in thrir fury slaughtered every man, woman, and child without exception. For some time the conqueror lay in his tent, reduced to the last extremity by the great loss of blood which followed the extraction of the Ijarbed steel, while deep anxiety prevailed in the camp — inspired jjartiy by true affec- tion, and partly by fear fur themselves, in the event of the death of the only man they believed capable of leading them back safely through the strange lamls they had traversed as victors. At length Alexander rallied ; during liis tedious convalescence, such of the jNIalli and Sudracaj as had remained in arms, tendered submission. The envoys consisted of above 100 of their chief men ; they were persons of lofty stature and bear- ing, all rode in chariots, were clad in linen robes embroidered with purple and gold, and bore magnificent presents. According to Curtius, a tribute of the same amount as they had previously paid the Arachosians was imposed upon them ; and a thousand of their bravest warriors were demanded as hostages, or, if they were willing, to serve in the Greek array. These were immedi- ately sent, together with 500 chariots as a free gift, and, among other rarities, several tamed lions and tigers. Alexander, pleased with their readiness, accepted the chariots and sent back the hostages. At the eon- flucnee of the Aeesincs with the Indus, he ordered a city,* with docks and arsenals, to be constructed ; and sailed down the latter river to the chief place of a people, called, by the Greeks, Sudraca^ or Sogdi. Here he planted a colony; changed the name to Alexandria, built an arsenal, refitted a part of liis fleet, and, proceeding southward, en- tered the rich and fertile territories of a powerful ruler, whose real name has been apparently perverted into that of ^lusi- canus. This prince proffered allegiance, which Alexander accepted, but ordered a fortress to be built in his capital, which was occupied by a ^Macedonian garrison ; thence, marching to the westward, he advanced against a chief, spoken of under the name of Oxyeanus, or Porticanus, who was con- commencement, and population snon follows, brouglit either by compulsion or attracted by the natural ad- vantages of the site, to erect there the mud hovels which form their ordinarj- dwellings. 34 EXPLORATION OF THE MOUTH OF THE INDUS— b.c. 335. sidered to have held himself suspiciously aloof, and stormed two of his cities — in one of which, Oxycanus was himself taken or slain ; upon this all the other towns sub- mitted without resistance. In the adjacent high-lands, a chief, called Sambus, whose territory is now known as Siude, fled from his capital (according to Arrian) at the ap- proach of the invader ; who took possession of his elephants and treasure, and proceeded to capture a town which ventured to oppose him, at the instigation of some Brahmins, whom he slew. The same influence, during Alexander's absence, had been exerted in the court of Musicauus, and he revolted, in an evil hour, for himself and his country : Being taken prisoner he was crucified with the leading Brahmins, and the chief towns razed to the ground, or subjected to the stern surveillance of foreign garrisons. The submission of the king of Pattala, named or entitled Moeris, Avhose rule ex- tended over the Delta of the Indus, com- pleted Alexander's command of that river. At Pattala, (thought to be now represented either by Tatta or Allore,) he immediately prepared to fortify a citadel, form a harbour, and build docks sufficient for a large fleet, and likewise to dig wells in the neighbouring districts, where there was great scarcity of water, to render the country habitable, and suitable for the passage of troops or tra- vellers. According to a modern writei', (Droysen,) Alexander's object in so doing was nothing less than to facilitate the com- munication between Pattala and the east of India, and to open it for caravans from the countries on the Ganges and from the Dec- can; but even supposing him to have obtained sufficient geographical knowledge for the formation of this plan, he had no present means of executing it, and must have con- tented himself meanwhile in surveying the mouths and delta of the Indus, and taking measures for the establishment of com- mercial intercourse with the West. With a squadron of fast sailing galleys he prepared to explore the western brancJi of the river to the sea ; but the voyage proved disastrous, the native pilots brought from Pattala made their escape, and on tlie second day a violent gale meeting a rapid current of the Indus, caused a swell in wliich most of tlic galleys were severely injured and many went to pieces. While the shipwrights were engaged in repairing this misfortune a few light troops were sent up the country in search of pilots, who being obtained, con- ducted Alexander safely almost to the mouth, when the wind blew so hard from the sea, that he took refuge in a canal {nullah) pointed out by them. Here the Macedonians, first beheld the phenomenon called the "'Bore," and witnessed with extreme consternation the sudden rush of a vast volume of water from the ocean up the river-channel, with such violence as to shatter the galleys not previously firmly imbedded in the mud. After ajrain refitting, the fleet was moored at an island named Cilluta, but Alexander, with the best sailors, proceeded to another isle, which lay beyond in the ocean. Here he offered sacrifices to various deities ; then, putting out in the open sea, to satisfy him- self that no land lay within view to the southward, he celebrated different rites in honour of the sea-god Neptune, whose pro- per realm he had now entered. The victims, and the golden vessels in which the libations had been offered, having been thrown into the deep, he rejoined the squadron, and re- turned by the same arm of the Indus to Pattala. The navigation of the rivers ha,d employed about nine months ; and nearly four appear to have been spent in and near Pattala. It was toward the end of August 325 b.c.,* when the preparations were completed for the departure of the fleet and army from the Indus ; the former, under Nearchus the Cretan, being destined to undertake a voy- age of discovery to the Persian Gulf; the latter, under Alexander, to march along the coast — an enterprise of little less danger, in which, according to tradition, the armies of Semiramis and Cyrus had perished almost to a man. Of the real difficulties of the route Alexander had probably but a vague conception, but he was incited to encounter them, by a desire to provide for the exigen- cies of the fleet, and to explore and consoli- date a portion of the empire which he had hitherto at most but nominally subjected. The force of either armament is not re- corded. On invading India it would ap- pear the army liad consisted of 120,000 men, and while there had received rein- forcements ; allowing therefore for the numbers lost or left behind in garrisons and colonics, and for the division previously sent from Pattala under Crateriis, (through Arachosia to Carmania,) probably, at least * ]1r. Vincent in bis Voyarjc of Nearchus, vol. i. 1). 180, fixes the time of dcpai-turc at a year earlier, but I have preferred followinp; Thirlwall's reading or rather correction of Arrian's clu'onology. HOMEWARD ROUTES OF ALEXANDER AND NEARCHUS. 35 50,000 remained under the immediate com- mand of the king. Respecting tlie squadron under Nearclius, wo liavc no other guide than the list of the thirty-three galleys hc- forc referred to as c([uipi)cd on tlic Ilydas- pes ; many of these were fitted out hy in- dividuals at tlieir own cost, for it would appear that at that period the finances of their leader were at a very low ebb, pro- bably owing to the unbounded munificence with which he lavished upon his friends what lic had accpiircd by the sword. Sonic weeks had yet to elapse before the trade- winds would set in from the north-east, and so become favourable to the voyage. The departure of the army was not however de- layed on this account, and Alexander set out on his return to the West, leaving the admiral and fleet to follow at leisure. Ilis route need be here but briefly noticed. Crossing the chain of mountains which descends west of the Indus from the I'aro- pamisus to the sea, he entered a region sur- rounded on three sides by lofty ranges, tra- versed by a river called the Arabius, [Poor- allee or river of Sonmeamj,) which separated the territory of two independent tribes — the Arabitre and Oritsc, the former of whom fled to tl'.c adjacent desert, but the latter, who were more civilised and their lands better cultivated, offered a formidable resist- ance, fighting desperately with poisoned arrows. Their country was however overrun by the cavalry ; and, in what seems to have been the largest of the villages in which they lived, named Rambacia, Alexander planted a colony. Thence advancing through a difficult pass in the western mountains, he arrived at about the begin- ning of October in the wild barren region of Gedrosia, the southern ]Mekran ; tlie whole coast of which as far as Cape Jask, is called by the Greeks, the land of the Ichthyophagi or Fish-eaters. The heat, though beginning to subside, was still ex- cessive ; the troops generally moved during the night, but often at daybreak were obliged to prolong their weary march under a burning sun, until they should reach the next watering-place. Yet their road seems to have seldom diverged more than two or three days' journey from the sea — being frequently within sight of it — with- out crossing any part of the Great Sandy Desert, bounded by the mountains of southern Mckran ; except perhaps for a short distance near the confines of Gedrosia and Carmania (Kerman). In the latter fruitful* and well-watered province, Alex- ander was soon after his arrival joined by Craterus and his division, and all anxiety respecting Nearehus was subsequently dis- pelled by tidings tliat the admiral had landed on the coast within five days' march of the camp. lie had been compelled by the hostility of the natives at Pattala, to start before the proper season had arrived ; and, though he waited four-aud-twenty days on the Arabite coast, three of his vessels were afterwards lost in the adverse monsoon. On the coast of the Oritjcf lie met Leonnatus, who had been left in Rambacia to furnish him with a ten days' supply of corn, and who had been meanwhile engaged in a sharp conflict with the natives. Nearehus does not appear to have lighted on any of the magazines stored at various points by Alexander for his use ; but, after manifold hardships and perils from the dangers of an unknown sea, the barrenness of the coast, the hostility of the people, and the despondency of his own crews, he at length with the aid of a Gedrosian pilot reached the mouth of the Persian Gulf, and eventually lauded near the mouth of the river Anainis [Ibrahim), not far to the west of the island of Ormuz. These happy events were celebrated by a solemn festival and triumphal procession — enlivened, as usual, by gymnastic games, musical and poetical contests, which probably gave rise to the idea of the march through Carmania having been one continued Bacchanalian revel. The king urged Nearehus to allow some other officer to conduct the fleet to the mouth of the Tigris and not expose himself to further danger and fatigue : but he would not consent to let another complete his glo- rious expedition, and rejoined the squadron with orders to meet Alexander at Susa. As it was winter the main body of the army proceeded thither along the Persian Gulf where the climate was mild, and Alexander with some light troops and cavalry took the upper road through Persepolis. At Susa we take leave of this great man ; his career so far as India was concerned was quite ended, indeed life itself was fast ebbing away. In the spring of 323 B.C., in the second year after his return to Babylon, while planning a fresh capital for his Asiatic empire, he caught a fever in the Mesopo- tamian marshes, and this disorder being in- creased by one of the drinking matches • Strabo says the gi-apes hung in clusters threo feet long. ' t See note to page 27. 36 DEATH OF ALEXANDER, b.c 323.— STATE OF THE HINDOOS. which disgraced his court, abruptly termi- nated an eventful career at thirty-two years of age, the solace of his last days being to hear Nearchus relate " the story of his voyage, and all that was most observa- ble with respect to the ocean."* The long and sanguinary contests which ensued among his generals, — commencing while his body lay unembalmed and ending not until the majority of those disputants themselves, as well as all of his kin, (including his half- brother and successor Arridffius, his wives Statira and Roxaua, his posthumous son Alexander, and his beloved though wicked and intriguing mother Olympias,) had fallen victims to the treacherous plots formed by the majority of them against each other — have no place in these pages. The history and triumphs of Alexander have been nar- rated at some length, for the sake of show- ing the manner in which he was led on, first by the pursuit of Darius, and after- wards of Bessus, to Bactria and to the verge of ludia. His progress is no mere matter of antiquarian research,t but exer- cises an important bearing on the political question of the present time, respecting the possible advance of an European army through central Asia to the Indus, or via Syria, the Euphrates, and the Persian Gulf, to the shores of the Indian Ocean ; a sub- ject which will be discussed when examining the motives of the British incursions iuto Afghanistan, in 1839-10. In the history of the civilized world, the epoch of Alexander would ever be memora- ble were it only for his exploits in India, • Langhonie's Translation uf PlutarcKs Life of AlexiintJer, p. 218. t It may be here well to observe, that in the fore- j^oing brief sketch of Alexander's march, written for f^eneral readers, no attempt has been made to enter upon the discussion of the disputed localities at which he conquered or founded cities. One such point would involve as much space as can here be devoted to the whole march — at least, if the varying; opinions of the several authorities ancient and modern, were to be fairly and fully stated. I have, therefore (with some slight exceptions), merely given the probal)le sites, leaving the reader to prosecute further inquiries in the pages of the oriental scholars already rc))eatedly named. It is greatly to be re- gretted that the works of none of the primary his- torians have descended to us, save some fragments preserved by their successors. Of these last, Arrian, who wrote in the early part of the second century B.C., is recognized as the most trustworthy, though his bald outline contrasts forcibly with the more liighly-coloured pictures of Quintus Curtius, who seems to have followed Alexander's campaigns with much diligence, ijtrabo also is a most valuable authority on this as on other geographical questions. since by them this great country was first placed as it were within reach, and some firm ground afforded to European geogra- phers whereon to set foot in future investi- gations. The Greek historians though often contradictory, and censurable in many re- spects, have yet recorded much valuable information respecting the Indians (as they term the Hindoos), the accuracy of which is attested by the ancient records revealed to us by the labours of oriental students, and further by the striking resemblance which their descriptions bear, even after the lapse of two thousand years, to the existing cha- racteristics of the inhabitants of the coun- tries then visited. Thus Arrian, whose account of Ancient India is unquestionably the most to be relied on of any now extant, notices among other points the slender form of the Hindoos, the classes or sects into which they were divided, and the pro- hibition of intermarriage, widow burning,} perpetuation of trades in families, vegetable diet, faces streaked with colours, men wear- ing earrings, veils covering the head and shoulders, parti-coloured shoes, umbrellas carried only over principal personages, cot- ton manufactures of great fineness and whiteness, two-handed swords, and other matters. The people appear to have been extraordinarily numerous, and to have made considerable progress in the arts of civilised life. Their bravery was strikingly manifest ; and it is remarkable, that notwithstanding the numbers recorded as having fallen in their engagement with Alexander, are as usual incredibly greater on their side than Yet the loss of the writings of Barton or Biton the authorised recorder of the marches, is irreparable, (especially when we consider the importance attached by Alexander to accurate geographical information) as also those of the iirst Ptolemy, and of Apol- lodorus the famed historian of Bactria. No conclu- sive opinion can be formed regarding the knowledge possessed by the Hindoos of this invasion, until we are belter acquainted with the records still stored up and hidden from us in various places. Thus, the literary treasures of the libraries of Patan (a city in Kajpootana) of Jcssulmer (a town north-west ol Joudpore) Cambay, and the Thibetian monasteries remain to be explored, as also many other valuable MS. collections, including those of the travelling Jain and Boodhist bishops. According to Tod and other writers, Alexander is known in India under the name of Escander JJ/mlcaniein (two-horned), in allusion to his dominions in what they considered tlic eastern and western extremities of the earth. The rajahs of (Jhiltoor are also said to boast of de- scent from the sovereign termed Porus who opposed the Macedonian conqueror. X In the country of Taxile.s, but only however as an exceptional instance. INTERCOURSE BETWEEN SELEUCUS AND CHANDRA GUPTA. 37 his ; yet he lost a larger proportion of troops in battle with tliciii tliaii had i)reviously fallen in the Persian war. The odlce of the husbandniau was invariably held sacred among the Hindoos, he was never dis- tnrbed in his labours, and to root up or wilfully injure growing crops was a breach of a recognised natural law no native prince would have ventured to commit. On the whole the impression of the Irulian eharae- ter left on tlu; mind of the Greeks was de- cidedly favourable; the people were described as sober, moderate, peaceable, singularly truthful, averse to slavery in any form, and attached to liberal municipal institutions. The productions of India had by tedious routes (which it will be necessary to |)oint out in a subsecpicnt section, when depicting the present state of their commerce), long found a ready market in Europe. The de- sire for them now increased tenfold. The foresight of Alexander was fully vindicated by the rapidity with which the Egyptian Alexandria began, under the first Ptolemy, to receive and pour forth its full tide of wealth ; and Pabylon also became a great emporium. His characteristic policy* in freeing the Euphrates and Tigris from the physical impediments to navigation placed by a weak restrictive government, shattered the fetters which had long bound the enter- prising spirit of trade in these countries, and enabled it to find vent in the passage opened up with India, both by sea and laud. The cities or military stations placed near the Indus soon languished, for the Europeans left there by the king, on hear- ing of his death hastened to escape from what they had from the first considered no better than hopeless exile. Eut commerce had received a [lowerful stimulus, and cotton and silk manufactures, ivory, gems richly set, costly gums, pepper and cinnamon, dyes and drugs, were poured rapidly into Europe in return for the precious metals,t which entered India in coins of many forms (now vainly sought for by antiquarians), and were there melted down to be shaped into idols, or to deck unhallowed shrines, and be thus stored up to an incalculable extent, to gorge eventually the avarice of the ruthless iMussulmans of a later age. • Alexander's conquests were intended, as has been repeatedly stated, as a means of carryinir out liU vast commercial schemes. Ho hoped out of war to bring peace ; and one of his favourite plans to promote this ultimate object was, the founding of several new cities in Asia and in Europe, the former to be peopled with Europeans, and the latter with TnK GiiEEK TO THE ]MonAMMi:i)A\ Inva- sions. — The king of the Prasii (as the (Jreeks termed the Prachi or East) at the time of Alexander's camiiaign in the Pun- jaub, was the last Nanda, who, as has been shown, both Greek and Hindoo writers agree in describing as of low birth. He was slain by his successor, Chandra Gujita, or San- dracottus, about 310, n.c, who appears to have spent a short time when a youth in the Macedonian camp, whence he fled to avoid the wrath of Alexander, which he liad roused in some unexplained manner. Chandra Gupta was king when Selcueus, to whom in the division of power Syria and the Hactrian and Indian satraprics had fallen, proceeded to claim the sovereignty, though at first under the name of the governorship of these territories. He marched in person to reduce the local authorities to obedience, ami flushed with victory proceeded at the head of a considerable force to India, b.c. 303. The brief and conflicting accounts of his progress which have descended to us, indicate that he advaticed even to the Ganges, but was deterred from warlike pro- ceedings, either by the necessity of turning back with his strength unimpaired to defend another portion of his dominions attacked by Antigonus, or else by the formidable array drawn out against him by Chandra Gupta, who had previously greatly extended and consolidated his kingdom. The result appears to have been that Selcueus made over to the Hindoo sovereign, not only all the country conquered by Alexander eastward of the Indus, but also that to the westward as far as the river Arabius ; while Chandra Gupta on his part acknowledged this con- cession by a present of 500 war chariots. How far Porus and Taxiles, or their succes- sors, were constdted in this proceeding, or how they acted, is not stated ; but in tlieir conduct immediately after the king's death, they showed themselves faithful and much at- tached to the Greeks. A family connection is alleged to have been formed between Selcueus and Chandra Gupta, by the marriage of a daughter of the former with the latter, (who being a Soodra might mai'ry as he pleased ;) and it is certain that friendly intercourse ex- isted between them, an ambassador named Asiatics, so that " by intermarriages and exchange of good offices the inhabitants of those two great con- tinents might be gradually moulded into a similarity of sentiments, and become attached to each other with mutual afTcction." — (Diod. Sic, lib. xviii., c. 4.) t I'liny, writing in the first century of the Chris- tian era, complains that Konie was exhausted by a 38 EECENTLY DECIPHERED EDICTS OF ASOCA. Megastbeues having been sent to PaUbotbra, the capital of the Prasii, where he resided many years. It is further stated that the Hindoo mouavch had Greek mercenaries in his service, and placed Greek governors in some of his provinces ; that daring his reign the foreigners were much resjjectedj but afterwards brought general odium upon their nation throughout Western India by their treacherous and cruel rapacity. Their language must have spread and taken root in the laud — for according to Masson, one of our best authorities on this head, " there is suf- ficient testimony that the Greek language was studied and well known by the fashion- able and higher classes during the first and second centuries of the Christian Era.'' The embassy of Dimachus to the son and successor of Chandra Gupta (called AUitro- chidas by the Greek writers), is tlie last transaction recorded between Syrian and Indian monarchs, until the lapse of about 80 years, when Autiochus tlie Great, after the close of his war with the revolted pro- vinces of Bactria and Parthia, entered India, and made peace with a king named Sophra- gaseuus (supposed to be Asoca), after exact- ing from him elephants and money. The descriptions given by Megasthenes,* who had the best means of judging correctly on the subjects of which he wrote, are cal- culated to convey a high opinion of the wealtli and power of the kingdom generally, but especially of Palibotlira.t Yet, ac- cording to this writer, India comprised no less than 118 independent states; but this however he only gives on hearsay, and, sup- posing the number to be unexaggerated, we cannot tell how small the territories may have been which tliis eniuucration included. drain equal to £400,000 per annum, required for the purchase of hixuries — the produce of India, Seres, and Arabia ; and Robertson, writing in 1791, says — " India, from the age of Pliny to the present time, has been always considered and execrated as a gulf which swallows up the wealth of every other country, that flows incessantly towaids it, and from which it never returns." — (Ilixtorical Dixquisitinn, p. 20;i.) Since the commencement of the jjresent century, the golden current has changed its course, and flowed with increasing volume from Ilindoostan to Britain, not, however, by the channel of commerce merely, but of compul;iory tribute, to an extent and in a manner which will be subsequently shown. • Megasthenes wrote many works, of which only scattered fragments have been preserved. His dis- position to exaggerate, and undue love of the mar- vellous, were urged as reasons for this neglect; but it is to be doubted whether the critics were always competent judges of what they rejected. As it is, enougli remains to testify, in connection with exist- The Soodra successors of Chandra Gupta certainly exceeded him in power — and in the hyperbolical language of the Puranas, are said to have brought the " whole earth under one umbrella." J Asoca, the greatest of that line, exercised command over the states to the north of the Nerbudda river; and the edicts § graven on columns at remote points prove not merely the extent of his dominions but also the civilized character of his government, since they include orders for the establishment of hospitals and dis- pensaries throughout his empire, as well as for planting trees and digging wells along the public highways. Aud this too was to be done, not only in Asoca's own pro- vinces, but also in others occupied by " the faithful," (meaning the Boodhists, of whom this king was the great patron) , " even as far as Tambapanui ; (Taprobane, or Ceylon,)" and "moreover within the do- minions of Antiochus the Greek [Antiochia Youa Raja] of which Antiochus's generals are the rulers." An edict found on a rock, and from its shattered state only partially legible, expresses exultation at the ex- tension of the doctrines of Asoca (?) Pryadarsi (especially with regard to sparing the life of animals, which however is not a Boodhist tenet) in foreign countries ; and contains a fragment translated thus : — " and the Greek king besides, by whom the chapta (?) kings Turamayo, Gongakena, and Maga."|| Turamayo was considered by the late Mr. James Prinsep to denote Ptolemy Pliiladelphus, who had a brother named Magas, married to a daughter of Antiochus I., which would establish that the Antiochus referred to in the edict previously quoted, was either the first or the second of that ing Hindoo records, ruins, and inscriptions, that the writer was a keen observer, and a valuable witness, although occasionally led into the narration of fables, or at least gross exaggerations. t Palibothra was described by Megasthenes as being eight miles long, and one and-a-half broad, defended by a deep ditch, and a high rampart, with o70 towers and 64 gates. Its site is placed by Ilen- nell at I'atna, by D'Anville at Allahabad, and by Wilford at Uaj-mehal. X Wilson's Hindoo 'Tlieatre, vol. iii., p. 14. § Similar mandates are inscribed on a rock on Girnar, a mountain in Guzerat; and on a rock at Dhauli in Cuttaek on the ojjposite side of India. They were' deciphered by Mr. 1 rinsep, and are writ- ten in I'ali, the dialect in which the sacred books of the Boodhists are composed. II At Kupur di Gliari, the entire edict exists in the Arian language, tlie word translated by Prinsep " Chapta" is there " chatare," _/(/«;•, Gongakena reads Antukiina and Maga, Mdka, — Mussoii. INTE RCOURSE BETWEEN INDIA AND CHIN A— FIFTH CENTURY. :\d name ; that is, either the son or grandson of Seleucus. It is remarkable that Asoca, in his youth, was governor of" Oojcin or Malwa, which must therefore have been possessed by his father. The reigning family was succeeded by three other Soodra dynasties, the last of whieli, the Andras, acceded to power about the beginning of our era; and, according to two Puranas, terminated in Puliraat or Pulomarehish, A.D. 436. By a curious coincidence, the Chinese annals* translated by De Guigncs, notice in a.d. 408, the arrival of ambassa- dors from the Indian prince, Yuc-gnai, King of Kia-])i-li, evidently Capili (the birth-place of Boodha or, according to Colonel Sykes, the seventh Boodha, Sakya-muni), which the Chinese have put for all Magadha. Yue-gnai again bears some resemblance to Yaj-nasri, or Yajna, the king actually on the throne of the Andras at the period re- ferred to. A confused enumeration of dynasties succeed, with little attempt at historical order, from which a foreign in- vasion, followed by a long period of disorder, has been inferred, though perhaps not on sufficient grounds. At length, after an interval of several centuries, Magadha is spoken of as subject to the Gupta kings of Canouj, and from that period is no more distinctly noticed ; but its fame has been preserved, from its having been, as before mentioned, the birth-place of Boodha, and from its language (Magadhi, or Pali) being * CIn-fc\-llian, a Chinese Boodliist priest, visited India at the bep;inning of the fifth century, on a pil- grimage to the chief seats of the religion of Boodlia, where he spent six years. His travels have been translated from the Chinese by M. Renmsat. The Boodhistical religion, according to his account, had then suH'cred a serious and irreparable decline at Mathura and in the eastern districts of Hindoostan ; and the Brahminical faith was in the ascendant. Tenijiles and towers of past ages still existed, but the population had disappeared, and the country was in many such places a wilderness. Bajagriha, the abode of Jarasamlha, the first of the Magadha kings, and the ancient capital, tlicn exhibited the ruins of a large city, of which traces were still visible to Dr. Buchanan, in 1807-1814. The palace of Asoca, or A-yu,at Palali-pootra.or Kusuma-pura, built of stone, was entire when seen by I'VUian, and presented such superior specimens of sculpture and engraving, that thev were ascribed to superhuman architects — genii, who laboured for the patron of Fo. The city of Ni-li, built in tlic neighbourhood by Asoca, was embellished by a handsome column, surmounted by a lion. Other columns, with lion capitals, were seen in different places. Central India is spoken of as under the government of one king; the cities and to'viTis large, the people rich, charitable, and just in their actions, but given to discussion. In the month of Jlay (the birth-day of Sakya-muni) four-wheeled employed in the writings of that extensively diffused religion, as well as in those of the Jains. The claim of universal monarchy in India, is found advanced in records and inscriptions, not only l)y princes of the Magadha dynasty, but also by those of Cashmere, of Dellii, Canouj, Bcng.al, Mahva, Guzerat, and other places; but the evidence cited in favour of their respective claims, is ])retty generally deemed insufficient, and is frequently contradictory. To attempt re- ducing the histories of these kingdoms and their pretensions into form, would be a long and tedious task ; which, even if suc- cessfully accomplished, could have little interest for the general reader, for at best, it would be but like arranging the scattered fragments of a child's puzzle, of which the chief pieces are wanting. At a futui'e but perhaps not distant day, the patient and able research already so successfully directed to the study of oriental literature, may enable us to decide upon many points now involved in numberless difficulties and to draw a correct picture of India, vathout the dan- ger, at present inevitable, of gi\nng undue prominence to events of minor interest, and omitting altogether many important features. Before passing entirely from the subject of the condition of India between the time of Alexander and the oVIohammedan era, it is, however, necessary to add a few remarks on the chief kingdoms of Hindoostan and the Deecan, so as to afford the reader cars were drawn about the streets ; they had each a building of five stages which looked like a tower, were ornamented with gold, silver, coloured glass, and embroidery, and hung with carpets and white felt, adorned with painted figures of the celestial divinities ; on the summits were a figure of Boodha. This was a season of great festivity, the streets were filled with iieoide who flocked in from the neigh- bouring country; there were theatrical representa- tions, fe.its of the athletrc, concerts of music and nightly illuminations; hospit.als were opened for the sick, cripples, and orphans, who were solaced and relieved by the representatives of the diflerent chiefs. At Magadha the priest sat himself down in a monastery for three yea)-s to study the sacred lan- guage and copy the MSS. Bengal then carried on extensive maritime traffic with the south-west regions and other places. Fa Hian took a passage in a large trading ship to Ceylon, which he reached (during the north-west monsoon) in fourteen days; thence he sailed for Java in a Hindoo ship, with 200 people, provisioned for ninety days. Altogether the travels of this intelligent Chinese abound in curious infor- mation ; they corroborate the accounts of cities, and of tlie manners and customs of their inhabitants, given by native writers, and j)rove the Hindoos were then merchants, and even navigators on a consider- able scale. — (.Abstracted from twtes on Ancient India. By Colonel Svkes. London, 1841 ; p. G to 76.) 40 KINGDOMS OF INDIA DURING THE DARK AGES. some slight clue to their relative impor- tance, antiquity, and position.* That of Bengal is mentioned in the Maha Bharat, and the Ayeen Akbery con- tinues the succession through five dynasties up to the Mohammedan conquest. These lists are to some extent supported by the inscriptions found in various places, which among other matters refer to a series of princes with names ending in Pala, who reigned apparently from the ninth to the latter part of the eleventh century, and are asserted to have ruled all India from the Himalaya to Cape Comorin, and from the Brahmapootra to and even beyond the Indus. They are also asserted to have sub- dued Tibet. The dynasty of Pala was suc- ceeded by one whose names ended in Sena, and this last was subverted by the Moham- medans about A.D. 1203. The kingdom of Malwa is far less ancient than those already mentioned. Its famous monarch, Yicramaditya, is the Haroun al Raschid of Hindoo tales, of which a great number have been collated by the inde- fatigable zeal of Colonel Wilford. He is said to have passed the early part of his life among holy men in austere seclusion, and even when arrived at regal power, to have eschewed all pomp, using utensils of earth rather than of gold, and sleeping on a mat instead of a bed. There is reason to believe that this hero of romance was really a pow- erful monarch and conqueror, who ruled a civilised and prosperous country, extended his sway over the Deccan and even over Cabool, and was a distinguished patron of literature. Oojein became populous on account of the great image of JNIaha-Cali, or Time, which he erected there ; but he himself worshipped only one invisible God. He was slain, 56 B.C., in old age, in battle with Salivahana, aprinceof the Deccan, who will be subsequently referred to; and his death formed the commencement of an era, which is still current among the * The autliorities mainly relied on being the valu- able summary contained in Elphinstone's India,yo\. i., pp. 388 to i'Z^) ; tlie Ayccn Akhcry : Brigg's transla- tion of Ferislita ; Todd's Kajast'han : and Grant L)uft''.s History of the Muhndtas. f Vincent's translation of the Periphls, p. 111. \ Malcolm's Persia, vol. i., p. 112. — "The coun- tries beyond the Oxus, as far as Ferghana, all those to the Indus, some provinces of India, and the linest districts of Arabia, acknowledged the sway of the mighty monarch of I't-rsia." Sir John adds that the emperors of China and India sent presciits, the description of which reads more like a chapter from the Arabian Niyhls than the page of even a I'ersiau historian. Among the gifts of the first potentate countries northward of the Nerbudda. It is of Yicramaditya that the traditions of uni- versal empire are most common in India. A long period of anarchy ensued in Malwa upon this abrupt conclusion of his able gov- ernment. The next epoch is that of the re- nowned Rajah Bhoja ; whose reign of forty years terminated about the end of the eleventh century. His grandson was taken prisoner, and his country conquered by the Rajah of Guzerat ; but Malwa soon reco- vered its independence, which was finally destroyed by the Mohammedans, a.d. 1231. In Guzerat, from its having been the re- sidence of Crishna, and other circumstances, an early principality would appear to have existed ; and the whole is spoken of as un- der one dominion, by a Greek writer of the second century. f Colonel Tod mentions another principality, founded at Ballabi, in the peninsula of Guzerat, in the middle of the second century, b.c, by an emigrant of the Solar race, which reigned in Oiide. This dynasty was expelled in SSI', by an army of barbarians, variously conjectured to have been Parthians, Persians of the Sassanian dynasty, and Indo-Bactrians. The second supposition is probably correct, as Sir John jMalcolm asserts on the authority of various Persian writers, that Nousheerwan, who reigned at or about this period, carried his victorious arms into India ; but that the tri- bute, which was the fruit of his conquest, was after his death no longer paid to his degenerate sou and successor. J Another Rajpoot tribe, called the Chauras, succeeded to the rule of Guzerat, and finally estab- lished their capital in a.d. 746, at Anhal- wara, now Pattan. Failing Chaura, in a.d. 931, through the death of the last rajah without male issue, the succession devolved on his son-in-law, a prince of the Rajpoot tribe of Salonka ; whose family were chiefs of Callian, in the Deccan, above the Ghauts. The kingdom was absorbed by the Mussul- was the image of a panther, the body covered with pearls, and the eyes formed of rubies ; a wonderful robe, the border of which was of celestial blue, while the centre was occu])icd by a representation of the king himself, clothed in his royal robes, and sur- rounded by his attendants; and lastly, enclosed in the same golden box as the robe was a female figure, the beauty of the face veiled by long tresses, and " overpowering as a flash of day during a dark night." The Indian offerings were a thousand pounds' weight of aloe-wood, a vase filled with pearls, and formed of one precious stone, on which was engraven the figures of a maiden seven bands in height, and of a lion ; and a carpet made ol a ser- pent's skin, delicately fine and exquisitely tinted. CANOUJ, CASHMERE, DELHI, BENARES, SINDE, THE PUNJAUB. 41 man conquests of 1297. Canovj, in early times, was called Pancliala, and seems to have been a long but narrow territory, ex- tending on the east of Nepaiil (wliieh it iu- chulcd) ; and on the west, along the C'lnun- 1ml and Bunnass as far as Ajmcer. Notwith- standing the noliec it has attracted as one of the most ancient, wealthy, and magnifi- cent places in India, its early history is very little known.* Its wars with the neighbour- ing state of Delhi contributed to accelerate the ruin of Hindoo independence ; and it was conquered by the JSIussulnmns in 1193. Cashmere is asserted, by its historians, to have c.\isted 2,()00 years b.c. Its last monarch was subdued by j\Iahniood, a.d. 101,'). Its an- nals, as before stated, have been written care- fully and at length ; and placed within reach of the British public by Professor Wilson. Delhi is first named in the I\Iaha Bharat; it was governed by a Rajpoot line, whose last prince was dethroned, a.d. 1050, by an ancestor of the Prithwi Rajah, conquered by the Mussulmans, a.d. 1192. The earliest mention of Benares is found in the same poem ; and its independence terminated contemporaneously with that of Delhi. Mith'di existed in Rama's time, and was the capital of his father-in-law, Sita. It was famous for a school of law, and gave its name to one of the chief Indian lan- guages. Gour, named in the ]\Iaha Bharat, seems to have lasted up to about a.d. 1231. Sinde, referred to in the same record, was independent in the time of Alexander (325 B.C.); and was finally conquered by the Mo- hammedans. Mewar, Jessulmer, and Jeipur, founded respectively in a.d. 720, 731, and 967, still exist as distinct states. Ajmeer is traced back by Tod, for seven generations before a.d. 695 ; it fell at the same time as Delhi. The Punjaub can hardly be spoken of as a distinct kingdom, since it appears to have been generally broken up into various small states ; but from a very remote time a great city is thought to have existed near LahorCjt though under a different name. Our insight into the history of the Deccan commences, for the most part, at a much later date than that of Hindoostan. The five distinct languages — Tamul, Canai'csc, Telugn, Mahratta, and Urya, are considered to denote an equal number of early na- tional divisions, the first-mentioned indicating • The Pala dynasty at Canouj are tliought to have displaced as paramount rulers in India, the Gupta dynasty of Prayaga and Delhi. Pray.-.ga or Allah.i- bad, the ancient Gupta capital, contains a column the most ancient, viz., the country.of Dravira, which occupied the extreme south of the peninsula; the earliest cohjnists from Hin- doostan having traversed the bleak plateaux of the upjjcr Deccan, and settled down on the fruitful plains of the Carnatic and Tanjore. The kingdom of Pundya was formed aijout the fifth century. In the time of the " Pe- riplus" it comprcheuded a part of the Malabar coast; but it was usually nounded by the Ghauts to the westward, and occupied only the territory now known as the dis- tricts of Madura and Tiuivelly. The seat of government was at INIadura, in Ptolemy's time, and remained there until about a cen- tury ago. The last prince was conquered by the nabob of Arcot, in 1736. The neighbour- ing kingdom of Chola was at one time of considerable extent, its princes haWng, it is supposed, about the middle of the eighth century, possessed large portions of Carnata and Tclingana. Their sway was greatly diminished in the twelfth century, being re- duced to the limits of the Dravira country. Chola lost its separate existence about the end of the seventeenth century. The capital was, for the most part, at Conjeveram, west of jMadras. Chera comprehended Travan- core, part of INIalabar, and Coimbatore, and seems to h.ave existed about the commeuce- menccment of our era. It was subverted in the tenth century, and its lands portioned among the surrounding states. Kerala included Malabar and Carnara. About the first or second century of the Christian era a colony of Brahmins from Hindoostan settled here, divided the country into sixtj'-four districts, and governed it by means of a general assembly of their cast ; renting allotments to men of the inferior classes. The executive government was held by a Brahmin elected every three years, and assisted by a cotineil of four of the same tribe ; but in the course of time, a chief of the military class was appointed. The northern di^^sion appears to have been ruled by a dynasty of its own till the twelfth century, when it was overturned by the Be- lala rajahs; and subsequently became stib- ject to the rajahs of Vijayanagar. The Concan, in early times, was a wild forest tract (as great part of it still remains), thinly inhabited by ]\lahrattas. Cantata seems to have been originally with an inscription of Samadras Gupta's, which has been translated by Mr. Prinsep. t A\'hen the Pala princes held Canouj, members of the family ndcd at Lahore, and thence extended 42 ANCIENT DIVISIONS OF THE DECCAN, CARNATA, ORISSA, &c. divided between tte Pandya and Chera princes and those of Carnara (tlie nortliern half of Kerala). It was afterwards par- titioned among many petty princes, until the middle of the 11th century, when one considerable dynasty arose — the family of Belala — who were, or pretended to be, Raj- poots* of the Yadoo branch, and whose power at one time extended over the whole of Carnata, together with Malabar, the Tamul country, and part of Telingana. They were subverted by the JMussulmans about A.D. 1310. The eastern part of Te- lingana appears to have been, from the be- ginning of the ninth to nearly the end of the eleventh century, in the hands of an obscure dynasty known by the name of Yadava. A Rajpoot family of the Chalukya tribe reigned at Callian, on the borders of Carnata and Maharashta. They are traced by inscrip- tions, from the tenth to the end of the twelfth century ; are supposed to have possessed the whole of Maharashta to the Nerbudda,t and even to have been superior lords of the west of Teliugana.J The last king was deposed by his minister, who was in turn assassinated by some fanatics of the Lingayet sect, which was then rising into notice, and the kingdom fell into the hands of the Ya- doos of Deogiri (Doiilatabad). Another branch of the Cbalukya tribe ruled over Calinga, the eastern portion of Telingana, which extends along the sea from Dravira to Orissa. The dynasty perhaps begau about the tenth century, and certainly lasted through the whole of the twelfth and thir- teenth ; it was greatly reduced by the Gana- pati kings of Andra, and finally subverted by the rajahs of Cuttack. Andra is the name of all the inland part of the Telingana country, the capital being at Varangul, about eighty miles north-east of Hyderabad. Its kings, Vicrama and Sali- vahana, alleged to have been connected with the Andra race in Magadha, are among the earliest mentioned. After them, ac- cording to local records, the Chola rajahs succeeded ; then a race called Yavaus,§ who reigned from 515, a.d., till 953 ; next came the family of Ganapati, who attained great their sway to Cabool, where they remained up to the time of Sultan Mahmood, the then rajah being named J aya I'ala. — Masson. • " Some of the Hindoos assert that the tribes of Brahmin and Ksholry [Cshatriya] existed from time immemorial, hut that the Itajpoots are a modern tribe, only known since the beginning of the Kulyoog [Cnli Yuga, a.m. 321>5.] Tiie rajahs, not satisfied with their married wives, had frequently children by power about the end of the thirteenth cen- tury, and are even affirmed to have possessed the whole of the peninsula south of the Godavery. In 1332 the capital was taken by a Mohammedan army from Delhi, and the state merged at length in the Mussul- man kingdom of Golconda. The history of Orissa, like all others in the Deccan, begins with princes mentioned in the Maha Bharat, describes in a very con- fused manner the successive occupation of the country by Vicramaditya and Sali- vahana, and the repeated invasions of Ya- vans from Delhi, from a country called Babul (supposed to mean Persia), from Cashmere and from Sinde, between the sixth century before, and the fourth after, Christ. The last invasion was from the sea, and in it the Yavans were successful, and kept possession of Orissa for 146 years, being expelled, a.d. 473, by Yayati Kesari. This point is thought to be the first established, for the traditions regarding the Yavans cannot be satisfactorily explained. The natives suppose them to have been jNIussulmans, but the first Arab invasion was not till the seventh century after Christ. Others apply the story to Seleucus, or to the Bactrian Greeks ; while Masson suggests the possibility of the people of Yava or Java being meant. The Kesari family lasted till a. d. 1131, when their capital was taken by a prince of the house of Ganga Vansa ; his heirs were supplanted by a Rajpoot dynasty, of the Sun or Surya race. The government having fallen into confusion about 1550, was seized on by a Telingu chief, and ultimately annexed to the ilogul empire by Akber, in 1578. The greatest internal prosperity and improve- ment seems to have been enjoyed towards tlie end of the twelfth century ; but during several years before and after that date, the people of Orissa claim to have made exten- sive conquests, especially to the south. In the middle of the fifteenth century the gov- ernment of Orissa sent armies as far as Conjeveram, near Madras ; and about the same time their rajali advanced to the neigh- bourhood of Bidr to assist the Hindoo princes of those parts against the Mohammedans. their female slaves, who, nlthough not legitimate successors to the throne, were styled Itajpoots, or the children of the rajahs." — (Briggs' Translation (if Fen's/ltd. — Introduction, p. Ixiii.). t J'ide Mr. Walter Elliot's contribiitions to Joiir- niil of the lioijol Asiatic Sociclij, vol. iv., p. 1. J Wilson, Iidi-od.to Mach-cmie jxipers, p. exxix. § The country north of I'eshawer was anciently called Yava, perhaps these Yavans came thence. ANCIENT STATE OF MAHAHASHTA OR MAHRATTA COUNTRY, 43 Maharushta or tlic Muhrcdla cmmlry, thougli situated on tlic frontier of tlic Dcccaii, and of great size, if we may jnd^^c from the wide extent over wliicli tlic lan- guage bearing tliat name is spoken, is only vaguely noticed in early records. After tlic legends regarding Rama, whose retreat was near the source of tlic Godavery, the first fact mentioned is the existence of Tagara, which was frequented by Egyptian mer- chants 250 years b.c. It is alluded to in inscriptions, as a celebrated ])laec in the twelfth century, and is still well known by name. It is mentioned bj'' the author of the " Periplus,"* but in such a manner as to certify little more respecting its site than that it lay about 100 miles to the eastward of Paitan, on the (jodavery. Grant Duff supposes it to have been somewhat to the north-east of the modern town of Bheer.f It is said to have been a very great city, and one of the two principal marts of Dachana- bades, a country so called from Dachan, which in the " Periplus" is stated to be the native word for south. The other mart was named Plithana.;]: Tagara, wherever situated, became the capital of a line of kings of the Rajpoot family of Silar. The reign of their most famous monarch, Salivahana, gave rise to a new era, commencing a.d. 77. He is stated to have been the son of a potter, and to have headed an insurrection which over- turned the existing government (whatever it might have been), and removed the capital to Prutcsthan or Paitan, on the Godavery. Prom this period nothing is known of the history of Maharashta (except by the in- scriptions of the petty princes of Callian and Pernala) till the beginning of the twelfth century : a family of Yadoos then became rajahs of Deogiri, and continued to reign until 1317, when the country, which had been previously invaded by the ]\Iohammedaus from Delhi, was finally subjugated. About this time the Mussulman writers begin to mention the Mahrattas by name ; before they had been noticed only as inhabitants of the Deccan. Our information regard- • The "Periplus [dcsenplion] of the Erythrcan Sea," is the title of a GrceK work, issued in 153.3, from the printing-])ress of Froben, at Basle. It eon- tains the best account extant of the commerce car- ried on from the Erythrcan or Ked Sea and the coast of Africa, to the East Indies, during the time that Egypt was a Roman province. l)i'. Vincent, the learned Uean r-' Westminster, who, in 1800, wrote an elaborate treatise, in two vols., -Ito., to elucidate a translation of the '' Periplus," says — " 1 have never been able to discover from what manuscript the work was first edited;" neither could he ascertain ing their early attainments so utterly fails to elucidate the trstiinony which the famous cave temples of Ellora and elsewhere, bear to the capabilities and numbers of the people by whom such mighty works were planned and executed, that, notwithstanding tiie use- ful labours of their historian (Grant Duff), we may believe there is yet much to be learned respecting them, probably a very interesting portion of their existence as a nation. Re- cently they have played a prominent but deso- lating and destructive part, which has drawn from the pen of a modern writer a denunci- ation of "those southern Goths, the Mah- rattas." — (Tod's Rajast'han. Introduction.) Concerning the social condition of the inhabitants of Ilindoostan and the Deccan during these dark middle ages, we have certainly not sufKeient data on which to found any general conclusions, except those which may be deduced from the edicts of such exemplary monarchs as Asoca — unhap- pily rare in all countries — and other col- lateral evidence. Our present information divides itself into two classes ; and comes cither through the channel of jjoctry, that is, of history travestied into fable ; or else tlirough the medium of Brahmin or Bood- hist priests : it must consequently he well searched and sifted before it can be relied on as unbiassed by political motive or sec- tarian prejudice. But search and sift as we may, little light is thrown on the condi- tion of the people, nor probably ever will be, at least in the sense given to that phrase in the present era of European and Americau civilization. The states noticed in the fore- going sketch would each one of them afibrd matter for a volume, full of wars, usurpa- tions, change of dynasty, and, above all, ex- tension of dominion ; all this resting on local records, and reading on smoothly enough; but much of it entirely incompatible with the equally cherished traditions of neigh- bouring states. The code of ]Meuu is per- haps an exception to this censure, but the uncertainty attached to the epoch at which it was written, and the extent to which its the name of the author, generally supposed to be Arrian the historian, but who, in his opinion, must have lived a cefttury before. There is internal evi- dence, according to the Dean, that the writer was a Greek, a merchant of Alexandria, and that he ac- tually made a voyage on board the fleet from Egypt as far as the Oiilf of Cambay, if not to Ceylon. — {Sec Vincent, vol. ii.) t Iliston/ of the Mahraltas, vol. i., p. 25. I Elphinstone conjectures Plithana to be a mis- take of the Greek copyist for Paithana or Paitan. The word occurs but once in the " Periplus." 44 EARLY CIVILIZATION, RELIGION AND LAWS OF THE HINDOOS. institutes were ever observed, greatly im- , pairs its value. The first objection applies ■ also to the Ramayana and Maha Bharat. Thus much perhaps may be reasonably inferred, from the concurrent testimony of Hindoo and foreign records, of inscriptions, and much incidental evidence of various kinds — that, at a period long antecedent to the Christian era, and while the natives of Britain were nude, nomadic savages, the people of India had attained a high position in arts, science, literature, and commerce, and lived under the hereditary rule of their own kings or rajahs ; the evils attendant on the otherwise irresponsible power of a patri- archal and despotic ruler being probably counterbalanced by the respective rights of the chiefs of the sacred, and of the warrior casts, but still more by the municipal insti- tutions which seem to have been general throughout the country. In many smaller states the government appears to have been a sort of oligarchical republic. The manners and customs of the Hindoos, the influence of cast, and the changes gradually brought about by ]\Iussuhnan and British conquerors, will, if space permit, be specially though briefly narrated in another section. Between the time of Menu and the Mohammedan epoch, the religious and social habits of the people had sadly deteriorated. Their belief in an omnipresent or "all-pervasive" God had gradually been warped bj' perverted but plausible reasoning, into a belief that be- cause God was in everything, therefore any- thing might be worshipped, not simply as His representative, but actually as Himself. Be- ginning probably with those glorious natural objects of the Sabajan heresy, the sun, moon, and stars, they had at length become so de- graded as to fall down before images of wood and stone, and had lost sight almost wholly of their original doctrine of an indivisible triad, by ignoring Brahma (the creating prin- ciple) and according to Vishnu (the preserv- ing) or Saiva (the destroying),* a paramount place in the pantheon of hero-gods, sacred animals, and grotesque, or often (to Euro- pean eyes) immodest figures, which gradually arose, and swallowed up in Ijic darkness of heathenism the rays of light which pos- sibly slioue upon the earliest of the Hindoo race in the ])atriarchal age. Their rvliyiuus observances involved a tedious and a!nu)st * These are mythologically reijreseiited as liaving wives, namely, Seraswati or Devi, Ijakshmi or lilia- vani, and Parvali or Durga, eonsidercfi metaphysi- cally as the active powers_ which develop the prin- ciple represented by each member of the triad. impracticable ritual, with abstinence from many things which in the christian dispen- sations are treated as harmless — but the character of Brahmin and also of Boodhist teaching, generally distinct, was alike in being, with some great and glaring excep- tions, merciful and even comparatively moral. The laios of the Hindoos, especially for civil judicature, have been eulogized by Sir W. Jones, Munro, and other authorities, though severely criticised by Mill, who on this subject was prejudiced, and ia fact pos- sessed but a small part of the information since revealed. The equal partitionment of property, and the consequent disability of willing away land or money, has been much canvassed as to its effect in preventing the accumulation or improvement of possessions. It undoubtedly stimulated the dedication of large sums to religious, charitable, or public purposes ; to the building of temples, of ' choultries or houses of refreshment for tra- vellers,' and to the formation of tanks and canals — most necessary works in a land where such means, under Providence, can alone prevent hundreds, nay thousands, not only of cattle, but of human beings, from perishing by the maddening pangs of thirst, or in the more prolonged agonies of hunger, when the parched earth, gaping in deep chasms, plainly bids man, if he would be sustained by her increase, use the energy and ability with which God has blessed him, to supply as best he can, the want of kindly dew and rain, to renew her strength and fertility. The position of ivomen was decidedly supe- rior to that of the weaker sex in almost any other ancient nation, with regard to the hereditary laws of property : they were, if unmarried, to receive portions out of their brothers' allotments. Menu ordains that whoever accosts a woman shall do so by the title of " sister," and that way must be made for her, even as for the aged, for a priest, for a prince, or a bridegroom ; and in his text on the laws of hospitality he enjoins that " pregnant women, brides and damsels, shall have food before all the otlier guests." The seclusion and ignorance to which females are now subjected had their origin in the like Mohammedan custom. Formerly they were taught to read and write, they were the ornament and deliglit of the social circle ; ami historic or traditionary annals abound in records of their virtuous anJ noble deeds. Suttee or widow-burning ; infanticide ; the carrying out of the sick, when deemed past recovery ; suicide under the same or dificreut ASTRONOMY, GEOMETllY, ALGEBRA, AND CHRONOLOGY. 4r. circumstances, including immolation be- neath the car of Jufjgcrnaut and self- inflicted tortures arc almost entirely inno- vations whicli gradually crept in : Jugger- naut especially — being of quite modern date. Tlie extent of scientific knowledge ae(]iiired by the Hindoos and the date of its attain- ment, is a source of endless discussion ; yet the subject is too im])ortaiit to be wholly liassed over, even in this intermediate stage of their history. In astronomy, much merit is assigned tliem by Cassini, ]5ailly, and Playfair, who assert that a considerable degree of progress had been made 3,000 years before the Christian era, as evidenced by observa- tions still extant. La riaec, De Lam- brc, and others dispute the authenticity of these observations, but all agree in ad- mitting a great antiquity. Mr. Bentley, who has examined the calculations very minutely, and is one of the most strenuous opponents of the claims of the Hindoos, pronounces their division of the Ecliptic into twenty- seven lunar mansions, to have been made B.C. 1412. Mr. Elphinstone is of opinion that the Indian observations could not have commenced at a later period than the fif- teenth century, B.C., or one or two ectituries before the first mention of astronomy in Greece. In the fifth century the Brahmins discussed the diurnal revolution of the : earth on its axis, and they were more eor- \ rect than Ptolemy in their notions regard- ing the precession of the Equinoxes. In an Indian work (the Surya Sidhanta) to which the date of the fifth or sixth century is generally assigned, a system of trigono- metry is laid down which involves theorems that were not known in Europe until the sixteenth century. Geometry was probably studied long previous to the date of the above book, as exemplified in the demonstrations of various properties of triangles, the pro- * " Mr. Colcbrooke has fully established that algebra had attained the highest pcrl'eetion it ever reached in India before it was known to the Arabians, and, indeed, before the first dawn of the culture of the sciences among that people." — (El- phinstone, vol. i., p. 250). t The Samaritan is the most ancient of the orien- tal versions of the Scriptures, but its exact age is unascertained; it contains only the Pentateuch. I The anonymous writer of a Key to the Chrono- logy nf the IliiiiJoox, whose opinions are set forth in 2 vols. Svo., printed at Cambridge in 1820 j under- takes to convince his readers that "the Hindoo dates correspond with the Hebrew texts of our Scriptures, and that they date the Lotos or creation 6,817 years from the present time, which is only six portion of the radius to the circumference of the circle, and other problems. The in- vention of decimal iwlation is ascribed to the Hindoos, who, even in algebra, so early as the sixth century,* under a celebrated teacher, (firahma (jupta,) excelled all their cotemporaries, not merely in propounding problems, but in its application to astrono- mical investigations and geometrical demon- strations. Their chronology has long been a stumbling-block (see p. 15), but it is never- theless considered by several critical in- quirers to admit of satisfactory explanation ijy means of astronomical and arithmetical calculations. Megasthencs expressly declares that the Indians and the .lews were the only nations possessed of a rational chronology, and that they agreed. Mr. JMasson remarks, on this statement, — "when I look at the enormous sums given of millions of years elapsed during the three first yugas, and ask how can they be reconciled with the dictum of [Mcgastlienes, I call to mind a verse somewhere in Menu, which tells us that a year of a mortal is but a day with the gods, and conceit that these large num- bers have been calculated on some such base as there suggested — just as in the Hebrew Prophets, Daniel, &c., periods are ex- pressed by days, weeks, &c. — only in these, multiplication is needful, and with the Hin- doos divisio.i." In the private letter from which I have ventured to quote the preced- ing passage, INIr. Masson adds, that by the use of the multiple 360 and the divisor nine (the sacred number of the Tartars and other nations), the Hindoo statement can be made to agree with that found in one (? the Samai-itanf version) of the Scriptures within a single year. J And he considers that the system of Indian chronology was framed in some manner intelligible to the initiated, § by whom the sacred writings were solely, or at least particularly, intended to years from the true period, according to the best calculations we have, and only two years according to the vulgar • era of Clu-ist', a.m. ' 4004." In an elaborate disquisition he contends that the com- Jiiencement of the fourth historical age, Call ynya, "is correctly placed at n.c. 3182;" the three pre- vious ages "contain a period of 900 years only;" and by adding 900 years to the current year of the fourth, or Cali age, we get the true epoch of creation, according to all oriental chronology." The ycnr of the world is com])uted by the Greek church at B.C. 5509; by the Abyssinian church, 5492; by the Jews, ."5760. The Bible chronology gives it as 4004 B.C. § It is stated in the " Key " that some European suggested to Sir W. Jones an explanation by cutting the ciphers off the numerals. 4G GEOGRAPHY, MEDICINE, LANGUAGES, AND LITERATURE. be read, the Bralimins in this respect differ- ing essentially from the Boodhists. In geography they had, as a nation, made little progress, and though unquestionably engaged in traffic more or less direct with the nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa, pro- bably entered, at the utmost, only as indivi- duals on the carrying trade beyond their own coast, and gave little thought to the position or affairs of other countries ; and this accords with the metaphysical, rather than practical, turn of their minds. There is, however, a passage in Menu •which shows that marine insurance was practised his time ; and various writings, poems, plays, and tales written during different periods from the first to the twelfth century, detail adventures at sea, in which Indian sailors and ships are immediately concerned. That the Hindoos established colonies in Java and other places there is reason to believe, though -we cannot tell at what time, or under what circumstances. Bryant, who contends that Chaldea was the parent coun- try of the Hindoos, asserts, in his Analysis of Ancient Mythology , that these people were found in Colchis, in Mesopotamia, and even in Thrace. Recently they have been met with in Arabia, Armenia, and Astracan. In medicine they had not merely studied the virtues of simples, but had also attained considerable skill in chemistry, and knew how to prepare (for the most part in modes peculiar to themselves) sulphuric, nitric, and muriatic acid ; oxides of copper, iron, lead (of which they had both the red oxide and litharge) tin, and zinc; the sulphurets of copper, zinc, and iron, and carbonates of lead and iron. They employed minerals internally, giving both mercury, arsenic, and arsenious acid ; cinnabar was used for fumi- gations, to produce safe and speedy saliva- tion. They also practised inoculation for small-pox. Their surgery is still more re- markable, from their ignorance oi anatomy — dissection or even the touch of dead bodies, being deemed the extreme of pollution — yet they cut for the stone, couched for cataract, and performed other delicate operations;* and their early works enumerate no less than 127 sorts of surgical instruments, which, however, were probably always rude. Of the languages and Hlerainre of India, it would be impossiljlc to convey any idea in few words, without appearing to assume a dogmatic attitude on the many difficult • Vide Dr. Koyle's Essay on the A7itiquity of the Indian Materia Mcdica. questions involved therein. The transla- tions of Sir William Jones from the Sanscrit, of Sacontala, a pastoral drama of great anti- quity, and other poems, together with the Hindoo Theatre of Professor Wilson, enable English readers to form their own opinions of the degree of dramatic excellence very early attained in India. Portions of the Ramayana, of the Maha Bharat, and the whole of the Sama Veda have also been translated; the fourth, or Antharva Veda, (whose authenticity is disputed), being still sedulously withheld by the Brahmins, and denounced as a " Black Book," teaching as- trology and witchcraft. The six Angras or Shastras, are supposed to have been written by inspiration to elucidate the sub- lime mysteries contained in the Vedas. They treat of theology and ritual observances ; of grammar, metre, astronomy, logic, law, the art of government, medicine, archery, the use of arms, music, dancing, and the drama. AVith the eighteen Puranas we are not immediately concerned, for two reasons. They must be subsequently referred to as ex- planatory of the present (would to God that we could say the past) idolatrous polytheism of the Hindoos ; and moreover in the opinion of Professor Wilson, none of them assumed their existing state until the time of Sankara Acharya, the great Saiva reformer, who flourished aljout tlie eighth or ninth cen- tury, and consequently, subsequent to the period of which we are now treating: Wilson traces several of them to the twelfth, four- teenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries of our era. The Puranas have been already frequently quoted, because they comprise the genealogies of various dynasties, especi- ally of the solar and lunar races ; which are valuable, although sometimes misleading, being evidently a compilation of fragments obtained from family records. Many historical documents probably yet remain uninjured, hidden away from the desolating torch of the soldiers of the Crescent, who generally did their utmost to destroy the writings of an idolatrous people, at least any that might appear connected with their creed, which all were more or less. Doubtless much valuable data has thus ut- terly perished; and the loss is now irreparable. The remark made by the people of Rajast'han to Colonel Tod, when he complained of the numerous deficiencies in their annals, was suilicient explanation and apology. "When our princes," said they, "were in exile, driven from hold to hold, and com- ARCHITECTURE, FETES, POLICE SYSTEM, AND COINAGE. 47 pcllcd to flwc'll ill tlie clefts of tlio inoiiii- tniris, often (loiil)tfiil wlictlicr tlioy would not be obliLjcd to abandon tlic very meal prcijarint; for tlicni — was that a time to think of historical records ?"* In the lighter department of literature they excel ; and, indeed, in talcs and fables appear to have set the example to the rest of mankind, since to them may be traced the subjects of the most popular Oriental and even European fictions. t Their music is said to have been syste- matic and refined, but it has since greatly de- teriorated: jmintiiig was probably always at a low ebb, unless l)cautifully illustrated manu- scripts may form an exception — in which, however, the figures are the worst executed portion of the ornaments. Their ancient sculpture often presents spirited and some- times exceedingly graceful groups ; but is generally rendered unpleasing, not only by the grotesque and many-limbed forms of the gods and goddesses, but also by their igno- rance of anatomy, and inattention, even as copyists, to the symmetrical arrangement of the limbs and muscles, and to the mainte- nance of proportion between dilferent figures. Architecture early became a favourite and practicalstudy,J butvaried greatly in different parts of India {vide section on topography). It is said that the arch was not understood before the Mussulman era, but this seems to be contradicted by the age of some speci- mens which still exist. Tanks or reservoirs for irrigation or for bathing were made on a scale of great extent and magnificenee, and also wells of considerable depth and breadth, the more ancient of which were square and surrounded by galleries, with a broad flight of steps from top to bottom. Their triumphal columns and massive gateways and pagodas take rank among the finest specimens of the architecture of any nation. Their manufactures and commerce have been noticed sufficiently for the present purpose : their mode of agriculture was so nearly what it is at present, that that sub- ject, together with their rights in the land and the revenue system generally, may be best deferred for examination to a future chapter. Chariots were drawn in war by horses, but ou a march by oxen and sometimes by camels. Elephant chai'iots were also kept as a piece of extraordinary magnificence, used • UnJasfJuin, vol. i. p. ix. t J'i(/u 2'riinsiiciii}ns of lite Boi/a! Asiatic Socieli/, vol. i. p. 16G, oil Ihe Indian origin of European fdblts. in their famous festivals, when well appointed troops marched in procession ; and thrones, tables, goblets, lavcrs, set with precious stones, and robes of exquisite colours richly em- broidered with gold, were borne along in state. Tame lions and panthers formed part of the show which birds, remarkable for gorgeous plumage or sweet song, were made to enliven; being conveyed on trees transported on large waggons. In short, a Hindoo fete in the ancient days, was a thing that even a Parisian of the time of the second Buonaparte might sigh for — always excepting fireworks, for it does not appear that they had any knowledge of gunpowder, although in war they arc said to have used arrows tipped with some com- bustible or explosive compound. The police system ^Mcgasthcncs declared to be excellent; royal roads are spoken of by Strabo, in one place, and mile-stones in ano- ther. § The dress, as described by Arrian,|| was precisely the two wrappers of cotton cloth, still worn by the people of Bengal and by strict Brahmins everywhere. It is asserted that no Indian coinage existed prior to the introduction of that of the Greeks or Bactrians. This, if proved, would be no criterion of barbarism : the Chinese, at the present day, have no gold or silver pieces — their only coin being a small alloyed copper "cash," of which about a thousand are equal to one Spanish dollar. All sales have for ages been regulated by bars or blocks of the precious metals, with a stamped attestation of their respective purity; and it is possible that in ancient times a similar course was pursued in India. There arc however passages in a Sanscrit play and in the penal code of the Hindoos which refer, not only to the standard, but to the fabric and stamp of coin, and to the punish- ments due to the fabricators and falsifiers of the public monies. Small flat pieces of silver, square, round, or oblong, weighing from forty- eight to fifty grains, with a rude punch, symbo- lical of a sun, moon, or star, or a nondescript figure, of an unknown age, have been found in considerable quantities in various localities. Hindoo gold and silver coins, tolerably well executed, have been discovered at Beghram, Cutch, Benares, and other places appertaining to the Balhara dynasty ; which is thought to have ruled the country from Oojcin to the Indus, 375 years posterior to the \ Essay on Ilimloo Architecture by Ram K&Z, published by tlio Oriental Translation Fund. § Strabo, Lib. xv., pp. -174 — 194, ed. 1587. i{ Intlica, cap. xvi. i8 KINGDOMS OF BACTRIA, ARIA, AND PARTHIA. Vicramaditya era. Coins of tlie Chandra Gupta dynasty have been collected from the ruins of Behat near the Doab Canal, and at Canouj ; others, of a Jain or Boodhistical type, have been procured at Rajast'han and at Hurdwar on the Gauges. Recent investigations* have brought to light no inconsiderable quantity of Indo- Scythian and Sassanian coins, which gradu- ally mixed with and at length merged into a distinct Hindoo type. This, with modifi- cations, lasted to the time of the Moham- medan conquerors. A very curious Eng- lish collection of Hindoo silver monies con- nects two dynasties ; indeed, there are not many links wanting to form an entire series of Greek, Bactriau, ' NysDeau,t Sassanian, Indo-Scythian, and HindooJ (Giizerat, Raj- poot, Canouj, or Rahtore, &c.) coins, from the time of Alexander to that of the Moslems in the eleventh century. The Roman coins discovered in India extend in antiquity through a period of more than 1,000 years, from the Augustan age down to the decline of the Lower empire ; those generally found are of the smaller denominations, consistuig of the common currency of the eastern parts of the empire : many of the copper coins are of Egyptian fabrication. Badria, Aria, and Parthia. — The two first-named countries, comprising the terri- tory lying on either side of the Hindoo Koosh, between the Oxus and Indus Rivers, are on the high road of Asiatic conquest, and have been the battle-field of every tribe and nation that has risen to dominion in the East. Parthia has been always intimately connected with them, and the three have iointly and severally exercised an influence in India, the extent and nature of which is still but imperfectly understood. Recent discoveries of coins (above re- ferred to) have confirmed and augmented the information bequeathed by ancient * Sec Ariitna Antiqiin, a tlcsci-iptivc account of the antiquities and coins of Afglianistan, with a memoir of the huildings, called topes, by C. Masson, Esq. Edited by Prof. Wilson, 4to, 1841. Also the expositions of J. I'rinsep in the Jonriuildf the. Jlctiffal Asiatic Sucicti/ ; and II. T. Piinsep's Hist, llesults. t The features of tlie sovereigns of the various dynasties stamped on these coins are quite distinct, and they are generally well executed. The Nysscan have a fillet or diadem round tlio head; reverse, a horseman ; tlie Indo-Scythian av. erect figure of Her- cules resting on his club : the Sassanian, a fire altar on the reverse. The legends are generally in (ircek, or in Pehlevi, a language which was contemporary with the Parsi (of Per.sia), and the Zend (of Aledia), five or six hundred years, B.C. It was used in authors, and thrown a new light on the connection which existed with the kingdom of Baetria — that is, of the country watered by the Oxus and its tributaries, and sepa- rated from Hindoostan by the range of mountains whence the Oxus and Indus derive their respective sources. It has been already stated, that after the first contest for the partition of the vast empire of Alexander, all his eastern conquests, including Hyrca- nia, Parthia, Baetria, Aria,§ &c., were ap- propriated by Seleucus. Baetria remaine I subject to his descendants, until civil wars and the impending revolt of the Parthians induced Diodotus, or Theodotus, the satrap or governor of the province, to assert his independence and become the first king, about 250, or, according to Bayer, 255, B.C. Parthia also successfully revolted from the sway of the Seleucidse, under Arsaces,l| who, according to Strabo, was by birth a Bac- trian, but is called by other writers a Da- hian, that is, a native of Sogdiana :^ who- ever he was, he appears to have used Greek only on his coins and in his public letters and correspondence. Baetria itself, however, cannot be sup- posed to have been colonised by any great body of Greeks, but probably received many of the partially-disciplined recruits raised by Alexander during the later part of his progress. Even the Greeks, by intermar- riage with Persian, and doubtless with In- dian wives, would soon lose their distinctive character; and after the establishment of Parthian power, the immigration of adven- turers from Greece, and, indeed, all commu- nication with that country would cease. This accounts for the total silence of Greek authors respecting the termination of the Bactrian kingdom. Its limits, during the most flourishing period, included some parts of India. Strabo quotes an ancient author, who asserts that the Bactriaus possessed the region round Assyria, and probably in Assyria itself, — but together with the Zend h.as been a dead language for more than two thousand yeai's. I The ancient Hindoo coins have various devices — a horseman, a horse, an elephant, a lion, a bull, an antelope, a goat, the Sankh, or sacred shell, or the hieroglyphic called Swastika. § Aria is the territory of which Herat is the capital. Ariana (Eeran) is the general name for the country east of Persia and Media to the Indus. II Sogdiana designates the mountains wliich feed the Jaxarles and divide tliat river from the O.xus. ^f Arsaccs was the title of Partliiun princes. The Parthians were the Saca; of Asia, and Saca-dwipa (the coiintry of the Saca;') lay about tlio fountains of of the Oxus. — Condcr's Modern 'I'racellei: (^Jndia.) BACTRIA OVERRUN BY SCYTHIAN HORDES.— b.c, 125, 49 " the most conspicuous part of Ariana" (Kliorasan), and coii(|ii(rc(l more nations in India than even Alexander. In this last achicvonicnt the principal actors were Mc- nandcr, Appollodotus, and Demetrius, who arc mentioned together by Straho ; but their date and the limits of their sway are not clearly stated. Demetrius is a puzxlc, or rather the site of his kingdom, for he once had one, and was a conqueror besides. Two or three of his coins have been found in Cabool, not snflicicnt to establish the fact of his rule tlicre, but rather the reverse ; two or three others — of silver — have been brought from Bokhara. Appollodotus and Menaudcr * certainly ruled over Cabool, their copper coins being found in such numbers, and so constantly, as to prove they were once a currency there ; but then, as regards Appollodotus, Cabool is held to have been merely a province, his capital being established elsewhere, to be looked for, perhaps, where his copper money was circular instead of square, as at Cabool, and such circular coins are discovered more eastward in the Punjaub, and even at Muttra (the old Mcthora), on the Jumna. Masson strongly suspects the kingdom of Appollodotus and Menaudcr to have been rather Indian than Bactrian ; and Professor Lassen supposes three kingdoms to have existed besides that of Bactria, of which the eastern, under IMcnandcr and Appollodotus, comprehended the Punjaub and the valley of the Indus, with Cabool ana Arachosia, or Candahar, added in times of prosperity. The western kingdom, he places conjecturally at Ileerat and in Seestau, and the third would include the Paropamisau region, which, however, Prinsep inclines to attribute to Bactria. t Unfortunately, no information has been obtained to prove how far north or west of Cabool the currencies of the aforesaid kings spread, otherwise the limits of their rule might have been partially traced in those directions. The Greeks, under Menaudcr, made extensive conquests, subduing the Seres and Shauni to the north and north-east of India ; crossing the Hy- panis (IIyphasis,orBcyah), and proceeding as iar as the Isamus to the south-eastward ; and * "Whether Appollodotus succeeded or preceded Menander is uncertain, Ijut an opinion may be raised that althougii always mentioned first, he really fol- lowed Menander, because his circular coins so closely resemble in style and i'abric tliose of Azcs (in Bac- tro-Pali, Aya) that it is evident the one currency followed the other, in the I'unjaiib and to the east, but not in Cabool, where that of Ilermias prevailed. on the south-westward reducing Pattalenc, that is, the country about Tatta, forming the Delta of the Indus. All the interme- diate territory ap])cars, from the statement of Strabo, to have been vanquished; and we might form a tolcraljly satisfactory conclu- sion as to its extent, but for doubts suggested of the meaning of the word I.iamus. This is by some considered to denote the Jumna Uiver, by others the Himalaya Mountains {sometimes called Imaus), and, thirdly, with perhaps better reason, tlic Isamutti River, which falls into the Ilooghly, a western branch of the Ganges. BaclriaProper, as established by Diodotus, appears to have continued through his suc- cessors Diodotus II., Euthydemus, Eucra- tides, and his successor (supposed by De Guigncs and Bayer to have been his son and murderer, Eucratidcs II., but by Mas- son, Ilelioclcs), until about 125 years B.C., when, (according to Chinese records, quoted by Dc Guigncs) a great movement which took place in Central or Eastern Tartary impelled across the Jaxartes (Sir) an irre- sistible torrent of Scythian hordes. Tliis statement is corroborated by the testimony of Strabo, who gives the names of the four principal tribes by whom the overthrow of the Greek kingdom was eflFected. From these names they would appear to have been composed of a mixture of Gct;e or Goths, Dahi or Dacians, Sakarauli or Sakas, and Tochari, perhaps, but not certainly, Turks. All seized portions of Bactria ; and after some time the Geta; subdued the others, and advanced upon India. Crossing the Hindoo Koosh, they dispossessed the suc- cessor of HermiaSj if not the old king him- self ; and their presence is very clearly indicated by tliose coins bearing the name of that king, with the prefix Su. Soon after the coinage was varied ; busts probably in- tended to represent their own kings or chiefs were introduced, and Bactro-Pali legends oa the revei-sc, much diflering from the Greek ones encircling the busts — the latter, indeed, becoming unintelligible. The Getaj, more- over, we arc assured, retained power in the countries bordering on the Indus for foirr ccntiu'ics — liable, necessarily, to vicissitudes. For this remark, as well as other information inter- woven in the text conveying a brief sketch of Bac- trian affairs, 1 am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Charles Masson. t Because of the bilingual as well as pure Greek coins of Ileliocles and Antimaehus, kings of Bactria. — llistoricat Results dedueible from recent discoverits in AfghunUtan, by H. Prinsep. Esq., p. 66. 50 PERSIA AND CENTRAL INDIA SUBDUED BY THE CALIPHS. but stili maintaining themselves until finally j overcome by the Huns. The Partbians ' benefited by the occasion of attacking Eu- cratides, and deprived him of two satrapies ; but although certain coins bearing a national tinge, with an attempted imitation of the names and titles of Heliocles are fouud in Cabool, there is little other e\ddence of Pai-thian rule there — while in the Pun- jaub, immediately on the banks of the Indus, there is more. It is not impro- bable, that they contested the possession of Cabool with the Getse, but were unsuccess- ful, and directed their attention rather to Sinde, and thence ascended the Indus ; but it may be doubted if these Parthians were those established in Persia — although of the same or kindred race — they may have been Dalia;. Though weakened and disorgan- ised, Bactria cannot have been entirely overwhelmed by Scythian or Parthian in- cm-sions, that is not in the time of Eucra- tides or Heliocles, since Horace, 120 years later, deemed it of sufficient importance to engage the attention of Augustus. Its final disruption by Parthian agency must have been of considerably later date. The fortunes of Partkia likewise under- went considerable vicissitudes. Arsaces pos- sessed only Parthia and Hyrcania, the nucleus of his sovereignty being the colo- nies planted by Alexander eighty years be- fore. His immediate successors were brave and valiant, and their empire at one time ex- tended from the Euphrates to the Jaxartes ; but whether it included or received tribute from the ancient soil of the Hindoos is little better than matter of conjecture.* The sceptre of Persia continued to be wielded by this line until a.d. 235, when Ardeshur Babakun, or Artaxerxes, a distinguished ofificer of the Parthian army — having been slighted by the reigning monarch, Arsaces- Artabanus — revolted, and after three severe battles, conquered and slew Artabanus, and established his own dynasty, the Sassanian, being crowned at Balkh, where his last vic- tory was gained. Thus closed the Greco- Parthian dominion in central Asia, after a continuance of very nearly 500 years ; and the same date marks the end of the tran- sition of Parthia back from Hellenism to an entirely Asiatic sovereignty and condition of society. The system of government had been always purely Asiatic ; that is, by sub- ordinate satraps or viceroys invested with full and absolute authority over the person and property of the people committed to their charge. Alexander had experienced the evils of thus forming an Impmum in imperio in every province, in the misconduct of several satraps during his absence in the Indian campaign ; and, had he lived, would probably have introduced a sounder system j but his successors had neither the ability to plan, nor perhaps opportunity to execute, any such radical change in their respective governments. They lacked, moreover, the prestige of their great master's name and character, which had alone enabled him to check the ambition or rapacity of his vice- gerents, by the exercise of an arbitrary power of removal. After his death, the method generally adopted of controlling, removing, or punishing a military satrap, was to turn against him the arms of a rival neighbour. The result was, of course, the origin of a number of irresponsible despots. Keeping this in mind, it is the less surprising that Parthian coins should be found, asserting independence and bearing arrogant titles, in Afghanistan, since these may indicate nothing but the temporary successes or pre- tensions of various petty satraps. f The most celebrated of the later Sassanian kings was Chosroes, who reigned from 531 to 571 ; his grandson was deposed in 628, and after a few years of tumult and distraction, Persia fell under the power of the Caliphs, by whom it has ever since been ruled. • Mithridates II., who reigned in the early part of the century before the Christian era, and whose death was followed by an interregnum of civil war, or doubtful sovereignty, in Parthia, was the first of the Arsacida! who adopted the title of " Great King of Kings," which is believed to be of Indian origin, and was probably assumed after the acquisition of coun- tries bordering on India. — Prinsep's llislorical lie- sults, p. 07. t I 'idc I'rinsep's Iliatorical Results, for much in- teresting discussion regarding Bactrian coins, espe- cially tlie opinions of Wilson, Masson, and Lassen ; al«o regarding the newly-deciphered language gene- rally used in writing, when Greek became quite extinct, called .\rian, Arianian, Bactrian, and Ca- boolian, according to tiie supposed locality of its native use. Mr. James Prinsep, (whose laborious investigations had before been mainly instrumental in restoring the language of the ancient Indian kings who made treaties with Antiochus and Selcucus,) while examining coins with bilingual inscriptions, used the names given in Greek on one side, te find out those of Uie unknown language on the other. He thus obtained a key to the alpliabet, and deciphered words which proved to be Pracrit (the vernacular form of Sanscrit), written semitically from right to left. There are still, however, some inscri])tions in the Allan characters upon rocks and on tlie relics of topes and tumuli, remaining to reward further research. ElSli OF MOHAMMEDANISM IN ARABIA— SEVENTH CENTURY. 51 MolIAMMRDAN TO BlUTISIT Epocii. — In tlio bcgiiiniiif^ of the scvciilli century, when tlie Christian cliureli was torn by dissensions and perplexed by heresies, and Mhen IIk; greater part of the inhabitants of Asia andof Afriea were sunk in Ijarbarism, enfeebled by sen- suality, or enslaved liv idolatry, there arose on the shores of the l{ed Sea, a Power, at once religious and militant, which ra])idly attained and has since continued to exeieisc an extraordinary inllucnce on the coiulition of one-third of the liuman race. Arabia is considered by oriental writers to have been originally colonised l)y the pos- terity of Shcni and Ham, the former having followed pastoral, the latter agricultural pur- suits ; to these were subsequently added a mixed race — the descendants of Abraham, through Tshmael, the son of Ilagar tlin l)ond- wonian.* The posterity of Ham, through Cash and Nimrod, his son and grandson, brought with them from Mesopotamia one of the most ancient languages (supposed to be the Himyaritie, still spoken in j)arts of the country), and the creed of the Patriarchs, or at least a ])ortiou of it ; that is, the exist- ence of one Ood, the Creator and Governor of the world, and the doctrine of the resur- rection of the dead, of future rewards and punishments. A sense of sin and unwor- thiness probaldy induced " the adoration of heavenly spirits as mediators between man and one immutable Holy Being ; and to these they raised temples and altars for sacrifices and supplications, to which were subsequently added fastings."t The sun and moon next became tlie objects of wor- ship, at first probably as symbols ; next followed the seven planets, tlie twelve signs of the zodiac, and the twenty-four constella- tions. Almost every tribe had its ])eculiar idol, dead men were worshipped, and also angels or genii ; some even denied all kinds of revelation, having sunk into the lowest depths of idolatry ; but the descendants of Shcm passed from pure Theism iiito Sabaj- ism, or a belief in the peopling of the heavenly bodies with superior intelligences, by whom the lives and actions of men were regulated. The immigration of a few Jewish and Christian tribes bad introduced among the more thoughtful, purer notions both of faith and practice ; but tbese had made little progress among the mass of the people, * Istunael is said to li.ivc married the daughter of Mozauz or Modhaugh, the sovereign of Hijaz. — (See tabular genealogies of these three tribes in Colonel Chesney's work on the Euphrates and Tigris, vol. i.) who, as regarded their political and social state, were still, as they had been for ages, to a great extent isolated by ])ovcrty and by geographical position, from the rest of the w(jrld. Their country, consisting of some mountain tracts and rich oases, sepa- rated or surrounded by a sandy desert, has been aptly compared to the coasts and islands of a sea. J The desert was thinly scattered with small camps of predatory horsemen, who ])itclied their tents \vhcrever a well of water could be found ; and aided by the much-enduring camel, overspread ex- tensive regions, to the great peril and anx- iety of peaceful travellers. Tiic settled in- habitants, though more civilized, were scarcely less simple in their habits; the various tribes formed distinct communities, between whom there could be little commu- nication except by rapid journeys on horse- i)aclc or tedious marches, in the present caravanseray fashion. Each tribe acknow- ledged as its chief the representative of their common ancestor; but probably little check was ever imposed upon the liberty of indi- viduals, save in rare cases, when the general interest imperatively demanded such inter- ference. The physical features of the land and its scanty agricultural resources helped to foster the hardy and self-reliant character of its sons, who, unconnected by the strong ties of religious or commercial fellowship, and never compelled to unite against a foreign foe, found vent in the innumerable feuds which constantly spring up between independent tribes and families, for the warlike and roving instincts which seem so inseparably bound up with tlic wiry, lithe- some, sui)ple frame, and the fiery, yet ima- ginative and sensuous temperament, of the Arab. Such a people, united for a common pur- pose under a common leader, might, it was evident, accomplish extraordinary results; and purpose and leader were presented to them in the person of a man, whose fame as a subjug.ator may be mentioned in the same page with that of Alexander the Great, and who, as a lawgiver, takes much higher rank — higher, that is, in the sense of hanng used and abused powers never entrusted to the iMaccdouian. INIohammed the False Pro- phet, was, beyond all doubt, intimately acquainted with both the Jewish and Chris- The sons of Ilani, Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan peopled parts of AVcstern .\sia, as well as .Vfrica. t £cchell,iisis, Chrnn. Orien., App., c. 6, p. 148. X Elphinstone, vol. i., p. 488. 53 MOHAMMED, THE FALSE PROPHET. tian scriptures, lie recognised the mighty truths they contained, and the sharp wea- pons those truths would afford, wielded against idolatry. Incited by strangely- Ijlendcd motives of ambition and fanaticism, he boldly defied the curse pronounced on those most impious of all deceivers, who shall dare to add unto, or take away from, the revealed word of God. {Revelation, ch. xxii. V. 18, 19.) It is necessary to know something of his private life, before we can understand the steps by which an unknown enthusiast sprang suddenly into importance; and, gathering together with marvellous skill and energy the scattered tribes, formed them into a nation, prohibited retaliation without the previous sanction of a trial and a sentence, and in short, induced them to abandon intes- tine strife and combine in a religious crusade. Mohammed was born a.d. 5G9, at Jilecca, one of the oldest cities in the world, and belonged to the head family of the tribe of Koreish, who were the hereditary guardians of the great temple of Caaba, which is built round a well, supposed to be that miraculously pointed out to Hagar to save the life of Ishmael. Tradition declares the temple itself, or at least the first temple whicli existed on this site, to have been vouchsafed in answer to the prayer of Adam, who im- plored that he might be permitted to have a sanctuary like that in which lie liad wor- shipped in Eden. The prayer was granted, and in curtains of light a model of the para- disaical temple was let down, precisely beneath the spot where the original had stood. On this model Seth built a temple, which was swept away by the deluge, but rebuilt l)y Abraham and Isaac. The worship offered in the Caaba was at the beginning of the sixth century idolatrous, the chief objects being Abraham and Ishraacl, to whose images, each holding a bunch of arrows, such as the Arabs use for divining, regular worsliip was offered. Thus Abraham, the divinely-com- missioned witness against idolatry, became in process of time the object of the very crime he had so zealously condemned. With him and his son there appear to have been in all 3G0 gods, the number having pro- bably reference to the days of the Persian year. The chief command of the Caaba and of the city were vested in the same person, and to this double office of priest and eliief JMo- liammcd was presumptive heir, when the death of his father Abdullah before his grandfather, cut him off from the succession, and threw him a destitute orphan on the care of his uncle, Abu Taleb, who taught liim the business of a merchant, and carried him on long trading journeys into Syria, thus giving him early insight into foreign countries and creeds. When but fourteen, jMohanimed entered into a rancorous war that had broken out among the tribes, and greatly dis- tinguished himself for courage and abilit}\ Till twenty-five he remained in the service of his uncle, and then married Kadijah, the richly-endowed widow of a merchant of Mecca. Thus raised to independence, he was enabled to pursue tlie objects most con- genial to his own mind ; Imt the nature of his occupations for many years is unknown. Some suppose him to have employed that long interval in the study of various manu- scripts, although throughout his life he con- stantly affirmed liimself unable to read or write* a single word. It is very possible that, by the aid of a retentive memory, he might have obtained orally a great part, or even the whole, of the information he possessed, espe- cially with regard to the unity of God, by intercourse with a cousin of his wife's, named Warka ben Naufel, who was skilled in Jewish learning, and is said to have translated the Scriptures from Hebrew into Arabic. He withdrew himself at length from all society, and spent long periods in complete solitude in the cave of ilara, near his native city, giving free scope to meditations, which brought him to the verge if not actually into the abyss of insanit}', and opened a door for fancied visions and every species of mental delusion. At length, when about forty years of age, he declared his alleged mission to his wife, and afterwards to a few of his family; and, some three or four years after, publicly announced himself as " the last and greatest of the prophets." He is represented as having been a man of middle size, singularly mus- cular, with a very large head, prominent forehead, eyebrows nearly meeting, but di- vided by a vein, whicli in times of excite- ment throbbed violently, black flashing eyes, aquiline nose, full and florid cheeks, large mouth, and small teeth of the most exquisite whiteness ; glossy black hair fell over his shoulders, and a full beard flowed down upon his chest. His countenance is alleged to have been beautiful in the extreme, and to • Pci'liaps tlie strongest presumption against the trutli of tliis assertion, is the cirevimstance of his calling for a pen that he might write, while delirious, during his last illness. Tiie ret^uesl was refused. THE IIEJIRA OR FLIGHT FROM MECCA— a.d. 622. 53 Iiavo a\'2, which has been ably translated from tlie original Persian by dreaded name of Saracens) provoked the nations of (yliristcndoin to attempt the rescue of the Holy Ijatid ; but the struggle carried on there for nearly three centuries, never imme- diately affected the centre of the Moham- medan empire, which continued at Bagdad for about 500 years. ]\Iustassem was caliph when Hulaku, a descendant of the cele- brated Jengis Khan, besieged and captured Hagdad. The cruel victor, after mocking his wretched prisoner with vain hopes until he had obtained his hidden treasures, ex- posed him for seme days to the lingering torments of .starvation, and then, under the pretence of unwillingness to shed his blood, caused him to be wrapped in coarse camlet, and rolled about on the ground until he expired. Thus perished the last of the Abbassides, a.d. 12.58. In the city alone, 800,000 persons, or according to some au- thorities, a much greater number were slain, so that the Tigris was dyed with gore. Indo-Arabic Conquests. — In .\.n. 0G4, a large force marched from Meru to Cabool, and made converts of upwards of 12,000 persons. At the same time, Mohalib, (after- wards an eminent commander in Persia and Arabia,) proceeded thence with a detach- ment in the direction of India, penetrated to Moultan, and having ])lundcred the country, triumphantly rejoined the army at Khoras- san, bringing with him many captives, who were compelled to declare themselves converts to the Moslem*crced. No further attempt is recorded as having been made on the north of India during the continuance of the Arab rule, but the prince of Cabool appears to have been rendered tributary, if not subject to the caliphs, since his revolt is mentioned by Ferishta,t as the occasion of a new in- vasion of his territories eighteen years later. The Arabs at this period met with an unex- pected check : they were drawn into a de- file, defeated, and compelled to surrender, and to purchase their freedom by an ample ransom. One old contemporary of Moham- med is said to have disdained all compro- mise, and to have fallen by the swords of the infidels. This disgrace was immediately revenged by the Arab governor of Seestau, Colonel Briggs. A considerable portion of it had been jireviously rendered into English by Colonel Dow, but the value of his work is lessened by mis- translations, and also by being largely interspersed with reticctions and facts collated from other sources, which, though often interesting and important in themselves, are so closely interwoven with the text as to leave the reader in doubt regarding the portion , which actually rests on the testimony of Ferishta. 56 AEAB INVASIONS OF WESTERN INDIA— a.d. 699 to 710. and yet more completely by Abdureliman, governor of Khorassan, who in a.d. 699, led a. powerful army in person against the city, and reduced the greater part of the country to subjection. A quarrel with Hejaj, the governor of Bassora, led Abdurehman into rebellion against the reigning caliph (Abdel- melck, one of the Ommiades), whereupon he formed an alliance with his former enemy, the prince of Cabool, in whose dominions he was compelled to take re- fuge, and at length, to avoid being given up to his enemies, committed suicide.* The nation to which this prince of Cabool belonged is rendered doubtful by the posi- tion of his capital at a corner where the countries of the Paropamisau Indians, the Afghans, the Persians, and the Tartars are closely adjoining each other. Elphinstoue supposes him to have been a Persian, and considei's it very improbable that he could have been an Afghan, as Cabool is never known to have been possessed by a tribe of that nation. At this period the northern portion of the tract included in the branches of the Hindoo Coosh, and now inhabited by the Eimaks and Ilazarehs, was known by the name of the mountains of Glior, and probably occupied by Afghans, as also the middle part, all of which seems to have been included in the mountains of Solimau.t The southern portion,' known by the name of the mountains of Mekran, were inhabited by Beloochees as at present ; and the other ridges connected with the same range as those of Ghor, but situated to the east of the range of Imaus and Soliman; were probably tenanted by Indians, descendants of the Paropamisadse. Ferishta seems to have been led by their traditions to believe the Af- ghansf to have been converted to Moham- medanism in the life-time of its originator, and represents them as invading the terri- tory of the Hindoos as early as a.h. 63, and • Kholasat al AlMar, and tlie Tarihhi Tahari, ([uoted by Price (vol. i., pp. 45j — 4G3). t Elphinsloiie, vol. i., 4'J6. I am informed by Mr. Masson, on the authority of Mirza Sami, the minister of Dost Mohammed, who corrected the mistake made by Sir A. Burnes on the subject in his presence, that the term Hindoo Coosh is esi)ccially given to the high peak of the range to wliicli it belongs, immediately overhanging Ghosband, although it is applied, in ordinary parlance, to some extent of the range stretching east or north-east. X Ferishta records, on the anthority of tlie Mutla- ool-Anwar, a work .supposed to be no longer extant, but which !ie describes as written l)y a respectal)le author, that the Afghans are Copts of the race of the as afterwards continually eng.iged in hos- tilities with the Rajah of Lahore, until, in conjunction with the Gukkurs (a people on the hills east of the Indus), they obtained from him a cession of territory, secretly engaging in return to protect him from the attacks of other Mussulmans. It was owing to this compact that the princes of the house of Samani never invaded the north of India, but confined their predatory incursions to Sinde. Ferishta further mentions that the Afghans gave an asylum to the remains of the Arabs who were driven out of Sinde in the secoiad century of the Hejira. § This account is on the whole sufficiently probable. The Afghans may have willingly received the Koran 1| long before their subju- gation by Sultan Mahmood. On the sub- ject of their early religion, Mohammedan historians afibrd no light, owing to their not distinguishing denominations of infidels. Arab descents on Sinde by sea are men- tioned as early as the caliphate of Omar, but they were probably piratical expeditions, undertaken for the purpose of carrying off the women of the country, whose beauty seems to have been much esteemed in Ara- bia. Several detachments were also sent through the south of IMekran (the Gedrosia of Alexander), during the reigns of the early caliphs, but all failed owing to the impracti- cable character of this barren region. At length, in the reign of the caiipt Walid, an Arab ship laden with slave-girls and rarities from Sinde having been seized at Dival or Dcwal, a sea-port connected with Sinde (supposed to be the site of the modern Kurrachee), the rajah, named Dahir by the Mussulmans, was called on for resti- tution. The capital of this prince was at Alor, near Bukkur, and he possessed Moul- tan and all Siude, with, perhaps, the adjoin- ing plain of the Indus, as far as the moun- tains at Calabagh. His territory was por- tioned out among his relations, probably Pharaohs, many of whom, after the overthrow of the infidel monarch and his host in the Ked Sea, became converts to tlie true faith; but others, stubborn and self-willed, continued obstinate, and, leaving their country, came to India and settled in tlie Soliman Mountains under the name of Afghans. (Briggs' Ferishte feudal tenure still common amoiip; tlie Rajpoots. Diiliir refused conipliunee with tlio demand of Waiid^ on t!ic j^round that Dcwal was not suliject to his .-uithority ; the excuse was deemed uusatisfactorj', and a body of 1,000 infantry and iJOO horse were dcspatciicd to Sindc; but this inade- quate force pcrislicd like its predecessors on the road. Ilejaj, the Ijcforc-mcntioned governor of Bassora, prei)arcd a regular army of G/)()0 men at Shiraz, and entrusted the command to his sou-in-law, Mohammed Casim, then only twenty years of age. By him the troops were safely conducted to the walls of Dewal, a.ii. 'J2 (a.d. 711). Casim, being provided with catapultas and other engines, commenced operations by attacking a celebrated pagoda without the city, sur- rounded by a high enclosure of hewn stone, and occupied, in addition to the numerous Brahmin inhabitants, by a strong gai-rison of Rajpoots. The Arab leader having learned that the safety of the place was believed to be connected with that of the sacred standard displayed on the tower of the temple, directed his engines against this object, and having succeeded in bringing it to the ground, the dismay of the besieged soon terminated in surrender. The town was like- wise taken, and a rich booty obtained. The Brahmins rejected the proposed test of con- version- — circumcision : all above the age of seventeen were put to death, and tlie re- mainder, with the women, reduced to slavery. Brahmanabad, NcronKow (now Hyderabad), Schwan, and Salem* were in turn reduced, and Casim, strengthened by a reinforcement of 2,000 horse from Persia, continued to advance, notnithstauding the op])Osition of a powerful force under the rajah's eldest son, until he reached the neighbourhood of Alor or Abhor, where he was confronted by the r.ajah himself, at the head of 40,000 men. The disproportion of numbers rendered retreat or advance equally hazardous for the invader, who prudently ensconced his small forcet in a strong position, and awaited the attack of the Hindoos, anxiously watching for any error or disaster which might create • Thesile of lirahriKinabad is supposed by Burnes to be marked by the ruins close to the modern town of Tatta (Travels, vol. iii., p. 31), but Captain M'Murdo {li. A. S. Journal, No. I., p. 28), thinks it must have been situated on the other side of the pre- sent course of the Indus, nnicli farther to the north- east. Sehwan still retains its ancient name. The site of Salem is doubtful. + It is stated in a work, abstracted from the family aimals of Mawab Bahawal Khan, and translated and disorder among their unwieldy ranks. Such a circumstance occurred at an early period of the engagement. A najjtha fire-ball struck the rajah's elephant, and the terrified anitnal becoming absolutely ungovernable, rushed from the field of battle and plunged into the adjacent river ludiis. Duhir, al- thotigh severely wounded by an arrow, mounted his war-horse and returned imme- diately to the scene of action, Ijut the dis- appearance of the leader had produced its usual effect on an Asiatic army; the fortune of the day was already decided ; and the brave rajah, after vainly attempting to rally his panie-strickcn forces, plunged into the midst of the Arab cavalry, and, with a small baud of trusty followers, fell covered with wounds. His son fled to Brahmanabad, but his widow collected the remains of tlic routed army and successfully defciuled the city, until famine within the walls proved a more powerful enemy than the sword with- out. Inflamed by her cxann)lc, a body of Raj- poots resolved to devote themselves and their families to death, after the manner of their tribe. When all hope of deliverance had fled, they bathed, and with other ceremonies took leave of each other and the world; the women and children were then sacrificed on a fune- real pile, and the men, headed by the widow of Dahir, flung open the gates of the for- tress, and all perished in an attack on the Mohammedan camp. The city was then car- ried by storm, those who remained in arras were slaughtered, and their families reduced to bondage. A last desperate stand was made at Ash- candr.a, after which Moultan seems to have fallen without resistance, and every part of the dominions of the ill-fated DahirJ was gradually subjected. Each city was called upon to embrace the religion of Mohammed or to pay tribute; in default of both, an assault was commenced, and unless saved by timely capitulation, the fighting men were put to death and their families sold for slaves. Four cities held otit to the last extremity; and in two of them the number of soldiers who were refused quarter is esti- published by Shahamet Ali (a native gentleman in the service of the British government), under the title of.the Ilistonj of Bahawalpur (London, 1818), that a Brahmin of great abilitv forsook his master, the rajah, previous to the final conflict, and afforded great assistance to Casim; if so, he was probably accompanied by other deserters. \ In the history of Sinde, translated by the late Captain I'ostans, it is asserted that Dahir ruled Cabool, as weU as Sinde, and coins have been found 58 EXTINCTION OP ARAB POWER IN INDIA. mated at 6,000 each. The merchants, arti- zans, and such like were exempt from moles- tation, beyond what must have been insepa- rably connected with the storming of a town. "When the payment of tribute was agreed to, the sovereign retained his territory, sim- nly becoming amenable to the usual rela- tions of a tributary prince, and the people retained all their former privileges, including the free exercise of their religion. Casim himself, notwithstanding his ex- treme youth, seems to have united to mili- tary talents of the first order, discretion and ability to keep by conciliatory measures what he had gained by violence.* Several Hindoo princes were induced to join him during the wai", and at its conclusion he re-appointed the Hindoo prime minister of Daliir to his previous office, on the express ground that he was best qualified to protect old rights, and maintain established institutions. The conquest and occupation of Sinde being completed, the victor organised an army on a large scale, f By some writers he is alleged to have accomplished a trium- phant march to Canouj on the Ganges, estab- lishing a Mohammedan garrison in every large town on his route, when a sudden blow from a most unexpected source terminated at once his projects and his life. Among the females captured at Sinde were the two daughters of the ill-fated rajah, who, from their beauty and high rank, were deemed worthy to grace the seraglio of the Com- mander of the Faithful. There they re- mained until the year of the Hejira 96 (a.d. 714), when Walid became enamoured of the elder sister, who vehemently declared herself unworthy of his notice, having been dishonoured l^y Casim befoi'e being sent from her own country. The enraged caliph, in the first headlong impulse of passion, wrote with his own hand an order to Casim, that he should cause liimself to be sewn up in a raw hide and thus embrace the fate which he deserved. The faithful subject literally obeyed this tyraTuiical mandate, and his body was sent to Damascus. The caliph showed it to the princess, as evidence of the fate which attended those who dared insult the "deputy of the prophet," upon which she cxultiugly declared that his ill- fated servant was wholly innocent of the crime attributed to him, and had fallen a with Nagai'i legends, whicli Mr.Masson reads as refer- ring to Sri ])alur, but Professor Wilson, to Sri Malic. * A Persian MS., the Tarikhi Hind o Smd, pre- served in the India House, is tlie source whence most ^ictim to her successful stratagem, planned to revenge the death of her father, mother, brother, and countrymen. This strange and romantic incident is recorded with little variation by Mohammedan historians, and it is perfectly consistent with the determined character of the Hindoo women, where the objects of their affections are concerned, and also with the pure and unhesitating self- devotion repeatedly evinced by the servants of the caliphs. J The conquests of Casim were made over to his successor Temim, whose family pos- sessed them for about thirty-six years, that is, until the downfall of the house of Ommia, A.D. 750, when the Mussulmans were ex- pelled by the Rajpoot tribe of Sumera, and their territories restored to the Hindoos, who retained possession for nearly 500 years. Part of the expelled Ai'abs found refuge, (as before stated) among the Afghans. Such is the account given by Elphinstone, on the authority of Ferishta and the Ayeen Akbery — but in the History of Bahawa/pur, since published, it is asserted that on the ex- pulsion of the Ommia dynasty and the ac- cession of Abul Abbas, governors were sent out by him to Sinde and the Punjaub. But little resistance was made, and the Abbas house continued in the enjoyment of their Indian acquisitions without molestation, until the caliphate of Kader-Bellah, that is, for a period of 286 lunar years, at the ex- piration of which the formidable enemy of Hindoo independence, Mahmood of Ghuz- nce, appeared on the stage. These statements are quite contradictory; but whatever degree of influence or authority the Arabs may have retained after the check given by the death of their leader, Casim, it is certain that neither their power nor their creed spread, but rather diminished from that moment. The passive courage of the Hindoos generally, as well as the more active bravery of the Rajpoots, associated especially with a devoted attachment to a religion closely interwoven with their laws and customs — opposed great obstacles to in- vaders, even more desirous of converting than of conquering them. Besides this, the great change whicli took place in the spirit of the Mohammedan rulers, rendered their antagonism far less dangerous. The rude soldiers of Arabia, who had raised the accounts of Casim's military transactions are derived. t About ij(),0()0 Molianimedans are said to have collected around his standard on this occasion. t Briggs' Ferishta, vol. iv., p. 410. EISE OF THE KINGDOM OF GHUZNEE. 60 wild war cry of Islam, passed away ; ancccod- ing generations (iiUul their plaee, reared less hardily, wliilc their chiefs in an absorbing desire for luxury and magiiilieencc at home, cared little for the dear-bought triumphs of victory and the glory of their standard abroad. Omar set out to join his army at Jerusalem, (in compliance witli the stipulation of the ('iiristians that he should personally receive the surrender of the holy place), with his arms and provisions on the same camel with himself; and Otiiman ex- tinguished his lamp, when he had finished the necessary labours of the day, that the public oil might not be expended on his enjoyments. Al Malidi, within a century from the last-named ruler, loaded 500 camels with ice and snow; and the profusion of one day of the Abbassides would have de- frayed all the expenses of the four first caliphs. Thus it was left to other Mus- sulman nations, and to dynasties formed during the gradual dismemberment of the great Arab empire, to estabUsh permanent dominion in India. House of Ghuznee* — To i;nderstand the origin of this powerful family, it is necessary to retrace our steps, and briefly notice the country from whence they came. After the conquest of Persia, the Oxus became the northern Arab frontier : on the opposite side lay a tract of country (bounded ou the north by the Jaxartes, on the west by the Caspian Sea, and on the east by Mount Imaus,) to which they gave the name of Mawer ul Nahr, literally Beyond the River, but commonly translated Trans- oxania. It comprised much desert ground, intermingled with tracts of remarkable fer- tility, and was occupied partly by settled in- habitants, who were chiefly Persians, and partly by nomadic and pastoral tribes, com- prehended under the vague and general name of Tartars. f To which of the three great nations, commonly included iu Euro- pean writings under this head, the people of Transoxania belonged at this period, whether Turks, IMoguls, or IManchoos, is still unde- termined ; but the first-named people are generally supposed to have formed the bulk of the wandering and also a section of the * Ghiizneo, otherwise spelt Ghizni and Ghazni. t Tod, rcriiring to De Guignes, says — the Heong- nou and the ()u-houn. the Turks and Moguls, were called " Tatar," from Tatan, the name of the country from the banks of the Irtish, along the mountains of Altai, to the shores of the Yellow Sea. l)e Guignes invariably maintains Ilcong-nou to be but another name for the Turks, among whom he places Attila ])ermancnt population. It was more than half a century after the subjugation of Persia and five years before the occupation of Sinde, that the Araijs crossed the Oxus under Catiba, governor of Khorassan, and after eight years spent in a contest, with varying success, Transoxiana was subjected to the sway of the cali|)li.s, a.d. 71.3. In HOG, a revolt occurred, which the son and successor of Ilaroun al llasehid, Mamoon, was enabled to quell, aiul afterwards by residing in Khorassan, to retain authority over that province. Ikit on the removal of the court to Bagdad, Taher, who had been the principal instrument of Mamoon's eleva- tion to the caliphate, to the detriment of his brother Ameen, established indepen- dent authority in Khorassan and Trans- oxiana, which were never again united to the rapidly decaying empire. The family of Taher were deposed after about fifty years' rule, by the Sofarides, whose founder Yacub ben Leith, a brazier of Seestan, commenced by raising a revolt in his native province, afterwards over- ran Persia,J and died while marching to attack the caliph iu Bagdad. At the ex- piration of forty years, the Samanis, a family of distinction, whose members had held gov- ernments under !Mamoou while he resided in Khorassan, and afterwards under the Taher- ites, superseded the Sofarides and took pos- session of their territory, nominally in behalf of the caliph, but rcallj' without any refer- ence to his authority. It was in the reign of Abdelmelek, the fifth prince of this dynasty, that Aluptugeen, the founder of the kingdom of Gliuzuee, rose into impor- tance. He was of Turkish descent, and had been a slave, but his royal master recognising his ability, had appointed him to various oilices of trust, and at length to the govern- ment of Khorassan. On the death of his patron, a deputation was sent to consult Aluptugeen respecting the choice of a suc- cessor from the royal family, and having given his suflVage against Mansoor the presumptive heir, on account of his extreme youth, he ineuiTcd the ill-will of this prince, (wliohadmeantime been raised to thethrone,) was deprived of his office, and but for the and the majority of his army, whose hideous physi- ognomy anil savage manners lent a fearful prestige to their desolating marches. Another division of the same branch of the Heong-nou had previously settled among the Persians in Transoxiana, and acquired the name of the White Huns, from their changed complexion. — (Hisloirc gincrale dcs Jliins.) J He likewise subjugated Cabool. — {Mr. Thomas.) 60 DEFEAT OP JEIPAL, RAJAH OF LAHORE— a.d. 978. fidelity of a trusty band of adherents, aided by his own militarj' skill, would have lost liberty, if not life. At Ghuznee, in the heart of the Soliman mountains, the fugi- tive found safety, aceomp.anied by 3,000 dis- ciplined slaves {Maineluks) . Here he was probably joined by soldiers who had served under him, as well as by the hill Afghans, who, even though they might not acknow- ledge his authority, would be readily in- dueed by wages to enter his service. In his flight Aluptugcen was attended by a faith- ful slave named Subuktugeen, brought by a merchant from Turkistan to Bokhara.* Following the example of his early bene- factor, he had fostered the abilities of the youth until, on the establishment of a king- dom in Ghuznee, he rewarded the service of his adherent, both as a counsellor and general, by the titles of Ameer-ool-Omra (chief of the nobles) and Vakeel-i-Mootluk (representative). He is even said to have named him as his successor, but authorities differ on this point, some stating that Subuk- tugeen acceded immediately to the throne on the demise of Aluptugcen, a.d. 975; others, that he was chosen, on the death of that monarch's son and successor, two years later, by general consent of the chiefs, and then married the daughter of his patron. Having been recognised by the caliph ]\Ian- soor as governor of Ghuznee, he had, con- sequently, nothing to dread from that quar- ter, but was speedily called upon to make preparations against Jeipal [Jaya Pahi), rajah of Laliore, who, alarmed by the growing power of a jMohammedan ruler so near his frontier, and already harassed by frequent incursions, determined in turn to become the assailant. At the head of a large army he crossed the Indus, marched to Laghman at the mouth of the valley which extends from Peshawer to Cabool, and was there met by Subuktugeen. Some skirmishes ensued, but a general engage- ment was prevented by a terrible tempest of thunder, wind, and hail, in which some thousands of both armies were said to have perished. This disaster was attributed to supernatural causes ;t rmd the Hindoos, less accustomed than their hardy foes to the • He is alleged to h.ive been lineally descended from Yezdijerd, the last of the Persian monnrchs, who wlien flying from his enemies during the cali- phate of Othnian, was murdered while sleeping at a water-mill near the town of Meru. ]lis family lieing left in 'J'urkistan formed connections among the ])CO])lc, and his descendants became Turks. t I'rincc Mahmood learning that in the camp of extreme vicissitudes of climate, and probably more superstitious, proposed terms of peace, to which Subuktugeen, notwithstanding the opposition of his warlike son Mahmood, then a mere boy, at length consented, on representation being made to him of the determined courage of the Hindoos, espe- cially the Rajpoots, when driven to the last extremity. Jeipal surrendered fifty ele- phants, and engaged to pay a large sum of money, but on regaining the shelter of his own dominions, fear gave way to resent- ment, and, forfeiting his pledge, he impri- soned the messengers sent to demand its redemption. Hostilities re-eommenced ; the rajahs of Delhi, Ajmeer, Calinjar, and Canouj,J made common cause with their countrymen ; and when the rival forces again met in Laghman, the Ghuznee sove- reign, baring ascended a height to ascertaia the disposition of the enemy, "beheld the whole plain covered with an almost count- less host, comprising 100,000 horse and a prodigious number of foot soldiers. Un- daunted by the prospect, and considering himself " as a wolf about to attack a flock of sheei)," Subuktugeen divided his troops into squadrons of 500 men each, and di- rected them to attack successively one par- ticular point of the dense line of the enemy, which would thus be continually compelled to encounter fresh troops. The manoeuvre succeeded in occasioning some disorder, which was the signal for a general assault ; the Hindoos gave way, and were driven with dreadful slaughter beyond the Indus, up to which point Subuktugeen at once took pos- session, levied heavy contributions in addi- tion to the plunder found in the camp, and left an officer, supported by 10,000 horse, as governor of Peshawer. The Afghans and Khiljis (a distinct Tartar tribe) tendered allegiance, and furnished useful recruits. He then employed himself in consolidating his own dominions, which now extended on the west beyond Caudahar, until an appeal for help from his nominal sovereign Noah (the seventh of the Samanis) against the inroads of the Iloeike Tartars, who then possessed all Tartary as far cast as China, induced him again to have recourse to arms. Jeipal was a spring, into which, if a mixture of or- dure were thrown, a fearful storm would arise, caused this to be done and the predicted result im- mediately followed. — (i'6'ris/( the fellow to whieh could not be constructed under two centuries. — [Ferishta, vol. i. p. 58.) 66 TklAHMOOD AND FERDOUSI, THE PERSIAN POET. excite scarcely less censurable feelings in the breasts of tlicir new possessors, tban formerly as the unballowed mediums, or too often the actual objects, of Hindoo worship. The temples -were however left standing, either on account of the excessive, and, in one sense at least, unprofitable labour ne- cessary to their destruction, or else for the sake of their extraordinary beauty. The fort of Munj was taken after a siege of twenty- five days, its Rajpoot defenders at length ending the long struggle by rushing through the breaches on the enemy, springing from the works, or meeting death in the flames of their own houses, with their wives and children ; so that not one remained to be enslaved. Various other towns were reduced and much country laid waste, before the vic- torious army leaving the beautiful plains of ill-fated, because idolatrous, Hindoostan steeped in blood and tears, returned to their homes in triumph, carrying with them many prisoners.* New tastes had been acquired to- gether with the means for their gratification, and incited by the recollection of the stately structures they had ruthlessly despoiled, the rough soldiers so lately accustomed to make the saddle their seat by day, their pillow by night, now, following the example of their king, employed the wealth, labour, and talents of their wretched captives, in rearing palaces for their private abodes as well as public buildings for the adornment of the capital, which soon became orna- mented with mosques, porches, fountains, aqueductS; and reservoirs beyond any city then existing. Mahmood himself erected a magnificent mosque of marble and granite, called " the Celestial Bride," which was in that age the wonder of the East; and founded a university, supplied with an extensive and valuable library, and a museum of natural curiosities. To the maintenance of this establishment he appropriated a large sum of money, and formed a permanent fund for the support of the students and the salaries of q\ialificd instructors. He also set aside a sum nearly equal to £10,000 a-ycar, for pensions to learned men — and through this munificence his court became as celebrated through Asia for its brilliant literary circle, as was afterwards that of the Medici in * Ferifihta's confused account of their route is dis- cussed in Bird's llislury of Oiijaral, p. 31. t The rulin<; dynasty was Turltish, but Malimood was the illegitimate son of a Persian mother, and in language and manners identified with that nation. Europe. The liberality thus evinced con- trasted strongly with his usual parsimony, and it was well directed, for it did much to secure for him the present and posthumous fame which he ardently desired. Large re- wards were offered for the production of an historical poem which should embody the achievements of ancient Persianf heroes ; and the author who commenced the work (Dakiki) having been assassinated when he had finished about a thousand couplets, the continuation was entrusted to the celebrated Ferdousi, who performed his task with such ability that, although so obsolete as to re- quire a glossary, it is still the most popular of all books among his coimtrymen.J The sultan was delighted with the poem ; but when, after thirty years' labour, it was at length concluded, his characteristic failing prevailed over justice, and the proffered reward was so disproportioned to the expec- tations held out, that the disappointed Fer- dousi indignantly rejected it, and withdrew to his native city of Tus, whence he launched a bitter satire at IMahmood, who on mature reflection evinced no ordinary amount of magnanimity by passing over the satire (which is still extant), and remitting for the epic, what even its author must have con- sidered, a princely remuneration. But it came too late ; the treasure entered one door of Ferdousi's house as his bier was borne out of another. His daughter proudly rejected the untimely gift, but was eventu- ally prevailed upon by Mahmood to accept it, as a means of procuring an abundant supply of water for the city where her father had been born, and to which he had been always much attached. In 10.22, the sultan was roused from the unusual quiet in which he had remained for five years, by advices from India that a con- federacy had been formed against the rajah of Canouj by the neighbouring princes to avenge his alliance with the enemy of his country. Mahmood immediately marched to his relief, but on arriving found that the unfortunate prince had been defeated and slain by the rajah of Calinjar, against whom the Mohammedan arms were directed, but without any remarkable result. § This cam- paign is however memorable as marking the establishment of the first permanent garri- \ The Shah Namah or Book of Kiiu/s. § In tlie kin};dom of Gluiznce at this time, many soldiers and magistrates were Arabs by descent, but a great ])ortion of the court and army wore Turks, and the rest, with almost all the people, were Persians. LAHORE OCCUPIED BY MAIIMOOD-SOMNAUTH TAKEN— a.d. 1024. 07 sou on tlic cast of llic Indus; for tlic new rjyah of Lahore (Anung i'al's successor) liaving ventured to 6i)[)0sc the invader, was driven from his country, whicli was despoiled and annexed to Giiuznec. In 1024, Mali- niood ])crformed, if not tlie f^rcatcst, at least the most famous of his Indian ex[)loits. At the head of an immense army, swollen by a crowd of volunteers from beyond the Oxus, and attended by 20,000 camels bear- ing supplies, he set off, nerved to encounter a long march, partly through hostile terri- tories and partly through a desert 350 miles broad, of loose sand or hard clay, almost entirely without water or forage. Having overcome these obstacles he sud- denly appeared before Aj nicer to the con- sternation of the rajah and inhabitants, who fled, leaving the Mussulmans to ravage the country and pursue their desolating course, to Anhalwara, the capital of Guzcrat, whose rajah, also taken by surprise, was con- strained to abandon it precipitately, and leave the way clear for the invaders to the great object of their hopes, the famous temple of Somnauth, the richest and most frequented place of worship in the country.* It stood at the southern extremity of Guzc- rat, on a peninsula connected with the main land by a fortified isthmus, the battle- ments of which were guarded at every point by armed men ; who, on witnessing the ap- proach of the Moslems, loudly asserted, in the name of their object of worship, that this great force had been drawn together only to be utterly destroyed as a retribution for the desecrated shrines of India. Nothing deterred, ]\Iahmood brought for- ward his archers, who commenced mounting the walls with their accustomed war-cry, " Alia hu Akbur !" (God is supreme !), but the Rajpoots having prostrated themselves before the idol, hurried to the defence and drove back the enemy with heavy loss. The next day brought a more signal repulse, and on the third the neighbouring princes presented themselves in order of battle. In the furious conflict which ensued victory was doubtful, when the arrival of the rajah of Anhalwara with a strong reinforcement • For its maintcnancp, the revenues of 2,000 vil- lages had been granted by different princes ; 2,000 priests, 500 dancing-women, and 300 musicians offi- ciated in its ceremonies, atwliicli 200,000 to 300,000 votaries used to attend during tlie eclipses. The chain supporting a bell wliicli tlie worshippers struck during prayer weighed 200 mauns of gold, and the idol itself was 'Jaily washed witli water brought from the Ganges, a distance of 1,000 miles. brought the invaders to the verge of de- feat. IMahinood, leaping from his horse, prostrated himself, invoking Divine aid ; then, remounting and taking a Circas- sian general by the hand, he advanced against the foe, loudly cheering the troops who had so often fought and conquered with him, and who now, excited to renewed exer- tion, rushed forward with unlooked-for im- petuosity, broke through the opposing line, and in a single charge laid 5,000 Hindoos dead or dying at their feet. The rout be- came general; the garrison of Somnauth beheld it with dismay, and renouncing all hopes of further defence broke up, and, to the number of 4,000, made their way to their boats, some of which were intercepted, and sunk by the enemy, Mahmood then entered the temple, ac- companied by his sons and chief nobles, and gazed with astonishment on the stately edifice. The spacious roof was supported by fifty-six pillars, curiously carved and set with j)recious stones, and illuminated (the light of heaven being excluded) by a lamp suspended by a golden chain, whose flame, re- flected from the numerous gems, shed bright gleams around. The idol itself stood in the centre, and was of stone, five yards in height, two of which were sunk in the ground. Ac- cording to Ferishta, it is a well authenti- cated fact that INIahmood was entreated by a crowd of Brahmins to accept a costly ransom and spare the object of their venera- tion, but after some hesitation, he exclaimed that were he to consent, his name would go down to posterity as an idol-seller instead of destroyer, he therefore struck the face of the image with his mace, and his example being followed by his companions, the figure, which was hollow, burst open and exposed to view a store of diamonds and other jewels, far surpassing in value the sum oft'ered for its preservation. f Altogether, the treasure taken is said to have exceeded that acquired on any former occasion, Mahmood next captured Gundaba, a fort supposed to be protected by the sea, bj' en- tering the water at the head of his troops diu-ing a low tide. He appears to have passed t Hesides this idol, we are told there were some thousands of smaller ones, wrought in gold and silver, and of various shapes and dimensions ; but no description is given of the especial object of worship, a simple cylinder of stone, the well-known emblem of Saiva or Siva, from whose designation Sama Ka- tha, J.ord of tlie 3Ioon, the temple derives its name. The famous sandal-wood gates carried by Mahmood to Ghuznee will be subsequently alluded to. 68 MAHMOOD'S THIRTEENTH EXPEDITION TO INDIA— a.d. 1025.- tlie rainy season at Anlialwara, with wliose mild climate, beauty, and fertility he was so much delighted, as to entertain thoughts of transferring the seat of govei'umeut thither, at least for some years, and making it a point of departure for further conquests. Among his projects, was that of the forma- tion of a fleet for maritime invasions ; the pearls of Ceylon and the gold mines of the Malayan peninsula offering cogent reasons for the subjugation of these countries. These schemes his counsellors earnestly and successfully opposed, and as the rajah of Anhalwara still kept aloof and refused submission, Mahmood selected a new ruler, a man of royal descent, who, though living the life of an anchorite, was not proof against the attractions of a throne, thougli clogged with the liumiliating conditions of subjection and tribute to a foreign foe.* The homeward route of the Mussulmans was fraught with toil and suffering — the M'ay by which they had come was occupied by a strong force under the rajah of Ajmeer and the rightful, though fugitive prince of Anhalwara. Mahmood, with an army already wasted by the casualities of war and climate, did not care to risk a conflict, the effect of which, even though successful, would still further thin the ranks and di- minish the energy of those who had after- wards a long and weary march to encounter, besides risking the rich booty with which they were encumbered. He therefore avoided further hostilities, by returning a different road, through the sands to the east of Sinde. The hot season was advanced when the troops started, and their suflerings for want of water and forage increased, until they • The conclusion of the new rajah's history afTords a remarkable instance of retributive justice, even allowing for oriental embellishment. Fearing the rivalry of a relation, he prayed Mahmood to deliver him into his custody, promising to spare his life, and kept his pledge by causing a cell to be dug under his own throne, in which his victim was to linger out the remainder of his existence. A sudden revolution occurred, which is said to have been occasioned by a vulture having flown upon the rajah while lying asleep under a tree with his face covered with a red handlicrchief, and totally bliiided him by fixing its talons into his eyes ; thus rendering him, by the laws of his country, incapable of reigning. Tlie position of the parties was immediately reversed, tlie cruel schemer being forthwith removed to the dun- geon which he had himself [irepared ; thus, says I''erishta, fulfilling the Scripture, in which it is written — " lie who digs a pit for his brother, shall himself fall therein." — (Hriggg, vol. i., p. 80.) t It is surprising that the passage along the Indus should not have been chosen by Mahmood, who must have been acquainted with it, both from the readied a climax in three days of in- tense agony, during which they wandered through the worst partr of the desert, wil- fully misled, it is said, by their guides, who after severe torture, were brought to confess themselves disguised priests of Somnauth. Many of the soldiers perished miserably, some died raving mad, and when at length they came upon a pool of water, it was received with inexpressible transport as a miraculous interposition of Providence in their favour. Eventually they reached Moultan, and from thence proceeded to Ghuznee,t but before the expiration of the year, their rest- less leader was once more in arms to avenge the molestation offered by a body of Juts,J in the Jund mountains, to his forces during their march to Somnauth. Foreseeing the expedient to which the Juts would have re- course, he was provided with an extensive flotilla ; and when they took refuge in the islands of the Indus, hoping to elude pur- suit by repeatedly shifting their position, he pursued them so pertinaciously that though not without a desperate defence, the men were mostly destroyed and the women and children enslaved. Thus terminated Mahmood's thirteenth, and last expedition to India. Hostilities were then directed against the Turki tribe of Seljuk,§ whose growing power he had incautiously favoured, until they became too unruly to be restrained by his local repre- sentatives ; nor were they without difficulty compelled to respect his immediate autho- rity. The next act was the seizure of Persian Irak (extending from the frontier of Khorassan, westward to the mountains of Koordistan, beyond Hamadan). This he account of Mohammed Casim's proceedings and from the neighbourhood of the Afghans. Elphin- stone, in commenting upon this circumstance, sug- gests the existence of jihysical obstacles now re- moved, adding, that the Munn of ViUch, now a hard desert in the dry season, and a salt marsh in the rains, was, doubtless, formerly a part of the sea ; and remarks, that the changes which have taken place under our own eyes prepare us to believe that still greater may have occurred in the 800 years that ha've elapsed since the fall of Somnauth. (Vol. i., p. 558.) X Probably a Tartar horde of the Geta; stock, widely disseminated over India, and, according to Tod, called by their ancient name of //Vs in the Pun- jaub, Jats on the Jumna and Ganges, and Juts on the Indus and in Saurashtra. § The tribe is supposed to have originated in n chief who held a liigh station under one of the great Tartar princes, but having incurred the disjjleasure of his sovereign was driven into exile, and his sons and adherents became subject to Mahmood in Trans- oxiana, fre(iuently however, carrying on wars and incursions on their own account. DEATH OF MAHMOOD— A.D. 1030— HIS SUCCESSORS. Gi) eccoraplislicd by takiiif; advantaojc of the disturbances which oceiirred in the rcif^n of one of the representatives of a brancli of tlie family of Buya, called also the J)(Mleniites ; the person of the prince being trcaelicrously seized in tlie Moslem camp. The resistance of the people of Ispahan and Cazvin was cruelly revenged by the massacre of several thousands in each city. The ordinary excuse of zeal for the glory of Islam — that is to say, the bigotry which has sometimes really prompted cruel aggres- sions, but has far more frequently been assumed as a mask to cover ambition or rapacity, cannot in this case be urged in palliation of these grasping and sanguinary transactions, probably the worst, as they were the last, of the life of ]\Iahmood. Re- turning triumphant to (Jhuzuec, he was attacked by a disease which soon completely prostrated liis extraordinary physical and mental energies, and of which he died, after a reign of thirty-tliree years. During pa- roxysms of excruciating agony, he might well have envied even the wretched slaves whom liis marauding incursions had made so cheap that purchasers could not be found for them at ten dirhems (about 4s. 7d.) a head. At such moments his hundred measures of jewels * could aSbrd but poor consolation ; even the delusive doctrine of the Koran con- demned alike the means by which they had been acquired, and the master-passion whose strength was never manifested more forcibly than in tlie closing scenes of his eventful career. "When taking a sorrowful leave of his great possessions, the dying Sultan per- haps thought bitterly of a sentiment some of the numerous poets of his court might have rhymed, though scarcely so sweetly as our own Southcy : " In heaven ambition cannot dwell, Nor avarice in the vaults of hell — " He had ample reason to regret leaving a world in which lie liad— with reverence for the sacred text be it spoken, " laid up much treasure for many years ;" nor is it probable that he could look for reward or even pardon in another, on the ground of faithful service to the cause of Islam. Notwithstanding his character for bigotry, and frequent and public invocations of Divine assistance, a careful review of Mahmood's * Hearing of the wealth of the Samani princes, who had accumulated jewels enough to fill seven measures, he exclaimed exultingly, that he possessed BufRcicnt to fill an hundred. t On this point, see Elphinstone, vol. i., p. 569. actions renders it more tlian d(jubtful whe- ther all these were not liollow pretences to raise the eiitliiisiasm of his more truthful followers who, it must be borne in mind, had been accustomed from the earliest times to prayer before battle, and tlianks- giving in the hour of victory. If he were really a scepticf regarding the creed which he made the pretext for destroying or en- slaving niiolfcnding inuititudes, his condition was wretched indeed ; but if he did actually believe it an imiicrativc duty to increase the numbers of " the faithful," at all costs, then at least his conduct, with tlie exception of some few memorable instances, was very unaccountalilc ; for, besides liis ajiathy in not endeavouring to establish ^loslem colo- nies in India, schools, or other means of instruction, it ajipears that he never liesi- tatcd to exercise perfect tolerance whenever it suited his views. The rajah of Canouj, for instance (his only ally), was an uncon- verted Hindoo; he appointed a strict de- votee to the throne of Guzerat ; employed a large body of native cavalry, without regard to their religion, and contrary to orthodox ^Mohammedanism — circumstances which would testify liberality of feeling, but for their manifest inconsistency with other parts of his conduct, for which excessive zeal is urged in apology. The house of Ghuznee reached its culmi- nating point in the person of ^Mahmood's tiu-bulcnt son, jNIasaud, who, liaving deposed and blinded his brother Mohammed, after five months' rule, mounted the throne, and completed the remaining conquest of Persia, except the province of Pars. He made three expeditions into India, during which he captured Sersooty on the Sutlcj, quelled a rebellion at Lahore, and stationed a garri- son in Soupat, near Delhi. In the mean- wliile the Scljuks completely defeated his general, and compelled ]Masaud, on his return, to march against them in person. After two years of indecisive operations a battle took place near ^Meru, in which the Ghuzncvides were totally routed. The sul- tan returned to Ghuznee, but finding it hopeless to restore order there, determined to withdraw to India. All respect for his authority was however destroyed, and soon after crossing the Indus, the remnant of his forces mutinied against him, and placed the injured Mohammed on the throne, a.d. 1010. This prince being rendered incapa- ble by blindness of conducting the govern- ment, transferred the administration to his I TERMINATION OF THE HOUSE OF GHUZNEE— a.d. 1J60. sou Alimed, one of whose first acts was to put his uucle the deposed king to death. 15ut the sins of this family, committed on the plea of just retaliation, did not end here. IModood, the son of Masaud, on hearing of his father's murder, quitted Balkh, where he had been engaged in watching the pro- ceedings of the Seljuks, and with a small body of troops made his way from Ghuznee to Lahore. At Futtehahad, in the valley of Laghman, he was met by ^Mohammed with Ahmed and other relatives, who after a fierce contest were defeated, taken prisoners, and all put to death by the conqueror, with the exception of Prince Abdool, a son of ]\Io- hammed's, who was spared for the sake of kindness shown to Masaud during his capti- vity. Modood had not yet removed all domes- tie foes — the opposition of his own brother, ]\Iadood, was still to be overcome, and it threatened to be troublesome, this prince having obtained possession of Lahore and its dependencies. The armies of the rival brothers were marshalled for action when the dispute for superiority was suddenly terminated by the deatli of Madood and his vizier (prime minister) apparently by poison. The forces then coalesced under Modood, who contrived not only to occupy Ghuznee, but to recover Transoxiana, which he was perhaps enabled to do the more readily from having espoused the daughter of a Seljuk chief. But while thus successful in the west, the rajah of Delhi recovered the terri- tory seized by Masaud beyond the Sutlej ; and elated by this first success, pushed his forces to the very gates of Nagarcot. Volun- teers crowded into thePunjaub, and entered with such ardour into the enterprise that the temple-fortress, despite its strong posi tion and garrison, became again their own. The Moslems driven thence took refuge in Lahore, and after a seven months' siege, durinjg-sj'hich no succour arrived from Ghuz- nee, were well nigh reduced to despair, when swearing to stand by each other to the last they rushed out upon the enemy, and by one determined effort induced the Hindoos to disperse, and raise the siege. Modood died A.D. 1019. one of his last acts of trea- chery being to render Ghor tributary and in some sort dependent ou himself, by per- fidiously murdering the prince whom he had promised to assist in recovering possession of the throne. The speedy decline of the house of Ghuznee from this period would be of little interest but for its important bear- ing on the fortunes of Hindoostan, nor does it seem necessary to follow in detail the tedious and distasteful accounts of con- spiracies and assassinations which too gene- rally form the staple of oriental historians, the progress and condition of the people being rarely even alluded to. Suffice it to say, that the second successor of Modood succeeded in recovering Nagarcot from the Hindoos, but being compelled to oppose the sedition of a chief named Toghral in Seestan, marched to attack the rebels, leaving the bulk of his army in India. His force proved unequal to the task, and he was compelled to shut himself up iu Ghuznee, where he was seized and put to death with nine princes of the blood-royal. Toghral seized upon the vacant throne, but was assassinated within forty days; and the army, having by this time returned from India, resolved upon continuing the crown in the family of the founder of the kingdom. Three princes of his lineage were discovered imprisoned iu a distant fort, aud their claims being nearly equal were decided by lot. The chance fell on Farokhzad, whose brother and successor Ibrahim, celebrated for sanctity, captured several cities on the Sutlej. In the follow- ing reign (that of Masaud II.) the royal residence began to be transferred to Lahore (about A.D. 1100.) Behram, a prince of great literary renown, acceded to the throne in 1118, but after thirty years of peace and prosperity, com- mitted an act of cruel injustice, which led to his own ruin aud the extiuctionof his dynasty. Having had a difference with his son-in- law, the prince of Ghor, he caused him to be put to death ; and after a long contest with the brother of his victim, succeeded in defeating and slaying him also, under cir- cumstances of aggravated barbarity. Ala- oo-deen Soor, indignant at the fate of his murdered brothers, entered the territories of their destroyer at the head of a small but determined force, compelled him to fly for his life, and seizing on Ghuznee, devoted the magnificent city, and its miserable in- habitants, for three (or some say nine days) to the desolating effects of flame, slaughter, and pillage. The superb monuments of its kings were utterly demolished, except those of Malimood, Masaud, and Ibrahim. Beli- ram strove to take refuge in India, but died on his way, worn out liy fatigue and disap- pointment. His son Khosru continued the retreat to liahore, and there established himself, A.D. 1152. The next king, Khosru Malik, the last of the race of Subuktugecn INDIAN CONQUESTS OF THE HOUSE OF GHOR— a.d. 1202. 71 reigned in t.riininiiHity for twoiity-sovcn years, and was then doi'(;atcd and taken prisoner, with his family, and eventually slain by the Ghor prinees, from whom his house thus received the final blow, in return for a long series of injuries and aggressions. House (if Ghor. — Shahab-oo-decn, the conquGror of Malik, on taking possession of Lahore, was snpjiorted by an army drawn from all (he warlike provinces between the Indus and Oxus, and accustomed to contend ■with the Seljnks and the northern hordes of Tartary. ]?eing at liberty to direct his ex- elusive attention to India, he probably ex- pected to subjugate extensive territories with ease and ra[)idity, owing to the peace- ful character of the people, the more so as their chief rulers were at variance with one another. Of the existing kingdoms the greatest •were those of Delhi, held by the elan of Tomara; Ajmcer, by that of Chou- han; Canouj by the Rahtorcs, and Guzerat by the Baghilas, who had supplanted the Chalukas. The Tomara chief dying with- out male issue, adopted his grandson Prithwi rajah of Ajmcer, who thus acceded to the double authority, greatly to the mor- tification of the rajah of Canouj, another grandson of the deceased ruler's. These internal differences did not how- ever prevent very determined resistance being offered to a foreign foe, though it probably marred the effect which might have resulted from a more united plan of defence. None of the Hindoo principalities fell without a severe struggle, and some were never entirely subdued, owing chiefly to the essentially warlike habits, and pecu- liar social position of the Kajpoots, whose almost feudal system of government, led them to contest the ground, not so much in a single great action, as inch by inch, each man fighting for his own chief, and his own hearth and home. The origin of this still powerful and interesting class has been alluded to (see p. 42), and will be more par- ticularly mentioned in commenting on the characteristics of the Hindoo population. Here it may bo observed, that had their prac- tical ability and energy in time of peace kept pace with their chivalrous enthusiasm and unswerving resolution under the stimulus of war, India might have spurned the hateful yoke of the Sloslems. But the constant use of pernicious drugs, seconding only too efVeetually the enervating tendencies of an eastern clime, brought indolence and sen- suality in their train, and while rendering their victims daily more infatuated with the varied forms of idolatry, which rapidly multi- plied, to the extinction of more sjiiritual aspirations — induced also inertion and list- lessncss with regard to material dangers, until the hour for preparation was passed, and no alternatives remained save death, slavery, or apostacy. Then indeed they kept the foe at bay with the courage of the lion, and braved their fate with more than Spar- tan fortitude. Thus Shahab-oo-deen and his successors found their task long and tedious, and repeatedly contested the pos- session of the same ground. The first attack was directed against Prithwi rajah, and took place at Tirouri, between Tancsur and Kurnaul, on the great plain where most of the eouff icts for paramount ])Ower in India, have been decided. The Hindoos succeeded in outflanking and completely routing the Mussulmans, who charged after their usual method with successive bodies of cavalry. Shahab himself was dangerously wounded, and after a pursuit of forty miles escaped with difficulty to Lahore, where, having col- lected the wreck of his array, he crossed the Indus, and after visiting his brother at Ghor, settled at Ghuznee. Two years later (1193) having reernited a fresh force he again encountered Prithwi rajah, whom he overcame by the dangerous stratagem, so frequently recorded in Moham- medan annals, of a pretended flight. The immense Hindoo army followed in headlong pursuit, when a body of Afghan horse 12,000 strong, suddenly wheeled round and charged upon them with terrible effect; the viceroy of Delhi and many chiefs were slain on the field, and the brave rajah liim- self being captured, was put to death in cold blood by his merciless opponent, who soon afterwards, having taken Ajmcer, massacred some thousands of its inhabitants, reserving the rest for slavery. In 1191, Jaya Chan- dra, the rajah of Canouj, was defeated and slain on the Jumna;* Canouj and Benares were taken by Shahab, whose power was thus extended into Bchar. In the follow- ing year Gwalior, in Bundelcund, and several other strong positions there, as also in Ko- hilcund, were successively seized, and the invader pursued his conquering career until the death of his brother placed him on the throne of Ghor, a.d. 1202. His four years' • The body was recognised by the false teeth, or according to' other writers, by the golden studs re- quired to fix thfc natural ones into tlieir sockets, on account of extreme age. 72 SLAVE-KINGS OP DELHI— 1206 to 1288. reign was full of vicissitudes. A report of his death during a war with the king of Kharizm,* occasioned the defection of seve- ral of his western tributaries^ and the wild tribe of the Gukkurs issued from their mountains in the north of the Punjaub, took Lahore, and devastated the whole pro- vince. Kootb-oo-dcen, originally a Turki slave, but raised by Shahab to the govern- ment of his Indian possessions, remained faithful to his patron, aided him in recover- ing the Punjaub, and induced the Gukkurs to embrace Islamism. Shahab was, however, slain in his camp on the Indus by a band of these mountaineers, who, stimulated by the desire of revenge, having lost relations in the late war, swam across the river at midnight, and entered the royal camp unopposed. f He left no son; and, although his nephew Mahmood was proclaimed throughout the whole of his uncle's dominions, yet these broke up without a struggle into separate states. The deceased monarch had care- fully trained several Turki slaves, of whom three were in possession of extensive govern- ments at the time of his death. The most noted, Kootb-oo-deen, was invested by Mah- mood with the insignia of royalty, a.d. 1206, and thus commenced the line, named from the seat of government, the Slave-kings of Delhi. The whole of Hindoostan Proper (of course excluding the Deccan), except Malwa and some contiguous districts, had now been subjugated in a greater or less degree ; Sinde and Bengal were in rapid course of reduction, but in Guzerat little dominion had been acquired beyond that connected with the possession of the capital, which was for a short time retained. Thus ;ua;^es, logie, Greek pliilosoiiliy, matheniaties and inedieine, his attainments were extraordi- nary; in war lie was brave and active ; in domestic life devout, abstinent and moral. Notwithstanding all this, he proved one of the worstkings underwhose seourgcludia has ever bled antl sud'cred. When released from tlie fear of invasion on the [lart of the Moguls, whoso absence was obtained by an enormous bribe — he completed the reduction of the Decoan ; and tlien gave the I'cin to his ambitious but ill-digested schemes, by as- sembling an army (comprising, according to Eerishta, 370,000 horse), intended for the conquest of Persia, but which, after it had consumed his treasures, broke up for want of ])ay, carrying pillage and disorganization m every quarter. Next followed an at- tempt upon China. For this 100,000 men were sent through the Himalaya Mountains, and having with loss and difficulty efl'ccted a passage, were met on the enemy's frontier by a powerful force, with whom fatigue and want of provisions rendered the invaders unable to cope. The approach of the wet season compelled a speedy retreat, which the pursuit of the Chinese, the difficulties of the route, famine and heavy rains, made so disastrous, that at the end of fifteen days, scarcely a man survived to tell the tale, and many of those left behind in garrisons dui'ing the advance of the ill-fated force, were put to death by the unreasoning rage of the disappointed king. An endeavour to fill the royal treasury, by substituting paper, for copper, tokens,* utterly failed in its object, from the known insolvency of the govern- ment, and it seriously injured trade and impoverished the people; who, no longer able to endure the increasing pressure of taxation, deserted the towns and tied to the woods, in some places maintaining them- selves by rapine. The infuriated despot ordered out his army, as if for a great hunt, surrounded an extensive tract of country, as is usual in an Indian chase, and then com- manded the circle to close and slaughter all within it (mostly inoftensive peasants), like wild beasts. More than once was this hor- rible performance repeated; and on a sub- • AVith regard to coinage, it may be remarked that at the time of Cal'\u''s invasion, there was, according to Ferishta, no silver coinage in the Carnatic ; and colonel Briggs remarks that the same was true, to a certain e.\tent, till very lately, the common coin sequent occasion, its atrocities were paral- leled by a general massacre of the inhahi- taiits of the great city of Canouj. Famine, induced by cruelty and misgoverument, bnjuglit to a climax the miseries of the nation, and various attempts were made to break the fetters of such unbearable oppression. Mohammed's own nephew took up arms in IMalwa, but was defeated and flayed alive; the governor of the Punjaub next rebelled, and he also was subdued and slain. ]]cngal, and soon afterwards the Carnatic, revolted under ISIoslcm governors, and were never again subdued ; Carnata and Telin- gana combined suceesfully under native rajahs for the recovery of their indepen- dence ; and lesser struggles took place in every quarter. The Amccrf Judeeda, or new nobles (the name given to the Mogul chiefs and their descendants, who, having invaded India, had embraced Islaniism and the service of the kings of Delhi at the same time), became seditious in the Deecan; and in Malwa, seventy of them were treacherously massacred by the new governor, a man of low origin, desirous to show his zeal — upon which the officers of the same nation iu Guzcrat, prevailed on the rest of the troops to join them iu insurrection. Mohammed in person advanced for its suppression, and ravaged his own province as if it had been that of an enemy, devoting the rich towns of Cambay and Surat to plunder. With equal vigour he proceeded to quell a general rebellion in the Deecan ; but no sooner was seeming quiet restored in one place by a costly effusion of blood, than new distur- bances broke out in another. The king, wearied out with marching and counter- marching, fell a victim to a fever, caused, it is said, by a surfeit of fish, but more pro.< bably by political anxiety, added to the habitual tumult of his own ungovernable passions. He died at Tatta, whither he liad proceeded in ptirsuit of some fugitives from Guzcrat, who had taken refuge with the Ilajpoot princes of Sinde. The only marvel is, that he should have been permitted to reign twenty-seven years, and yet escape the common fate of Asiatic tyrants — poison or the sword. Few could ever have provoked such an cud more pertinaciously than Mohammed Toghlak, who, iu spite of his being the pagoda : there was also another gold coin called afanam, in value about equal to a sixpence. t Ameer, Emir or Mir alike signify noble, com- mander, chief. Thus, Ameer-ool-omra, means head of the nobles, or commander-in-chiefl 76 FEROZE TOGHLAK AND HIS SUCCESSORS— a.d. 1351 to 1394. intellectual gifts and personal bravery, alternately excited emotions of horror and contempt in the breasts of his subjects, evincing alike in his extensive projects or less disastrous follies, the same utter reck- lessness with regard to tlieir lives and pro- perties. Thus — desiring to transfer the capital from the magnificent city of Delhi to Deogiri, as being a more central position, he proceeded to attempt the execution of this design, by ordering all the inhabitants of the former, to remove at once to the latter place, to which he gave the name of Doulatabad, and there built the massive fort still existing. After this the people were twice permitted to return to Delhi, and twice compelled, on pain of death, to leave it : these movements being all, more or less, attended with the horrors of famine, occasioning the death of thou- sands, and rain and distress to many more. As an instance of his minor freaks, may be noticed that of having a stately mausoleum erected over a carious tooth, extracted dur- ing his campaign in the Carnatic, and this too at a time when his troops, ravaged by pestilence and decimated by civil war, found full employment in heaping a little earth over their fallen comrades. In the early pai't of this reign, the Mohammedan em- pire east of the Indus, was more extensive than at any other period ; but the provinces lost during its continuance were not all regained till the time of Aurungzebe, and the royal authority received a shock which the iron grasp of the ]\Iogul dynasty alone sufficed to counterbalance. Feroze Toghlak succeeded to the throne, in the absence of direct heirs, chietly by the influence of the Hindoo chiefs, and after some disturbances raised by the INIogul mercenaries. His reign stands out in pleasing contrast, not only to tliat of his predecessor, but to despotic rulers in general, llejecting the pursuit of what is commonly called glory, he recognised the independence of Bengal and the Deccan, and without seeking to extend the empire by the sword, employed himself in its consolidation and improvement. The diminution of capi- tal punishments, the abolition of torture and nmtilation, the removal of numerous vexa- tious taxes, alterations in the collection of tlie revenue, the abrogation of lluctuating and precarious imposts — all spoke the earnest solicitude of the ruler for the welfare of the people, llcservoirs and canals for irrigation, mosques, colleges, caravanserais, hosj)itals, public baths, bridges, and many other edifices were erected, and the revenues of certain lands assigned for their maintenance. The chief of these works still remains a noble monument to the memory of its founder — viz., a canal extending from the point where the Jumna leaves the mountains by Kurnaul to Hansi and Hissar. It reaches to the river Gagar, and was formerly con- nected with the Sutlej. A portion, extend- ing about 200 miles, has been restored by the British government, and will be described in the topographical section. Feroze long retained his energies ; but in his eighty-seventh year, increasing infirmities compelled him to abdicate in favour of his eldest son, Nasir-oo-deen, a.d. 1385. This prince was displaced in little more than a year by two of his cousins, who having secured the person of the old king, proclaimed his grandson, Glieias-oo-deen, sovereign ; soon after which event, Feroze died, aged ninety. Gheias, in five months, was de- posed and murdered by the kinsmen who had placed him on the throne. His suc- cessor, Abu-bekir, was displaced by the pre- viously exiled monarch, Nasir-oo-deen, after a long and severe contest, during which Delhi repeatedly changed hands. The Hindoos took an active part in the struggle, and the household troops, who were all foreigners, having shown particular hostility to the conqueror, were banished the city, none being permitted to remain if incapable of pronouncing a certain letter peculiar to the languages of Hindoostan. The rule of Nasir was weak and inefficient, and that of his son, Mahmood, who acceded to power in 1394, while yet a minor, em- barrassed yet more the public affairs. Mozuffer Khan, the governor of Guzerat began to act as an irresponsible ruler; while Malwa and the little province of Can- dcish permanently threw oft' the yoke, and remained independent principalities until the time of Akber. The vizier of Mahmood, with peculiar disloyalty, seized on the pro- vince of Juanpoor and founded a kingdom. The remaining territories were torn with the dissensions of jarring factions, and each party was occupied with its own quarrels, when the fierce onslaught of a foreign foe involved all in a common calamity. Ameer Timur, better known as Timur Beg (chief or couunaudcr) or as Tamerlane, has been designated " the fire-brand of the uni- verse," " the apostle of desolation," and by various otheropprobrious epithets, all of which his own autobiography, if its authenticity may INVASION OF INDIA BY TIMUR OR TAMERLANE— a.d. 1398. 77 be trusted, proves to have hccu (nWy merited.* He claimed a remote descent from tlie same stoek as Jcnf;;is Kliau, whom he ia many points rcscml)lcd; for, tliouf^h born near Samarcand, iu a eompiirativelj' civilized country, and a zealous iMussulmau by pro- fession, Timur was as barbarous iu his war- fare, and as short-sighted (though more treacherous and wily) in his policy as the ferocious Mogul. IJoth were unprincipled marauders, who overran countries and slaughtered unoffending myriads, for plun- der; but the latter, while everywhere carry- ing anarchy, famine, and pestilence in his train, and sparing neither nation nor creed, invariably asserted zeal for Islam as the main spring of his actions, and by a strange mixture of superstition and egotism, seems to have succeeded in deceiving himself at least, as to the true character and conse- quences of his career. Tlie Seyeds or legi- timate descendants of "his holiness the prophet" (through Ali and Fatinia), were the exclusive objects of his protection, and their exemption from a personal share in the horrors of war, he considered, or pretended to consider, a certain means of absolution for a life spent in unceasing aggression on the individual and collective rights of the rest of mankind. Having united the hordes of Tartary in the same manner, though not to the same extent as Jengis had done, Timur, after conquering Persia and Transoxiana, ravaged Tartary, Georgia, and Mesopotamia, with parts of Russia and Siberia. Candahar, Ghuznee, and Cabool, to the frontiers of Hindoostan, were also subjugated and placed under the government of Peir ]\Ioliammed, the grandson of Timui-, who eiideavoiu'cd to extend his dominions to the south-east by an attack on the Afghans in the Soliman mountains; which proving successful, the invader eventually proceeded to cross the Indus and occupy the city of Ouch, whence he marched to invest iMoultan. The place was bravely defended, and Peir lay for six months before its walls. INIeanwhile Timur, learning the doubtful state of affairs, re- nounced his intention of invading the more distant provinces of the Chinese empire, and conducted his forces to India, a.i>. 1.'398, • Vide Mulfuzat Timuri (pvintesl at the cost of the Oriental Translation Fund). Originally written in Turki, a language as distinct from the modern Turkish as Saxon from English ; translated into Per- sian hy Abu Talib llussyny, and thence into our tongue by Major Stewart. These memoirs afford strong internal evidence of having been actually dic- M being, lie alleged, stimulated thereto by accounts of the gross idolatry still suffered to extend its influence throughout the countries swayed by Moslem rulers. Fol- lowing the usual route to Cabool, he marched by Ilaryuband liunnoo to Dinkot, a place on the Indus to the south of the Salt range, whose exact position is not known. After crossing the river, by a bridge of rafts and reeds, he advanced to the Ilydaspes, and I marched down its banks, ravaging the country as he passed, as far as Toolumba, where a heavy contribution proved insufli- cicnt to save the city from pillage, or the peojilc from massacre. Moultan had by this time been taken by blockade, famine having conquered where external force had utterly failed ; and Peir, leaving a garrison there, joined his grand- father on the Sutlcj. At the head of a detach- ment of 11,000 chosen horse, Timur took possession of Adjudin, where the few remain- ing inhabitants threw themselves upon his mercy, and being chiefly Seyeds, were spared and shielded from the excesses of the sol- diery — a very rare case, for although the promise of similar forbearance was often obtained from the fierce invader, it was almost invariably violated ; whether from inability or disinclination to restrain his tur- bulent associates matters little, since it scarcely affects the degree of guilt involved in giving, or rather selling an immunity which, from one cause or another, he well knew, would not be preserved. His deso- lating career in Hindoostan may be briefly told ; for the terrible details of pillage and slaughter recur again and again, until the mind, sickening with an unbroken chain of similar scenes, has the sense of their atrocity almost dulled by the monotonous repetition. At Bhutnecr, the country people who had taken refuge under the walls were mas- sacred ; in spite of their capitulation, the inhabitants shared the same fate, and the town was burned. Thence Timur's detach- ment marched to join the main force, slaying the people of every place traversed, as far as Samaua, where the towns being absolutely deserted, the swords of these mur- derers had some rest, but only suiiieient to tated by Timur; to quote the words of an able critic, any doubt on the subject " would be removed by the unconscious simplicity with which he [Timur] relates his own inti'igucs and perfidy ; taking credit for an excess of goodness and sincerity which the boldest flatterer would not have ventured to ascribe to him.'' — (Elphinstone's India, vol. ii., p. 79.) 78 CRUELTIES OF TIMUR— GOVERNMENT OP THE SEYEDS— a.d. 1412. prepare them for renewed exertion, since, ou reaching Delhi, all prisoners above fifteen years of age were put to death, from the fear of their taking part with their couutry- meu. The number was doubtless very great, even after making large deductions from the accounts of Mussulman writers, who state it at 100,000. Upon the defeat of the Indian army, the reigning prince of Delhi, Mahmood Toghlak, fled to Guzerat, and the city was surrendered under a solemn assurance of protection. Tamerlane was proclaimed em- peror of India, and while engaged in cele- brating a triumphal feast, his ferocious hordes, laughing to scorn the dearly-bought promise of their leader, commenced their usual course of rapine and plunder, upon which the Hindoos, driven to desperation by witnessing the disgrace of their wives and daughters, shut the gates, sacrificed the women and children, and rushed out to slay and be slain. The whole Mogul army poured into the town, and a general massacre followed, until several streets were rendered impassable by heaps of slain. At length the wretched inhabitants, stnpified by the over- powering number and barbarity of the foe, flung down their arms, and " submitted themselves like sheep to slaughter ; in some instances permitting one man to drive a hundred of them prisoners before him." Delhi yielded an enormous booty in gold, silver, and jewels, especially rubies and dia- monds ; the historian* above quoted, de- clares that the amount stated by his autho- rities so far exceeds belief, that he refrains from the mention — neither does he give the number of men and women, of all ranks, dragged into slavery ; but it must have been immense. Among them were many masons and other artificers, competent to the con- struction of a mosque, similar to the noble edifice of white marble built by Feroze, on the Jumna : in which the sanguinary Timur, on the eve of departure from the blasted city, had the audacity to ofl'er up public thanks for the wrongs he had been permitted to inflict. Merut next fell beneath the same terrible * Briggs' Fcrhhtn, vol. i., p. '194. For the career of Timur, see Elphinstone's able summary — India, vol. i., pp. 75 to 80 ; Price's 3Iiihtiinmcdun History, vol. iii., pp. 2153, 213 ; and Keniiell's 3Icmoir of' a Map nf llinddostan, pp. 110, 121. t In Catron's Miiyni I^nipire, (a work pviblished in 1709, and allef;ed to be fbinuled on data collected by a Venetian named Manouchi, wlio acted as physician to Aurungzebe,) the troops of Timur are represented as commenting severely on the person of their leader, scourge : the walls were thrown down by mines, and every soul put to the sword. The invaders then crossed the Ganges, and proceeded up its banks to near Hurdwar, where the river leaves the mountains. Several minor contests took place with bodies of the Hindoos in the skirts of the hills, in which Timur, although suS'ering from illness, and burdened with the weight of more than seventy years, took his full share of danger and fatigue, never scrupling to hazard his own personf equally with that of the meanest individual of his force. From Jammu or Jummoo, north of Lahore, he turned south, and reverting to the route by which he had entered India, took his final departure, having occasioned, during the short space of five months, an almost in- credible amount of ruin and bloodshed. For many weeks Delhi i-emained un- governed and nearly uninhabited. A chief named Ecbal at length obtained possession, but being slain on an expedition to Moultan, the authority reverted to Mahmood, who, having returned from Guzerat, had taken refuge at Canouj, then held by the king of Juanpoor. IMalimood died, a.d. I'il2. His successor, Doulat Khan Lodi, at the expi- ration of fifteen months, was expelled by Khizer Khan, the governor of the Punjaub. The Seyeds. — The new ruler, though born in India, was descended from Mohammed, and for this cause found favour with Timur, to whom he complained of having had the governorship of a portion of the Punjaub unjustly taken from him, and was thereupon appointed to the undivided rule of the whole. He affected to recognize his patron as emperor, and did not assume the title or style of royalty on taking possession of the government, which now comprised little be- yond Delhi and the adjacent territory. The Punjaub was temporarily re-annexed by him, but the eastern portion, with the coun- tr}' about Sirhind, revolted and severed itself from Delhi, despite the opposition of Khizer, who made spirited eflbrts to main- tain and extend his authority. Tribute was levied from the llahtores in Roliilcuud, and incited by a strong dread of Rana (the title signify- ing prince being mistaken for tlie name), whose do- minions are described as " almost situate in the midst of Hindoostan," and whose Rajpoot soldiers had the reputation of being invincible. " Have we not," said they [the Tartars], one to another, " served this hair- brained cripple long enough, who, to the loss of a leg, has now, in this last battle, added the loss of an arm." They are, however, induced to persevere, and complete victory is the result. ([). I'i.) from otlirr Hiiuloos near Owalior, Imt flic- war witli tlu; kiii^ of (iuzcrat, Uu)iii;Ii -dili- gently ])rosocuto(l, liad no important result, and tliat state retained its indepondcnce, as did also the permanent monareliies in tlic Dceean, topjctlicr with ]\fal\va, ]5engal, Juan- poor (comi)rcheii(liiif^ Oiulo and Canoiij), and the }>'overnments of Samana, 15iana, and Cal|)cc (in Unndclciind). Kliizcr died in 1421 — his three Seycd sueeessors were en- gaged in struggles, first, with the Mogul ruler of Cabool (Shah Rokh, the sou of Timur), who oceasionally took part with the Gukkurs in ravaging the I'linjaub; and afterwards with the kings of Juanpoor and Malwa. Under the sway of the last Seycd ruler, Ala-oo-dccn, the territory apjicrtain- ing to Delhi had become so reduced as in one direction to extend for only twelve miles from the capital, and in another scarcely a mile. Moultan, among other places, had become independent, but Bada- yoon beyond the Ganges being still jios- sesscd by Ala, he removed to that place, and having abdicated in favour of Bchlol Khan Lodi, who forthwith assumed the title of king, a.d. 1450, he was suftered to remain unmolested in Badayoon for the remaining twenty-eight years of his life. Jloi/se of Lodi. — The grandfather of Bch- lol Lodi had been governor of jNloultan under Ferozc Toghlak, the great patron of the Afghans, and his fatiicr and uncles held commands under the Scyeds. Their wealth and power as military chieftains, together with the calumnies of a disaffected relation, at length excited the jealousy of the then sultan (Mohammed Seycd), by whom the Lodis were driven into the hills, where they sueecssfully resisted his authority. Bchlol found means to occupy, first Sirhind, then the whole of the Punjaub, and eventually (by a treacherous use of the influence of Hameed the vizier or prime minister of his predecessor Ala), gained possession of Delhi, to which the Punjaub became thus re:-au- nexed, as also Juanpoor, after a contest carried on with little intermission for twenty-seven years. By this last acquisi- tion, together with others of less import- ance, the dominions of Bchlol were extended, until, at his death in 1488, they reached from the Jumna to the Himalaya mountains as far east as Benares, besides a tract on the west of the Jumna stretching to Bun- delcund. The next king, Seeander Lodi, regained Bchar as far as the frontiers of Bengal, and increased his territories in the direction of Bundelcund. Sccander was a just and merciful prince, a poet, and a niuni(irent jiatron of letters. The single reproach on his character, one rarely brought forward against the Moslem sovereigns of India, is that of bigotry, evinced in the de- struction of idolatrous temples in the towns and forts captured from the Hindoos, and in the jjrohibition of pilgrimages and cere- monial bathings on certain festivals at places situate on the sacred streams within his dominions. His conduct in this respect was at least in accordance with the teaching of the Koran, and greater tolerance would have been contrary to his views of duty. The zeal of Sccander is once, and only once, al- leged to have prompted an act of cruelty, namely, the execution of a Brahmin who had sedulously propagated the doctrine that " all religions, if sincerely practised, were equally acceptable to God." Ibrahim Lodi, the sou and successor of Seeander, early offended his family and clansmen, by de- claring that a king should acknowledge no such relationship, but shoidd place all the subjects of the state on the same footing. The Af;ghan chiefs whom his father and grandfather had suffered to sit in their pre- sence, were henceforth commanded to stand in front of the throne with folded arms. The proud Lodi tribe enraged by the contumelious treatment they received, re- solved to leave Ibrahim in possession of Delhi, and to raise his brother Julal Khan to the throne of Juanpoor. After a twelve- month's contest, Julal was taken prisoner and put to death by Ibrahim, who impri- soned the remainder of his brothers, and endeavoured by violence and treachery, to keep under the disaffected and rebellious spirit which his arrogance and distrust per- petually excited among his nobles. At length the whole of the eastern part of his dominions was formed into a separate state under Deria Khan Lohani, whose son after- wards took the title of king. Doulat Klian Lodi, the governor of the Punjaub, dreading the fate of other viceroys, revolted and in- voked the aid of a neighbouring potentate who had already evinced his desire to take advantage of the distracted state of India by marauding incursions into the Punjaub. The celebrated Baber — sixth in descent ' through his paternal ancestors from Timur ' the Tartar or rather Turk, and connected through his mother with Jengis Khan the Mogul — acceded, at twelve years of age, by i the death of his father to the throne of Fer- 80 BABER— HIS EARLY HISTORY AND INDIAN INVASION. ghana,* (a.d. 1494), which, nothwithstancl- ing his extreme youth, he struggled long and ably to retain, against his own relatives, and the' Uzbeks,t who were then founding the dominion which they still possess in Transoxiana. In the defence of his rightful inheritance Baber appears to have been at first svicccss- ful, but the death of his uncle, the king of Samarcand, and the confusion which ensued, induced him to attempt the conquest of that city, and after more than one failure, this boy of fifteen became master of the famous capital of Timur. He had however bartered the substance of power for the shadow. The resources of Samarcand, already drained by war, afforded little as- sistance in the payment of the army, dis- affection ensued, which spread to the troops left in Ferghana, and Baber prostrated for a time by dangerous sickness, arose stripped alike of the territory towhichhe had rightfully succeeded, and that acquired by the sword. After various attempts, both on Samarcand and Ferghana, Baber succeeded in regain- ing his native kingdom, but being again induced to leave it by the hope of securing the former place also, he finally lost both, and after several years of trial and vicissi- tude, was betrayed by some Uzbeks whom he had tempted to foi-sake their ally Tambol (his own rebel general), into the hands of this powerful enemy. Escaping from cap- tivity, Baber, accompanied by his mother, bade a last farewell to Ferghana, with all the bitter feelings of an exile, aggravated by his own peculiar trials, and carrying witli him fond recollections of that beautiful laud which were never obliterated by the excite- ment of the brilliant career that awaited liim beyond the range of the Hindoo Koosh.J The princely adventurer was well received in Bactria, and the Moguls flocked round his standard, until his small force of 200 or 300 men (many of them only armed with clubs) had become the nucleus of a regular and well-equipped army. At this time the des- cendants of Timur had been expelled from Cabool, which was occupied by the IVIogul or Turki family of Arghoon, who had been for some time in possession of Candahar. Baber invaded Cabool, and found little difficulty in • A small l)ut rich and beautiful country situated on the upper course of the river Sirr or Jaxartes. t The Uzbeks (so called from one of their khans or sovereigns) were what the fjeologists would call " a conglomerate" of tribes of Turki, Mogul, and pro- bably of Fennic origin, the former greatly prepon- securiug the sceptre, which he swayed for twenty-two years before his conquest of India, and then bequeathed to heirs of his own lineage, by whom it was enjoyed until the end of the seventeenth century. His long reign was spent in contests with in- ternal and external foes. The rebellion of his brother, Jehangeer, and the attempts of two of his cousins to regain the sovereignty for this branch of the family of Timur, were with difficulty subdued. The victor freely forgave his brother, and spared the lives of his other relatives, thus evincing a clemency very unusual in an oriental despot, and the more to be admired since his power, and even existence, were repeatedly in jeopardy, and only rescued from destruction by the great skill aud courage with which he never failed to govern and animate his troops. The conquest of Candahar and expeditions into the mountains of the Afghans and Hazarehs, occupied the first years of his sway in Cabool. In all these journeyings great perils and hardships were endured, and once he nearly perished in the snow during a winter march to Herat, undertaken to secure the co-opera- tion of the members of the Timur house then ruling there, against the Uzbeks. "With these old and determiiaed enemies, Baber had many severe contests, until, happily for him, their leader Sheibani Khan, went to war with Shah Ismael Saffavi, king of Persia, and was defeated and slain in 1510. By this event the tide of Tartar conquest was turned, and Baber, aided by the Persian monarch, occupied Bactria and made im- portant conquests in Transoxiana, but these were wrested back again by the Uzbeks, by whom his army was completely routed, a.d. 1514. Baber now turned his attention to India, and after an invasion of the Punjaub, already- alluded to, but attended with no important result, gladly accepted the invitation of its rebellious governor, Doulat Khan Lodi, to return under the pretext of claiming this part' of the inheritance of Timur. Some of the Afghan chiefs remained loyal, drove out Doulat Khan, and opposed the assumption of the foreign usurper, but were totally overpowered, and Lahore itself reduced to ashes. Debalpoor was next stormed, and derating. Tliey had before been settled on the Jaik, and had possessed a largo tract in Siberia. { Vide J\[('»tiiii-s of Baber, written by himself in Turki, translated by Dr. Leyden and Mr. Erskine; sec also Mr. Caldecott's Life of liaher: I'rice, and the FcrislUas' of both liriggs and i)ow. BABER GAINS THE BATTLE OF PANIPUT— a.d. 1526. 81 the garrison put to tlio sword. 15;il)('r jiiir- siind his coiuiiu'riiip; course to Sirliinii, wlicii a quarrel witli Doulat Klian, who fled to the hills, oblif^cd him to retrace his steps, leaving Debalpoor in chargcof Ala-oo-dcen,a brother of king Ibrahim, who, having escaped from captivity, had joined the invader. Doulat Khan was chcek(nl by one of Baber's generals, hut Baber himself, I'ully oceujiied in defend- ing l?alkb (the capital of iJaetria) against the Tljibcks, deputed to Ala-oo-decn the charge of advancing upon Delhi, which he did, and the insurgents being increased to 40,000 by the disalfcction ])rcvalent among the king's troops, defeated the latter in an eugagemcnt under the walls of the city. To- wards the close of the year 1525, Baber, having settled Balkh, and finally subdued Doulat Khan who was compelled to sur- render his hill fort and library of valuable boohs — rather a singular possession for an Afghan chief of the sixteenth century — proceeded from Ropur on the Sutlej, above Lodiana, and from thence nearly by the direct road to Delhi. At Paniput, he learned the advance of Ibrahim at the head of an army, which, by his own account, numbered 100,000 men, with 1,000 elephants. One quarter that amount, midcr an able and popular leader, might have sufficed to in- spire the opposing force, of but 12,000 men, with despondency ; but even if the numbers are correctly stated, the characters of the respective leaders render the result easy to be conjectured. Baber took up a position, linked his guns together with ropes of twisted leather, and lined them with infantry, strengthening Lis flanks by field-works of earth and foscincs. Ibrahim, on first ap- proaching the enemy, seemed inclined to stand on the defensive likewise ; but, chang- ing his mind, after a few days' skirmishing, led out his army to a general engagement. • This coin is only about tenpence or elevenpence in value, yet the total sum must have been very great. t The terms Turk, Ttirtar, and Mogul afford in- exhaustible food for controversy to scholars versed in oriental learning ; and to convey in few words anything like a clear idea of the different meanings severally attaclied to them, is utterly impracticable. For the sake of readers unversed in such discus- sions, it may however be useful to remark that Tar- tary is the general term now applied by Europeans to the extensive but little-known country whence, under the name of Scythia, barbarian hordes have from very early times issued forth to desolate the fairest portions of Asia and even Europe. Of these a passing mention has been made in noticing the events of the second century of our era (p. 49); tlie Tochari, named by Strabo as one of the four chief ti-ibes by whom the Greek kingdom of Bactria was AVhilc attempting to storm the hostile front, tlu; Hanks and rear of the assailants were at- tacked by the right and left wings of Baber, whose advance, showering flights of arrows, was seconded by an occasional discharge of cannon. After a protracted struggle, Baber, perceiving the success of his counter-move- ment, ordered his centre forward, and com- pleted the rout of the Indian army. Ibrahim was killed, and his force having been nearly surrounded in the contest, which lasted from sunrise till noon, suffered prodigious loss, 15,000 being left dead on the field, of whom a third part lay in one spot around their king, while their total loss in the battle and pursuit was reported at 10,000. Baber mentions especially that his guns were dis- charged many timc.i with edieiency, these engines of destruction having at this period (1526) attained neither in Asia or Europe their present terrible pre-eminence ainong the weapons of war. Delhi surrendered, and Baber advanced to occupy Agra, the late royal residence, where his first act was to distribute the spoil among his adherents, in a manner which procured for him the nick-name of " the Calender," in allusion to a religious order whose rules forbade them to make provision for the morrow. To his son Humayun was given a diamond of ines- timable value, and a shahrukri* to every man, woman, and child in the country of Cabool. House of Timur. — The conqueror assumed the supreme authority in India, and became the founder of what is universally called the Mogul empire. Yet Baber, although con- nected through his mother with the royal race of the ^loguls, jiever names that people in his writings but with undisguised aver- sion, and always makes mention of himself as a Turk,t and the representative of Timur, whose barbarous massacres he too frequently overthrown, being supposed to signify the Turks. Timur, in liis Memoirs (p. 27.) and a Persian author quoted by Price in his Muhaiiunetlan History, ascribe the origin of the Khans or sovereigns of the wide- spread Tartar nations to Turk, the son of Japhet, the son ofXoah. Thegreat grandson of Turk, Alonjah Khan (during whose reign the people forsook the worship of the living God and became idolators), had twin sons named Tartar or Tatar, and Mogul or Mongol, and the quarrels of their immediate de- scendants gave rise to the inextinguishable animosi- ties which have ever since prevailed among their respective tribes. Mogul is said to be derived from Mungawul, signifying abject or simple-hearted. Tartar, according to the traveller Carpini, a.d. 1246, was the term app^ed to the Su or Water Mongols, one of four chief tribes then inhabiting Central Tar- tary, from the name of a river which ran through 82 CHARACTER OF BABER, FOUNDER OF THE MOGUL EMPIRE. imitated wherever the slightest resistance was offered ; probably desiring by this fero- city to inspire a degree of terror not war- ranted by his limited force. Yet Baber was in domestic life kind and affectionate ; his Memoirs offer repeated evidence of feelings uncliilled by ambition and grandeur, of sen- sibility to the beauties of nature and art retaining its freshness amid the declining years of pampered royalty, and of a temper whose sweetness remained to the last un- marred, even by the thorny pillow of an usurper, or the excesses into which his social temperament helped to draw him. " It is a rehef," says Mr. Erskine, "in the midst of the pompous coldness of Asiatic history, to find a king who can weep for days, and tell us that he wept for the com- panion of his boyhood." And Mr. Elphin- stone, when citing this remark, adds — " He [Baber] speaks with as much interest of his mother and female relations as if he had never quitted their fire-side, and his friends make almost as great a figure in the per- sonal part of his narrative as he does him- self. He repeats their sayings, records their accidents and illnesses, and sometimes jokes on their eccentricities." Yet this same indi- vidual, in many points so estimable, never- theless deserved the degrading surname of Baber [the Tiger), which has superseded his more flattering designsitions,* for in his cha- racterofconquerorevenlie couldseldom afford to be merciful and still more rarely to be just. To return to the narrative — the occupa- tion of Agra was far from carrying with it the conquest of the kingdom, and before that could be accomplished Baber had three their territory (Hakluyt, vol. i., p. 30), wliile Gmelin (Decoiivertes Rtisses, vol. iii., p. 209) gives the deriva- tion of the -n-ord from tatanoi, to collect, used in a reproachful sense to denote robbery, and declares that the Moguls and Calmucks, who are doubtless closely allied, have not the shadow of a tradition which favours the ideaof their having ever composed one nation with the Tartars (meaning Turks). De Guignes, on the contrary, recognizes only the Eastern and Western Tartars — the first the Manchoos, the se- cond Turks and Moguls, whom he looked upon as one race, the hatter descended from the former. His authority, though usually of much weight, is in this respect diminislied by the mistakes committed in confounding distinct races, and likewise in the indis- tinct geography of Tartary — defects scarcely to be avoided even by writers of the present day on this dark and difficult subject. Tlio tribes now inhabiting Tartary arc very numerous and various: language is the chief, if not the only guide by which Europeans have been enabled to class them under the heads of — lit, Manchoos, who extend over the region called Mantchouria, stretching from the Eastern Ocean along the north of China, and whose influence is distinct obstacles to overcome ; namely, the opposition offered by the Moslem viceroys, who had revolted in the time of Ibrahim, as well as by Afghan and Fermuli chiefs, at- tached to the late government; secondly, the deep aversion of the Hindoos, evinced by the abandonment of the villages near the spot where the army was encamped, and the con- seqtient diSieulty of procuring grain or forage. In the third place, the troops them- selves became disafl'ected, and the weather being unusually sultry and oppressive, so aggravated the sufferiitgs necessarily expe- rienced by natives of cold countries during an Indian summer, that at length all ranks united in demanding to be led back to Cabool. Baber declared his unalterable determination of remaining in India, but gave to all who chose permission to return. The majority decided to stay and share his fortttnes, but a part persisting in tlieir former desire, were dismissed with honour under the authority of Khaja Khilau, who was ap- pointed to a government beyond the Indus. This arrangement produced a change of feel- ing throughout the kingdom, and dissipated the general idea that Baber would depart as Tiraur had done. Some governors vo- luntarily tendered submission, detachments were sent to reduce others, and in the course of four months, not only had the country held by Sultan Ibrahim been secured, but all the revolted provinces ever possessed by the house of Lodi, including the former kingdom of Juanpoor, were conquered by Prince Humayun. The supremacy of Baber being thus established over the Moslems, his arms were next directed against the Hindoos. confined chiefly to that country, where at the present moment (1853) a severe struggle is taking place for their extirpation ; 2nd, Moguls, who occupy the cen- tral portion (Mongolia) between the other two ; 3rd, Tartars Of Turks, (of Toorkistan,) whose boundary is the MuzTagh (ice mountains), theBelutTagh (dark or cloudy mountains), Hindoo Koosh, &c. The Turki is the language of the Tartars as distinguished from that of the Moguls, but whether these two differ essentially or only as very different dialects of the same tongue is perhaps yet to be decided (Erskine's Halx-r, p. xxi.) Whatever may be the barrier be- tween the Turks and Moguls, it is certainly a great one and of ancient origin. In appearance the con- trast is most striking between the sliort, square, and athletic though disproportioncd body, bullet-shaped head, small angular eyes, scanty beard and eyebrows, high cheek-bones, flat nose, and large cars of a Mogul or Calmuck, and the comely form of a Turk, whose well-known Caucasian features and (lowing beard in many points resemble those of a European, the exception being the contraction of the eyes. • His original name was Zehir-oo-decn (protector of the faith) Mohammed (greatly Jiraised). STRUGGLES OP HINDOO PRINCES FOR INDEPENDENCE, 83 Saiif^a, tlio Rajpoot prince of Mcwar (sixth in succussiou from Ilaniccr Siiijr, the recoverei' of Clicetore or Cliittoor in l.'JKi), had immediately before the arrival of Hahcr been cngafTcd iu hostilities with Mahmood, king of Mahva, whom he had defeated and taken prisoner. The king of Delhi was likewise the enemy of Sanga, wlio opened a friendly communieation with J5abcr while marching against ]i)rahini, but on finding him establislied on the vacated throne, transferred his enmity to the new ruler, and proceeded to combine against him with the Lodi chiefs (previously defeated by llu- mayun) and Hasan Khan, rajah of Mcwat, a hillv tract cxtcndinjr towards the river Chumbul, from within twenty-five miles of Delhi, and including the jjctty state now called Maeheri or Aiwa. The first move- ments of the Hindoos were_ successful ; the garrison of Biana (within fifty miles of Agra) were driven with loss into their fort, and communieation cut off between them and the capital. Baber marched forward with all his forces, and at Sikri, about twenty miles from Agra, found himself in the vici- nity of the enemy, by whom his advanced guard was immediately attacked, and though supported by the main body, was defeated with heavy loss. The assailants, instead of following up the victory, withdrew to their encampments, and thus gave Baber time to fortify his position, and revive, by his own indomitable encrg}', the di'oopiug spirits of the troops. This was no easy task ; for the Indian auxiliaries began to desert or give way to hopeless despondency, and the feel- ing spread throughout all ranks, being deep- ened by the unlucky arrival of a celebrated astrologer from Cabool, who announced, from the aspect of Mars, the incntable de- feat of the ^loslem army, which was drawn up in an opposite direction to that planet. Baber cared little for soothsaying, but fully recognised the perils of his position, and, by his own account, repented of his sins, forswore wine, gave away his gold and silver drinking-vessels to the poor, and remitted the stamp-tax on all Moslems (that is, the re- venue collected by means of a stamp or mark affixed on all imported articles). Assembling all the officers, from the highest to the lowest, he addressed them in glowing terms — not, however, in the usual inflated style regard- ing the rewards, temporal and eternal, awaiting the champions of Islam, but ap- pealing almost exclusively to their sense of honour, and setting the chance of military glory, in plain terms, against the risk of (leaLh. With one accord they swore on the Koran to conquer or to die, and liabcr de- termined to bring matters to an immediate crisis, a step rendered the more expedient by the daily accounts of fresh disturbances in the provinces. A desperate battle en- sued ; rajali Sanga was defeated, and escaped with dilliculty; Hasan Khan and many otiier chiefs were slain. The mistaken astro- loger ventured to congratulate Baber upon his victory, but received in return a sharp lecture for perversity, conceit, and mischief- making, with a command to quit the royal dominions, accompanied, liowever, by a libe- ral present iu acknowledgment of long ser- vice, faithful though not discreet. Mewat was next reduced and settled. In the beginning of the following year (1528) Chandcri, on the borders of Bun- delcnnd and Malwa, was attacked. It was held by Medni Rai, a Rajpoot chief, who had escaped from the late battle, and des- perately but vainly defended by the Raj- poots, who, on perceiving the troops of Baber mounting their works, slew their women, rushed forth naked, drove the enemy before them, leaped from the ramparts, and continued to fight with unabated fury until all had found the death they sought: 200 or 300 had remained to defend Medni Rai's house, who for the most part slew one another sooner than fall into the hands of the enemy. An Afghan insurrection occurred simultaneously with this siege. The latter was no sooner ended than Baber marched to the Ganges, where the Afghans were drawn up, tiirew a bridge over the river under cover of artillery, and compelled the insurgents to disperse and take refuge in the dominions of the king of Bengal. It was probably on this occasion that he re- duced South Behar, which was subsequently seized by the Lodi prince. Sultan ^lahmood, wdio being once more forced to fly, all that country south of the Ganges reverted to Baber; but North Behar remained in the possession of the king of Bengal, with whom a treaty of peace was formed. The health of Baber now began to fail, and its decline was hastened by circum- stances connected with the dangerous ill- ness of Humayun. The physicians had declared the condition of that prince to be beyond the help of their art, upon which the fond father resolved to devote his own life to the preservation of his son's, in con- formity with a superstition still prevalent in 84 REMARKABLE DEATH OF BARER— a.d, 1530.— HUMAYUN, the East. His friends, who do not seem to nave in the least doubted the efficacy of the measure, entreated him to forbear for the sake of the millions whom he ruled, ■ but without effect. After the customary for- mula of walking three times round the couch of the prince, Baber spent some moments in earnest prayer to God, and then, impressed witb a conviction of the fulfilment of the desired sacrifice, exclaimed, " I have borne it away ! I have borne it away I" All historians agree that Huma- yun began from that time to recover, and Baber to sink rapidly, which latter result may be readily believed. Calling together his sons and ministers, he enjoined con- cord among them all, and affection among his children, and soon afterwards expired at Agra, a.d. 1530, and was buried in Cabool, at a spot selected by himself, and still marked by a small mosque of marble, above which rises a hill, from whence a noble prospect is obtained. Though he did not attain to the age of fifty years, Baber had, in one sense, lived many lives, from the incessant activity of both mind and body.* On his last journey, when his constitution was evidently giving way, he rode in two days from Calpee to Agra (160 miles), without any particular motive for despatch, and swam twice across the Ganges, as he mentions having done every other river he traversed. Besides the neces- sary business of the kingdom, the intervals of peace were occupied by planning aque- ducts, reservoirs, and other improvements, and in the introduction of new fruits and other productions of remote countries, "i'et he found time to indite many elegant Pei'siau poems, and compositions in Tuj-ki, which entitled him to distinction among the writers of his age and country. His contemporaries were, in England, Henry VII. and VIII. ; in France, Charles VIII., Louis XII. , and Francis I. ; in Germany, Maximilian and Charles V. ; in Spain, Fer- dinaiul and Isabella, and Charles. Thus the career of Baber formed part of a me- morable epoch, of which the great events were — the discovery of America by Co- lumbus ; of the passage to India, via the Cape of Good Hope, by Vasco di Gama; * Towards the close of his life, Baber observed lliat since his eleveiitli year he had never kept the annual fast of the Kamzan twice in any one ])lacc — a strong proof of the roving, warlike disposition which brought him to India. And it should be remembered that, in spite of many attractive qualities, Baber comes under the same condemnation, for lawless usurpation and the increase of the power of France by the annexation of the great fiefs to the crown, and of Spain by the union of its kingdoms under Charles ; the destruction of the em- pire of Constantinople ; the influence of the art of printing ; and the rise and progress of the Protestant reformation. (Luther and Baber were born in the same year.) Baber left three sous besides Ilumayun, but as he made no declaration in their favour he jirobably intended the empire to descend undivided to the child for whose life he had evinced such tender solicitude. Of tlie three younger brothers, one named Kamran was governor of Cabool and Candahar, and being firmly seated there, appeared disposed to maintain his position if necessary by a degree of force with which Humayuu could ill cope, since to assemble an army for action in Cabool would necessitate the evacuation of the lately-acquired and disaffected pro- vinces. Kamran was therefore recognized as the independent ruler of his previous govern- ment, to which was added the Punjaub and the country on the Indus. The other brothers, named Hindal aud Askeri, were appointed to the sway of Sambal and Mewat. By the cession to Kamran, Humayun was deprived of the trusty and warlike retainers who had long been the hereditary subjects of his family, and left to govern new con- quests, unsupported by the resources which had materially contributed to their acquisi- tion. At first, by the aid of the veteran army of his father, he succeeded in putting down the Afghan insurrections, which were among the early disturbances of his reign, and came to terms with his future rival, Sheer Khan (an influential Afghan, claiming descent from the kings of Ghor), wlio sub- mitted on condition of being suffered to retain the hill-fort of Cliuuar, near Benares. His next struggles were with Bahadur Shah, king of Guzerat, one of the most powerful of the states formed out of the fragments of the empire of Delhi, and which had been recently increased in size aud influence by the annexation of Malwa, and the vassalship or fiefdom promised by tlie princes of Can- deish, Berar, and Ahmednugger. Bahadur had taken under his protection Ala-oo-dcen, the brother of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, who had bloodshed, as his ferocious ancestors, Jengis and Timur. Nor is his private character free from heavy reproach. Drinking he eventually renounced ; per- severed in the use of into.'iicating confections; but po- lygamy, with other vices not to be named, lie refers to with as little regret as to the " erection of minarets of human lieads," and other common incidents cf war. POUTUGUESE ASSIST BAHADUR AGAINST IIUMAYUN. 8iJ played so conspicuous a part durin;^ that monarch's disastrous rci^n, and lie assisted him with troops and money to assemble a force for the attack of Agra, a.d. 153 k The attempt failed, for the army was as speedily dispersed as it had been collected, and Tatar Khan, the son of Ala, fell bravely fighting at the head of a division which had remained faithful amid the general deser- tion, llumayun jirocccdcd against 15ahadur, who was engaged in besieging ('hittoor or Chectorc, then held by the Rana of ]\Icwar, but was induced, (by the remonstrances of ]5ali:ulur against the impiety of molesting a Mussulman jirincc while engaged in war with infidels, or else by his own dihitory habits), to retard his march until the place was taken, and the besieger prepared to receive him in an intrenched camp at Mandesor, rendered formidable by artillery, commanded by a Constantinopolitau Turk, and partly served by Portuguese prisoners.* These advantages were however wholly neu- tralized by the enemy's success in cutting oft' the supplies, and thus making the position untenable, upon which Bahadur blew up his guns, and, leaving the army to disperse as the}' chose, fled by night almost unattended to the sea-port of Cam.bay, whither he was followed by Humaynn, who reached that town on the evening of the day on which the fugitive had departed for a more secure place ' In the Memoirs of Iliimai/iin, written by .Toiiher the owor-bearer, (a faithful servant who attended that monarch during his adversity, and was eventually re- warded by a treasurership in Lahore) and translated by Major Stewart, it is asserted that Bahadur had entered into a treaty with the Portuguese, (estab- lished at Surat some time before), and had by their assistance raised a force of G,000 Abyssinians or negroes. Price, on the authority of Abu Fazil, states, that Bahadur had sent a deputation to Diu to solicit the aid of tlie Portuguese viceroy, or captain- general of the possessions of that nation on the western side of India, requesting his assistance in waging war against the liousc ot Tinnir. The Por- tuguese commander accordingly assembled at Diu a considerable body of troops, and a powerful naval armament, in readiness to meet Bahadur, en whose arrival, it is said, some cause of suspicion, not satis- factorily explained, induced the European chief, in- stead of coming to meet his ally, to remain on board ship on pretence of illness. Bahadur, with a degree of conlidence which seems to indicate the whole aflair to have originated, not in a misunderstanding, but in systematic treachery on the part of the Por- tuguese, put himself on board a galley to visit the alleged invalid ; but had no sooner reached the admiral's vessel, than, perceiving the deceit practised upon him, he endeavoured to return to the shore. The Portuguese liad however resolved on first ob- taining from him the cession of certain ports at Guzerat, and endeavoured to detain him by fair N of refuge at Diu, in the remotest part of the peninsula of (iuzcrat. "While the pur- suers were encamped at Cambay, a night attack was made; by the Coolis, a forest-tribe, still famous for similar cxjiloits in this j)art of India, with such silence and wariness, that the royal tent itself was plundered, and the baggage and books carried off — among the latter was a copy of the Hhlory of Timur, illustrated with jjaintings. llumayun, in un- just retaliation for the conduct of these mountaineers, gave up the town to plunder, and then (piitting the peninsula, proceeded to occuiiy the settled part of Guzerat. The hill fort of Champancir, he surprised by a stratagem, having, with 300 chosen men, scaled the walls in the night by means of iron s])ikcs, fixed iu an almost perpendicular rock ; the daring besiegers, including the king, ascending separately during an attack made on one of the gates by the army.f Shortly after this success, and before suf- ficient time could elapse for the consolidation of his new conquests, llumayun was re- called to Agra by intelligence of the pro- ceedings of Sheer Khan, who had made himself master of Beliar, including the strong fortress of Rolitas, J and v.as successfully pro- secuting the invasion of Bengal. The mea- sures of this usurper had been laid with much skill and circumspection, his hope being, by the union of the Afghans, to words, entreating a moment's delay while they brought a present in token of profound respect; but Bahadur desired that the present might be sent after him and persisted in making for the ship's side. The Portuguese Cazi (probably the fiscal) non- interposed and forbade his departure, upon which the Sultan in a paroxysm of indignation drew his scimitar, elovc him in twain, and succeeded in gain- ing his own galley, which was speedily hemmed in by the enemy's fleet. .■\n unequal conflict ensued, and liahadur, perceiving the inevitable result, sprang into the sea, and is generally supposed to have been drowned. The date of this event, a.d. 1o.37, is pre- served in the Persian characters comprised in the sentence, " Feringuian Bahadur Kosh," — Fortuguete butchers of the hero. — (Price, vol iii. p. 751). t After its capture the stronghold was vainlv searched for the treasure it was believed to contain j one officer alone knew the secret, which it was pro- posed to draw from him by torture, but to this llum.ayun refused to consent, and directed that wine and good cheer should be tried instead. The ex- pedient proved successful, and the officer willingly revealed the existence of a large amount of gold and silver at the bottom of the reservoir, which was at once apparent on the water being drawn off. J Rohtas was taken by treachery from a Hindoo rajah. Sheer Khan, having besought an asylum for his family, introduced two armed soldiers in each of the covered litters supposed to contain women, and then easily overcame the unsuspecting garrison. 86 SHEER KHAN AND AFGHANS ATTEMPT TO EXPEL MOGULS. drive the Moguls out of the country, and re-establish a Patau dynasty.* To retard the advance of Humayun he had strongly garrisoned the famous fortress of Chunar, which stands on a rock close to the Ganges, on what may be termed a detached portion of the Vindya mountains. As Humayun marched along the river, and conveyed his guns and stores by its waters, he was com- pelled to commence hostilities with the siege of this fort. By a cruel stratagemf infor- mation was acquired regarding the state of the defences, and attempts were made to mine the accessible portions of the walls on the land side, and by floating batteries to bear upon the face fronting the river. — These failed, but the garrison, after several months' resistance, were starved into surrender, and the light hands of all the gunners, to the number of 300, cut off, without the consent of Humayun, by his chief engineer Rumi Khan, who soon afterwards, through the malice of rival courtiers, perished by poison. At the defile of Sicragali, a detachment of the imperial army, sent to take possession, were attacked and repulsed with con- siderable loss by the son of Sheer Khan, who then rejoined his father in the hills, leaving the pass unobstructed, having fol- lowed out the well-devised policy of im- peding Humayun as far as possible without hazarding any decisive conflict. During the protracted siege of Chunar, Mahmood had been defeated and Gour reduced by Sheer Khan, who having removed the captured trea- sures to the before-mentioned fort of Rohtas, whither he had previously assembled his family, now left Gour undefended. Hu- mayun took possession, but gained little ad- vantage thereby, for the rains had attained their climax, the Delta of the Ganges was one vast sheet of water, and in the country beyond the reach of inundation every brook and channel had become an impassable flood. It was impossible to carry on operations in Bengal, and extremely difficult to commu- nicate witli upper Iiulia. Several months of forced inactivity elapsed, rendered doubly wearisome by the moist and sultry climate. The sickly season that followed the heavy rains thinned the ranks of the soldiers, and depressed their spirits so greatly that when ' According to Ferishla, the proper country of the Affjlians is called lloli, and extends along the Indus ; but, subsequent to the introduction of Islam, having settled at Patna on the Ganges, they gra- dually acquired the appellation of Patans. t Kunii Khan (originally a Turki slave named Soglirauk, but promoted for his ability, and thus the roads became again traversible they began to desert in numbers — Prince Hindal, who had been left in North Behar, setting the example. Meanwhile Sheer Khan issued from his retreat, seized Behar and Benares, recovered Chunar, laid siege to Juanpoor, and pushed his forces up the Ganges as far as Canouj. Humayun once more found his communication with the capital intercepted, and leaving a detachment which he could but ill spare to guard Gour, he reluctantly set out to return to Agra with the remainder of his diminished army, but was intercepted between Patna and Benares by Sheer, who had raised the siege of Juanpoor and ad- vanced by forced marches for this purpose. Instead of at once attacking the troops of his rival while suffering from fatigue, Hu- mayun suffered many valuable hours to elapse, and the next morning found Sheer (who had now assumed the title of Shah or king) so skilfully intrenched that he could neither be passed nor attacked with any prospect of success. Humayun therefore, in turn, fortified his position and began to col- lect boats, with a view of forming a bridge across the Ganges, and then pursuing his way along the opposite bank. Sheer Shah suffered this work to proceed for two months, but when it approached completion, he at- tacked Humayun about day-break in three colums, and completely surprised the camp. Humayitn attempted to rally his troops, but with little effect, and after recei\'ing a wound in the arm was prevailed on by three of his favourite officers to seek safety in flighty and plunge at once into the Ganges. J Here his career had nearly terminated, for before reaching the opposite bank his horse sunk from exhaustion, but the royal rider was saved by the exertions of a poor man opportunely crossing at the time with a leathern bag or water-skin inflated like a bladder. Thus rescued, Humayun, accompanied by a very small i-etinue, fled to Calpce, and thence to Agra, (a.d. 1539.) Almost the whole army had been slain or drowned, and the queen, who having been early surrouiided it had been the object of his last exertion to re- lease, remained in the hands of the enemy, but was treated with great delicacy and con- sideration. By some accounts. Sheer Shah entitled by the Guzerat princes), severely flogged a 7ie(jn> slave, and sent him to play the part of a deserter in the fort. The Afghans received him kindly, and suffered him to examine their works, which having done, he returned to his intriguing master. X The three olKcers returned to the battle and nobly perished in attempting to rescue the queen. WANDERINGS IN THE DESERT OF THE EXILED HUMAYUN. 87 is said to have (gained this important victory by treachery, haviiij^ l)roken au armistice, whicli from his cliaractcr is very probaljje — but hy otliers it is asserted that he never promised to suspend liostilities, but only contrived to dehidc liis adversary into so doing by delusive negotiations and other pretexts, which war is too generally supposed to justify and even necessitate. On reach- ing Agra, Ilumayua found Hindal in open rebellion, and Kaniran preparing to take a similar course, but his sudden arrival forced them to come to terms, and the three brothers, after spending eight or nine months in preparation, assemldcd a fresh army to attack Sheer Shah. Kamran remained to guard Agra while Humayun crossed the Ganges near Canouj by means of a bridge of boats, at the head of 9{),()()0 cavalry, with kettle-drums beating and trumpets sounding. A general action ensued (a.d. 1540), tlie imperial troops were again utterly routed and driven into the Ganges, and Humayun himself escaped with extreme difficulty. After exchanging his wounded liorse for an elephant, he crossed tlie stream, and was drawn up the steep bank by two fugitive soldiers, wlio having reached the shore in safety, twisted their turbans togetlier, and threw the ends to his assistance. After this discomfiture, Humayun, with Hindal and Askeri, took refuge in Laliore, where Kam- ran had previously retreated, but this prince, having made peace with the conqueror by the cession of the Punjaub, retired to C'abool, leaviiig his unfortunate brother to provide as best he could fur his own safety. The succeeding adventures of the royal wanderer would form a fitting pendant to those of the Englisli Stuarts, from the instnnces of un- wavering loyalty, connected with his hair- breadth escapes — while his character as a Mussulman, though far from faultless, will yet well bear comparison with that of the pro- fessedly Christian but licentious Charles, or even of the " bonnie Prince," for whom Scot- tish chivalry and misfortune have combined to win a place in the page of history, which would probably have been very differently filled had the Young Pretender been des- * These names, like almost all Eastern appellaticns, have each a distinct signification. Thus, Humayun, means nics/ncwiis ; Kamran, successful ; Hindal, In- dian, and .\skeri, borti in the camp. t At one time they .ire stated to have travelled twenty-seven liours without finding water, and at the expiration of that time, liaving at length come vpou a well and rivulet, Ifununun alighted, and alter prostrating himself hi gratitude to the Al- tined to become a crowned king instead of dying in exile. After the desertion of Kamran, which was followed by that of Hindal and Askeri, Humayun* sought tooljtaiu the recognition of his authority in Sindc, then ruled by Hussyn,thelicadof thcArghoonfamily — but alter a year and-a-half wasted in alternate negotiations and hostilities, he found his funds exhausted, and the adventurers who had rallied round his standard dispersed, just as Hussy u approached to venture a de- cisive conflict. During the [)revious inter- val, Humayun, then about tliree-aud-thirty years of age, had married a beautiful girl of fourteen, with whom he had become ena- moured at an entertainment prepared for him in the apartments of the mother of I'rinec Hindal. Carrying with him his young bride Hameida, he fled to Ouch, and thence proceeded to ask the protection of Maldeo, rajah of Marwar, but on reaching .loudpoor, after a toilsome journey over the desert, during which he lost many of his followers from thirst and fatigue.-f a uew disapijointment awaited him in the discovery of the unfriendly disposition of the rajah. The royal fugitive, again driven to seek com- parative safety amid the dreary sands, now led liis little band towards Amercot, a fort in the desert, not far from the Indus. In this route they experienced yet greater trials than during the one previously taken. Be- fore quitting the inhabited country, the vil- lagers repelled all approaches to their wells, which were to them precious possessions, and it was not without a conflict and blood- shed that the travellers were enabled to slake their burning thirst. After leaving btdiind the last traces of human culture, their obstacles and difficulties increased ten-fold until, one morning, when faint and weary with a long night march, Humayun, who had remained behind with the females and servants, while the few chiefs marched on at some distance in front, perceived the ap- proach of a considerable body of horse, under the command of the son of Jlaldeo, and pr(-pared to meet a fate similar to that of the Imaum Hussyu and his ill-fated com- mighty, ordered all the water-bags to be filled, and sent back on his own horses for the use of those who had fallen exhausted by the way, adding at the ' same time a melancholy but needful command, for the burial of " all the persons wlio had died from thirst." A very unpleasing anecdote is however re- lated by Jouher, of Humayun's having taken ad- vantage of the thirst of a Mogul merchant who had lent him money, to oblige him to cancel the debt. 88 REIGN OF SHEER SHAH THE AFGHAN— a.d. ]540 to 1544- panions.* The valour of Sheikh Ali Beg, 1 one of Humayun's bravest aud most faith- ful followers, appears to have warded off the imuiediate danger, and soon afterwards the Hiudoo leader, bearing in his hand a white flag, approached the party, and having re- presented that they had ^vilfuUy done wrong in killing kine in a Hindoo country, and likewise in entering his father's territory without leave, supplied them with water for their immediate relief, and then permitted them to proceed without further molestation. Several weary marches, with intense suflfer- iug from thirst, further diminished the small but faithful band, before Humayun with seven mounted hcrsemeu reached Amercot, where the llanaf (Pursaud) welcomed the dethroned monarch with most courteous and generous hospitality. The remainder of the fugitives found refuge within the walls of the fortress on the same daj^, and thankful indeed must Hameida have been to quit her horse, and find at length an interval of rest. Pursaud ofiered to assist Humayun in a fresh endeavour to establish himself in Siiide, placing at his service 2,000 horsemen of his own tribe (Rajpoots), and 5,000 cav- alry belonging to his allies. These auxili- aries, or a portion of them, were gladly accepted, and Humayun, accompanied by the Rana, with about 100 Moguls, whom he had himself succeeded in assembling, roarclied towards Tatta. Hameida remained at Amercot, and on the follov.ing day gave birth to the celebrated Akber (a.d. 15-12). The joyful intelligence was immediately for- warded to Humayun, who unable to practise the munificence customary in the East on these occasions, called for " a china plate," and breaking a pod of musk, distributed it among the chiefs who came to otfer their congratulations, saying — " this is all the present I can afford to make you on the birth of my son, whose fame will I trust be one day expanded all over the world, as the perfume of the musk now fills this apart- ment." Joon or Jiun (a place not marked on the maps, but supposed to have been situated on a branch of the Indus, half-way between Tatta and Amercot, was captured • Til the desprt of Kerbela, A.D. G80, Ilussyn, the son of Ali and J'alima, with seventy-three persons of his family, including his infant child, were cruelly massacred. Several heroic yoiiths, liis sons and ne- phews, perished singly in defending; the venerated person of the Imaum ; who after a protracted defence at length sunk, mutilated of an arm and covered with wounds, of which thirty-six were counted on his dead body, hcfore it was finally crushed by after an action with the officer in charge, and though harassed by the troops of the Arghoons, Humayun's party held their ground, and were strengthened by the neigh- bouring princes until they amounted to about 15,000 horse. Hameida and the in- fant prince (by this time about six weeks old) joined the camp, and all seemed pros- pering, when Rana Pursaud received an afi'ront from a jMogul, and was so dissatis- fied by Humayun's conduct in the matter, that he indignantly quitted Joon, with all his followers and friends. Humayun, thus rendered too weak to contest with Hussyu Arghoon, proceeded to Candahar, but was compelled by his turbulent brothers to escape to Seestan witli Hameida, and thence to seek refuge in Persia, the infant Akber falling into the hands of his uncle Mirza Askeri, who showed more kindness on the occasion than might have been expected. Afijhan tribe of Soor. — Sheer Shahf as- sumed, as has been shov/n, the title of king in 15-10, and took possession of all Humayun's territories. After commencing the famous fort of Rohtas on the Hydaspes, on which he expended an enormous sum of money, and named after that in Behar, he returned to Agra, and there found employment in sub- duing the revolt of his own governor of Bengal. He conquered Malwa in the course of the year 1543, and soon afterwards re- duced the fort of Raiseen, held by a Hindoo chief. The garrison surrendered on terms, but after they had left the fort, the capitula- tion was declared void on some quibbling legal pretext, and the Hindoos were attacked and cut to pieces after a brave resistance. Barbarous as the Mohammedans too often showed themselves in India, yet treachery such as this can hardly be paralleled, save in the career of Timur. In 1 5 14, Sheer marched into Marwar, which was desperately defended by rajah Maldeo, who, though able to collect only 50,000 men wherewith to oppose his adversary's powerful army, estimated at 80,000, aud probably well-provided with artillery, appears to have at first succeeded in overawing the invader, aided by the na- tural obstacles offered by the steriUty of his twenty horsemen, and then left to be devoured by wild beasts. Tlie unfortunate females were thrown across "lie backs of camels and afterwards stripped and jiublicly exposed — all these atrocities being com- mitted by Mohammedans. (I'ricc, vol. i. p. -IIO.) + The patronymic of the princes of Mewar. I His name was changed from Pureed, to Sheer Khan, or Lion-knlijlit, from his slaying a wild beast while hunting with the king of JBerar. SHEER SHAH KILLED, a.d. 1545— SELIM SHAH, a.d. 1553. 89 territory and the want of water in many parts oi' it. At length Sheer Shah, always a cmiuiuf; schemer, contrived to sow divi- sion in the liostiie camp by tlie common expedient of letters written on piir])()se to be intercepted. The rajah's suspicions were raised against some of liis chiefs, and he commenced a retreat. One of the suspected leaders, indignant at the imputation, deter- mined, in the true Rajpoot spirit, to give incontestable proof of its injustice, and (piit- ting the army at the head of his own tribe fell with sucli impct\iousity on the enemy, that Sheer Shah with difficulty and severe loss succeeded iu repelling the assailants. He was, however, eventually victor here, as also at Chittore; hut at Calinjer, to which he laid siege, a striking retribution awaited him. The rajah, warned by the breach of faith committed at Raisccn, refused to enter into any terms with his perfidious foe, and Sheer, while superintending the batteries, was so scorched by the explosion of a maga- zine struck by the rebound of a shell, that he expired in a few hours, but continued to direct the operations of the siege during his mortal agonies, his last words being an ex- clamation of pleasure at learning that the place was taken. This ambitious, cruel, and vindictive man, nevertheless evinced considerable ability in civil government, and, happily for the sub- jects of his usurped authority, seems to have recognised the promotion of their wel- fare as liis best means of security. He caused a high road to be constructed, ex- tending from Bengal to the western Kohtas, near the Indus, a distance of about 3,000 miles, with caravanserais at every stage, all furnished with provisions for the poor, and attendance of proper easts for Hindoos as well as Alussulmans. An Imaum (priest) and jMuezzin (crier to call to prayers) were placed at the numerous mosques erected on the route ; wells were dug at distances of a mile and-a-half, and the whole way planted with fruit-trees for refreshment and shade. Sheer Shah wasburied in a stately mausoleum still standing at Sahseram, placed in the centre of an artificial piece of water, a mile in eircumfereucc, which is faced by walls of cut stone, with flights of steps descending to the water. Previous to his death, his eldest son had been the recognised heir to the throne, hut being a prince of feeble charac- ter was supplanted by his brother, who reigned for nine years, under the title of Sclim Shah. On his decease, a.d. 1553, his son, a boy of twelve years old, was mur- dered by his uncle, who seized the throne > under the name of Mohammed Adili,* but was prevented from using the powers of a ruler by natural incapacity, increased by habits of the most odious debauchery. His extravagance speedily emptied the royal cof- fers, upon which he resumed the governments and jiighiresf of the nobles and bestowed them on the lowest of his creatures. The liroud Afghans, stung even more by the in- sulting bearing of their unworthy ruler than by the injuries they suffered at his hand, fled in numbers, and raised the standard of revolt at Chunar. LMeanwhile, the person of the king was protected and his authority upheld by the exertions of Hemu, his chief minis- ter, a Hindoo of mean appearance and low origin, who had formerly belonged to the very lowest class of small shopkeepers, as a retailer of salt, but who had been gradually raised to power by the late king, and now displayed a degree of zeal and ability, which would have honoured a better cause. From some weakness or physical defect Hemu was unable to sit on horseback, but he directed all military operations, and fought with unfailing intrepidity from his litter mounted on an elephant. Not the least extraordinary part of his history is the manner in which he succeeded in recon- ciling such of the haughty Afghans and un- ruly Moguls as still remained with Adili, to his authority ; this he appears to have done chiefly by the munificence with which he distributed whatever treasure or revenue came into his hands — for his objects and motives, though scarcely indicated in the contemptuous and calumnious mention made of "this swarthy upstart" by Mussulman historians, unquestionably soared far above the mere accumulation of wealth. Delhi and Agra were seized on by Ibrahim Soor, a member of the reigning family, who at- tempted to assume the supreme authority under the name of Ibrahim III., but was opposed by Hemu, and also by Seeander Soor, another relative of Adili's, who caused himself to be proclaimed king in the Pun- jaub. Ibrahim was defeated first by Seean- der and then by Hemu. The adventurous minister next marched towards Bengal, to • This wretch, known before his usurpation as Moobariz Khan, is alleged to have dragged the prince from his mother's ai'ms, that mother being his own sister and tried friend. {Fcrislita, vol. ii. p. 142.) t The revenues of certain lands granted by the king, sometimes in perpetuity but generally revo- cable at pleasure, and on military tenure. 90 HUMAYUN AND SHAH TAHMASP, KING OF PERSIA— a.d. 1545. oppose the goveruoi", Mohammed Soor, vrho had assumed the rank of an iadependeiit ruler. Hemu was asfaiu victorious, this new adversary being defeated and slain ; but struggles in other quarters still continued, and a more formidable foe than any yet dealt with, arose in the person of the de- throned Humayun, who had gradually re- established himself in the Punjaub, where Secander, who had occupied Agra and Delhi on the defeat of Ibrahim, now marched for his expulsion. Before narrating the success of Humayun and Akber, and the fate of Ibrahim and of Hemu and Adili, it is neces- sary to revert to previous events and sketch the chain of circumstances which ended in the restoration of the exiled monarch. House of Tinner restored. — Humayun en- tered Persia in much uncertainty regarding the reception he should receive from Shah Tahmasp, the son and successor of Shah Ismael, the first of the Safl'avi or Sophi kings. Though both were zealous Moham- medans, they belonged to distinct sects, characterised by a degree of mutual ani- mosity, for which the difference of opinion existing between them on doctrinal points far less than those which divide the churches of England and Rome, is quite insufficient to account. — (.See note to p. 6.2). Shah Tahmasp was a strenuous advocate of the Sheiah doctrine, which had been widely disseminated through Persia by the instru- mentality of his ancestors, dervises much famed for sanctity, while Humayun was a Sonnite, and this was doubtless one cause of the want of cordiality which marked the private intercourse of the two monarchs, whose connexion was really, on both sides, an interested one. At first Humayun seems to have been inclined to put in practice his cherished desire of ceasing, at least for a time, the weary struggle for power, in which he had been so long engaged, and proceeding on a pilgrimage to Mecca, but his faithful j followers urgently dissuaded him from this project, pleading the disastrous results it would have on the fortunes of Akber. The reception met with in Persia successfully seconded their arguments — the governors of each province received him with regal hon- ours, the people came out to bid him wel- come, and palaces were prepared for his " The cap which Humayun so reluctantly assumod was that called 'J'nji llyilcr, in honour of Hydcr, tlie father of Shah Ismael, by whom it was first adopted. It consisted of a tiara of crinison silk, richly or- namented with gold and jewels, of a high conical accommodation at Cazvin and elsewhere. But the splendour with which the Persian despot thought proper to gild the fallen majesty of his unfortunate compeer, was un- accompanied by a single ray of true sym- pathy ; for many months Humayun was not suffered to appear before the Shah, and his brave-hearted envoy, Beliram Beg, was harshly treated for refusing to wear the peculiar-shaped cap,* from which the Per- sians have acquired the title of Kuzilbash [Red-heads), in allusion to its colour, and which was expressly designed for a sectarian symbol. Behram urged that he was the servant of another prince, and not at liberty to act without orders. He persisted in de- clining to assume this badge, unawed by the displeasure of Tahmasp, who strove to intimidate the refractory ambassador, by the summary execution of some prisoners brought before him for the purpose. This incident was a sufficiently significant prelude to the long-delayed interview, during which Tahmasp afleeted to receive Humayun as his equal, but in reality took ungenerous advantage of his defenceless position, by compelling him, by means of threats affect- ing life itself, to assume the obnoxious cap. Nor even after this concession could Tahmasp resist taunting his guest with having, during his prosperity, when prac- tising the favourite Arabian form of divina- tion by arrows, to discover the destiny of reigning princes, placed the name of the king of Persia in a rank inferior to his own. Humayun frankly acknowledged that he had done so, and gently urged in justifica- tion his hereditary rank as Padshahf or Emperor of India, whereupon Tahmasp broke out into violent and unjust invective against the arrogance which had rendered him a fugitive, and thrown his female rela- tives and infant heir into the hands of his enemies. Notwithstanding the humiliations suffered in private from what he justly termed "the meanness of this Persian monarch," Hu- mayun continued to r(;ceive every outward mark of unbounded munificence in the fes- tivals prepared in his honour, especially the military diversion of great circular hunts, so famous in the annals of Tinmr. All the expenses thus incurred are however said to shu])e and divided into twelve segments, in honour of the twelve Imaunis, from whom tlie reigning family claimed descent. t This title was exclusively assumed by the dy- nasty of the Great Mogul. IIUMAYUN CONQUERS CABOOL AND CANDAHAR. 91 have been ropriid two-fold by tbc j^ift of ,i few ricli goms. which the cxiU'd iiion;irch liad brought with him from Uindoostaii. One of these was a diamond, which the jewnllcrs of Tahmasp declared to be above all price, it was perhaps that obtained at Agra, and there estimated in a somewhat indefinite manner as cqnal in value " to the purchase of a day's subsistence for one-half the in- habitants of the terrestrial globe." Behram Beg, the bearer of tliis costly offering, was dignified by the title of Khan, and another oHiccr with that of Sultan, but it was not ■without far heavier sacrifices that the as- sistance, from the first promised to their sovereign, was at length aflbrdcd. He was compelled to sign a paper, the contents of wbich, though not precisely stated, involved a pledge, in the event of success in regaining the sceptre of Baber, to cede to Persia the province or kingdom of Candahar, and like- wise to introduce among the Mussulmans of India the profession of the Sheiahs in oppo- sition to that of the Sonnites. Orders were then given for the assemblage of 14,000 horse in Scestan, under the command of Murad Mirza, the son of Tahmasp, and after some more bickering the monarchs parted, and ITumayun proceeded again to try his fortune in war, liis private forces amounting only to about 700 men. At this period (1545) Sheer Shah was still alive, Kamran swayed Cabool, and his younger brothers, after the settlement of their private quar- rels, received appointments under him ; Hindal being governor of Ghu/.nee, and Askeri of Candahar, which latter place was attacked by llumayuu and captured after a siege of five months. Askeri was taken and kept in close captivity for the next three years. The fort and treasures were made over to the Persians, on which the greater part of them returned home, leaving a gar- rison under ^lurad ]\Iirza. According to Abul Fazil^' the conduct of the Persians to the inhabitants was so cruelly oppressive as to justify Humayun, on the sudden death of Mm-ad, in treacherously seizing the fortress ; his troops obtaining entrance thereto on the * Abul Fazil, the famous minister of Akber, re- corded the leading events of the reigns of this Boveieign and his fatliev in an heroic poem com- prising 110,000 couplets, from which Ferishta has borrowed largely. AUhoufjh a man of extraordinary ability, he was, unfortunately for the students of his- tory, an accomplished courtier and professed rheto- rician, delighting in the cumbrous and inflated style still in vogue in India. His account of important events is therefore often unsatislaclory, and, unless plausible pretext of placing Askeri in charge of the Persian governor. Some of the gar- rison ofiercd resistance on discovering what was really intended, but their opposition was soon silenced in death, and the re- mainder were suffered to return to Persia. From Candahar, Humayun marched to Cabnol, of which he took jjossession without a struggle, for Kamran, finding himself de- serted by Hindal and many other chiefs who had gone over to the now successful brother, had sought refuge in Sinde. With Cabool, Humayun recovered Akber, then between two and three years of age, but both the city and the young prince were subsequently re-captured by Kamran, who long held his groimd against all attempts for his expulsion. Prisoners taken during this siege were slain in cold blood by the assailants, and treated with yet greater bar- barity by Kamran, who threatened, if the firing were not discontinued, to expose Akber on the walls. Eventually, being un- able to continue the contest, he escaped by night, and by the aid of the Uzbeks again made head against his brother for about eighteen months, but was, at the expira- tion of that time, compelled to surrender. Humayun behaved on this occasion very nobly, treated Kamran with great kindness, released Askeri, and, accompanied by Hindal, sat down with them at a feast. The four brothers having eaten saltf together, seemed for the time entirely reconciled, but during Humayun's subsequent absence in Trans- oxiana, the conquest of which he had resolved on attempting, Kamran once more rebelled, and after many vicissitudes, (during which Cabool and the young prince were again lost and won, and Hindal fell in the cause of Humayun,) was finally betrayed by the sultan of the Gukkurs, with whom he had taken refuge, into the hands of his much- injured brother. Some chiefs, whose wives and children had beeti savagely disgraced and mtu'dcrcd by order of Kamran during the siege of Cabool in 1 547, now loudly urged that his life should pay the forfeit of his crimes. This Humayun steadfastly refused, carefully weighed, misleading ; but, notwithstanding their defect*, his works (the Aider Kumoh and Ayecn Akhcry) afford information not to be ob- tained elsewhere. t In the east it is regarded as peculiarly infa- moiis for either the giver or receiver of the lowest description of hospitality, to practice hostility against one another. Thus, salt, which forms an ingredient of the most sumptuous or humble meal has become a type and pledge of good faith. 93 CHARACTER ATs^D DEATH OF HUMAYUN— a.d. 1555. but consented to allow him to be blinded, the barbarous method commonly resorted to in the East, to crush ambitious pretenders to that uneasy seat — the throne of a despot. The cruel operation was usually performed by means of a searing instrument, called a fire-pencil, held against the visual nerve until it was annihilated, or by means of an- timony ; but in this case, perhaps from the fact of several state prisoners condemned in late reigns to a similar fate having escaped its completion — a lancet ■vyas em- ployed, and after many wounds had been inflicted, without drawing a groan, lemon- juice and salt were at last squeezed into the sightless orbs of the wretched sufferer, who then exclaimed in uncontrollable agony — " O Lord my God ! whatever sins I have com- mitted have been amply punished in this world, have compassion on me in the next." Humayun shortly afterwards went to visit his unhappy brother, and wept long and bitterly while Kamran confessed the justice of his punishment, and asked leave to per- form a pilgrimage to Mecca. This he was suffered to do, and died in that place in 1557. Askeri, who had likewise returned to the course of rebellion after having repeat- edly abjured it, had been previously cap- tured, but was only punished by imprison- ment, from which he also was released, for the purpose of proceeding to Mecca, and died on his way thither. Thus delivered from the difficulties in which the turbulence and disunion of his brothers had involved him during so long a period, Humayun began to take advantage of the unsettled state in which the death of Selim Shah and the misgovernment of his successor had involved the territories conquered by Baber, which had gradually, as has been shown, been parted by various usurpations into five distinct states, whose rulers were at variance with one another. In January, 1555, he started from Cabool with 15,000 horse, obtained possession of Lahore, and sub- sequently engaged Secander, who being defeated fled to the mountains near the Himalaya, leaving Humayun to occupy Delhi and Agra. The portion of his original dominions thus at length regained, after sixteen years of strife and banishment, had been enjoyed by Humayun less than six months, when an accident occurred which produced fatal results. The monarch had ascended the terrace at the top of his library to enjoy the cool evening air, and give orders respecting the attendance of astronomers to note the rising of Venus, which was to be the signal for the announcement of a general promotion among the nobility and officers. While preparing to descend the steep and highly-polished stairs, protected only by an ornamental parapet a foot high, a muezzin or crier announced the hour of prayer from the minarets of the adjoining mosque, where the people being assembled had just offered the monarch the usual kornesh or saluta- tion. Humayun, intending to repeat the customary formula, attempted to seat him- self on the spot, but his foot becom.ing en- tangled in the folds of his robe, he fell head- long down the steps, receiving a contusion on the right temple, of which he died, aged somewhat less than forty-nine years. Historians agree in according him high rank as a benevolent, forgiving, and munifi- cent prince, intrepid in the hour of danger, patient in adversity, moderate in prosper- ity, and skilled in literature, mathematics, geography, astronomy, and the mechanical sciences. These varied gifts, united to a naturally easy temper, pleasing person, and courteous demeanour, rendered his society so delightful that Baber used often to de- clare Humayun to be without an equal as a companion. Procrastination and indecision were his characteristic failings ; these may be easily traced to the frequent and intoxicat- ing use of opium, a vice whose degrading influences were heightened by the peculiar defects of his religious creed. Perhaps no single character, when carefully weighed would afford an inquirer into the effects of Mohammedanism on individuals more strik- ing evidence than that of Humayun. His conduct repeatedly affords evidence of the want of a steady principle of action, direct- ing even the passing thoughts of the mind, and marking with a broad line the differ- ence between right and M'rong. Notwith- standing the false notions of expediency which led him to commit, or at least sanc- tion, crimes from which a naturally gentle and easy disjjosition must have revolted, col. Dow has said that " had he been a worse man he would have been a greater monarch." The remark sounds strangely, but it is to be hoped that young students of history will not forget that all Christendom concurs in invoking the same just, mer- ciful and omnipotent Ruler to give wisdom to senators and prosperity to nations — there- fore any description of greatness, inconsis- tent with the goodness inculcated in the Gospel, ought simply to excite abhorrence BAHMANI KINGDOM OF THE DECCAN— FOUNDED a.d. 1347. 98 and reprobation. Most assuredly the man wlio, in !ui uiiiij^litcous cause, has made mo- thers cliihiless, and vidowed hajipy wives, dc- sohited eultivatcd lands and spread famine and pcstilcnee in his train, has attained in the sight of his Creator a prc-cinincncc in crime little in accordance with the idea conmionly attached to the word greatness. Some ray of light, breaking through the dense clouds in which the teaching of tlie False Projjhct had involved the purposes and residts of war, beamed on the mind of Ilumayun, when not many days before his death he prayed, "Lord, ennoble me with the knowledge of thy truth;" and described himself as " sorely aillicted by the perplexities of a troubled mind." The faith of Islam and its innumeral)le obser- vances had thus utterly failed to enlighten or sustain even a follower, so diligent in their observance, that a sentiment of deep reverence had all his life long preserved him from so much as uttering the name of his Creator with unwashcn hands.* A new epoch is formed by the reign of Akber, since by liim India was consolidated into one formidable empire, by the absorp- tion of the various small kingdoms which had sprung up during the reign of Moham- med Toghlak, as also by the annexation of numerous Hindoo principalities, which Ak- ber obtained far less by force than by the favours and distinctions which he invariably bestowed on the native rulers so soon as they consented to recognize his supremacy, without regard to their religious opinions. Before proceeding further, the origin and condition of these states must be shown, as the reader may probably need this know- ledge for subsequent reference. The Bahmani kingdom of the Deccan was founded by an Afghan, born in the lowest condition at Delhi, and servant to a Brah- min astrologer, named Gungoo, much fa- voured by IMohammed Toghlak. In con- sideration of his good conduct, Gungoo gave Hussun a pair of oxen, and permitted him to till a piece of land for his own sustenance. Wliile ploughing, Hussun discovered a cop- per casket filled with ancient gold coins, which he carried to his master, who, in re- turn, used his utmost influence at court, and * Price, from Ahul Fazil, vol. iii., p. 944. t The Khoihah is the public prayer for the reign- ing king; Sicca the royal right of stamping coin. X By the Caniatic is here meant the country where the Canarese language prevails, south of a line drawn between Colapoor and Beder. It must be remem- bered that this tx-act continued, up to the lime of o succeeded in rewarding the lioneslyof Hus- sun by ol)taining for him an a|)pointment and jaghire in tlic Deccan, umkr the gov- ernor of Doulataljad. Some time after- wards, the ollicers of the Deccan, by refusing to surrender some fugitive chiefs from Guzcrat, incurred the displeasure of Mo- hammed Toghlak, and fearing to fall into the hands of this cruel des[)ot, broke into opeii rcljcllion. On the cstidjlishmcnt of their independence Ilussim was chosen as king, A.D. 1.'317, and the capital fixed at Cul- barga, whence it was subsequently removed to Beder or Bidr. Hussun, on assuming the regal honours of the mosque and mint,t took the name of Ala-oo-dcen, adding thereto Gungoo Bahmani (Brahmin), in honour of his early benefactor, whom he sent for and made treasurer ; and the suc- ceeding princes of the Deccan followed this example by generally committing to Brah- mins the charge of the revenues. Notwith- standing the close connection between the first Bahmani king and his Hindoo patron, his son and successor, Mohammed I., proved a sanguinary foe to that people. " It is computed," says Fcrishta, "that in his reigu [of seventeen years] nearly 500,000 unbelievers fell by the swords of Islam, by which the population of the Carnatic was so reduced that it did not recover for several ages. "J This destruction was accomplished by indiscriminate slaughter, without regard to sex or age, a proceeding at length stopped by the remonstrances of the Hindoo ambas- sadors, who urged that since the princes of the Deccan and of the Carnatic might long remain neighbours, it was advisable that a treaty shoidd be made, binding both parties to refrain from taking the life of the help- less and unarmed. From this time, it is asserted, that the conquered were no longer slain in cold blood during the hostilities carried on by the Bahmauis against the neighbouring states, and especially the new monarchy of Beejanuggur, throughout the whole period of their existence, excepting the reign of jMahmood Shah I., who, for nearly twenty years (a.d. 1378 to 1397), by rectitude and discretion, preserved his subjects alike from foreign and domestic strife. § Although in these conflicts many thousand Moham- the Mohammedan writer to be devastated by almost incessant wars. § The proceedings of Mahmood Shah I. occupy but a few pages in Ferishta's history, far less than are often given to the details of a single campaign, but quite enough is said to make the reader solicitous to learn more respecting this tiuly great and gifted mo- 94 MAHMOOD SHAH I. AND HAFIZ, THE POET OF SHIRAZ. medans, in the fantastic and fanatical lan- guage of their historians, " tasted the sher- bet of martyrdom,'^ they were on the whole gainers. In 1421, Ahmed Shall took per- manent possession of Warangol, and com- pelled the rajah of Teliugana to relinquish liis ancient capital. In 1471, Mohammed II. concluded a struggle of more than forty years' duration, in which much life and trea- sure had been wasted, by the partial con- quest of the Concan,* and in 1477 completed the subjugation of Rajahmundry and Masu- lipatara. Notwithstanding these successes, Mohammed was rendered infamous, even in the eyes of his fellovr-believers, by the slaughter of some Brahmins whom he found officiating in an idolatrous temple at Condapilli, and to this ungrateful outrage on the Order, by whom his ancestor had been first brought to notice, was popularly attributed the downfall of the Bahmaui dynasty. Soon after this, the king, while flushed with wine, was induced, by a forged letter, to sanction the immediate execution of his faithful minister, Mahmood Gawan, then in the seventy-eighth year of his age. narch. AVe are told that he was " naturally of a disposition wise, merciful, and just, and his judg- ment in all affairs of state was usually correct." • • * " During his reign no disturbances occurred in the kingdom, nor did any relaxation take place in the energy of the government." The praise is coldly given, but in the present day the character of a ruler in whom firmness and mildness were so ad- mirably balanced will be regarded in a very different light to that in v.'hich it was likely to be viewed by a Mohammedan,who regarded the title of Ghiizi (the holy warrior), bestowed _on the blood-thirsty Mo- hammed, as the most desirable of distinctions. In- deed the virtues of Mahmood Shah I. savouied little of the morality of the Koran. He had but one wife, wore plain white robes, and was equally simple and unpi-etending in all his habits. As a youth he is said to have delighted in gaudy attire, but on acceding to the throne he declared that he looked upon kings as only trustees of the state, and thenceforth ob- served in his personal expenses remarkable modera- tion. A famine occurring during his reign, he employed 10,000 bullocks, at his private expense, in going to and from Malwa and Guzerat for grain, which was distributed to the people at a cheap rate. He established orphan schools at the cities of Cul- barga, Bcder, Cand'har, Elikpoor, Uoulalabad, and in several other great towns, with ample foundations for their support, apportioned stijjends to the ex- pounders of the Scrijjlures, and gave monthly charity to the blind throughout his dominions. The fame of liis learning and munificence is said to have reached the ears of Hafiz, the poet of Shiraz, who resolved to visit the IX'ccan. An assurance of an honourable reception was sent by the king, accompanied by a present, which, according to Ferishta, the poet dis- tributed among his relations and creditors, and then J)ut himself on board one of tlie royal vessels whicli ind arrived at Ormus. but the anchor was scarcely By so doing, he sealed the fate of his house, whose power was speedily absorbed in the whirlpool of strife raised by the two factions into which the troops had become divided. The first consisted of Mogul converts, to whom were gradually added Persians and Turks, Georgians, Circassians, Calmucks, and other Tartars, who were for the most part of the Sheiah sect ; the second, or native troops, called Deccanies, were Sonnites, and were always joined by the Abyssinian mer- cenaries, who came in numbers by the sea- ports on the western coast. f The late minister was a Sonnite, and although just aitd kind to both sects, this circumstance afforded a pretext to Nizam- ul-Moolk Behri, the son of a converted Hindoo, and the leader of the opposite party, for gratifying his ambition. Having succeeded in procuring the death of Gawan, he obtained also his much-coveted office, through the fears of the king, who, on learn- ing the base plot by which he had been de- ceived, openly bewailed his rash credulity, but made no attempt to bring the con- spirators to justice. A low fever, brought weighed before a heavy gale arose, and the ship was compelled to return to port. Hafiz had suffered so much during the storm that he insisted on being put ashore, sending to Mahmood Shah a copy of verses, in which he trankly confessed the reason of his change of mind — " The glare of gems confused my sight, The ocean's roar I ne'er had heard." Unhappily, the line of.Bahmani presents an instance of a monarch exactly opposite to ^lahmood Shah I. Humayun the Cruel was one of those monsters, who seem possessed by a demoniac desire to cause and witness suffering. His own brother he ordered to be devoured by a tiger, before his eyes; and the tor- tures inflicted by his command, and in his presence, were often too shocking to be narrated. On one occasion, after an unsuccessful rebellion, 7,000 per- sons, including unoffending females and servants, ; perished by such agonizing deaths as hewing to pieces with hatchets, and fiaying in cauldrons of scalding oil or boiling water. After reigning three years this tyrant, during a fit of intoxication, was assassinated by his own servants. — Briggs' Ferishia. * The sufferings of the Moslems in the Concan are very graphically told by Ferishta, who describes their " wandering tln-ough gloomy defiles, where the very grass was tough and sharp as the I'angs of ser- pents, and the air fetid as the breath of dragons. Beath dwelt in the waters, poison impregnated the breeze." On one occasion, having halted at night, in a spot so rugged as to prevent two tents being pitched side by side, no less than 7,000 of the invaders were surprised and put to death by the Hindoos, the fierce gust* of wind rushing through the trees, preventing the cries of the first sufferers being heard by their companions. — Briggs' Fcriahta, vol. ii., p. 430. t The influx of Arabians a])pears to have been very small, but it is difficult to conjecture the reason. EXTINCTION OP BAHMANI KINGS OF THE DECCAN— a.d. 1549, 95 on by griof and romorso, was aggravated by intoxication, and ho expired in strong con- vulsions, crying out tliat (iawan was tearing liim to pieces. Tlic date of bis deatli, A.D. 1482, is recorded in tlie Persian cbarac- ters (applied niiraerically) whieli express "the ruiu of the Deecan." Mahniood Sliah II. next ascended the tlironc. IJoing Init twelve years old and of limited al)ility, he naturally became a mere pujjpet in the hands of the grasping uobles, who, though for a time disposed to co-operate for their own advan- tage, soon broke out into new hostilities. Behri, for some years, maintained his as- cendancy over the young king, and Ynsuf Adil Shah, the leader of the foreign party, ■withdrew to his government of Beejapoor, wliicli be formed into an independent state. Behri, when old and defenceless, was strangled at the instigation of the king, who then gave himself up to every species of excess, leaving tlie public afl'airs in the bauds of the leaders of the foreign party. The Deccanies and Abyssinians conspired for bis destruction, and having surprised the palace during one of the ordinary scenes of midnight revelry, would have succeeded in their object, but for the loyalty of some balf-dozea of liis body-guard, who, though unarmed, threw themselves between him and the assassins, and by the sacrifice of their own lives, enabled the king to escape to the terrace of the royal tower, where he was joined by the foreign troops. Mabmood, mounting bis throne at sunrise on the fol- lowing day, gave orders that the bouses of the Deccanies should be broken open, the inhabitants slain without distinction, and their property seized by the triumphant Moguls,* who gladly gave vent to the savage fury which they had nursed for years ; and all the horrors of a successful siege, height- ened by the envenomed bitterness of intes- tine broils, raged for three days through the stately city of Bcder. Strife and cruelty naturally brought licentiousness and dis- order in their train. " The people, follow- ing the example of their prince, attended to nothing but dissipation : reverend sages pawned their very garments at the wine- cellars, and holy teachers, quitting their colleges, retired to taverns and presided over the wine-flask. "t The governors of frostier provinces took advantage of this * This term must be here uiulcrstood in the loose sense in wliicli it was tlicn used, as synonymous with the wliole foreign or Slieiah party. t Briggs' Ferishta, vol. ii., p. 535. state of affairs, each one to claim as bis own the tcri'itories entrusted to iii:i cliarge. Ahmodnuggur, (ir)lfonda and Berar became distinct principabtics, mitil at length there remained to the nominal lung of the Decean no more than the province of Telingaiia and the districts adjacent to Beder. Even there he had no real sway, being wholly in the 1 lands of Kasim Barecd, wlio had assumed tlic reins of government after the failure of the Dcccani ])lot, and in revenge for Malimood's attempts to get rid of him, as he had previously done of Behri, by the hand of an assassin, ruled bim so tyranically, as to forbid him " even to satisfy bis thirst, without jiermission." On the death of Kasim, his son. Ameer Bareed,succecded bim in the oilice of Vakeel, J and after regaining the person of the king, who liad in vain endeavoured to assert his rights, confined him closely, until bis death, in 1518, terminated a nominal reign of tbii-ty-seven years. The two years' equally nominal sway of Ahmed, the son and successor of Mahmood, being ended by his decease. Ameer Barecd raised to the throne a prince entitled Ala-oo- dccn II., who, rejecting all allurements to the excesses by which the energies of his predecessors bad been destroyed, attempted to out-mana2uvre the wary minister, but having failed in an attempt to seize his per- son, was himself made prisoner and put to death. His successor, also a sou of Mab- mood Shah II., met with a similar fate ; for Ameer Bareed having conceived a passion for his wife, caused bim to be poisoned, married the queen, and bestowed the empty title of Shah on another Balimani prince, who, having subsequently incurred his dis- pleasure, by making a private and unsueees- ful appeal to Baber, the new emperor of India, then fully engaged in hostilities with the kings of Malwa and Guzerat, was so harshly treated, that, escaping from his palace-prison, he took refuge at Abmed- nuggur, and there resided till his death. Thus ended the Habmani line. Bareed Shah ascended the throne of Beder, and founded a dynasty, which reigned over the fifth of the kingdoms (Beejapoor, Ahmed- nuggur, Golconda, and Berar), formed from that called the Decean, but not with geo- graphical accuracy, since Hindoo states, in- dependent and even antagonistic, existed ia i ThcVakoil or llcpresentative was then the first person in the kingdom, liis business being to issue aU orders from the royai closet to the vizier and other executive officers. — (Dovi's Hindoostan, Yol. i.p. 202.) 96 ADIL SHAPI DYNASTY AT BEEJAPOOR— a.d. 1489. various parts of the territory commonly compreliended in that term. During the above period* of two centuries, relations of a domestic character had gradually arisen be- tween the Moslems and Hindoos. Feroze Shahj who began to reign in 1397, made it an article of a peace with the rajah of Leejanuggur, that he should give him his daughter in marriage. This stipulation perhaps contributed to the blending of the two people, though it originated in the ungoverned passions of a king, who re- ceived into his harem 300 females in one day, being convinced, by the reasoning of the Sheiahs, that this proceeding was in perfect accordance with the spirit of the Koran, against whose doctrines his sole offences are said to have been an addiction to wine and music. These foibles would weigh lightly enough in the judgment of a Mussulman against a king who earned the coveted name of Ghazi, by the unbounded zeal for Islam evinced during " four and twenty glorious campaigns, by the success of which he greatly enlarged his dominions." In reality, the religious feelings of both Moslems and Hindoos had deteriorated, and the conscientious scruples of the former people became frequently little better than a superstitious regard to certain forms. Thus the very men, who, for the sake of gain, entered the service of the rajah of Beejanuggui', to fight against their fellow- believers, cavilled at the idea of making the obeisance required as a pledge of fealty to an idolater, but gladly availed themselves of the miserable pretext of liaviug a Koran placed before the throne aud bending there- to, it being understood that the rajah would appropriate the homage as offered to his per- son, and in return, assign lands for the sup- port of his new auxiliaries, and build a mos- que at his capital for their encouragement. The early Bahmani kings lived in great pomp. Mohammed Shah I. had 3,000 elephants, a favourite evidence of regal splendour. t He obtained from the rajah of Telingana a throne six cubits long by two broad, of ebony, covered with plates of pure gold and inlaid with gems, to which ad- ditions were made in successive reigns, until the whole attained the value of a erore of * Fcrishta makes some remarkable statements re- spectiii},' the use of artillery in the Deceiiii. For in- stance, he assorts, that in 13'JS, (22 years after tluir alleged employment by ICdward III. at Cvc^sy) ;iOO f;un carrin'jcs were among the spoil captured from the Jtajah of IJeejanuggur; and the Moslems, by the aid of Turks and Kuropeans, are said to have used artil- hoons (£4,000,000 sterling), when it was broken up by Mahmood Shah II., who took it to pieces to make vases and goblets. Some terrible famines are recorded at inter- vals, occasioned, according to Ferishta, by the absence of the periodical rains, but more likely I}y the slaughter aud oppressive exactions of the Mohammedans. During one of these visitations, about a.d. 1474, no grain was sown in Telingana, Maharashtra, and throughout the Bahmani dominions for two years, and on the third, scarcely any farmers remained to cultivate the land, having for the most part perished or emi- grated to Malwa and Guzerat. Adil Shah dynasty at Beejapoor. — The first king of this line, Yusuf Adil Shah, reigned from A.D. 1489 to 1510. A romantic story is related of his royal descent. He is said to have been a son of the Ottoman emperor Amurath, at whose death he escaped destruc- tion by the contrivance of his mother, wlio had him conveyed to Persia, from whence, at the age of sixteen, he was compelled to fly, by the suspicions entertained regarding his birth, was captured, and sold at the Bahmani court as a Georgian slave. He rose, according to the course of Mameluk adventurers, until he became the governor of Beejapoor, and then, by one of the acts of flagrant disloyalty so common at the period, took the first opportunity of declaring him- self an irresponsible prince. From that time he was occupied in hostilities with Kasim Bareed of Beder, and other neighbouring chiefs, who were also endeavouring to form independent principalities; but his most formidable foe was the Hindoo rajah of Bee- januggur. With the new rulers of Ahmed- uuggur and Berar, Yusuf entered into a sort of partition treaty, by which he recog- nised them in their unlawful seizures, and they him in the possession of the country bouiuled by the Bccuia and Kishna rivers on the cast, the Tumbuddra river on the south, the sea from near Goa to near Bora- bay on the west, aiul perhaps the Nccra river on the north. Ibrahim Adil Siiah, the fourth king, a.d. 1535, formed an alliance with Bhoj Tirmul, (who had obtained the throne of Beejanuggur by the nuirdcr of its young occupant, his lery for the first time in the following campaign. There can be little doubt that guns were common in India before the arrival of the I'ortuguese in Hi)8. t The king in return signed a treaty pledging his successors to forbear further encroachment on the territory of the Telingana rajahs, which, as might bo expected, did not prevent its entire seizure. EXTINCTION OF HINDOO MONARCHY OP BEEJANUGGUR— a.d. 1565. 97 own nopliow), against IlivmaRajali, the rcpfcnt and biotlicr-iu-lavv of tlio lato sovereign. Ibraliim sent an army to the assistance of Bhoj Tirmul, who, in return, paid (k)wn fifty hicks of liobns* (£2,000,000 sterling), and promised to aeknowh'dgc liiinsclf tribu- tary. No sooner had the foreign troops quitted Becjapoor, than Rama Rajah, Ijreak- ing, it is alk'gc'd, a promise of aUegiance which had hecn extorted from him, surprised tlic city. Bhoj Tirmui, mad with rage and despair, shut himself up in the palaec, blinded all the royal clcpliants and horses, collected together, in one glittering heap, the diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls, and other gems, amassed during many ages, and caused them to be crushed to powder be- tween mill-stones ; then, fixing a sword-blade into a pillar of his apartment, rushed upon it just as the jialace- gates \vcre opened to his enemies. Rama Rajah became the un- disputed master of Bccjanuggur, and Ibra- him, after having received from his prede- cessor so large a bribe to take the field against him, now stooped to the humiliation of soliciting, with a costly present, the aid of Rama against a brave chief, Scif Eiu- ool-Moolk, driven into rebellion by his own suspicious tyratmy. The required assistance was sent midcr the guidance of Vcnkatadri, the Rajah's brother. Ibrahim died soon after, of a complication of disorders brought on by the most abandoned conduct, having first caused several physicians to be be- headed or trodden to death by elephants for failing to cure him, upon which the rest fled for their lives, leaving him to pci'ish unheeded. His successor, Ali,t entered into a new alliance with Rama Rajah, and the two monarchs having, at the request of the former, united their forces, jointly in- vaded the territory of Nizam Shah, and, says Fcrishta, " laid it waste so thoroughly, that from Purenda to Jooncre, and from Ahmednuggur to Douhuabad, not a vestige of population was left." Ali at length be- came " scandalised by the behaviour of his Hindoo allies," and alarmed at the growing strength and haughtiness of Rama; there- fore, after receiving the full benefit of his power, while continuing every outward • The honn varies in value from 3j to 4 rupees — • eight sliiliings sterling may be taken as the average. \ This monarch (whose death by the hand of a eunuch shamefully insulted by him, has rendered his name infamous) greatly improved the capital by con- structing the city wall and the aqueducts which stili convey water through every street. Mention is made of his receiving tribute from several petty mark of fri(nidship, he made a secret league with his late enemy, Nizam Shah, and with the kings of Beder and Goleonda, " to crush the common enemy of Islam." A decisive battle took place on the Kishna, near Tali- cot, the Hindoos commencing the attack by vast flights of rockets and rapid discharges of artillery. A general engagement fol- lowed, in which, after great numbers had been slain on both sides, the Moslems were victorious, aided by the treachery of two Mohammedan chiefs in the pay of the rajah. Rama, although seventy years of age, gave orders from his elephant throughout, but was at last captured, and brought into the presence of Nizam Shah, by whose orders liis head was struck ofl" and stuck upon a pole. It is no small proof, either of the barbarity of the conquerors or the dread which tlieir victim must have inspired, that the head of the brave old man should have been annually exhibited at Ahmednuggur for more than two centuries and a half, covered with oil and red pigment, by the descendants of his executioners, while a sculp- tured representation of it was made to serve as the opening of one of the sewers of the citadel of Beejapoor. Thus ended the monarchy of Bccjanuggur, which at that time comprehended the greater part of the south of India. The city of that name was destroyed, and is now uninhabited; the country fell into the hands of the tri- butary chiefs and officers, since so ' well known as zemindars or poligars; but the confederate kings were prevented by their mutual jealousies from gaining any great addition of territory, the balance of power being pretty evenly maintained among them, until all were overwhelmed by Akber. Veu- katadri, the brother of the late rajah, re- moved his residence further cast, and finally settled at Chandragiri, seventy miles north- west of j\Iadras, at which last place his descendant first granted a settlement to the English, A.D. IGIO. The wars between the Adil Shah dynastj' and the Portuguese set- tlers are very slightly mentioned by the native historians; they state little more than that Goa was lost under Yusuf, retaken by that king, lost again under his son Ismael principalities, the government of which was heredi- tarily vested in females, who ruled with the title of Ranies, their husbands having no power in the state. Colonel Briggs remarks upon this statement of Fe- rishta, that " the gynecocracy of the Ranies of Mala- bar and C'anara socms to have suffered no alteration from the period alluded to, to the present day." — Note to Fcrishta, vol. iii. p. HO. 98 NIZAM SHAH DYNASTY AT AHMEDNUGGUR— POUNDED a.d. 1490, (alluding to tlie second capture by Albu- querquCj iu 1510), and attacked simulta- neously -with Choul, in 1570, by the kings of Beejapoor and Abmeduuggur, who were both repulsed. The reigns of the early Beejapoor kings were marked by fierce sectarian strife, for Yusuf had imbibed in Persia a strong at- tachment to the Sheiah doctrines and cere- monial, which he endeavom-ed to introduce in his dominions, but was compelled to re- nounce the attempt by the displeasure of his subjects and the combination formed against him by all the other Mohammedan sovereigns. The same division prevailed among the troops as that pre\'iously de- scribed as existing under the Bahmaui dynasty, and according to the opinion of the king or his chief ministers, the Dec- canies (including Hindoos), or the foreigners, were uppermost. After the extinction of their native rulers, the Hindoos formed the chief part of the infantry of most of the Moslem governments, and appear to have been well paid* and entirely relied upon. Yusuf is said to have given a command of 12,000 infantry to a Mahratta chief,t and Ismael raised " a vast number" of Mahratta cavalry, under the name of Bergies, who, for an annual subsidy, engaged to appear fully equipped whenever their services were required. Ibrahim, the fovirth king, caused the public accounts to be kept in the Mah- ratta language instead of the Persian, a very politic and almost necessary measure, since the village accountants and the revenue and finance oSicers were for the most part Hin- doos. Ibrahim II., who acceded to the throne of Beejapoor, a.d. 1579, was cotemporary with Akber, and will be again mentioned. Nizam Shah dynasty at Ahmedtmgyur. — Ahmed, the first of these kings, began to reign a.d. 1490, having, as before stated, on the assassination of his father, Nizam-ool- IMoolk Behri, assumed the title of Shah, and made Ahmednuggur his capital. Not only tolerance, but great favour was shown to the Hindoos by this monarch and his successor, Boorlian, who appointed a Brahmin, named Kawar Scin, Pcslnva or prime minister, and had every reason to rejoice in the selection. * Briggs gives a table (vol. ii. p. 504) Rhowing how much more liberally Indian lroo])S v-tre ]>aid by Mohanimetlan sovereigns in HVOthanby the Krilish in 1828 (the date at wliich he wrote). t Duff's Uistnry (if the Muhrsi(lerablo body of his tril)c, and whose zealous and alilc services rendered liini so popidar with tlic king, as to excite the hatred and jealousy of the Mussulmans, ('onspiracics were formed, and after rc[)eatcd failures Mulnnood was at Icngtli insj)ircd with sufficient distrust to consent to dis- charj^c all the llajpoots liolding odiees at court, excepting only the obnoxious minister, and to declare that no Hindoo could be permitted to retain Moliammedan females in his seraglio. Mcdni llay pleaded ear- nestly the tried services of his countrymen, but the weak and ungrateful king, though soothed for the time, was subsequently in- duced to sanction an attcm])t on the part of his Moslem body-guard of 200 men to way- lay and murder ]\Icdui Ray, and a brave Rajpoot oilicer, called Salivahan, who had evinced much anger at the late unjust and humiliating proceedings. The latter was slain; the former, though covered with wounds, escaped to his own house, while a body of Rajpoots rushed to the palace, but being repulsed by the king in person, re- turned to the house of the minister, and entreated him to be their head. Mcdni Ray refused, persuaded them to disperse peaceably, ajul sent word to the king that if he thought his life necessary to the good of the state, he was ready to lose it, sooner than lead an army against his acknowledged sovereign. Mahmood was little affected by a degree of magnanimity quite beyond his comprehension, and fearing some treachery similar to that of which he had given the example, fled by night from the fort of ^[andu, accompanied by his favourite mis- tress and the master of the horse, and did not draw rein till he reached the frontier of Guzcrat. Though frequently at war with one another, the i\Ioslcm intruders were always read}' to coalesce against a Hindoo foe ; the king of Guzerat, therefore, sup- ported ]\Ialimood, and accompanied him at the head of a large army to ]\Iandu, which was taken by assault after a close siege of several months, and 19,000 Rajpoots slain. Medni Ray was, however, not among them, having previously joined liana Sanga at • General Briggs here takes occasion to note tlie contrast between the generosity usually evinced by the Hindoos to the Moslems, and " tlie sordid, cruel, and bigotted conduct of the latter. It seldom hap- pened that a Hindoo prince, taken in battle, was not instantly beheaded ; and life was never spared but nith the sacrifice of a daughter delivered up to a Cliittorc, from whence he retired to Chan- dcri, of which place he was probably here- ditary chief. Mahmood proceeded thither, and found that Rana Sanga had previously marched with his whole force to the support of jNIcdni Ray. In the conflict which ensued, ]\Iahmood was defeated, and after evincing, in an extraordinary manner, the physical daring that invarialjly distinguished him iu battle, contrasting strangely with his exces- sive moral cowardice in time of peace, was unhorsed and taken prisoner, weltering ia liis blood. Rana Sanga caused him to be brought to his own tent, dressed his wounds, attended on him personally, and, after his recovery, sent him back to IMandu with an escort of 1,000 horse* This chivalrous proceeding was returned by the most glar- ing ingratitude, for its object did not scruple to take advantage of the confusion which ensued on the death of his benefactor, to attack his son. Rattan Sing, the new ruler of Chittore. Rattan Sing ajiplicd for aid to Bahadur Shah, of Guzerat, who had also had reason to complain of the selfish rapacity of the king of Malwa. Mahmood, unable to withstand their combination, was defeated in his capital and captured by Bahadur Shah, who caused him to be coniincd in the fortress of Champanccr, where he was put to death, with his seven sons, and Malwa annexed to Guzerat, a.d. 1531. Khans of Cnndeish. — This small princi- pality, separated by forests from Guzerat, comprised merely the lower part of the valley of the Taptee, the upper being in- cluded in Berar. Its first ruler, jNIalek Rajah, tclaimed descent from the Caliph Omar, and died a.d. 1390. His son, IMalek Naseer, received from the king of Guzerat the title of khan, and founded the city of Boorhanpoor, near the strong hill-fort of Aseer,J which he had obtained by treachery from its rightful occupant, a Hindoo, of peaceable disposition, from whom he liad received many personal favours. He gained possession by the same artifice used in the capture of Rohtas, viz., by entreating the unsuspecting chief to receive and shelter the inmates of his harem during a war in. which he pretended to be about engaging, and then introducing soldiers iu the doolies sort of honourable prostitution, or by the pajTnentof vast sums of money and jewels." — (Vol. iv., p. 264.) t Why he was named R,-ijah does not appear. % This hill-fort, like many others in India, seems to bear witness to the pastoral pursuits of its early possessor, Aseer being considered to be a cc>':ruption of Asa .\hcer, or Asa the cow-herd. — {Idem, p. 286.) 106 RAJPOOT STATES, MEWAR, MARWAR, BIKANEER, JESSULMER, &c. 01' palanquins, who sprang out and mur- dered Asa, with his whole family. Numerous stone embankments for irriga- tion and other works now in ruins and buried in woods, indicate that Candeish mnst have once attained a high state of prosperity, but many of these are probably referrible to the previous period of Hiadoo independence. Aseer or Aseerghur was taken by Akber, and Candeish re-annexed to Delhi in 1599. The Rajpoot States. — Of these a very cursory notice must suffice, because our present information concerning them, al- though voluminous,* is too fragmentary to afford materials for the condensed chrono- logical summary which can be framed with comparative ease and satisfaction from the more precise statements of Mohammedan writers respecting their own kingdoms. At the time of the invasion of Mahmood of Ghuznee, the Rajpoots were in possession of all the governments of India, nor did they resign their power without long and fierce struggles ; indeed some have never been entirely subjugated, but up to the present time hold the position of feudatory chiefs (see pp. 7, 8). The table-land in the centre of Hindoostan, and the sandy tract stretch- ing west from it to the Indus, formed the nucleus of Rajpoot independence; and the more broken and inaccessible tiie country, the better was it suited for the partly feudal, partly clannish, mode of government and warfare, adopted by its sons, from whom, though subsidies might be exacted, and forts captured by the Delhi monarchy during strong and aggressive reigns, tribute would be refused and positions regained the first opportunity. Thus Rintumbor, Gwalior, and Calinjei-, were constantly changing hands ; while Ajmeer and Malwa were early captured and easily retained, from tlieir situation on the open part of the table-land, terminating in a slope of broken ground towards the Jumna. At the time of the accession of Akber the chief Rajpoot state was that of Mewar, held by the descendant of the brave Rana Sanga of Oudipoor, whose family and tribe are said to have been descended from Rama, and consequently to have derived their origin from Oudc, whence they removed to Guzerat, and ultimately settled at Chittorc, al)0ut the eighth century of our era. There they maintained themselves, notwithstand- ing the accessible nature of the country — a • Vide the late Colonel Tod's extensive and valu- able work on liajast'han. sure retreat being ever, in case of defeat, afforded by the Aravulli mountains and the hills and forests connected with them, which form the northern boundary of Guzerat. Marwar, the next state in importance, was possessed by that portion of the Rahtores, who at the taking of Canouj, a.d. 1194., had quitted the neigbourhood of the Ganges, and, under two grandsons of their last king, established themselves in the desert in- termingled with fertile tracts, between the table-land and the Indus. They soon be- came paramount over the old inhabitants of the race of Jats, and over some small Raj- poot tribes who had preceded them as colonists ; and farmed an extensive and powerful principality. A younger branch of the Canouj family founded the separate state of Bikaneer, on another part of the same desert, a.d. 1459, while the western portion was occupied by the Bhattees, under the rajah of Jessulmer. The rajalis of Amber or Jey~ poor were ancient feudatories of Ajmeer, and probably remained in submission to the Mohammedans after the conquest of that kingdom. The rajahs of the tribe of Hara, who give their name to Haraiiti, were, in some sort, feudatories of the ranas of Oudipoor, and shortly before the accession of Akber, captured the famous fort of Rin- j tumbor from the governor, who had held it for the Afghan kings. There were besides several petty states, such as the Chouhans of Parker, the Sodras of Amercot and others, situated in the extreme west of the desert, bejond the reach of Mussulman in- vaders ; and those of Sirohi, J/ialor, &e., which, lying in the fertile tract beneath the Aravulli mountains, and on one road from Ajmeer to Guzerat, were liable to constant exactions. On the eastern slope of the table-land, Merut, Gwalior, Narioar, Panna, Oorcha, Chuitderi, and other places in Bun- delcund, were mostly held by old Rajpoot families, tributary to Delhi at the time of the death of Humayun. Bengal was separated from Delhi, a.d. 1338, by the exertions of a soldier, who, having risen from the ranks, at length slew his master (the governor appointed by Mo- hammed Toghlak), and proclaimed himself au inde|)cudeut sovereign, l)ut was in less than tlnee years displaced by another usurper as ambitious as himself, who, within two years more, was in turn assassinated. Frequent changes of dynasty, with few im- portant events, occupy the remaining period to the accession of the last king, Daood ■KAJ ACCESSION OP AKBER— A.n. 1556. 107 (Dnvid), in ir»73; amoiijj llio most intorcst- iuf? is tlio f()r<'i!)!o occnjjiitioii of lliu tliroiin by llajiih Kaiis, a Hindoo zcmindarj* whose son and successor voluntarily embraced the Moliammedan I'aitli, declaring, however, his willin;;ncss to withdraw his ijrctcnsions in I'avour of iiis brother, if the chiefs desired it. At one time liengal seems to have conipre- liendcd North liehar. It included Sunder- gong (Dacca). Jugnuggur (Tiijperah) was tributary ; Assam occasionally plundered. Cuttack and the adjoining parts were cap- tured just before the extinction of the state. Bengal was then, as now, remarkable for the luxury of its inhabitants, whose wealthy citizens vied with one another in their dis- play of gold plate. Sheer Shah conquered Bengal in 1539 : after liis death it was seized by the Afghan successors of the gov- ernor appointed from Delhi. Juanpuor stretched along the Ganges from Canouj, on the north-west, to the frontier between Bengal and Soutli Behar on tiie south-east. Khaja Jchan, the vizier at the time of Mahmood Toghlak's acces- sion, occvipicd this government during the king's minority, and proclaimed its inde- pendence, A. D. 1394, which he and his suc- cessors maintained until its re-anncxation to Delhi, in 1476. It "was again separated after the death of Sheer Shab, and eventually conquered by Akbcr early in his reign. Siiide. — Little is known of the history of this principality beyond that vihich has been already incidentally mentioned (p. 58). The ruling Rajpoot family appear to have become converts to Islam about 13G5. They were displaced by the Arghoons, who held it at the period at which we have now arrived. Moullan revolted during the confusion ■wliieli followed the invasion of Timur, and was ruled by an Afghan dynasty named Langa, until the early part of the sixteenth century, when the Arghoons of Sinde gained possession ; but were, in their turn, expelled by Prince Kamrau, and Moultan was thence- forth attached to Delhi. The other pro- vinces which had become independent at the same time (with the exception of the Punjaub, to which Secander Soor maintained his claim), were all in the hands of adherents of the Afghan government. The petty states under the Himalaya Mountains, from Casli- * This term was oi'iginally applied to the heredi- tary Hindoo chiefs who had become more or less subject to Moslem rule — it was sometimes extended by the proud invaders to independent princes, like those of Oudipoor and Joudpoor, whom they affected to treat as subordinate to their government ; but it mere inclusive, to the Bay of Bengal, were independent under sovereigns of their own; there were besides many mountain and forest tribes throughout India whose almost inaccessible retreats had preserved them from subjugation to the Moslem yokc.f Rciyn of Al;ber. — When the death of Ilumayuu took place, Akbcr was absent in the Punjaub M'itli Behram Khan, and the fear of attempts being made to seize the throne before the heir apparent could have time to repair to the metropolis, in- duced such of the ministers as were on the spot, to conceal the fatal event from the public, by causing one of the ^Mullahs, or religious attendants of the court, to imper- sonate the deceased monarch, and receive from that part of the palace which over- looked the river Jumna, the salutations of the populace. At length, however, the truth transpired, but the consternation which en- sued was temporarily calmed by the exer- tions of the nobles, one of whom read the Kliotbah in the name of Akbcr — a )n'oceed- ing equivalent to proclaiming him king. Akber was little more than thirteen years of age, and by his own desire, as well as iu accordance with the wishes of his best ad- visers, Behram Khan continued to hold the same position to his now crowned pupil as that in which Ilumayuu had previously placed him — being dignified with the appel- lation of Khan Baba (the king's father), and invested with irresponsible sway. It was a critical epoch for the House of Timur. Se- veral eager competitors watched an oppor- tunity to snatch the sceptre from the youtliful descendant of the foreign usurper, but in vain, for the stern and skilful soldier who had helped the father to regain it remained to guard it for the son, and that son had repeatedly evinced a degree of discretion beyond bis years, and was learning to curb his own daring spirit and passion for glory, and to take large and statesmanlike views of the duties of civil government, which made some amends for his rapacity as a conqueror, and enabled him to consolidate by policy what he won by the sword. The first contest for supremacy was waged with Hemu, who headed an army in the name of Sultan Adili, for the double pur- is only in comparatively modern times that it has been used to denote persons holding assignments of the government revenue, as well as district and vil- lage oflicirs. t Elphinstone, vol. ii. pp. 166 — 251; Price's Mo- hammeduu Ilistory, vol. iii., p. 847. lOS BATTLE OF PANIPUT AND DEATH OF HEMU— a.d. 155G. pose of expelling the Moguls and reducing Secander Soor, who, though driven to take refuge in the viciuitj' of the northern moun- tains, still maintained his pretensions to be king of Delhi and the Punjaub, in which latter place Akber and Behram Khan re- mained after their late victory, occupied in arranging the new government. ]\Iean- vrhile, Hemu, having captured both Delhi and Agra, prepared to march to Lahore, where the tidings of his successes and ap- proach created so much alarm that the general opinion in the camp was in favour of a retreat to Cabool, but Behram Khan's determination prevailed over more timid counsels, and the rival forces met at Pani- put, where, after a desperate battle, the Mogvds triumphed. The elephants, on whose number Hemu placed great depend- ence, became ungovernable and threw their own ranks into confusion, but Hemu, from his howdah, at the head of 4,000 horse, continued the action, until an arrow pierced his eye, and he sank back for the moment in extreme agony. His troops believing the wound mortal, gave way, but raising himself again, and plucking out the barbed weapon, together with the eye itself, Hemu endeavoured to force a path through the enemy's i-anks, but was captured through the treachery of his elephant-driver, and brought before Akber, who was desired by Behram Khan to slay the infidel and thus earn the title of Ghazi.* Akber so far complied as to touch with his sword the head of his brave and almost expiring foe, and then burst into tears, upon which Behram Khan, in whose stern breast no sentiment akin to llajpoot chivalry ever found place, drew his own sabre and beheaded him with a stroke. With Hemu, Adili lost all liope of recover- ing his dominions, but he continued to reign * This epithet, variously translated as " Holy "War- rior," "Champion of the Faith," or "Victorious in a ]£oly War," is one of those expressions which can scarcely be faithfully rendered in another tongue to readers iin])erfectly acquainted witli the circum- stances of its origin and use. From it arose the •word Gazette — first employed to designate the official announcement in eastern Kurope of victory, in what the combatants called religious warfare; but since applied to governmental publications of all kinds. With regard to translations of Persian, Sanscrit or other terms, and their orthogra])hy, I would again deprecate the criticism of oriental scholars, and plead the difficulty of presenting them, with any chance of correct pronunciation, without adopting a system of accentuation, wliich might possibly deter readers of the very class, whose .sympatliies I am most de- firous of enlisting, the young and tlie unlearned. I have followed Tod, Dow, and others in avoiding some time longer until he ^as killed in a battle with a new pretender in Bengal. Akber took possession of Delhi and Agra; succeeded in effecting the pacification of the Punjaub ; acquired Ajmeer without a battle ; and early in the fourth year of his reign had driven the Afghans out of Lucknow and the country on tlie Ganges as far east as Juanpoor. Notwithstanding these tri- umphs, the happiness of the victor was em- bittered by the harsh and arbitrary conduct of the Khaii Baba, who attempted to en- force in a luxurious and refined court the same rigid discipline by which he had main- tained subordination in an army of adven- turers. The nobles were offended by his haughty and distrustful conduct, and even Akber had grave reasons for considering himself treated in a manner, which his position as king, together with his deep and lively interest in all state affairs, ren- dered unwarrantable. Thus, Behram took advantage of Akber's absence on a hawk- ing party, to put to death Tardi Beg, an old noble, who had been one of Baber's favourite companions, had accompanied Plumayun in all his wanderings, and had first read the Khotbah in the name of his successor. The ostensible reason,t was the hasty evacuation of Delhi, where Tardi Beg was governor, before the troops of Hemu ; an oftence that in the eyes of the warlike and inflexible minister, would have fully justified the sentence, which he might have desired to spare his young sovereign the pain of pronouncing. However this may have been, Behram is accusedj of hav- ing, on subsequent occasions, behaved very tyrannically to all who seemed inclined to seek power and influence, except through the channel of his fitvour. One nobleman of high standing, having incurred his dis- the wearisome repetition of the long titles assumed by Mohammedan sovereigns, by occasionally giving, in the event of oft-recumng mention, only tlie first word, thus — Ala-oo-deen (glory of the faith) is some- times adverted to as Ala only. An able and kindly critic, lieutenant-general Briggs, has pointed out the erroneous impression this practice may produce ; and it therefore seems hest to state at once the de- sire for brevity by which it was prompted. t Jealousjfof his influence was the supposed cause. I Tlie chief authority on this portion, and indeed regariling nearly the whole of Akber's reign, is Abul Fiizil, whose evident unfairness and prejudice in all matters involving the character of his royal master, (to whose revision all his writings were sub- ject), renders it difficult to form a satisfactory judg- ment of the circumstances wliich led to the rupture between Akber and Behram Khan, and the disgrace and death of tlie latter. 13EIIRAM KHAN ASSASSINATED.— MALWA CONQUERED— a.d. 15G0. J 09 pleasure, was put to dcatli on some slight charge, and Pcir Mohammed Khau, the king's private tutor, to whom he was much attached, narrowly cscapeil the same fate. Ak!)cr, hcf'ore he was eighteen, resolved to reign without control, and having concerted a plan with those about luui, took occasion, when on a hunting jiarty, to make an un- expected journey to Delhi, whence he issued a proclamation, forbidding obedience to any orders not sanctioned by his authority. IJehram scut two envoys of distinction, with assurances of subuussion, but Akbcr refused to sec tliem, and ordered their imprison- ment. After this, the disgraced minister seems to have had some intention of attempt- ing to establish an independent principality in Malwa, but subsequently set oil' for Gu- zcrat with the professed object of embarking from thence for Mecca. As he lingered long, a formal notice of dismissal arrived from Agra, commanding him to proceed on his pilgrimage forthwith. Having resigned his standards, kettle-drums, and other ensigns of authority, Behram continued his route in a private character, until, irritated by some further proceedings of Akber, he changed his mind, and attempted an invasion of the Punjaub. There, as elsewhere, the people were disposed to rally round the young king; Behram was defeated, and eventually driven to a surrender. Akber received him with much kindness, seated him on his right hand, and offered him the alternatives of an important government, a high position at court, or an honourable dismissal to Mecca. This last proposition seems to indicate that the foregoing ones were merely complimentary, and Behram pro- bably so understood them, since he chose the pilgrimage, for which he had previously • Amon<^ those was Asuf Khan, an olTicer who oh- tained ])L'rnussion IVom .\kbfr, A.D. lj(i.3, to invade a .small independent kingdom called Gurra Mundela, then under the government of a regent or queen-mother named Durgavati, equally celebrated for her beauty and good sense. On the approach of the Moham- medans she led her forces in person against them mounted on an elephant, but after a sharp contest being disabled by an arrow-wound in the eye, her troops disheartened, gave w.ay, upon which, fear- ing to fall into the hands of the victors, she snatched a dagger from the girdle of the elephant-driver and stabbed herself. The chief place was then taken by storm, and the infant rajah trodden to death in the confusion. One thousand elei)hants, 100 jars of gold coins, numerous jewels, and images of gold and silver were seized by Asuf Khan, who sent to Akber only a very small portion of the spoil, and then went Into rebellion, but was afterwards compelled to sue for pardon. The whole transaction was aggression, Q evinced little inclination, and proceeded to Guzcrat, where, while preparing for em- barkation, he was assassinated (a.d. 1501), by an Afghan, whose father he liad killed in battle during the reign of lliunayun. Akber, now left to his own resources, soon found that other oflicers were likely to prove less overbearing ])erhaps than his old governor, but more inclined to take advan- tage of his youth for their ownadvanccmcnt.^ Always abundantly self-reliant, he checked such attempts with a firm hand. Adam Khan, an Uzbek odicer, having defeated Baz ]5ahadur,t the Afghan ruler of jNIahva, showed some disposition to retain the pro- vince for himself, upon which Akbcr marched immediately to the camp, and conferred the government on his old tutor, Peir ilohain- med Khan, whose conduct in this position, went far to vindicate the previotis harshness displayed towards him by Behram. After massacring the inhabitants of two cities, of which he had obtained possession, he was at length defeated and drowned. Baz Bahadur recovered INIalwa, of which he was again deprived by the victorious !Mogul, whose service he subsequently entej'cd. The successive steps of Akber's career can only be briefly sketched. The seven years following the disgrace of Behram were mainly cmploj'cd in a severe struggle with the military aristocracy, and in repelling the pretensions advanced on behalf of the young prince Hakim, who, although an in- fant at the time of his father, Humaytui's death, had been left in the nominal govern- ment of Cabool ; but, being expelled thenec by his relation, Mirza Soliman, of Badak- sliau, attempted to invade the Punjaub, but was driven out (1566), and subsequently returned to Cabool, of which country he robbery, and murder from first to last, and the guilt rests as much on the head of Akber, who sanctioned tlie crime and shared the booty, as upon Asuf Khan, the actual ptrjjetrator. (liriggs'i-'em/iid.vol. ii.p. 128.) t The Hindoo mistress of Baz Bahadur, cele- brated equally for her beauty and poetic talent, fell into the hands of Adam Khan, and unable to strive against his importunity and threatened violence, ap- pointed an hour to receive him, and then arrayed in costly robes, fragrant with the sweetest perfumes, lay down on a conch covered with a mantle. On the Khan's approach her attendants strove to rouse her, but she iiad taken ;)oison and was already dead. (Khnji Khan, quoted by Elphinstone, vol. ii. p. 263.) Her persecutor did not long survive her, for having quarrelled with the vizier of Akbcr he stabbed him while at prayers, and was, by order of the king, (who was sleei)ing in an inner room, and rushed in, awakened by the uproar) immediately thrown from a lofty terrace-parapet, where he had sought refuge. no GUZERAT ANNEXED— A.D. 1572.— AKBER'S HINDOO MARRIAGES. long retained undisturbed possession. The MirzaSj (namely, the four sons and three nephews of Sultan IMirza, a prince of the house of Tamerlane, who had come to India with Baber, but rebelled against Humayun, who pardoned and gave him the govern- ment of Sambal) revolted, and were com- pelled to fly to Guzerat, where they endea- voured to take advantage of the disturbed state of affairs, but were strenuously opposed by Etimad Khan, the Hindoo minister, or rather master, of the pageant king, Mozuffer III. Sooner than suffer the sceptre to be seized by the Mirzas, Etimad prompted its formal surrender to Akber, a.d. 1572, vi^ho having personally received it, proceeded to besiege Surat, where these princes had taken refuge. Before the place could be invested they departed with a light detachment, in- tending to join their main body in the north of Guzerat. Akber ordered 1,000 men to follow him, and set out in pursuit with such rash haste, that he found himself in front of the enemy with a party which, after waiting to allow some stragglers to come up, numbered only 150 men. He nevertheless commenced the attack, but being repulsed, took shelter in a lane formed by strong hedges of cactus, where not more than three horsemen could advance abreast. Here he was hard pressed and separated from his men, but saved by the gallantry of Rajah Bhagwandas of Amber, and his ne- phew and adopted son. Rajah Maun Sing, both officers of high rank in the imperial army. Soorjun Ray, Rajah of Rintumbor, is also mentioned as having evinced great bravery; and the fact of the king's being immediately surrounded by Hindoo chiefs on such an occasion, sufficiently proves the degree to which he had conciliated, and the trust which he reposed in them. The Mirzas succeeded iu effecting the junction which Akber had risked so much to pre- vent, but were afterwards dispersed, and met with various adventures, terminating in violent deaths by the hands of Delhi officers. Though eager to put down any infringement of his own real or assumed rights, Akber utterly disregarded those of others ; the establishment of unquestioned supremacy over all India being the object which he pi'oposed from the ])cginning. With this view he never scrupled to fo- ment strife, watching craftily an opportu- nity of turning to his own advantage the dissensions which rendered weak and effete the various independent governments, both foreign and native. Under his banner, Hin- doo fought against Hindoo — Moslem against ]\Ioslem ; aud each against the other. Over the fiery Rajpoots his personal influence became unbounded. Skilfully availing him- self of their foibles, and studious needlessly to avoid clashing with their feudal obser- vances and associations, he won from them voluntary concessions which force had long failed to extort. As early as 1651 he had sent a strong force against Maldeo, Rajah of Marwar, actuated perhaps by the recollec- tion of the sufferings of his parents when refused protection shortly before his birth (p. 87), and captured the strong fortress of Meerta. Nagore was also taken; and both these strong-holds were conferred by Akber on the representative of the younger branch of the family, Ray Sing of Bika- neer. In 1569, Rao Maldeo succumbed to necessity ; and, in conformity with the times, sent his second son with gifts to Akber, then at Ajmeer, which had become an in- tegral part of the monarchy; but the dis- dainful bearing of " the desert king" so displeased Akber, that he presented Ray Sing with a firmdn (imperial mandate) for the possession of Joudpoor itself, and the old Rao had to stand a siege in his capital, and after brave but fruitless resistance, was compelled to yield homage. His son and successor, well known as Moota (the fat) Rajah, gave a pi'incess of his family in mar- riage to Akber (a great concession, not to say degradation, in the sight of a Rajpoot, even though the issue of this union would take equal rank with other princes of the imperial house) and, in return, re- ceived all the possessions previously wrested from Marwar, except Ajmeer, besides seve- ral rich districts in Malwa.* Rajah Bhar- mul, of Amber, likewise gave the king a daughter to wif'c,t and enrolled himself and his son, Bhagwandas, among the royal vas- sals, holding his country as a fief of the empire ; and he also received honours and emoluments, in the shape most agreeable to a Rajpoot — increase of territory. In fact, every chief who submitted to Akber, found his personal possessions increased in conse- quence. One state, however, still main- tained its independence, and could neither be flattered, bribed, or forced into alliance with the foreigner; it even dared to rc- • Tod says four provinces (Godwar, Oojein, De- balpoor, and Budnawar) yielding; £200,000 of annual revenue were given for the hand of Jod Bae. t Mother to Selim, Akber a successor. AKBER CONQUERS AND DESPOILS CHITTORE— a.d. 1568. ill nouiioc iiitcrmaiTiaf((! with every house by whicli sueh dispfracc had I)ccu sustained. Against Mewar, Akber therefore turned liis arms, so soon as the disalleetinn of the Usbck nobles and other rebelHons nearer Delhi had been put down. The liana, Oodi Sing, unlike his brave father, Sanga, was a man of feeble eharacter, quite unfit to head the f^allaiit chiefs who rallied round him. On learning the approach of his formidable foe, he retreated from (Miittorc to the hilly and woody country north of Guzerat, leav- ing a strong garrison midcr Jei Mai, a chief of great courage and ability. The place, though previously twice taken, was still regarded by the Rajpoots of Mcwar as a sort of sanctuary of their monarchy. The operations of the siege were conducted with great care, and seem to have closely resem- bled those adopted in modern Europe. Two mines were sunk, and fire set to the train ; one of them exploded, and the storming party crowded up the breach, but while so doing, the second explosion occurred, and destroyed man}'' of the assailants, upon which the rest fled in confusion. The pre- vious labours were re-commcuecd ; con- siderable advantage liad been gained, and the northern defences destroyed, when Ak- ber, one night, in visiting the trenches, per- ceived Jei Mai on the works, superintending some repairs by torch-light. Taking delibe- I'ate aim, he shot him through the head, and the garrison, appalled by the death of their able leader, abandoned the breaches, and withdrew to the interior of the fort. There they assumed the saffron-coloured robes, ate the last " beera" or pan together, and per- formed the other ceremonies incidental to their intended self-sacrifice. After witness- ing the terrible rite of the Johur, in which the women, gathering round the body of Jei Mai, found refuge in the flames from * Alcber's conduct on tliis occasion has also left an indelible stain on liis character as a patron of the arts, for the stately temples and [jalaces of Cliittore were defaced and des])oiled with the most ruthless barbarity. lie showed, however, his sense of the bravery of his fallen foes by erect inj^ at one of the chief sates of Delhi two sjreat elephants of stone, (described by Bernier in 1663), each with their rider, one rejjresentini^f Jei Jhil, the other Pntta. The latter, the youthful head of the .Tugawut clan, perished in the defence of the city, following the example of his widowed motlier, who, arming her son's young bride with a lanoe, with her descended the rock and both fell fighting side by side. The Z!;i((c«, (Brahmanical cords taken from the necks of the Uujpoots), are said to have amounted to seventy-four min's and a-half ; and still, in memory of this terrible destruction, the bankers of llajast'han mark this liollutioti or captivity; the men, to the num- l)('r of 8,000, ran to the ramparts, and were tliere slain by tin; Moslems wdio had mounted unopposed. " Akber entered Chittorc,when/' says Tod, " 'm,m() of its inhabitants be- came victims to the ambitious thirst of con- quest of this (juardian of mankind." * Notwithstanding the loss of his capital and many of his bravest warriors, the Rana remained independent in his fastnesses in the Aravulli; raised a small palace, around which edifices soon clustered, and formed the nucleus of the city of Oudipoor, which eventually became the capital of Mewar. He died shortly afterwards, a.d. 1572. Hi's successor, Pertap, was in all respects his opposite. Brave, persevering, and devoted to the cause of Rajpoot independence, the recovery of Cliittore was his watchword. Till this should be accomplished, he inter- flieted to himself and his successors every article of luxury — exchanged golden dishes for vessels made of leaves, and soft couches • for straw pallets; and, in sign of mourning, commanded all his followers to leave their beards unshaven.f Sueh an adversary was not likely to be undervalued by the politic Akber, who succeeded in arraying against the patriot his kindred in faith as well as in blood, including even his own brother, Sa- gurji, who received, as the price of his trea- chery, the ancient capital of his race. The odds against Pertap were fearful : drivea from his strongholds of Komulmecr and Gogunda, he nevertheless withstood, for more than a quarter of a century, the com- bined efforts of the empire, often flying from rock to rock, feeding his wife and family from the fruits of his native hills, and rearing, amid the haunts of savage beasts, his young son, Urara, the heir to his prowess and his struggles. J In 1576, a desperate battle occurred at the pass or tilde, or accursed number on their seals, thereby in- voking " the sin of the slaughter of Chittore" on nny one who sho.uld dare to violate this mysterious but re- vered safeguard. (Aniuih ofRajast'han, vol. i. p. 327. t The descendants of Pertap, though unfaithful to the spirit of this vow, still adhere to the letter, by placing leaves under their gold or silver plate, and straw beneath their couches, while their beards remain unshorn. {Idem, p. 333). X Colonel Tod's narrative of the life of this noble Kajpcot is full of incidents of thrilling interest. So hot was the pursuit of the Mogul myrmidons that " five meals have been prepared and aliandoned for want of the opportunity to eat them," ar.J his family were repeatedly on the eve of capture. On one of these occasions they were saved by the faithful Bheels of Cavah, who carried them in baskets and con- cealed them in the tin mines of Jawura, where they n2 WAH WITH PERTAP.— SETTLEMENT OF BENGAL— 1593. plain of Huldigliat, -where Pertap had taken up a strong position v.ith 22,000 Rajpoots, wliiie above, on tlie neighbouring cliffs and pinnacles, his trusty auxiliaries, the abori- ginal Bhecls, stood posted, armed with bows and arrows, and huge stones ready to roll upon the enemy. But all efforts proved vain against the overpowering Mogul force, headed by Selim, the heir of Akber, with its numerous field-artillery and a dromedary corps mouuting swivels. Of the stalwart Rajpoots who rallied round the royal in- signia,* ever seen in the hottest part of the action, 8,000 only survived it. Pertap him- self, after reccivmg several severe wounds, was saved with difficulty, by a noble act of self-devotion. One of his chiefs piarah), seizing the " golden sun," made his way to an intricate position, and thus drew upon him- self and his vassals the brunt of the battle, while his prince, forced from the field, lived to renew the struggle, and to honour the memory of his brave deliverer by conferring on his descendants distinctions whose value a Rajpoot alone could fully appreciate. f Another generous sacrifice eventually en- abled the i\Iewar prince, when almost driven into the abandonment of his native kingdom, to cope successfully with the Mogul force. Bliama Sah, his minister, whose ancestors had for ages held this office, placed at his dis- posal their accumulated resources ; and thus fui-nished with the sinews of wax-, Pertap renewed the contest. The chivalrous cle- mency which habitually distinguishes the Rajpoot was, for once, merged in a sense of the desperate nature of his position. Komul- meer and thirty-two posts were taken by surprise, and the troops slain without mercy. To use the words of the native annalist, " Pertap made a desert of Mewar ; he made an offering to the sword of whatever dwelt in the plains :"{ and in one campaign, re- covered his hereditary dominions, except Chittore, Ajmeer, and IMandelgurh. Akbcr, occupied by new fields of con- quest, suffered Pertap to retain his territory unmolested; but the mind of the Hindoo prince could know no rest while, from the summit of the pass to Oudipoor (where, in accordance with his vow, he inhabited a lowly hut) might be seen the stately battlc- guardod and fed them. Kolts and b.irs are still pre- servpil in the trees about Jawiira to which the cradles of the royal children cf Mtnvar were suspended. * The cjiri)if/i, or chief insignia of royalty in Mewar, is a sun of gold in the centere of a disc of bbck ostrich feathers or felt, about three feel in diameter. + Such as beai-ing the title of ]iaj (royal), the pri- ments of Chittore, whose re-capture, he felt, was not for him. A spirit ill at ease, accelerated the decay of a frame scarred by repeated wounds, and worn out with hard- ships and fatigue. His sun went down at noon ; but he died (a.d. 1597) as he had lived, an unflinching patriot, enjoining on Umra and his subjects to eschew luxury, and seek, first and last, the independence of Mewar. The manner in which this dying com- mand was fulfilled belongs to the succeedins reign. We now return to the proceedings of Akber, who, in 1575, headed an army for the subjugation of Bengal. The Afghan ruler, Daood Khan, a weak, dissipated prince, retired before the imperial forces from Behar to Bengal Proper, upon which Akber returned to Agra, leaving his lieute- nants to pursue the conquest, which proved a more difficult task than was expected. The chief commanders were Rajah Todar ]\Ial, the celebrated minister of finance, and Rajah Maun Sing, and their efforts were at length successful. Daood was defeated and slain ; and the mutinous attempts of various Mogul officers to seize the jaghircs of the conquered chiefs for their private benefit, were, after many struggles, put down. The last endeavour of any importance, on the part of the Afghans, to recover the pro- vince, terminated in defeat in 1592, and being followed up by concessions of terri- tory to the leading chiefs, the final settle- ment of Bengal was concluded, after fifteen years of strife and misery. While his gene- rals were thus engaged, Akbcr was himself occupied in renewed hostilities with Mirza Hakim, who, after having remained long undisturbed in Cabool, again invaded the Punjaub, and assaulted the governor, J\Iaun Sing, in Lahore. The king having raised the siege, drove his brother to the moun- tains and occupied Cabool ; but that gov- ernment was restored on the submission of the prince, who retained it until his death in 1585. Tiie vicinity of Abdullah, Khan of the Uzbeks, who had recently seized Badakshan from JNIirza Soliman, probably induced Akbcr, on learning the demise of Hakim, to proceed immcdiatclj' to the strong fort of Attock, which he had previously erected on the principal ferry of the Indus. vilegc of enjoying " the right band of the Mewat princes," &c., to which territorial advantages were also added by the grateful Pertap. f All bis loyal subjects had previously followed him to the mountains, destroying whatever property they could neither conceal nor carry away. (Annah oj linjusl'htin, vol. i. p. 1317.) CAPTURE OF CASHMERE, SINDE AND CANDAHAR— a'.d. 1586 to 1594. 113 AUlioii-^li Hadiiksliau li;ul been the iincieiit possession of liis family, Akber was far too politic to stir up a qiiai'rel \\ ith so fonnidaljle a foe as its present occupant, while, in an- other quarter, opportunity invited tlic exer- cise of more profitable and less dangerous, though utterly unprovoked aj;gression. Near at hand, nestled in the very centre of the Himalaya, al)ove the heated plains, below the snowy heights, lay tlic lovely valley of Cashmere, verdant with perpetvial spring. From the age of fable till the beginning of tiio fourtecntli century, this small kingdom had been ruled by a succession of Hindoo princes, interrupted, it wouhl appear, by a Tartar dynasty.* It thca fell into the hands of a Moliammedan adventurer, and was held by princes of that religion until I'lHG, when the distractions prevailing among the reigning family induced Akber to brave tiic dillicidt and dangerous passes by which alone this terrestrial paradise could be ap- proached, and send an army, under Shah llokli J\Iirza, son of JMirza Soliman (who had entered his service when driven out of Badakshan), and Uhagwandas, of Jcypoor, for its conquest. These chiefs, Avith ditli- culty, penetrated through the snow by an unguarded pass^ but their supplies being exhausted, were glad to enter into a treaty with the king, Yusuf Shah, by which the su- premacy of the enqieror was acknowledged, but his practical interference with the pro- vince forbidden. Yusuf, relying ou the good faith and generosity of Akber, accompanied the troops on their return to the court of that monarch, who, considering the pledge giveri on his behalf an inconvenient one, de- tained his guest, and dispatched a frcsli force for the occupation of Cashmere. Yacub, the son of the captive, assembled the troops, and prepared to defend the pass; but the prevailing dissensions had extended so widely among the soldiery, that part went over to the invaders, and the prince deemed it best to fall back with the rest on Scri- nuggur, where strife and rebellion were also at work. Driven thence to the hills, he con- tinued the struggle for two years, but was at last captured and sent to Delhi, where both he and his father were induced by * Professor 11. 11. AVilson considers it to have ex- isted either under the n.inie of Caspapyrus or Abi- sarus as early as the days of Herodotus and Alex- ander. — IHssdi/ on the liaj Tarimji, or Ilhuloo Jlis- '•^'y of Cashmere — Asiatic Jieseiirchcs, voh xv. p. 82. This work was executed by four different per- sons, the first of whom wrote in 1118, but frequent and precise references are made to earlier writers. Akber to enter his service, and accept large jaghircs in IJehar. From this time, (Cashmere became the favourite summer re- treat of the Mogul rulers. The imperial arms were no.vt directed against the Knsofzeis and other Afghan tribes inhabiting the liilly countries round the plain of Peshawcr, among whom a pow- erful party had been established by Bayczeed, a false prophet, who founded a sect, self- styled ]{oushcnia, or the enlightened, and declared his folloners justified in seizing on the lands and property of all who refused to believe in his divine mission. The im- postor was defeated and slain, but his sons bore about his bones in an ark, and the youngest, .Telala, became formidable from his energy and ambition, and succeeded in gaining repeated advantages over the Delhi troops, many of whom perished, including Rajah Beer Bal, one of Akber's favourite generals. In IGOO, .Telalu obtained posses- sion of the city of Ghu/.nee, but was even- tually expelled and slain. The religious war was continued by his successors during the two next reigns (those of Jehangcer and Shah Jehan) ; and when the errors of the Iloushcnias became exploded, the Eusofzeis, who had long renounced their doctrines, continued to maintain hostilities with the house of Timur, and afterwards with the kings of Persia and Cabool, preserving throughout their turbulent independence undiminished. Sinde was captured in 1593, its ruler, on submission, being, according to the policy of Akl}er, enrolled among the nobles of the empire ; and Candahar, which had been seized by Shah Tahmasp soon after the death of Ilumayun, was recovered without a blow, in 159 1, owing to the disorders which marked the early part of the reign of his successor. Shah Abbas. By this last acqui- sition, Akber completed the possession of his hereditary kingdom beyond the Indus (the war with the Afghans being confined to the mountains) at nearly the same period at which he concluded the conquest of Ilin- doostan Proper. Excepting only Oudipoor and its gallant rana, with his immediate re- tainers, the other Rajpoot states of any im- The facts and dates become consistent as they approach A.D. GOO, and from that period to the termination of the history, with the conquest of the kingdom by Alcber, the chronology is accurate. Much interest- ing matter occurs incidentally, regarding Buddhism and Brahminism, (the former having been very early introduced into Cashmere), and also respecting the ancient worsiiip of the Xagas or Snake Gods. 114 DECCAN INVADED— 1596.— CANDEISH AND AHMEDNUGGUR TAKEN. portance all acknowledged Mogul supre- ' macy, and their chiefs had become changed from jealous tributaries to active auxiliaries, i The Deccau now became the theatre for Akber's aggression, to -which its perturbed condition oflercd every facility. After two years spent there by his son Morad, and otiier generals, during which time Ahmed- nuggur being besieged was nobly defended by the Sultana Chand, Akber proceeded in person to the scene of action, where Berar had already been surrendered on behalf of the king of Ahmednuggur. The conquest of Candeish was completed by the reduction of the strong fortress of Aseergluir,* in 1599, and Prince Danial made viceroy of the new provinces, with ]\Iirza Khan (the son of Behram, who had received the title of Khan Khanan, formerly bestowed by Hu- mayun on his ill-fated father) as his confi- dential adviser. Prince Danial took to wife the daughter of Ibrahim II., of Beejapoor, who, like the neighbouring king of Gol- conda, had deprecated, by presents and embassies, the anger of the powerful Mogul for having sided against his generals in the contest with Ahmednuggur .f These endea- vours would probably have proved fruitless, as many similar ones had done, but for the hurried and compulsory return of Akber to Hindoostan, owing to the misconduct of his eldest son and acknowledged heir. Selim was now above thirty years of age, and not deficient in natural ability ; but his intellccb had been impaired and his heart depraved by the excessive use of wine and opium. Taking possession of Allahabad, he made himself master of Oude and Behar, seized npon treasure amounting to thirty lacs of rupees (£.300,000), and assumed the title of king. These pretensions were speedily withdrawn on the appearance of Ak- ber, who behaved with extreme moderation ; but his ungrateful son, while expressing sub- mission and fidelity, took an opportunity of revenging his own supposed injuries, and inflicting a severe blow on the feelings of his father, by instigating the assassination of Abul Fazil, whom he both feared and hated. Au ambuscade was laid near Gwalior by * Willi this fortress, ten years' provisions and count- less treasures fell into the hands of the conqueror, ■wlio was supposed lo have em])loyed magical arts. t Tlie chief of tiinde is said to have employed I'or- tuf^ueao officers in his defence against Akber, and to have had 200 natives dressed as Kuropeans, wlio were consequently the earliest se/wi/s. lie had also a fort defended by iin Arab (garrison, " tlie first in- stance," says Mr. Elphinslone, "in whioh 1 have Nursing Deo Rajah of Oorcha, and Abul Fazil, after a brave defence, was slain with most of his attendants, a.d. 1603. Akber was greatly distressed by the loss of his friend and counsellor. He spent two days without food or sleep, and sent a force against Nursing Deo, with orders to seize his innocent family, ravage his country, and exercise other un- warrantable severities; but the intended vic- tim succeeded in eluding pursuit, and wag subsequently raised to high honour on the accession of Selim to the throne. Akber would not publicly recognise his son's share in the crime; J but, on the con- trary, conferred on him the pri-\dlege of using the royal ornaments, and other marks of the highest distinction. But all in vain. Selim became daily more brutal and de- bauched, until at last, the public quarrels between him and his son, Khosru (himself a violent-tempered youth) grew to such a height, that Khosru's mother (the sister of Maun Sing), in a moment of grief and despair, swallowed poison ; after which, her husband became so cruel and irascible, that Akber thought it necessary to place him under temporary restraint. He was no sooner released than his jealousy of his son (who he believed, and probably not without reason, desired to supplant him in the suc- cession to the throne) occasioned new scenes of disorder. Meanwhile Khosru himself was, beyond measure, envious of his younger brother, Khoorum (Shah Jehan), wlio was equally a favourite with both his father and grandfather. "While affairs at home were in this unsatisfactory state intelligence ar- rived of the decease of prince Danial. Morad had died some years before; now this other son, Selim's only remaining brother, was taken from Akber, under circumstances calculated to embitter the bereavement. In- temperance had laid fast hold on its victim, and thou;;U so surrounded by the faithful servants of his father as to be imable openly to gratify its solicitations, he found means to have liquor secretly conveyed to him in the barrel of a fowling-piece, and by unre- strained indulgence soon terminated his existence at the age of thirty (April 1G05.) observed any mention of that description cf merce- naries afterwards so much esteemed." Vol. ii. p. 2!)7.) t Selim, in his Miimoirs, openly ackno\vledge.s the crime and vindicates it on the plea of Abul l''azirs having induced his father to disbelieve in the Koran. For tills reason, he says, " 1 employed the man who killed Aliul Fazil and brought his head to me; and for tills it was that 1 in':uvred my father's deep dis- pleasure." — Price's Metnuirs nf Juhniijwiir, p. a3. CHARACTER AND RELIGIOUS OPINIONS OF AKBER. 115 I Alas for Akl)cr ! he was now about sixty- tlu'ce, and had probably anticipatnd tliiit an old age of peace and honour niif^ht crown a youth of vifii.ssitudo and daring advcnturn, and a maidiood of brilliant success. His foes were cither silent in tlic grave, or had been won by politic liberality to a chcci'ful acknowledgment of his supremacy; and the able system of civil government framed by the aid of the gifted brothers, Abul Fazil and Feizi,* and founded on a careful con- sideration of the customs and opinions of the Hindoos, had won from the mass of the people a degree of cordial and grateful sup- * Their f'atlier, a learned man, named JItjbarik, was expelled from Iiis situation as collcfje-tiitor at Asrra for latitudinariun if not atheistical opinions, which his sons, though. professin<; Moslems, evidently shared. Feizi dilif|;ently ap])lied himself to the study of Sanscrit, as did several of the most distin- guished men of Akber's court, tlirougli which a taste for literature was widely dilfused. Feizi was pre- sented to Akber in tlie twell"th year of his reign, and introduced Abul Fazil six years later, and they jointly became the intimate friends and confidants of their sovereitjn, who survived them lioth. An ac- count of the death of Feizi has been recorded by a jersonal friend but a zealous Mussulman (Abdul Ivader), and therefore it may bo higljly coloured, but, according to him, tliis celebrated scholar died blaspheminj;, with distorted features and blackened lips, but of what malady does not appear. — (Elphin- stone, vol. ii., ]>. ^20.) t " The religion of Akber," says Mr. Elphinstone, (who, by the aid of a manuscript translation of the Akbcrnamch., has obtained information otherwise accessible only to oriental scholars,) " was pure deism. • • * His fundamental doctrine was, that there were no prophets ; his appeal on all occasions was to Iiuman reason." — (Vol. ii., p. 322.) This free-thinking did not however interfere with his alleged right as " head of the church, [? what church] to decide all disputes among its members," nor prevent him from introducing a new confession of faith, declaring that " there was no God but God, and Akber icas his cahpli." — (p. .'324.) The practices of spiritual instructors of diH'erent denominations he did not scruple to adopt, and Abul Fazil, who wrote under his immediate supervision, makes rc|)eated mention of the supernatural endowments which he habitually and publicly exercised, and of the " nu- merous miracles which he performed." Among the many superstitious modes used in seeking '• success in business, restoration of health, birth of a son," &c., a favourite method adopted "by men of all nations and ranks," was to "invocate his majesty," to whom, on the obtainment of th.eir wishes, thev brought the olferings which they bad vowed. "Not a day passes," says Abul Fazil, " but people bring cups of water to the palace, beseeching him to breathe upon them. He who is privy to the secret.s of heaven reads the decrees of ftite, and if tidings of hope are received, takes the water from the supjjli- cant, places it in the sun's rays, and then having bestowed upon it his auspicious breath, returns it. Also many, whose diseases are deemed incurable, intreat him to breathe upon them, and are thereb', restored to health." — {Ayeen Akbery, vol. i., p, 665.) port which none of the " Great Moguls" before or after Akber ever acquired or even strove for. A total disbeliever in revealed religion, t he had found no difficulty in sanc- tioning the free exercise of all creeds, and in humouring national vanity, or courting sectarian prejudice whenever it suited his object, and it was always his object to be popular. To the Brahmin, the Buddhist, the Parsce,J the Jew and the Roman catholic,§ the emperor listened with courteous defer euce; and his legislative ability, personal daring, and suavity of manner, won golden opinions from multitudes who cared not to Had Akber lived in the middle of the nineteenth century he would have taken a peculiar interest in mesmerism, spirit-rapi)ing, and table-turning. t To the customs of this sect Akber practically in- clined more tlian to any other, his stated times of worship being day -break, noon, and midnight. " His majesty," Abul Fazil adds, " has also a great venera- tion for fire in general, and for lamps, since they arc to bo accounted rays of the greater light." — Glad- win's Ai/vi-n Akhery, vol. i., p. IGO.) § Akber appears to have played u])on the credu- lity of the priests sent from Goa in a manner which they have described with much naivete, though no Protestant can read their account without pain and indignation at the thought of the pure and life- giving faith of tlie meek and lowly Redeemer being presented to the imperial sceptic, under a form so little likely to win res])ectful attention. He had expressed a wish to see their chapel, which they dressed up for the occasion with every kind of ornament tliey could borrow from the Hindoos or any other quarter, and Akber declared himself dazzled with the result, and exclaimed that " no other religion could produce such brilliant proofs of its divinity;" a speech which, considering the enormous wealth in gold and gems he must have heard of, if not witnessed, in tho idola- trous temples of Hindoostan, wovild seem little better than a cutting sarcasm. He had on a previous oc- casion prostrated himself before a representation of the crucifixion, " but his chief emotion was excited on viewing a finely-painted and ornamented image of the Virgin. He gazed on it long in admiration, and declared that she appeared indeed the Queen of Heaven seated on her throne." The friars began to entertain great hopes of his conversion, but soon found that he persisted in " holding himself forth as an object of worship ; and though exceedingly tolerant as to other modes of faith, never would admit of any encroachments on his own divinity." One of his courtiers suffered it to transpire that the sole aim of the monarch in listening to the mis- sionaries was " curiosity and amusement," and this was confirmed soon afterwards by Akber's gravely proposing to them, as a means of deciding between their assertions and tliose of the Mohammedans, that a famous Mullah should leap into a furnace with the Koran in his hand, followed by one of the friars bearing a Bible. He promised thai the Mullah should leap in first, hinting that he would not at all regret to see him fall a s.acrifice to his presumption ; but the friars refused the ordeal, and not feelinff " much at ease in the Mogul court, soon solicited and obtained permission to return to Goa.'' — (Mur- ray's Account of Discoveries, vol. ii., p. 92.) 116 DEATH OF THE EMPEROR AKBER— a.d. 1605. search out the selfishness which was tlie hidden main-spring of every project, wliethcr ostensibly for the promotion of external aggression or internal prosperity. But now the season for rest had arrived, and he might hope to enjoy the wide-spread dominion and almost incalculable wealth, which a clever head and a sharp sword had combined to viin. His strongly-built and handsome frame* had escaped almost unscathed from the dangers and fatigues of the battle-field, the toilsome march, the onslaught of wild beasts, and the weapon of the assassin. All had failed to dispirit or unnerve him, and the conduct of an intricate campaign, or the pressure of civil government (a far more dif- ficult undertaking for one who had to make laws as well as superintend their execution), never absorbed the time and energy neces- sary to the active part which he loved to bear in mental or bodilj^ exercises of all de- scriptions, from philosophical discussions to elephant and tiger hunts, animal fights, feats of jugglers, and other strangely varied diversions. Though in youth given to iu- ulgence in the luxuries of the table, in later life he became sober and abstemious, re- fraining from animal food on particular days, amounting altogether to nearly a quarter of the year. There is, however, reason to believe that, like his father and grandfather, he was addicted to the inordi- nate use of opium,t an insidious vice which would partially account for the criminal * "My father," says Jehangeer, "was tall in sta- ture, of a ruddy, or wheateii, or init-brown com- plexion ; his eyes and eyebrows dark, the latter running across into each other. Handsome in his e.\terior he had the strength of a lion, which was indicated by the extraordinary breadth of his chest and the length of his arms." A black mole on his nose was jjronounced by ])hysiognomists a sure prognostication of extraordinary good fortune. — (Price's Mumoirs of Julianrjucir, p. 40.) f Ferishta mentions that Akber was taken dan- gerously ill about 1582, " and as his majesty had ado]>ted the habit of eating o])ium as llumayun his father had done before him, people became appre- hensive on his account." — (Vol. li., p. 253.) I Abul Fazil states that to the Noroza, or ninth day of each month, .\kber gave the name of Kluis- roz, or day of diversion, and caused a female market or sort of royal fair, to be held and frequented by the ladies of the harem and others of distinction, going himself in disguise to learn the value of dif- ferent kinds of merchandize, and what was thought of the government and its executive odlcers. — {^Ayeen Akbertj, vol. i., p. 22R.) Tod attributes the presence of Akber to a dill'ercnt and most disgrace- ful motive, and says, that however incredible it may S'^eni, that so keen-sighted a statesman should have risked his power and popularity by introducing an immoral festival of Kcytliic origin, peculiarly oji- excesses in another respect attributed to him by Hindoo authorities,! and wliich, however notorious, would unquestionably have been passed over in silence by so ful- some a panegyrist and determined a partisan as Abtd Fazil. Regarding the cause of his death, Hindoo records likewise cast a dark cloud, § to which Mr. Elphinstone makes no allusion, but simply notes the total loss of appetite and prostration of strength which were the chief symptoms of the fatal disease. In truth, the disgraceful nature of his recent domestic afflictions, and the cabals and struggles respecting the succession, (which raged so fiercely that liis only son was with difficulty induced to attend his dying bed,) were alone sufficient to bring a proud and sensitive spirit with sorrow to the grave. Akber expired in October, 1605, hav- ing been for nearly the whole forty-nine years of his reign a cotemporary ruler with Elizabeth of England, whose enterprise liad prepared an embassy (sent by her successor) to solicit from him the promotion of the peaceful pursuits of commerce between their subjects. How little could these mighty ones of the earth have foreseen that the sceptre of Akber would eventually fall from the feeble grasp of his weak and vicious descendants, into the hands of the struggling community of traders, for whose protection an imperial firman was at first so humbly solicited. These marvellous changes teach great lessons. May we but profit by them. posed to the sensitive honour of the Rajpoots, " yet there is nevertheless not a shadow of doubt that many of the noblest of the race were dishonoured on the Noroza," and one of the highest in the court (Pirtlii Raj) was only preserved from being of the number by the courage and virtue of his wife, a princess of Mewar, who, having become separated from her companions, found herself alone with Akber, in return to whose solicitations she " drew a poinard from her corset, and held it to his breast, dictating and making him repeat, an oath of renun- ciation of such infamy to all her race." The wife of Ray Sing is said to have been less fortunate or less virtuous. — [Annuh of Itdjast'hun, vol. i., p. 345.) § "The Boondi records," says Tod, -'are well worthy of belief, as diaries of events were kept by her princes, who were of the first importance in this and the succeeding reigns." They expressly state that a desire to be rid of the gieatRiijah l\laun Sing of Joypoor, to whom he was so much indebted, and whom lie did not dare openly attack, induced Akber to prepare a miinJUit (intoxicating confection), part of which he poisoned — but presenting by mistake the innocuous portion to tlie Rajah, he took the other himself, and thus perished in his own snare. Maun Sing had excited the displeasm-c of both Akber and Selim, by seconding the pretensions of his nephew, Khosru to the throne. Old Kuronean writers at- tribute the death of Akber to a similar cause. fr= IMPROVED llEVENUE SYSTEM ADOPTED IJY AKP.KR. 117 At the period of Akbcr's death the em- pire was (livi(l(!(l into fifteen suhahs or pro- vinces, iianu'ly, Ailalialnid, Af^ra, Oude, Ajmccr, (iuzcrat, l$ch;ir, Benf^al, Delhi, Cabool, Lahore, Moultan, Malwa, Berar, Candcish, and Ahmednuf^gur. Each had its own viceroy [sepah sillar),* who exercised complete control, civil and niililary, snbjcct to the instructions of the king. Under him were the revcnnc fnnctionaries, and also the foiijilam, or military commanders, whose authority extended alike over the regular troops and local soldiery or militia within their districts. Justice was administered by a court composed of an officer named meer adel (lord justice) and a cazi. The ])oliee of considerable towns was under an ollieer called the cii/wa/ ; in smaller places, under the revenue olRccr ; and in villages, under the internal authorities. f The revenue system, by which Akbcr gained so much celebrity, had, in fact, been partially introduced during the brief reign of Sheer Shah. Its objects were — First, to obtain a correct measurement of the land, by the establishment of a uniform standard, to supersede the differing measures formerly employed even by public officers; and by the appointment of fit persons, provided with im])roved instruments of mensuration, to furnish accounts of all cultivable lands within the empire. Second, the land was divided into three classes, according to its fertility; the amount of each sort of produce that a begah| would yield was ascertained, the average of the three was assumed as the produce of a begah, and one-third of that produce foi'med the government demand. But any cultivator wlio thought the amount claimed too high might insist on an actual * This title wa.s subsequently c]ianged to siihah- ilar, and an additional financial oHicer introduced, named the ilcwaii, who was subordinate to the su- balidar, but appointed by the king. t The general tone of the instructions given to these functionaries appears as just and benevolent as could M-ell be expected under a desjiotisni ; the question is, how far they were carried out in the right spirit. There are, however, some enactments which reflect little credit on the law-giver, such as the following : " Let him (the cutwal) see that l)utchers, those who wash dead bodies, and others who perform unclean ofKces, have their dwelling separate from other men, who should avoid the society of such stony-hearted, dark-miuded wretches. ^Vhosoevcr drinketh out of the same cup with an executioner, let one of his hands be cut off; or if he ealetli out of his kettle, deprive him of one of his fingers." — Gladwin's Ayeen Akhery. X An Indian measure, much above half-an-acre. § The ancient riders of Ilindoostan, Abul Fazil admits, claimed but one-sixth. — -Vol. i., p. 278. K mea.surement and division of the crop. Tliird, the produce was to be converted into a money [jaynu'ut, taken on an average of the preceding nineteen years; but, as in the previous case, every husbandman was allowed to pay in kind if he thought the rate in specie fixed too high. All i)articu- lars respecting the classification and revenue of the land were annually recorded in the village registers; and as at the period of the introduetion of this system Akbcr abolished a vast number of vexatious taxes and fees to oflicers, the pressure on individuals is said to have been lightened, though the profit to the state was increased. It sliould, however, be remembered that Akbcr claimed one- third of the produce, and Sheer Shah had professed to take but one-fourth. § The farming of any branch of the revenue was not allowed, and the collectors were instructed to deal directly with individual cultivators, and not rely implicitly on the headman and accountant of the village. The chief agent in these reforms was llnjah Todar I\Iul, whose zealous observance of the fasts aud other requirements of the Brahrainical religion, doubtless angmrnted his influence among his own nation. Thus, whether in military proceedings or civil government, Akbcr always gladly availed himself of the abilities of the IIindoo.s, of wliose character he unquestionably formed a very high estimate, || and whose good will (notwithstanding the aggression on which his interference was grounded) he greatly conciliated by three important edicts, which involved concessions to human rights, of a description rarely made byoricntal despots, to whose notions of government by the sword all freedom is essentially opposed. lu loGl, ll .\bul Fazil, who may be taken as a fair expo- nent of the feelings of his royal master (in the for- tieth year of whose reign he wrote), thus e.xprcsses himself on this point : — " Summarily the Hindoos are religious, affable, courteous to strangers, cheer- ful, enamoured of knowledge, fond of inflicting austerities u])on themselves, lovers of justice, given to retirement, able in business, grateful, admirers of truth, and of unbounded fidelity in all their deal- ings. Their character shines brightest in adversity." He adds his conviction, from frequent discourses with learned Brahmins, that they " one and all be- lieve in the unity of the Godhead ; and although they hold images in high veneration, yet they are by no means idolaters," which latter assertion may be doubted as applied to the lower and less-informed professors of any religion which inculcates or suffers the "high veneration" of images. Lastly, he says, " they have no slaves among them," a remark to which we may have occasion to revert in a subse- quent section. — Ayeen Akbery, vol. ii., pp. 294-'5. .1 118 CAPITATION-TAX ON INFIDELS ABOLISHED BY AKBER. a prohibition was issued against the making slaves of pei'sons captured in war ; an infa- mous practice, whicli had gained such a height that not only the innocent wives and children of garrisons taken by storm were sold into slavery, but even the peaceable inhabitants of a hostile country were seized for the same purpose. In 1563, the jezia or capitation-tax on infidels was abolished ; and about the same time all taxes on pilgrims were removed, because, " although the tax fell on a vain superstition, yet, as all modes of worship were designed for one Great Being, it was wrong to throw an obstacle in the way of the devout, and to cut them off from their mode of intercourse with their Maker." [Akber Namah, MS. translation.) The condition of the royal slaves* was ameliorated by Akber ; but it does not ap- pear that he made any attempt to restore liberty even to those from whom it had been ravished by the glaring injustice above de- scribed. Nor would any effort of a purely just and benevolent tendency have been consistent with the character of one whose ambition filled the mountain fortresses of Hiudoostan with captives,t and who scru- pled not to form minarets of human heads,J or give orders for the complete extermina- tion of a flying foe.§ In the regidation of the ai-my great alterations were made : the troops, where- ever it was practicable, were paid in cash from the treasury, instead of by jaghires and assignments on the revenue ; and the tricks played at the musters by means of servants * The king (says Abul Fazil) disliking the word slave, desired that of chelah (signifying one who re- lies upon another) to be applied in its place. " Of these unfortunate men there are several kinds: 1st. Those who are considered as common slaves, being infidels taken in battle ; and they are bought and sold. 2nd. Those who of themselves submit to bon- dage. 3rd. The children born of slaves. 4th. A thief who becomes the slave of the owner of the stolen goods. 5th, He who is sold for the fjrice of blood. The daily pay of a chelah is from one dam to one rupee ; they are formed into divisions, and committed to the cave of skilful persons, to be instructed in various arts and occupations." — Glad- win's Aijccn Akhcrij, vol. i., p. 209. t Among the prisoners who perished by violence in the fort of Gwalior, was tlic only son of the un- happy Kamran. The reason docs not a])pear; but the execution is stated by Price, on the authority of Abul Fazil, as commanded by Akber some time after the death of K^iran ; and Ferishta (also apparently quoting the ytkhornamch) says that liehram Khan was accused of intending to intrigue with the un- fortunate prince; a very unlikely supposition, con- sidering the enmity wliich he had ever dis])laycd to- wards his father.- — Dow'a HindonsUin, vol. ii., p. 32-1. and camp-followers, motmted for the day on borrowed horses, prevented, by written de- scriptions of every man's person, and the marking of each horse. But the organiza- tion of the army was never very complete. The king named the munsubdars\\ or officers, as he thought fit, commanders of from 10 to 10,000 men; hut these numbers, in all but the lowest classes, were merely nominal, and only served to fix the rank and pay of the holders, whose actual force, often not a tenth of their figure on paper, when mustered, was paid from the treasury. Each munsub- dar was obliged to keep half as many infan- try as horsemen ; and of the infantry, one- fourth were required to be matchlockmen, the rest might be archers. There were also a distinct body of horsemen, called ahdis (single men), whose pay depended upon their merits, but was always much higher than that of the ordinary cavalry. Into every branch of the imperial arrangements, domes- tic as well as public, the most careful me- thod was introduced — the mint, treasury, and armoury — the harem, with its 5,000^ in- habitants — the kitchens,** baths, perfume offices, fruiteries, and flower-gardens, alike manifested the order-loving mind of their rtder. The department which he appears to have superintended with especial pleasure, was that comprising the various descriptions of animals, whether belonging to the class pecu- liarly adapted for the use and benefit of man, or to that of the savage beasts who played a leading part in the barbarous fights and shows which formed the chief popular \ Bird's Gujarat, p. 338. § " What with the examples made during the reign of my father," writes Jehangeer, "and subse- quently during my own, there is scarcely a province in the empire in which, cither in battle, or by the sword of the executioner, 500,000 or 600,000 human beings have not fallen victims to [what he terms] their fatal disposition to discontent and turbulence." — (p. 128.) Allowing the narrator to have had, as was doubtless the case, the larger share in this wholesale destruction, and supposing the numbers to be overstated, there yet remains ample evidence to indicate a terrible waste of human life on the part of both monarchs. II None but the king's sons were munsubdars of more than 5,000 ; and this latter class, according to the At/cen Akhcrij, comprised only thirty persons. *\ Kach of wliom had an apartment and a monthly stipend, " equal to her merit," of from two to 1,610 rupees, that is, from four shillings to £1()I. •* The emperor took but one meal a-day, for which there being no fixed time, tlie cooks were ordered to keep 100 dishes always in readiness to set on table at an hour's notice. " What is reqviired for the harem," adds Abul Fnzil witli sly sarcasm, " is goinif forward from morning till night." WEALTH OF AKBER AND OTHER GREAT MOGULS. 113 diversions of the age. The elephants,* dro- medaries, and camels; horses and mules; oxen, hun'alocs, rhinoocroscs, and tame deer; lions, tif^crs, and |)anthcrs; huntinr^-lcopards, hounds, and liawiis ; — received as much at- tention as it' their roj'al master liad been a vctcrinaiy surgeon : wliilc, in tlic matter of tame partridges and pigeons, no schoolboy could have been a greater adept than the mighty monarch, Akber Padshah. f Tiie town of Futtelipoor Silcri, near Agra, built and fortified by Akber, although now deserted, jircscnts ample evidence of having been a place, botli in magnificence and architectural beauty, adapted for the abode of one of the wealthiest sovereigns the world ever knew. Respecting tlie amount of the treasures seized from Moslem and Hindoo palaces and temples, we have no reliable in- formation.]: Jehangeer asserts, that of the paraphernalia and rcrpiisitcs for grandeur, accumulated by Akber, " whether in trea- sure ors[)lendid furniture of any description, the invincible Tiniur, who subdued the world, and from whom my father was eighth in descent, did not possess one-tenth." He adds, that Akber, desirous to ascertain the contents of the treasury at Agra, had 400 pairs of scales kept at work, day and night, weighing gold and jewels only. At the ex- piration oi Jive months the work was still far from being concluded ; the emperor, from some cause or other, not choosing to have it * According to Abul Fazil, Akber had between 5,000 and 6,(100 elcpbants, of wliom 101 were kept for liis own riding. He deliglited in the exercise; and, even when in their most excited state, would place his foot on the tusk of one of these enormous creatures, and mount in an instant ; or spring upon its back, IVcmi a wall, as it rushed furiously ]iast. A fine elephant cost a lac of rujiees (£10,000), had five men and a boy aUotted for its service, and a stated daily allowance of rice, sugar, milk, ghoe, &c., besides 300 sugar-canes per diem, during the season. Every ten eh-phaiits were su])crintended by an offi- cer, whose duty it was to rejjort daily to the emperor their exact condition — whether they ate less food than usual, or were in any way indisposed. t On a jo\irney or march, the court was never accompanied by less than 20,000 pigeons, with bear- ers carrying their houses. Of the quality of these birds, Abul Fazil remarks, his majesty had discovered " infallible criterions," such as twisting their feet, slitting their eyelids, or opening their nostrils. J In Mandelsloe's travels (Harris's J "oyni/es, vol. iii., p. 702), an inventory is given of the treasure in jewels, bullion, coin, and other property belonging to Akber at the time of his death, which that ti-a- veller states to have been furnished him by " very knowing and worthy persons," in the reign of Shah Jehan, whom he describes as possessing " eight large vaults filled with gold, silver, and precious stones, the value of which is inestimable." The items are continued, had the treasures safely secured, and was content to be the master of " un- told gold." In this astoimding statement there would seem to be cither some great mistake on the part of the eopyist,^ or gross exaggeration on that of the royal autobio- graplier. Tlie latter is jiroliably in faidt; for although he fretpicntly criminates him- self by confessing the commission of crimes which other writers would scarcely have ventured to attribute to him (the murder of Abul Fazil, for instance), yet his credulity and tendency to " high colouring," render much sifting necessary before receiving his assertions, and greatly enhance the value of coiToborative evidence. European tra- vellers go far to establish the probability of otlierwise incredible statements regarding the enormous wealth of the Great Moguls, by their descriptions of the magnificence of the court, and also of the steady influx of gold and silver still annually received in return for silk, cotton, spices, and various products, for which coin or bullion was the chief exchange, other commodities or manu- factures being taken only in comparatively small quantities. Reign of Jehangeer. — The bier of Akber was carried through the palace-gates of Agra by Selim and his three sons, Khosru, Khoorum, and Parvacz, and borne thence to its stately mausoleum II at Sceundra (three miles distant), by the princes and chief interesting — in certain sorts of money coined by the express order of Akber, in another description, called Akber rupees, and in " payses [pice], sixty whereof make a crown," — total value = 109,173,333 crowns, or about £50,000,000 sterling. In jewels, 30,026,026 crowns; " statues of gold, of divers crea- tures," 9,503,370 e. ; gold plate, dishes, cups, and household-stuff, 5,866,895 c. ; porcelain and other earthen vessels, 1,255,873 c. ; brocades — gold and silver stuffs, silks and muslins, 7,654,989 c. ; tents, hangings, and tapestries, 4,902,772 c. ; twenty-four thousand manuscripts, richly bound, 3,231,865 c. ; artillery and ammunition, 4,287,985 c; small arms, swords, bucklers, pikes,bows,arrows, &c., 3,777,752 c.; saddles, bridles, and other gold and silver accoutre- ments, 1,262,824 c.; coverings for elephants and horses, embroidered with gold, silver, and pearls, 2,500,000 c.; woollen cloths, 251,626 c.; brass and copper utensils, 25,612 c. ; making a total (coin in- cluded) of 274,113,793 c., or £68,528,448 sterling. § The Persian copy of Jehangeer's Metnoirs, trans- lated by M.ijor Price, was unfortunately imperfect; that from which Mr. Gladwin has borrowed largely, is considered less defective. II This superb structure, begun by Akber, was finished by his successor, who declared ttie total cost to have beeii about £1,800,000. The amiable mother of Akber, Hamcida, afterwards termed Miriam Me- kani, had been buried only two years before in IIu- mayun's tomb at Delhi. 120 ACCESSION OF THE EMPEROR JEHANGEER, a.d. 1605. nobles. Owing to the exertions made by the Late sovereign on his death-bed to pre- vent the threatened outbreak of domestic rivalry, and to the successful negotiations entered into with Rajah Maun Sing, and other leading persons, Selim was proclaimed emperor unopposed. With undisguised de- light he mounted the jewelled throne, on which such enormous sums had been lavished, and placed on his brows the twelve- pointed crown.* The chief ameers were summoned from the different provinces to attend the gorgeous and prolonged cere- monial; for forty days and nights the nukm-a, or great state-drum, sounded triumphantly ; odoriferous gums were kept burning in censers of rare workmanship, and immense candles of camphorated wax, in branches of gold and silver, illumined the hours of darkness. Considering " universal conquest the pe- culiar vocation of sovereign princes," the new emperor, in the coinage struck upon his accession, assumed the title of Jehan- geer (conqueror of the world), and ex- pressed a hope so to acquit himself as to justify the assumption of this high-sounding epithet. His early measuresf were of a more pacific and benevolent tendency than might have been expected either from this com- mencement, or his general character. He confirmed most of his father's old servants in their offices ; issued orders remitting some vexatious duties which existed, not- * The crown and throne, those favourite symbols of power, with which eastern kings have ever de- lighted to dazzle the eyes of their subjects, were of extraordinary magnificence and beauty. The for- mer — made by the order of Akber, in the fashion of that worn by the Persian kings — had twelve points, each surmounted by a diamond of the purest water, while the central point terminated in a single pearl of extraordinary size ; the whole (including many valuable rubies) being estimated at a cost equivalent to £2,070,000 sterling. The throne, so constructed as to be easily taken to pieces and put together again, was ascended by silver stejis, on the top of which four silver lions supported a canopy of jnire gold, the whole adorned with jewels, to an amount, which Price translates, as equal to £,'30,000,000 sterling. f One of these, most creditable to Jchangeer, in- volves a terrible revelation of existing evils. He ordered the governor of Bengal to take decided mea- sures for abolishing the infamous practice, long used in Silhet and other dcjicndencies of Bengal, of com- pelling the people to sell their children, or else emasculate and deliver them up to the governors of those province.s in satisfaction for their rents, — by which means some thousand eunuchs had been made yearly. — Gladwin's Jdiangccr, p. 101. X Sir Thomas Roe was occasionally admitted to the evening entertainments, when the Great Mogul, mated on a low throne, threw off all restraint, and, withstanding the recent reformatory mea- sures ; and desiring to give access to all classes of people who might choose to ap- peal to him personally, caused a gold chain to be hung between a stone pillar near the Jumna and the walls of the citadel of Agra, communicating with a string of little bells suspended in his private apartments ; so that the suitor, by following the chain, would be enabled to announce his presence to the emperor without anj' intermediary. For this invention, Jehangeer takes great credit, and also for the interdict placed by him on the use of wine, and the regulations for that of opium ; but as his own habits of nightly intoxication were notorious,]: the severe punishment with which he visited all other offenders against the laws of strict temperance, gives little evidence of the rigid justice so repeatedly put forward in his autobiography, § as his leading principle of action. Among his first proceedings, was the release of all prisoners throughout the empire. " From the fortress of Gwalior alone," he says, "there were set at liberty no less than 7,000 individuals, some of whom had been in confinement for forty years. Of the number discharged altogether on this occasion, some conception may be formed, when it is mentioned, that within the limits of Hindoostan there are not less than 2,400 fortresses, of name and strength, exclusive of those in the kingdom of Bengal, which surpass all reckoning." — {Memoirs, p. 10.) together with most of his companions, drank himself into a state of maudlin intoxication. A courtier once indiscreetly alluded, in public, to a debauch of the previous night, upon which Jehangeer affected surprise, inquired what other persons had shared in this breach of the law, and ordered those named to be so severely bastinadoed that one of them died. In his Memoirs, he makes no secret of his habitual excesses, but says his usual allowance once reached twenty cups of spirits a-day, and that if he was a single hour without his beverage, his hands began to shake, and he was unable to sit at rest. After coming to the throne, he took for some time but five cups (little more than a quart), diluted with wine, and only after niglit-fall. Of opium, his daily dose, at forty- six years of age, was eight ruttecs, orsixty-four grains. § This Autobiography resembles that of Timor in the manner in which the royal narrator boldly alleges good motives for his worst deeds, and after describing the torments and cruel deaths inflicted by him on thousands of unhappy beings, dwells, almost in the same page, on his own compassionate and loving nature, giving, as exanqilcs, tlie letting free of birds, deluded by tlie skilfid murmuring of the C'aslimcrians into captivity; his regret for tlie death, by drowning, of a little boy who used to guide his ek'iihant, and similar circumstances. In spite of its defects, the book is botli valualile and interest- ing, as throwing much light on the customs and HISTORY OF NOUR MAHAL, AFTERWARDS NOUR J KUAN. 121 Jcliangecr was not lonj^ permitted to en- joy in peace liis vast iiilicritancc.* The ])artial reconciliation between liiin and Prince Kliosru was little more tlian a t(;m- porary cessation of hostilities, marked by distrnst and tyranny on tlie one side — sul- Icniiess and disaHeetion on the other. At Icngtii, some four months after his accession, the emperor was aroused at midnif^ht with the tidings that his son had fled to Delhi, with a few attendants. A detachment was immediately sent in pui'snit, and .Jehan<^eer followed in the morninsi; with all the force he could collect; but notwithstandiuf^ these prompt measures, Khosru succeeded in as- sembling upwards of ](),()(K) men (who sub- sisted by plunder), and obtained possession of Lahore. He was, however, defeated in a contest with a detachment of the royal troops ; taken prisoner in a boat, which ran aground in the Hydaspcs; and in lessthan a month, the wliole rebellion was com- pletely quashed. When brought in chains of gold into the presence of his father, Khosru, in reply to the reproaches and questions addressed to him, refused to criminate his advisers or abettors, entreating tliat his life might be deemed a suificicnt penalty for the ollences he had instigated. Jehangccr, always ready to take advantage of any plausible pretext for the exercise of his barbarous and cruel disposition, spared his sou's lifc,t but wreaked an ample ven- geance, by compelling liim to witness the agonies of his friends ami adherents. Some were sewn up in raw hides and exposed to a burning sun, to die in lingering tortures of several days' duration ; others flayed alive ; while no less than 700 were impaled in a line leading from the gate of Lahore, and so long as any of these unfortunates eon- opinions of the age, and on the demonologv, alche- my, and various superstitions in which Jcliangecr was as firm a believer as his royal compeer, James I., of ]Cnf;'land, wliom lie resembled in another point, namely, strong dislike to tobacco (then newly in- troduced by the Portuguese), against which he also issued a " counterblast," in the shape of a decree, forbidding its use in Hindoostan, as Shah Abbas had jireviously done throughout Persia. • Besides the treasure accumulated by his father, I he received the property (amounting, in jewels alone, I to £4,500,000,) which Danial liad contrived to amass I in the Deccan, in great measure by open violence, or, as Jehangeer mildly phrases it, by compelling people to sell to him elephants and other ])voperty, and sometimes omitting to pay for tlicm. The ;iOO ladies of the prince's harem were likewise sent to the emperor; who, being somewhat puzzled how to dis- [ pose of so large an addition to his family, gave them to underitand that Uiey were, one and all, free to tinned to breathe, the prince was brought daily to the spot, in mock state, mounted on an elephant ami preceded by a mace- bearer, who called out to him to receive the salutations of his servants. Khosru passed three days and nights without tasting food, and long remained a prey to the deepest melanclioly. At the expiration of a year, Jehangeer seemed disposed to lighten his captivity by suffering his chains to be struck off, but a conspiracy for his release being subsequently detected (or invented by the partisans of Prince Khoorum), he was confined as closely as before. In 1(507, an army was despatched, tmder Mcdiabet Khan (son of Sagurji, the recreant brother of Pertap), against Umra, Rana of Oudipoor, and another under the Khan Kha- nan, into the Deccan ; l)ut both were unsuc- cessful, and the hitter especially received re- peated defeats from Malek Amber, who retook Alimedutiggur; and uniting to his talents for war no less ability for civil government, introduced a new revenue system into the Deccan, and obtained there equal celebrity to that acquired by Rajah Todar ]\Iul in Hindoostan. During these proceedings, Jehangeer was j)rivately oecujiicd in the criminal intrigues which resulted in his marriage with the celebrated Nour Jclian. This clever, but un- principled woman, was the daughter of a Persian adveuturcr.J who having succeeded in gaining admittance to the service of Akber, rose to a position of trust and honour. His wife frequently visited the royal harem with her young daughter, whose attractions speedily captivated the heir-apparent. Akber being made aware of what was passing, had Nonr Jehan bestowed in marriage on Sheer Afghan, a young bestow themselves and their dowries on any of the nobles who might desire them in marria.ge. t There is a passa^'o in tlie Memairs which indi- cates pretty clearly that Jehangeer would have felt little scruple in following " the distinguished exam- ])le" given by "the house of Othman, who, for the stability of their royal authority, of all their sons, preserve but one, considering it expedient to destroy all the rest." — (p. 60.) X Gheias was a man well born, hut reduced to poverty, and driven to seek subsistence by emigrating with his wife and children to India. Directly after reaching Candahar, Xour Jehan was born ; and, being worn down with fatigue and want, the miserable parents exposed the infant on a spot by which the caravan was to pass. Tlie expedient succeeded : a rich merchant saw and took compassion on the child, relieved the distress of its parents, and, perceiving the father and eldest son to be persons of education and ability, procured for them suitable employment. 123 NOUR MAHAL MADE EMPRESS, a.d. 1611. Persian, distinguished for his bravery, to Trhom he gave a jaghire in Bengal, wliither he proceeded, accompanied by his young bride. But the matter did not end here; for Jehangeer, about a year after liis ac- cession, took occasion to intimate to Kootb- oo-deen, the viceroy of Bengal (his foster- brother), hia desire to obtain possession of the cbject of his unhallowed passion. En- deavours were made to sound Sheer Afghan on the subject ; but tlie high-spirited chief, at the first intimation of the designs enter- tained .igainst his honour, threw up his com- mand, and left off wearing arms, as a sign that he was no longer in the king's service. After this, repeated attempts were made to assassinate him, until at length, at a com- pulsory interview with Kootb-oo-decn, per- ceiving himself entrapped, he resolved to sell his life dearly — slew the viceroy and several other officers, and at last fell him- self, covered with wounds. Nour Jehan was seized and sent to court, but, either from some temporary aversion on her part to the murderer of her husband, or (for the tale is differently told) from some equally short-lived compunction on bis, she was allowed to remain in the seraglio inmoticed for above four years. The passion of the emperor at length reviving, he made her his ■wife ; bestowed on her, by an imperial edict, the title of empress ; and styled her first, Nour ]\Iahal [tlie Ugld of the harem), and afterwards Nour Jehan [the light of the world.) Her influence became unbounded : beginning by a feminine desire for splendid jewels,* she soon manifested her capacity for coveting and exercising arbitrary do- minion, and eviuced as much energy and ambition, and as little principle as could be * Jt'hangeer states that he assigned for her dowry an amount equal to £7,200,000 sterling, " which sum she requested as indispensable for the purchase of jewels, and I granted it without a murmur." — (p. 271.) He also gave her a pearl necklace, com- prising forty beads, each one of great worth. These statements must, of course, be taken 'jiinnltim v.tleut, and are only cited to enable the reader to form some idea of the numerous and costly jewels worn at the period: the accumulation of which had been for ages the favourite employment of the Hindoo princes, from whom they had been plundered. In evidence of the excessive desire for splendid jewels, may be no- ticed the testimony of Sir Thomas Jloe's chaplain — that one of the cou)-tiers purchased from a merchant a large pear-sha])ed pearl, which he had brought with him from England, for the sum of £1,200. t 'J'he Itajpoots have been fortunate in having had Tod for a chronicler ; but they still need a Walter Scott to pop\darize their deeds of love and war in the eyes of thos,-; who care not to look on truth un- mixed with fiction. Yet Rajpoot annals, even in the paralleled in many (so called) "great men." Honours never before enjoyed by the consort of any Indian potentate were lavished upon her, even to the conjunction of her name on the coin with that of Jehangeer; her father, Jlirza Gheias, w-as made prime minis- ter ; her brother, Asuf Khan, placed in a high station ; and, on every affair in which she took an interest, her will was law. The legislative ability of Mirza Gheias produced beneficial effects in public affairs ; and his modest, yet manly bearing, con- ciliated the nobility, who soon learned to appreciate the value of the control wliich he exercised over the ill-regulated mind of the emperor. Nour Jehan found employment in superintending the construction of pub- lic edifices and gardens ; and by skilftil management, increased the magnificence of the court and lessened the expenditure. The mode of preparing the famous otto of roses is generally attributed, in India, cither to her or to her mother. Soon after this marriage, the disturbances in Bengal, which had prevailed throughout the previous years of Jehangeer's reign, were brought to a close a.d. 1612. Malek Amber's Mahratta-like mode of warfare proved increasingly successful in the Deccan, and the imperial forces were decidedly worsted ; but in Mewar, Prince Khoorum, at the head of 20,000 men, obtained the submission of Rana Urara Sing, who, after sustaining seventeen pitched battles, was at length compelled to bow to the jMoguls " the crimson banner" which, for more than 800 years, had waved in proud independence over the heads of the Gehlotes. Prince Khoorum (the son of a Rajpootni) evinced affectionate respect towards his brave foe;t sober page of the historian, are fraught with romance and chivalry. Take one instance. During the war with Jehangeer, an opportunity occurred to recover some frontier lands in the plains, and Unira, with all his chiefs, assembled for the purpose. Two rival cl.ms (whose feuds largely contributed to the ruin of Mewar) disputed the privilege of forming the hcrole or vanguard, and the sword would have decided the question but for the tact of the prince, who exclaimed, " The heroic to the clan that first enters Ontala." Ontala was a frontier fortress, about eighteen miles cast of Oudipoor, situated on rising ground, with a stream liowing beneath its massy walls, round towers at intervals, and but one gate. Some hours before day-break the clans moved off to the attack ; the Suk- tawuts ai-rived first, and made directly for the gate- way ; the Chondawuts, less skilled in topography, traversed a swamj), which retarded them ; but they brought ladders, and, on arriving, tlieir chief at once conmienced the escalade. A ball struck him l)ack lifeless among his vassals. Meanwhile, the Sukta- wuts were also checked; for the elephant on which SUBJUGATION OF OUDirOOR, a.d. ini I.— EMBASSY OF IlOii. 123 and JehatiRCcr himself, delighted at having obtained, by means of the valour of his favourite son, the iiomairc of a prince whose ancestors, intrenched iu tiicir mountain stronghoUls, "had never beheld a king of Ilindoostan, or made submission to any one," sent to the rana a friendly firman, with tlic " imjiress of his five lingers," and desired Klioorum, " liy any means by which it coukl be brought al)out, to treat this il- lustrious one according to his own heart's wishes."* The personal attendance of Umra at the !Mogul court was excused, and a simi- lar exemiition extended to the future reign- ing sovereigns of ]\Icwar, the heir-a])parcnt being received as their representative. Prince Kurrun, the son and successor of Urara, was most honourably welcomed by Jehangeer, who placed him on his right hand, above every other noble, and declared that ''his countenance carried the impression of his illustrious extraction. "t Nour Jehan like- wise loaded him witli gifts and dignities ; but the prince, feeling his newly-forged chains none the lighter for the flowers with which they were wreathed, still remained sad and humiliated, tliough courteous in his bearing. Umra was yet furtiier from being reconciled to become a fief-holder of the em- pire. To receive the imperial firman outside his capital was the only concession demanded from him, in return for which Klioorum oflered to withdraw every Moslem from Mewar. But he could not be brought to submit to the humiliation ; therefore, assem- bling the chiefs, he made the tecka (the their leader rode, and or. whose strength he depended to force the gate, was dctt?rred from approaching Ijy its projecting spikes. His men were falling thick about him, when a shout from the rival clan in- spired a des])eratc resolve. Springing to tlie ground, he covered the spikes with his own body, and baile the driver, on pain of instant death, propel the ele- phant against him. The gates gave way, and over the dead body of their chief the clan rushed on to the combat, and, fighting with resistless energy, slaughtered the Moguls, ami planted on the castle tlie standard of Mewar. liut the heroic was not for them j for the next in rank and kin, and heir to the Chonda- wut leader, had caught the lifeless body as it fell, and, true to his title (the mad chief of Deogurh), wrapped it in his scarf, slung it on his back, and, scaling the wall, cleared the way with his lance, until ho was able to tling his burden over the parapet, shouting — " the heroic to the Chondawuts ! we are first in !" * Colonel Tod mentions having seen the identical firman in the rana of Oudipoor's archives. The hand being immersed in a compost of sandal-wood, is applied to the paper, to which the impression of the palm and five fingers is thus clearly, and even lastingly allixed. — liiijast'han, vol. i., p. '3(52. t liajast'han, vol. i., p. 304. Tod had probably a ancient symbol of sovereignty) on his son'.s forehead, and forthwitii quitted the capital, and secluded himself in a neighbouring palace, on the borders of a lake. Tlic stately form of Umra, " the tallest and strongest of the princes of JMcwar," never again crossed the thresludd until it was borne, as dust and ashes, to be deposited in the se[)ulclirc of his fathers; but Prince Klioorum visited him, as a friend, in his retirement, and, in after years, had abundant reason to rejoice in the sympathy which he had manifested towards the Kaj|Kiot princes of Oudipoor. In 1G15, Sir Thomas Roe arrived at court, then held at Ajnieer, as ambassador from James I. Ilis journey from Surat, by Boor- hanpoor and Cliittore, lay through the Dec- can, where war was raging ; and the rana's country, where it had just ceased ; yet he met with no obstruction or cause for alarm, except from mountaineers, who took advan- tage of the disturbed state of the times to molest travellers. The emperor received him favourably, notwithstaiidiiig the oppo- sition and intrigues of the Portuguese Jesuits, and the contrast afforded by the unpretend- ing character of his prescntsj and retinue to the magnificent ceremonial which he daily witnessed, and in which he was per- mitted to take part without iierforraing the humiliating prostration which Jehangeer, like Akber, demanded from those who ap- proached him, despite the belief of all zea- lous ^lohammedans, that such homagp could be fitly ofl^ered to the Deity aloiiB. The greatest displays took place on the more perfect copy of Jehangccr's Jfciiioirs than that translated by Price, as he cites passages not to be found in the English version. J; The most acceptable of these seems to have been a eoacli, a mode of conveyance then newly used in Jvigland. Jehangeer had it taken to pieces by na- tive workmen, who, having built another with more costly materials, reconstructed the pattern-one, sub- stituting double-gilt silver nails for the originals of brass, and a lining of silver brocade in.stead of Chinese velvet. Some pictures, likewise, proved suitable gifts; and one of them was so accurately copied by native artists, that Iloe being shown the original and five copies by candle-light, could not, without some difficulty, distinguish that which he had brought from England. Once, being much pressed for some offering wherewith to gratify Jehan- geer's insatiable covetousness, he presented to him a book of maps {JItraitor's Cosmography), with which the emperor was at first excessively delighted ; but, on examination, finding the independent kingdoms there delineated somewhat too numerous to accord with his grandiloquent title, he returned the '-olume, saying that he should not like to deprive the ambas- sador of so great a treasure. — A Votjage to East India, by Sir Thomas Roe's Chaplain. London, 166d. 134 WAR WITH MALEK AMBER.— DEATH OF KHOSRU, 1621. emperor's birth-day, when there was a gene- ral fair and many processions and ceremo- nies, among which the most striking was the weighing of tlie royal person twelve times, in golden scales, against gold, silver, perfumes, and otlier substances, which were afterwards distributed among the spectators. The festivities lasted several days, during which time the king's usual place was in a sumptuous tent, shaded by rich awnings, while the ground, for the space of at least two acres, was spread with silken carpets and hangings, embroidered with gold, pearl, and precious stones. The nobility had simi- lar pavilions, where they received visits from each other, and sometimes from the sove- reign. But beneath the veil of splendour and outward decorum, all was hollow and unsound. The administration of the coun- try was rapidly declining ; the governments were farmed, and the governors exacting and tyrannical ; though, occasionally, an ap- peal from some injured person brought upon the oppressor the vengeance of the empe- ror, from which neither ability nor station could purchase immunity. The highest offi- cials were open to corruption ; and Roe, finding the treaty he was sent to negotiate remained unaccomplished after two years' tarry, deemed it expedient to bribe Asuf Khan with a valuable pearl, after which lie soon succeeded in procuring for tlie English a partial liberty of trade ; and then joy- fully took his leave. The military spirit of the Moslems had already evaporated in an atmosphere of sloth and sensuality ; and the Rajpoots, Patans, and Beloochees v/ere spoken of by cotemporary writers (Terry, Hawkins, R,oe) as the only brave soldiers to be found, The language of the court was Persian, but all classes spoke Hindoostani. In the royal family, the succession was a matter of jealous discussion : Khosru was considered to have forfeited his prior claim by rebellion ; and Parvaez, the next in age, * Jeliangeer established liimsclf at Ajmeer, in 1613, in readiness to support liis son in his opera- tions against the Rana of Oudipoor, and had held his court there ever since. He now iirocecded to take up his residence at Mandu, in Mahva, for the simiUir reason of being nearer [to the seat of war. Sir Thomas Roe was permitted to fallow in the suite of the court. He describes the royal progress as resembling a triumphal procession on a scale of extreme magnificence. Jehangcel' himself, before entering /(/s coach, showed himself to the people, literally laden with jewels — from his rich turban, with its plume of heron feathers, whence " on one side hung a I'ubie unset, as biggo as a walnut, on the other side a diamond as great, in the middle an being far inferior in ability to his younger brother, Khoorum, would, it was expected, be set aside to make way for the latter prince, who had married a niece of Nour Jehan, and was supported in his pretensions by her all-powerful influence. In 1616, a great expedition was sent to the Deccan, of which the command was given to Khoorum, together with the title by which he was thenceforth known, of Shah Jehan (king of the world) .* He suc- ceeded in regaining /Yhmeduuggur and other places, captured by Malek Amber, who was compelled to make submission on the part of his nominal sovereign, Nizam Shah; but, in 1621, renewed the war. Shah Jehan was again dispatched to the Deccan ; but, from some rising distrust, refused to march unless his unhappy brother. Prince Khosru (who, by the earnest mediation of Parvaez, had had his chains struck oft', and some measure of liberty allowed him) were entrusted to his custody. This desire was complied with, and Khoorum proceeded to attack INIalek Amber, whom he at length brought to risk a general action. The result was very favourable to the Moguls, who granted peace on condition of a further cession of land and a considerable sum of money. Soon after this success, Jehangeer was prostrated by a dangerous attack of asthma. At this critical juncture. Prince Khosru died suddenly, and his rival brother, to whose charge lie had been entrusted, was accused of having incited his assassina- tion. Hovrever caused, it is remarkable that this event, which seemed especially cal- culated to strengthen the pretensions of Shah Jehan to the succession, proved to be only the commencement of a long series of dangers and disasters. The emperor par- tially recovered, and ever after manifested distrust and aversion to his previously fa- vourite child. He evidently sliared the suspicions generally entertained regarding emerald like a heart, much bigger," down to his " em- l)roidered buskins with pearle, the toes sharpe and tin-ning up." Immediately after the king rode Nour Jehan, also in an Knglisii carriage. The Leskar, or imperial camp, was admiralily arranged, and occu- pied a circumtorence of at least twenty miles ; looking down from it from a height, it resembled a beautiful city of many-coloured tents; that of the emperor in the centre, with its gilded globes and pinnacles, forming a sort of castle, from wliciice diverged nu- merous streets, laid out wilhout tlie least disorder, since every one, whether noble or shop-keeper, knew the precise spot on which he must place himsell' by its distance from, and situation with regard to, the royal pavilion. — (Murray's Discoveries, vol. ii. p. 153.) SHAH JEHAN REBELS, 1623.— MOHABET SEIZES EMPEROR, 1G20. Khosru's fato ; besides wliicli, the empress having recently alliaiiecd licr (laupjlilcr* by Sheer Afgliaii, to Prince Sbchriar (.lehan- gccr's youngest son), attaclicd licrsclf to liis interests, foreseeing that, in the event of his accession to the tlirone, she miglit continue to exercise a degree of power, whicli, nndcr the sway of his more able and determined brother, was not to be expected. With a view of removing Shah .lehan from the scene of his power and triumphs, lie was directed to attempt the recovery of Candahar from the Persians, by whom it had been recently seized. The prince, per- ceiving the object of tliis command, delayed CompHance on one pretext or another, until discussions arose, whieli issued in liis break- ing out into open rebellion, a.d. 1023. The crisis was frauglit witli danger to all par- tics. The father of Nour Jehan, on whom both she and the emperor liad implicitly relied, was dead ; Asuf Khan, though he seemed to move like a puppet according to her will, naturally leant towards his son-in-law ; Parvaez, though a brave sol- dier, needed as a general an able coun- sellor by his side ; nor. does Shehriar seem to have been calculated to take the lead in this fierce and prolonged feud.f At length Nour Jchan cast her eyes on Mohabet Khan, the most rising general of the time, but, heretofore, the especial opponent of her brother, Asuf Khan. To him, jointly with Parvaez, was entrusted the conduct of hos- tilities against Shah Jehan, who retreated to Boorhanpoor, but was driven from thence to Bengal, of whicli province, together with Behai', he gained possession, but was expelled, and obliged to seek refuge in the Deccan, where he was welcomed and supported by his former foe, Malek Amber. At the ex- piration of two years he proffered his sub- mission, and surrendered to Jehangcer the forts of Rohtas in Behar, and Aseerghur in the Deccan, together with his two sons (Dara and Aurungzebe), but he himself took refuge with the Rajpoots of ]\Icwar.| Scarcely was this storm allayed, before a still more alarming one burst over the head of the emperor, provoked by his violent temper, and also by the domineering and suspicious conduct of Nour Jehan. The growing popularity of Mohabet Khan had, * DellaValle states, that Nour Jehan had previously desired to marry her daughter to Khosru, offering, on tliat condition, to obtain liis release ; but lie steadily refused, from strong aflection to the wife he hail already married, and who, after vainly urging him to comply with the proffered terms, continued as hcre- S it would a[)i)ear, excited jealousy, and he was summoned to answer, in person, various charges of oppression and embezzlement adduced against him (luring the time of his occupation of Bengal. He set out for court, attended by a body of r),000 Rajpoot.s, whom he had contrived to attach to his service. Before his arrival, Jehangcer, learning that he had ventured to betroth his daughter without the customary form of asking the royal sanction, sent for the Ijridc- grooni, a young nobleman named Berkhor- dar, caused him to be stripped naked, and beaten with thorns in his own presence ; seized on the dowry he had received from Mohabet, and sequestrated all his other property. On approaching the camp, ^Mo- habet was informed of what occurred, and also that the emperor would not see him; upon which he resolved, while the means reinained at his command, to make a bold stroke for life and liberty. Jehangcer was at this time preparing to cross the Ilydaspes, by a bridge of boats, on his way to (^"abool ; the troops had passed, and he intended to follow at leisure, when Mohabet, by a sudden attack, just before day-break, gained posses- sion of the bridge, and surprised the royal tent, where the emperor, scarcely recovered from the effects of the last night's debauch, was awakened by the rush of armed men. Mohabet pretended to have been driven to this extremity by the enemies who had poisoned the mind of his master against him, and Jehangcer, after the first burst of rage, thought it best to conciliate his captor by affecting to believe this statement, and agreed to accompany him, in public, under the guardianship of a body of Rajpoots. Nour Jehan, on learning that the emperor had been carried to tlie tents of Mohabet Khan, put on a disguise, and succeeded in reaching the royal camp on the opposite side of the river, where she set on foot im- mediate preparations for a forcible rescue. Jehangcer, afraid of what might happen to himself in the confusion, sent a messenger with his signet, to desire that no attack might be made ; but she treated the mes- sage as a trick of Mohabet Khan's, and, at the head of the army, began to ford the river, the bridge having been, in the interim, burned by the Rajpoots. Rockets, balls, tofore the patient companion of his long and sad captivity. — (London trcnstatwn (i/"1665, p. .'50.) t According to Gladwin, this war " so deluged the empire with blood, lliat tliere was liardly a family but shared in the calamity."— ifi/irfonsteH, vol. i. p. 45. \ Shah Jehan was warmly befriended in Oudi- 126 NOUR JEHAN RESTORES THE EMPEROR TO LIBERTY, 1627. and arrows were discharged upon the troops, as they strove to make good their passage over a dangerous shoal, full of pools, with deep water on either side ; and, on setting foot on the heach, they were fiercely opposed by the Rajpoots, who drove them back into the water, sword in hand. The ford became choked with horses and elephants, and a frightful sacrifice of life ensued. The em- press* was among those who succeeded in effecting a landing, and at once became the special object of attack. The elephant on which she rode was speedily surrounded, the guards cut to pieces, and, among the balls and arrows which fell thick round her howdah, one wounded the infant daughter of Shehriar, who was seated in her lap, and another killed her driver. The elephant having received a severe cut on the proboscis, dashed into the river, and was carried along by the current ; but, after several plunges, swam out, and safely reached the shore, where Nour Jehan was quickly surrounded by her attendants, who found her engaged in extracting the arrow, and binding up the wound of the terrified infant. The repulse was complete ; for, although a portion of the royalists, vmder an oflicer named Fedai Khan, had, during the confusion of the battle, entered the enemy's camp at an unsuspected point, and penetrated so far that their balls and arrows fell within the tent where Jehangeer was seated, they were compelled to retire by the general defeat, and Fedai Khan, having lost most of his men, and being himself wounded, imme- diately took refuge in the neighbouring fort of Rohtas, of which he was governor. Nour Jehan, peixeiving the hopelessness of attempting the forcible rescue of her husband, determined to join him in his captivity ; and her brother, with other leaders, were eventually obliged to surrender themselves to Mohabet Khan, who appeared to be eompleteh' triimiphant, but whose position, nevertheless, demanded great cir- cumspection, lie had from the first affected to treat Jehangeer with much ceremonious deference ; and the captive monarch, tutored by Nour Jehan, pretended to be completely reconciled to his position, and glad to be relieved from the thraldom of Asnf Khan. He even carried his duplicity so far as to poor, whoro a sumptuous edifice was raised for liis use, adorned witli a lofty dome crowied with a cre- scent; tlie interior richly decorated with mosaic in onyx, cornelian, jasper and apjates, rich Turkey car- pets, &c. ; and that nothing of state mij^ht be want- ing to the royal refugee, a throne was sculptured warn Mohabet of the ambition and discon- tent of the empress, and acted his part so cleverly, as completely to deceive his gaoler. Meanwhile the army advanced to Cabool, and the Afghans in the neighbourhood showed every disposition to take part with the emperor, while the dissensions among the troops gave full employment to their general. Nour Jehan was too able an intri- guante not to take advantage of such favour- able circumstances. She employed agents to enlist fit men in scattered points at a distance, whence some were to straggle into the camp, as if in quest of service; while others were to remain at their positions, and await further orders. Jehangeer next suggested a muster of the troops of all the jaghiredars, of wliora the empress formed an important member, holding large estates, and having been made a munsubdar of 30,000; commanders of that rank being, it will be remembered, only expected or even suffered to maintain a much smaller number. When summoned to produce her contingent, she expressed indignation at being placed on the level of an ordinary subject ; but, on pretence of desiring to produce a respectable muster, increased her previous force, by gradually receiving the recruits from the country. Mohabet Khan began to suspect some plot, but suftered himself to be persuaded by Jehangeer to avoid personal risk, by forbearing to accom- pany him to the muster of Nour Jehan's contingent. The emperor advanced alone to the review, and had no sooner got to the centre of the line, than the troops closed in on him, cut ofl" the Rajpoot horse, by whom he was guarded, and, being speedily joined by their confederates, placed his person beyond the reach of recapture. Mo- habet Khan, perceiving himself completely duped, withdrew to a distance with his troops, and, after some attempts at negotia- tion, came to an open rtiptnre, and entered into alliance with Shah Jehan. This prince had endeavoured to take advantage of his fa- ther's captivity to renew hostilities, by march- ing from the Deeean to Ajmeer at the head of little more than 1,000 men; but the death of his chief adherent. Rajah Kishen Sing, de- prived him of at least half his followers, and he was compelled to fly across the desert to from a single block of serpentine, su])ported by quadriform female caryatidse ; in the court a little chapel was erected to the Moslem-Saint, Madar. * Nour Jehan was a true Amazon : Jehangeer re- cords with much pride her having, on a hunting jiarty, killed four tigers with a matchlock from her elephant. CIIARACTEll AND DEATH OP JEHANGEEll, a.u. 1G27. 127 Sinde. Thence he purposed proceeding to Persia, but, hcnvj; dehiycd by sickness, re- luaincd there until afl'airs took a more pro- niisiiijj; turn. Parvucz died ut Boorliaupoor, according to the general aeeount, f)f'('pilc;])sy, i brought on by excessive drinking, thougii Tod asserts him to have been slain at the instigation of tShah Jehan, who proceeded to the Deccan, where he was joined by Mohabet Khan. Jehangeer, shortly after his restoration to liberty, quitted Cal)ool for his residence at Lahore, and from thence set oil' on his ainiual visit to " the blooming sali'ron meads" of Cashmere. ]3ut the autumn was unusually cold, aiul the clear pure air of the lovely valley proved too keen for the broken constitution of the emperor. A severe attack of asthma came on, and an attempt was made to carry him back to the warmer clinuite of Lahore. The motion and passage of the mountains increased the com- plaint, and before a third of the journey was accomplished he expired, in the sixty- sixth year of his age. His character was full of contradictions. Though cruel and rapacious, he yet, in many ways, evinced a sort of paternal interest in the welfare of his subjects, and a desire for the impartial administration of justice be- tween rich and poor — Moslem and Hindoo. He occasionally quitted the palace, and went abroad on nocturnal expeditions, mingling freely with the lower classes, without any fear of assassination, although his person, from his daily appearance in public, must have been well known. His easy and familiar manners rendered him popular, notwithstanding the frightful torments in- flicted on real or alleged criminals by his express orders. ]\Iany of his proceedings favour the idea that be had inherited from his mother a taint of madness, which his excesses in wine and opium sometimes brought into action. He was probably as complete a deist as his father, but super- stition had laid much heavier chains on bis weak and wayward mind ; and some of the tales gravely recorded by him might find a fit place in the Arabian Niffhii'. Un- fortunately, his autobiography ceases about the middle of his reign. Long before its conclusion, the whole tone and spirit changes; and instead of e.\ulting over his immense possessions, the royal writer dwells bitterly on the unceasing anxiety attendant on sovereign power, declaring that the jewels formerly coveted had become worthless in his sight, and that satiety had utterly ex- tinguished the delight he had once taken in contemplating the graces of youth and beauty. Like a far wiser monarch — even Solomon — he had discovered that all was vanity and vexation of spirit, but knew not, or cared not to search out the antidote. With Jehangeer all the schemes of Nour Jehan perished. On her attempting to as- sert the claims of the absent Shehriar, her own In-other, probablj' weary of the tyranny to which he had been so long subjected, placed her under restraint; but, on being ri'leascd, she was treated with respect, and allowed a yearly stipend of a quarter of a million sterling. Throughout her widow- hood she lived very quietly; abstained from all entertainments; wore no colour but white; and at lier death, in 164G, was buried in a tomb she had herself erected, close to that of tlie em|)eror, at Lahore. llvi(jn of Shah Jehan. — On the death of Jehangeer, Asuf Khan immediately sent a messenger to fetch his son-in-law, whose cause he had resolved to support, although (according to Dow), by the will of the late cmperoi-, the throne had been expressly be- queathed to Shehriar. Pending the arrival of Shah Jehan, the vizier, desirous to sanc- tion his oviu proceedings by the semblance of legal authority, released Prince Dawir, the son of Khosru, from prison, and pro- claimed him king. Shehriar, who had been at Lahore some weeks, on learning his father's death, seized the royal treasure, took command of the troops — whose favour he gaiued by extravagant largesses — and set free the two sons of Prince Dauial from the species of honourable captivity in which they had been detained by Jehangeer ever since their father's death, in accordance with the cruel policy of oriental despotism. The confederate princes were defeated and captured by Asuf Klian. ^Meanwhile, the Rajpoot allies of Siiah Jehan, delighted at the prospect of his rising fortunes, sent aa escort to Surat to accompany him thence to Oudipoor, and there, within the hospitable walls which had sheltered him in exile, the now triumphant prince was first formally hailed Emperor of Iliudoostau. Il;ina Kur- run did not live to witness the joyful re- turn of the wanderer ; he had died shortly before Jehangeer: his brother, llajah Bheem, with many noble chiefs, had fallen in the cause ; but their representative, Juggut Sing, received from the new emperor, on his de- parture, a ruby of inestimable value, the 128 ACCESSION OF STIAH JEHAN— DOOM OF HIS KINDRED, ad. 1G28. restoration of five alienated provinces, and a most welcome permission to reconstruct the fortifications of Cliittore. Other emotions besides those of gratitude were, however, at work within the breast of Shah Jehan. Re- solved, by any means, to grasp the imperial sceptre, he sent to Asuf Khan a mandate for the execution of the puppet he had placed upon the throne, also of his brother Sheh- riar, the two sons of Danial, and another prince, the son of Khosru. The tyrannical command was obeyed.* Shah Jehan was proclaimed king at Agra, January, 1G28, and not a male of the house of Timur re- mained to cause him present or future anxiety, save only his four sons, whose strife and rebellion were destined, by retributive justice, to scourge his crimes, to snatch the sceptre from his feeble hands, and immure him for long years the captive of a son, who, like himself, scrupled not to wade to a throne through the blood of near kindred. But this is anticipating events ; for Shah Jehau's reign lasted thirty years before its miserable termination. His first acts were evidently designed to obliterate from the public mind, and probably from his own, the means by vvhich he had endeavoui-ed to consolidate his authority. Following, to a limited extent, the example of his father, lie opened the doors of the fortress of Gwalior to all state- prisoners, some of whom had been in confinement during the whole of the preceding reign — a measure which did more to procure him popularitj^ than the magnifi- cence of his festivals or the costly structures which he delighted in erecting. From these pursuits he was soon diverted by local dis- turbances. • The Uzbeks invaded Cabool, but were driven out by Mohabet Khan. The Mogul arms were next directed against Narsing Deo, of Bundelcuud (the destroyer of Abul Fazil), and the rajah, after long resis- tance, was eventually brought to submission. As Shah Jehan considered it the bounden duty of every great prince to leave to his posterity a larger territorial sway than that which he had himself inherited,t it is not • According to Dow, all the five princes were murdered; but IClphinstone (on the authority of Olcarius, Amhussadors Trarch, ]). 100) states that Dawir found means to escape to Persia, where he was seen by the Holsteiii ambassadors, in 1G8S. The conduct of Sliah Jelian on this occasion strongly favours the general belief of Iiis hnving instigated the assassination of his brother, Khosru, (see p. 124.) Mr. Elphinstone jjarlially defends him, by remark- ing, " that we ought not readily to believe tliat a li(e not sullied by any other crinu^ could be stained by one of so deep a dye'' (vol. ii. p. .'!C8.) liut, in a surprising that abundant reason was soon ' ' found for invading the Deccan. At this period, the three remaining governments held by INIoslems — Ahmeduuggur, Beeja- poor, and Golconda, liad nearly recovered their ancient limits. Khan Jehan Lodi, an Afghan officer of rank, being left with undi- vided authority over the Moguls after the death of Prince Parvaez, had deemed it necessary or expedient, during the troubled state of afl'airs occasioned by the disputes regarding the succession, and the proceed- ings of IMohabet Khan, to surrender the re- maining portion of Shah Jehan's conquests in the Deccan to the son of JNIalek Amber, who had succeeded his father in the Nizam Shahi government : but the fort of Alimcd- nuggur was still held by a Mogul garrison, who refused to obey Khan Jehan Lodi's command. When Shah Jehan set out to ascend the throne. Khan Jehan refused to join him. On learning the defeat and death of Shehriar and Dawir, he profl'ered allegiance, and was confirmed in his gov- ernment by the new emperor, but soon re- moved thence to Malwa, Mohabet Khan taking his place in the Deccan. Having co- operated in the reduction of Narsing Deo, Khan Jehan was invited to court, whitlicr he proceeded with his tvvo sons, relying for safety both on the assurances given to him individually, and on the edict of indemnity proclaimed to all who had opposed the accession of the reigning sovereign. The usher of the court evinced a marked dis- respect towards him — or so at least the proud Afghan considered — but the cere- monies of presentation were passed without any positive disturbance. His son, Azmut, a lad of sixteen, with all his father's high spirit and less discretion, was next in- troduced ; and he, considering that he had been kept too long prostrate, sprang up before the signal was given. The usher struck him on the head with his rod ; tlic youth aimed a blow in return ; upon which a general confusion ensued, and Kiian Jehan, with his sons, rushed from the palace subsequent page, he expressly states, that Shehriar " was afterwards put to deatli with the sons of Danial, by order of Shah Jehan " (vol. ii. p. 3SS.) He does not adopt Dow's statement of the bequeath- ing of the throne by Jehangeer to Shehriar; and, consequently, regards that prince and his nepliews as having forfeited their lives by rebellion against the lawful authority of Shah Jehan, the eldest sur- viving son. By Moliammedan law, the children of Danial were cut oft' from the succession by the death of tlieir fallier, before their grandfather. f Dow's Ilistoty (if JlimluosUui, vol. iii. ]>. 107. KUAN JEIIAN LODI— HIS HISTORY AND FATE, a.i,. 1G30. 129 to tlicir own lioiisc, iuul tlicrc shut thcra- sclvcs up witliin the stroiij? stone walls, with about 300 (lcj)ciulcnts. The emperor, not caring to order a siege so near his own abode, endeavoured to entice tlie rofraetory jioble 1)3' fair words ; but, not venturing to put faith in them, Khan .Ichan asseinldcd his troops by night, and marched out of Agra, >vith his kettle-drums beating.* "Within two hours a strong detachment was sent in pursuit, and came up with the fugi- tives at the river Chunibul. A desperate encounter took place, especially between the Afghans and a body of Rajpoots, who dismounted and charged with lances, accord- ing to their national custom. Azmut was slain, after first killing with an arrow the Mogul usher, who had struck him at court; and Khan Jchan, being wounded in an encounter with Rajah Pirthi Sing, ))lungcd into the stream, and succeeded in gaining the opposite bank, from ivhenee, though hotly pursued by a nnu'h superior force, he made his way through Bundelcund into the wild and woody country of Gondwana, where he opened a friendlv communication with the king of Ahmcdnuggur. Towards the close of 1020, Shah Jehan marched to Roorhanpoor, at the head of a powerful armament, and sent on three de- tachments (estimated by Khali Khan at 50,000 men each), to march into Ahmcd- nuggur. Khan Jehan and his friends could make no head against this overwhelming force. The kings of Golconda and Beeja- poor, as long as possible, kept aloof from the coiiilict, and Mortczza Nizam Shah, of Aliniednuggur, was himself obliged to seek protection in his forts. Khan Jehan was at length driven from the Deccan, and hunted from place to place. Being overtaken in Bundelcund, he made a desperate stand, and when defeated endeavoured to force his way into the hill-fort of Caliiijer, but was rei)ulsed with the loss of his last remaining son, and * The account given by lC!])lunstone and Dow, on the authority of native writers, differs greatly. Ac- cording to the former. Khan Jeliau was accompanied in his flight by his women on elephants, and by twelve of his sons. Dow alleges a fearful tragedy to have been previously enacted. Thinking it hope- less to attempt carrying away the inmates of liis harem, and dishonourable to abandon them to the lust of his foes, Klian Jehan knew not what to do ; when the women, learning his perplexity, took the desperate resolve of destroying themselves, and thus removing all im))cdiments to his escape. They did so, and their shrieks and groans reached the ears of Khan Jehan, who, after hastily jjcrforming the rites of sepulture, assembled his foUoners in the finally overtaken at a pool, where he had stopped from exhaustion. The few brave adherents who still followed him, he en- treated to seek safety in (light, but they (to the number of about thirty) refused to for- sake tlieir brave leader, and were, with him, cut to pieces after a desperate struggle with the Rajpoots. The head of the uidiappy chief was fi.xed on a ])ikc, and carried in triumph, as a most acceptable gift, to Shall Jehan, a.d. 1030. The hostilities against Ahmcdnuggur did not end with the life of the iierson whose conduct had formed the pretext for them, but were prosecuted in the ferocious spirit befitting an invader, who declared war to be an evil which compassion contributed to render permanent. t Time passed on; fire and the sword were freely used to ravage the country and dishearten its defenders ; drought, famine, and pestilence, to a fright- ftil extent, lent their aid, but still, in 103o, repeated murderous campaigns were found to have left the Deecan as far as ever from being subdued to the imperial yoke. J At one time, indeed, affairs had seemed more promising, owing to the internal feuds which wasted the strength of Ahmednuggur. ^lortezza Nizam Shah (the king set up by Malek Amber) being, on the death of the vizier, inclined to act for himself, threw the eldest son of his patron, Futteh Khan, into prison ; but, being pressed by foes without, and faction within, was soon glad to release him and place him in his father's position. jMohammed Adil Shah of Beejapoor, who had looked on from neutral ground, and left the neighbouring kingdom to maintain single-handed the contest with the iloguls, became alarmed at the probable consequence of the ruin of a monarchy, which, though at all times a rival, and often an inimical state, had nevertheless long formed a valu- able bulwark against iuvasion from Hin- doostan. lie now, therefore, declared war court-yard, threw open the gates and rushed out, maddened by rage and despair. — (Vol. iii., p. 133.) • t Dow's Histiiri/ iif Himloijslan, vol. iii., p. 168. J Azuf Klian " trod down tlie scanty harvest in the Deccan, and ravaged with fire and sword the king- dom of Beejapoor." — (Dow, vol. iii., p. 151.) The Hindoos, in desp.air, abandoned all attempts at culti- vation, and prostrated tliemselves in crowds before the shrine of their gods, upon wliich, Shah Jehan issued an edict for breaking down their idols, and demo- lishing the temples. Many Brahmins were mas- sacred; but the resistance offered was so determined, that the emperor was compelled to relinquish this species of persecution, and to adopt more gentle means of inducing them to till the ground. 130 SHAH JEHAN SUBJUGATES AHMEDNUGGUK a.d. 1637. against Shah Jehan; but tlie effect of the divcrsioa intended to be created by this step, in favour of Mortezza Nizam Shah, failed in its eflect, through the machina- tions of Futteh Khan, who, treacherously employing the power newly entrusted to him, to the ruin, instead of the protection of his royal master, caused him to be put to death, with his chief adherents. He then took the government into his own hands, and sent Ji large contribution, or rather bribe, to the Moguls, with ofl'ers of submission, and an open profession that the infant he had placed on the throne would hold his dignity in subordination to the emperor. Shah Jehan doubtless considered it as necessary, in the contingencies of war, to overlook perfidy and uphold its perpetrators, as to set aside the pleadings of compassion ; and this is not to be wondered at ; for jus- tice and mercy, rightly understood — " Ai'e twin-born sisters ; and so mix theii' eyes, As if )ou sever one, the otlier dies." Futteh Khan's proposals were immediately accepted ; but having no intention of ful- filling his promise to any further extent than that which his own nari'ow views of expediency might dictate, he no sooner saw the whole jNIogul force directed against Beejapoor, than he violated his engage- ments, and being consequently attacked by the Moguls, ouce more made common cause with the king of Beejapoor. Shah Jehan returned to Agra iu 1632, after having ineftectualiy besieged Mo- hammed Adil Shah in liis capital, leaving Mohabet Khan in command. The opera- tions under that general led to Futteh Khan's being shut up in the fort of Uou- latabad, where he was besieged, and at length forced or induced to surrender. Not- withstanding all his treachery, he was re- ceived into the Mogul army,* while the un- happy child, whom he had styled king, was sent to languish in the lately emptied fort of Gwalior. Ahmednuggur was, however, not yet conquered. Shahjce Bhonslay, an officer who hud played a conspicuous pari in the recent war, and whose family were afterwards the founders of the Mahratta power, asserted the rights of a new claimant * lie afterwards became mad, and died from the effects of an old wound in the Iiead. t In 103-i and Ki.'JG, a portion of the troops on tlie eastern frontier completed the settlement of Little Thibet; another detachment was defeated, and almost destroyed, in an attemjit to conquer Srinaj;ar in 1G3-1 ; and u third, after subduing the petty sUitc of Cutch 13ehar from Bengal, in 1637, was compelled to the throne, and gradually conquered all the districts of that kingdom, from the sea to the capital. The king of Beejapoor, after the capture of Doulatabad, made overtures of negotia- tion, but these being unfavourably received, continued to defend himself bravely, until Mohabet Khan, having vainly invested Pu- rinda, was compelled to fall back upon Boor- hanpoor, and to desist from aggressive opera- tions. On learning the ill success of his deputies, Shah Jehan resolved to take the field in person, and dividing his troops as before, sent them first into Ahmednug- gur to attack Sahjee: having driven him from the open country, they proceeded to assault Beejapoor. Adil Shah was, however, a bold and determined prince ; he laid waste the country for twenty miles around, destroyed every particle of food or forage, choked the wells, drained the reservoirs, and rendered it impossible for any army to invest the city. Peace was at length granted, the king of Beejapoor agreeing to pay £200,000 a-year to Shah Jehan, who conferred upon him, in return, a share of the Nizam Shahi dominions. Shahjee held out for some time longer, but at length submitted, gave up the person of the pretended king, and entered into the service of Adil Shah, by the permission of the emperor. The king of Golconda had not ventured to contest Shah Jehan's claim to supremacy and tri- bute, which he had recognised at the com- mencement of this expedition, and the em- peror returned in triumph, the kingdom of Ahmednuggur being now extinguished. "While these prolonged hostilities were carried on in the Deccan, coittests of less magnitude Avere taking place in Little Thibet, Hooghly, Cutch Behar, and else- where. t During his rebellion. Shah Jehan had applied to the Portuguese at Hooghly for aid, and had received a refusal (couched, it is alleged, in terras of reproach for his undutiful conduct), which he only waited a convenient opportunity to revenge. His late wife, J jMuintaz i\Iahal, daughter to Asuf Kliau, had also conceived an especial dis- like to "the European idolaters," on account of the images before which they worshipped. to retire by the unhealthiness of the climate. — (lilphinstone, vol. ii., ]). 401.) J This lady died in 1G31. She had been married twenty years, and had borne nearly as many children. Shah Jehan erected to her memory a structure of extraordinary beauty and magnificence (called, by a corruption of her name, Taj Mahal), which forms one of the most interesting monuments of Agra. CANDAIIAR FINALLY REGAINED BY PERSIA, a.o. ir,17. 131 Tliese circumstances lent weight to a repre- sentation which arrived from the f^ovcrnor of Benf^al, comi)lainiiig of the insolent and aggressive conduct of the Portngncse,* and he received from the emperor tiic laconic command — " expel these idolaters from my dominions." 1 looghly was carried b_v storm, after a siege of three months and a-lialf, in- volving a terrible destruction of life on the side of the Portuguese, whose (leet (including sixty-four large vessels) was almost entirely destroyed. The principal ship, in which about 2,000 men, women, and children had taken refuge, with all tlicir treasure,was blown up by its captain, sooner than yield to the jMoguls; and the example was followed in many other vessels. From the prisoners, 500 young per- sons, of both sexes, were selected, with some of the priests, and sent to Agra; the girls were distributed among the harems of the emperor and chief nobles, and the boys circumcised. The Jesuits and other friars were vainly threatened with severe punish- ment if they persisted in rejecting the Koran ; but, after some months' confine- ment, were liberated and sent to Goa. The pictures and images, which had excited the displeasure of the queen, were all destroyed, and Iloogldy became the roval port of Ben- gal, a.d. 'l033. In 1(!37, the Persian governor of Can- dahar, incited by the tyranny of his sove- reign, surrendered this important frontier post to Shah Jehan, who appointed him to various high positions (including, at diftei-- ent times, the governments of Cashmere and Cabool), and made him leader of several important expeditions, the iJrst of which was the invasion of Balkh and Badakshan, in 1614'. The pretext for hostilities was Shall Jehan's desire to assert the dormant rights of his family ; the inducement, the revolt of the son of the reigning Uzbek sove- reign, Nazir INEohammed, and the conse- quent unfitness of the state to resist foreign invasion. After a large expenditure of blood and treasure, and the display of extra- ordinary valour on the part of a body of 14,000 Rajpoots, commanded by Ilajali Juggut Siugjt v.'ho encountered the hardships of the rigorous climate as unshrinkingly as the fierce onsets of the Uzbeks, Balkh was • Among other accusations, tlie governor asserted, that the Portuguese were in the habit of kidnapping or purchasing ch.ildren, and sending them as shivcs to other parts of India. — (Stewart's Jicnr/n!, p. 240.) t Elphinstone, vol. ii., p. 402. This chief would appear to have been the son of Mokund Sing, llajah of Kotah, a branch of the Oudipoor family. at length captured. In this war the princes IMorad and Auriingzebc were both em- l)loycd ; and Shah Jehan twice repaired to Cal)ool, to support their efforts. But all endeavours to restore order into the con- (juercd territory were rendered ineffectual by the marauding incursions of Uzbeks from tiie other side of tlie Oxns, hearled by Abdool Aziz, the i)rinee whose turbu- lence had stimnhited the Mogul invasion. Shah Jehan, despairing of being able to keep what it had cost so much to gain, re-instated Nazir ^rohammed on his throne, on condition of receiving a small annual tri- bute ; and after restoring the places of which he had got possession, left him to maintain the contest against his rebellious son as best he might. t In 1G17, Candahar was taken by Shah Abbas IL in person. In 1619 and 1002, it was invested by Aurungzebe; and, in 1G.J.3, by Dara Slieko, the acknowledged heir to tlie throne — Shah Jehan, on each occasion, accompanying the army as far as Cabool. Dara made a fierce and de- termined attack ; for the jealousy already springing up between the royal brothers, rciulcrcd him especially desirous to con- quer where Aiu-ungzcbe had been twice defeated. Besides natural means, he had rccoin'se to magicians and astrologers, who promised great things, but could not prevent the failure of his last desperate assault, in which, though the troops at one time gained the summit of the rampart, they were eventually repulsed, and Dara com])cllcd to raise the siege, after losing the flower of his army in its prosecution. No after-endeavour was made by the iloguls to recover Candahar, of which they had held but precarious possession since its first conquest by Baber. Two years of nearly undisturbed tran- quillity followed, during which. Shah Jehan liaving completed a revenue survey of his Deccani dominions, gave orders for the adoption of the systetn of assessment and collection, introduced by Todar jMuI, iu Bengal. This period is likewise memorable for the death of Saad Ullali Khan, who had succeeded Asuf Khan§ as vizier. In him Shah Jehan lost a wise and upright minister, X Upon this war, according to Dow, i:ix million were exjiended out of the im])erial treasury, besides estates granted to the value of one million more. I § Asuf Khan died in 1641, leaving several chil- | dren ; but as the emperor loved money, and might ' possibly avail himself of the law which constituted . the sovereign heir to all his officers, the prudent vizier i 132 WAR WITH BEEJAPOOR AND GOLCONDA, a.d. 1655—1657. whose ability had made amends for the de- creasing energy consequent on the criminal excesses in which the emperor liad indulged after the death of his favourite wife. Towards the close of 1655, a pretext was found for renewing the war in the Deccan. Abdullah Kootb Shah, of Golconda, had taken for his chief minister, Meer Jumla, originally a Persian adventurer; who had gradually acquired great wealth as a diamond merchant. During the absence of this officer, in command of an army in the eastern part of the kingdom, his son, Mo- hammed Ameen, a dissolute and violent young man, seated himself on the musnud, in a fit of intoxication; for which offence he was severely reprimanded, and forbidden to ap- pear in the presence of the sultan. iSIeer Jumla, either from distrust of his sovereign, or, as is more probable, from some pre- vious understanding with Aurungzebe, to whom he was personally known, took oc- casion to solicit the assistance of that pi'ince. Such conduct was inexcusably dis- loyal ; for it does not appear that either the life or liberty of the oft'ender were in danger ; and Abdullah, by the regular payment of the stipidated tribute since the last pacifica- tion, had left no plea for INIogul interference. Nevertheless, Shah Jehan was induced to send to the sultan a peremptory order for the discharge of both father and son, for whom the same envoy bore commissions in the imperial service as munsubdars, respectively of 5,000 and 2,000 horse. Before the ar- rival of the ambassador, Abdullah having learned his approach and mission, threw Mohammed Ameen into prison, and confis- cated the property of his father. Shah Jehan then authorised Aurungzebe to carry his command into effect by force of arms, which the wily prince proceeded to do after his own treacherous and manoeuvring fashion, by despatching a chosen force, under pretence of escorting his son, Sultan Mohammed, to Bengal,* there to espouse his cousin, the daughter of Prince Shuja, the viceroy of that province. Abdullah Shah was preparing an entertainment for the reception of the supposed bridegroom, when he suddenly advanced as an enemy, and took the sultan so entirely by surprise, that he had only time to fly to the neigh- thought it best to distribute . 124. Accordnig to Dow, Shuja and his son, after bravely defending the moun- tain passes while endeavouring to make good their retreat to Pegu, were overpowered by means of whose gates soon afterwards opened to re- ceive no less a person than Mohammed Sultan, the eldest son and acknowledged heir of Aurungzebe. This prince had been betrothed to his cousin, the daughter of Shuja, but the mar- riage was broken oft" by the outburst of civil war. Seeing the critical position of her father, the princess addressed a com- munication to Mohammed, reminding him of their engagement; this appeal, added to his restless disposition and jealousy of Meer Jumla, who was associated with him in the command of the army, induced him to go over to his uncle, a step which he probably thought would be followed by the majority of the imperial army. Any such movement was prevented by the zeal and influence of Meer Jumla, and hostilities were recom- menced at the conclusion of the rainy sea- son. Shuja received his nephew with honour, and gave him his daughter in marriage ; but either from the machinations of Aurung- zebe,! or some other cause not satisfactorily explained, distrust sprang up between them, aiul the prince again deserted his party, and threw himself upon the mercy of his father, who immediately sent him to Gwalior. After a series of unsuccessful struggles, Shuja retreated to Dacca, and being hotly pursued I by Meer Jumla, fled, with a few attendants, to Arracan. The remainder of his history is very imperfectly known. A difterence is said to have arisen between him and the rajah, whose avarice was rotised by the sight of the wealth of the prince, and, on one pretext or another, he was prevented from hiring vessels in which to proceed to ]\Iokha, en route for Mecca. Shuja, irritated by this treatment, entered into a plot with the ]\Iussulmans of the country to overturn the existing government ; but, being detected, was seized by the rajah's emissaries, and put to death. Of his wife and family, no certain particulars were ever made public in Ilindoostan ; but it is probable they all perished by violence about the same time. J stones hurled upon them from the adjoining rocks. Shuja was drowned (the doom of royal ''riminals in Arracan) in sight of his wife and daughters, who, in despair, liung themselves headlong into tiie river, but were rescued and carried to the palace. Of tliese four \inhappy ladies, three perished by their own hands ; the fourth was married to the rajuh, but did not long survive her sufferings and disgrace. The elder son of Shuja and his infant hrolhor were both put to dealli. Sliah .Ichan, on learning the ni'.dancholy iiUelligenco, exclaimed, ".Mas! could not tlie rajali of Arracan leave one son to Shuja to ri'venge his grandfather ?" — ( Uindoostan, vol. iii. p. 3i)().) MURDER OF MORAD AND HIS SON, SOLIMAN, AND SEPER SlIEKO. 1.39 At the conimencement of IGGl, Auruug- zoho obtained possession of the person of Dara's eldest son, Soliman; the Rajah of Sirc'Cinif;},nif, after prolonged negotiations, liaviiig l)ecn at length persuaded, by the arguments of Jcy Sing, to deliver up the prinee to the imperial ollicers. lie was paraded through the city on an elephant, and then brought into tiie presence of his uncle in golden fetters. Bernier, who was present, describes his manly bearing as hav- ing afl'ected many of the courtiers to tears ; and when he implored that his life might be taken at once, rather than that his strength and reason should bo undermined by the hateful opium draught* (which he evidently believed to be the common fate of captive princes), even Aurungzebe seemed touched with compassion, and assured him of safety and good treatment. It is not likely that this pledge was re- deemed ; for Soliman, together with his bro- ther, Seper Shcko, and the young souof Mo- rad, all died in Gwalior within a short space of time, while the emperor's own sou, Mo- hammed, lived several years, and was even- tually restored to comparative freedom. The doom of IMorad was less easily decided ; for it was necessary to Aurungzebe's views that liis death should be well known; and the convenient method of poisoning him in prison might leave a doubt regarding his fate on the public mind, which, iu the event of a political crisis, would be eagerly seized by agitators or pretenders. The prince was popular, despite (or probably on account of) his misfortunes : he had endeavoured to es- cape by means of a rope let down from the battlements ;t and Aurungzebe felt that there was no time to lose in compassing his destruction. The son of a man who had been arbitrarily put to death by the prince, while viceroy of Guzerat, was incited to complain against him as a murderer; and, after the formality of a trial and sentence, the List act of this family tragedy closed with the execution of Prince Morad, in prison. The three brothers of Aurungzebe and their brave sons had now all fallen vic- tims to his ambition and their own, goaded on by the hateful policy which too often leaves to eastern princes little choice beyond a throne or a grave. Their aged parent, by a terrible rc- * Bcniier calls it pousta, and says it was simply a sti'onn; iiirusiou of ])op]iy-ht'ails, wliicli the iiilendcil victims were compelled to drink daily until tliey be- came torpid and senseless, and so died. t Khafi Khan, quoted by F.lphinslonc, vol. il., p. 451. It is to be regretted that no complete tribution, sickened with horror as the tidings of one catastrophe after another slowly readied him within tlie walls of his jjalace- l)rison. He execrated the name of the son whose crimes had thus cast liis own into the shade, and would not sudor his presence. Aurungzebe made repeated overtures of reconciliation by affecting to seek his advice on various affairs of state, and ventured to ])rolfer two requests — the first on behalf of his third son, Prince Akber, for the hand of the daughter of Dara, then under the pro- tection of her aunt Jehanara ; the second, for some of the jewels retained by Shah .Tehan, for the decoration of the throne. The deposed monarch indignantly rejected both demands, declaring that his grand- daughter should never, with his consent, be thus degraded; and the maiden, on her part, avowed her puri)osc of self-destruction, should force be attempted to ally her with the son of her father's murderer. With regard to the jewels, Shah Jehan sterulv bade his son make wisdom and equity the ornaments of his throne, and use no impor- tunity to obtain the coveted gems, since the hammers were iu readiness which should, iu tiuit case, crush them to powder. Aurungzebe prudently gave way, and his father, gratified l)y this submission, and by the ample pi-o- vision made for his expenditure, afterwards sent him various articles more especially eonueeted with the insignia of royalty. The early measures of the new emperor were well calculated to obliterate from the minds of his subjects the monstrous iniqui- ties above detailed. In the Deccan he had gained a high character for justice as well as austerity ; and on grasping the reins of government, he evinced a determination to make the welfare of the people his leading object. In marching to battle against Dara, Aurungzebe had streiuiously restrained his soldiers from plundering the countries through which they passed, and had evcu given compensation for the damage unavoid- ably occasioned. During a terrible famine which prevailed over different parts of India, resulting from the combined effects of drought and civil war, he made great exertions for the relief of the wretched suf- ferers, by remitting the taxes, and spending large sums from the treasury in the pur- translation has been made of the works of this author, whose real name was Mohammed Hashcra Khan. He was brought up in the service of Aurunj^- zebe, by whom both he and his father (al