Aurangzeb, having left Mu'azzam Khán and Ikbál Khán in charge of Bidar, on the 23rd Rajab marched against Kalyání. On the 29th he reached that place, and on the same day he recon­noitered the fortress and invested it. * * On the 8th Sha'bán the approaches were advanced to the edge of the ditch, and the besieged were hard pressed. [Several actions with and victories over the enemy. The country ravaged. Kulbarga occupied.] When the ditch was filled with stones and earth, and the bastions and ramparts had been well battered, on the 27th the assailants placed their ladders and mounted a bastion which had been much damaged, and began to undermine and throw down the wall. The besieged made a gallant resistance, and kept up a heavy discharge of rockets, arrows, and muskets. Grenades, naphtha-balls, and trusses of burning straw were thrown from the top of the walls. But the assailants pressed bravely on, and victory was not far off. At this juncture Diláwar Habshí, who with 2500 men held the place for 'Ádil Khán, felt himself in great danger of destruction, and on the 29th wrote a letter begging for forgiveness and offering to surrender. Most of the garrison were Musulmáns, so the commandant and all his men were allowed to march out with their property and their wives and families. On the 1st Zí-l ka'da, 1068, the keys of the fortress were given up, and the Prince entered and had the khutba read. The commandant sought and obtained permission to go to Bíjápúr.]

Illness of the Emperor.

[Suddenly, on the 1st Zí-l ka'da, 1067 A.H., the Emperor was attacked with serious illness in the form of strangury, constipation and other sympathetic affections, so that he was unable to attend to worldly affairs. Physicians tried all the remedies of their art, but in vain, for the disorder increased. * * In Safar, 1068, the health of the Emperor had so improved that he was con­valescent, * * and great rejoicings followed.]

THIRTY-SECOND YEAR OF THE REIGN.

[In the eyes of his father the Emperor, Prince Dárá Shukoh was superior to his brothers both in merit and age. When his other sons departed to their respective governments, the Emperor, from excessive love and partiality, would not allow Dárá Shukoh to go away from him. He also evinced the greatest partiality and affection for the Prince, providing for his honour and dignity. * *

Sháh Buland Ikbál (Dárá Shukoh) took upon himself to interfere in the direction of affairs of State, and induced His Majesty to do many unwise things which tended to create dis­turbances. He urged that Murád Bakhsh had diverged from the path of rectitude, and had not ceased to act improperly. It was therefore advisable to remove him from the súba of Ahmad-ábád, and to settle upon him the jágír of Birár. If he obeyed the Emperor's order and proceeded to Birár, his offences might be forgiven and clemency be extended to him. But if, from want of foresight and intelligence, he should prove refractory and disobey the orders, he should be suitably chastised and be brought to Court under restraint. Dárá Shukoh then spoke of Prince Aurangzeb, and represented that a party of intriguers had artfully led him astray, and nolens volens had persuaded him that he had been worsted by the malice and revenge of his brother (Dárá Shukoh), and that he should get the assistance of his brother (Murád Bakhsh), who had resolved upon rebellion.* He should then march with the splendid army under his com­mand to the capital, under the pretence of paying a visit to his father, and wherever he passed he should subvert the authority of the Government. To carry out his aims Aurangzeb had set himself to win over to his side the great nobles of the State, some of whom he had made his own, and that he was endeavour­ing to effect his object by secret communications before his designs should become public. The money which he had received as tribute from Kutbu-l Mulk he had spent without permission in the raising of forces, and it would not be long before he would cast off his obedience and commence a war. It was to be hoped that the army which had been sent by the Emperor for the reduction of Bíjápúr, and was now with Aurangzeb, might not be won over by the money which he had received as tribute; for assuredly, if this were so, it would be a great danger to the State, which it would be almost impossible to avert. The first thing to be done was to send farmáns recalling all the nobles and their forces from the Dakhin. Then a strenuous effort should be made to get possession of the treasure. By these means the strength and greatness of the Prince would be diminished, and the friends and allies, the strength of his cause, would fall away. * *

Although the Emperor showed no haste in adopting these views, he was quite willing to send the letters. He could not resist the influence Prince Dárá had obtained over him. So letters of the unpleasant purport above described were sent off by the hands of some of the Imperial messengers. The messengers reached Prince Aurangzeb as he was engaged in directing the operations against Bíjápúr, and he had the place closely invested. The arrival of the messengers disturbed the minds of the soldiers, and greatly incensed the Prince; so, much confusion arose. Some of the nobles, Mahábat Khán, Ráo Sattar Sál, and others, went off to Ágra without leave or notice. Mu'azzam Khán also, who was the head and director of this campaign, acted in a very ungenerous and foolish way, and wanted to go off to Ágra, quite regardless of the duty and respect he owed to the Prince.

This want of support from his followers, and the anxiety he felt about the Emperor, led the Prince to accept the proposals of the people of Bíjápúr. Having settled this difficult matter, he marched towards Aurangábád; and as soon as he arrived there, he sent messengers in a courteous way* to Mu'azzam Khán, desiring him to come and have an interview. The Khán would not listen to the invitation, and acted in a manner unworthy of a great noble. So the Prince ordered Prince Sultán Muhammad to set forth with all speed and use every expedient to bring the Khán to his presence. When the directions were carried out, and the Khán arrived, Aurangzeb immediately provided for his punishment, and sent him prisoner to the fort of Daulatábád. He seized all his treasure, elephants and other property, and gave them into the charge of the State treasurers.]

Rájá Jaswant.

[After the defeat of Sháh Shujá', and the return of Aurangzeb to Ágra, the Emperor sent a force * * to inflict salutary punish­ment upon Rájá Jaswant. The Rájá feeling himself unable to resist, in his great perplexity and alarm, sent some of his servants to Dárá Shukoh, who, previous to the Rájá's flight, had arrived at Ahmadábád, and, without waiting to recover from his toilsome journey through the sandy desert, was busily occupied in gather­ing forces. * * Dárá Shukoh, having satisfied himself by taking from the promise-breaking Rájá a covenant which the Rájá confirmed with the most solemn Hindu pledges, marched towards his country. The Emperor was meanwhile moving towards Rájá Jaswant's territory, and he wrote the Rájá a letter, in which ex­postulations and threats were mingled with kindness. This letter greatly alarmed the Rájá, so that he departed from Dárá and re­turned to his own country. Making use of Mírzá Rájá Jai Singh, he wrote a penitent and submissive letter to the Emperor, begging forgiveness for his offences; and the Emperor in his clemency forgave him, granted him the súbadárí of Ahmadábád, and sent him a farmán, bestowing honours and promising favours.]

[The zamíndár of Srínagar, having consented to surrender Prince Sulaimán Shukoh, sent him to Court in the custody of his son. Two days after his arrival, the Prince was brought into the Emperor's presence, who directed that on the morrow he, along with Prince Sultán Muhammad, should be sent to the fort of Gwálior, and that both should be fed with koknár.* * * The sons of 'Alí Nakí, who had a charge against Murád Bakhsh for the murder of their father, were sent to Gwálior, with directions, that after a lawful judgment had been given, the retaliation for blood should be exacted from the Prince. When they arrived at Gwálior, an inquiry was made by the Kází. The Prince was resigned to his fate, and said, “If the Emperor will accept my pledges and spare my life, no harm will happen to his throne; but if he is resolved to take my life, there is no good in listening to such low fellows as these. He has the power, and can do what he likes.” On the 21st Rabí'u-s sání, 1072, under the orders of the Kází, two slaves killed the Prince with two blows of their swords. He was buried in the fort of Gwálior. In the month of Shawwal Prince Sulaimán Shukoh died from the treatment of his jailors, in the thirtieth year of his age, and was buried beside Murád Bakhsh.]

SHÁH-JAHÁN-NÁMAS.

[Besides the Sháh-Jahán-námas noticed at length, there are among the MSS. borrowed by Sir H. M. Elliot, several others bearing the same title. 1. “An abstract of the lengthy Sháh-Jahán-náma” (the Bádsháh-náma) of 'Abdu-l Hamíd Lahorí. This was written in 1225 A.H. (A.D. 1810), by Muhammad Záhid. 2. A fragment of another and lengthy Sháh-Jahán-náma, by Mirzá Jalálu-d dín Tabátabá. 3. A short work by Bhagwán Dás, which gives brief notices of the ancestors of Sháh Jahán, beginning with Adam. 4. A poem by Mirzá Muhammad Ján Mashhadí. This is called Sháh-Jahán-náma, but the title given to it by the author would rather appear to be Zafar-náma. 5. Another Sháh-Jahán-náma in verse, by Mír Mu­hammad Yahya Káshí.]