in despotic countries regarded every one about CHAP. IX. them. merits of Moghul The foregoing evidence of European travellers Comparative enables us to realise the condition of India before and Hindu rule. the rise of the British empire, but it will not permit a close comparison to be drawn of the relative merits of Moghul and Hindu rule. One traveller alone ventures to offer an opinion upon this vexed question, and his conclusions are entitled to respect; for his experiences were large and varied, and his judgment was unbiassed by any personal considerations. Captain Hamilton roundly asserts that the Hindu people were better contented to live under the Moghul dominion than under their own princes. "The Moghul," he says, "taxes the people gently, and every one knows what he has to pay; but the Hindu Rajas tax at discretion, making their own avarice the standard of equity. Moreover, the Rajas used to pick quarrels with one another on frivolous occasions; and before they could be made friends again, their subjects were forced to open both their veins and purses to gratify ambition and folly." CHAP. X. Importance of the history of Bengal. Moghul rule in CHAPTER X. PROVINCIAL HISTORY: BENGAL. A.D. 1700 To 1756. THE history of the provinces during the decline of the Moghul empire is singularly obscure. With the exception of Bengal, the information supplied by European residents or travellers is extremely scanty. Those at Madras knew little or nothing of what was going on at Arcot or Hyderabad; whilst those at Bombay were shut out from the Moghul provinces by the military empire of the Mahrattas. More, however, is known of Bengal than of any other part of India. The Muhammadan author of the "Siyár-ulMutaqherin," or "Review of Modern Times," was well acquainted with Bengal, and tells its history at great length from the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 down to the administration of Warren Hastings; whilst Mr. Holwell, who served in Bengal during a greater part of the same period, has published a narrative of events in Bengal as they appeared to the eyes of European contemporaries.' Bengal was conquered by the Moghuls under Akbar towards the end of the sixteenth century. Before 1 The principal authorities for the history of Bengal are as follows :— The Siyár-ul-Mutaqherin, by Gholam Hussin Khan, translated into English by a French renegade. Three volumes quarto. Calcutta: 1785. Interesting Historical Events relative to the Province of Bengal, by J. L. Holwell. Second edition in octavo. London 1766. History of Bengal, by Major Charles Stewart. Quarto. London : 1813. that period it had long been a bone of contention between black Abyssinians and tawny Afghans. One barbarous adventurer after another ascended the throne by the murder of his predecessor, and, after a short career of unbridled license, was murdered in his turn, whilst the timid Bengalis looked helplessly on. The Moghul conquest introduced a settled government, and was so far a blessing to all classes. The administration of the province was intrusted to a Moghul prince of the blood; and for nearly a century the land had rest under the tolerant rule of the Moghul. Sometimes the country was the theatre of rebellion; the prince at the head of the province broke out in revolt against his imperial father; and villages were plundered and ravaged by lawless mercenaries. But the people were ignorant and superstitious, and blindly submissive to their fate; and consequently they were perhaps as contented and happy as the birds of the air or the beasts of the field. CHAP. X. secutions of Towards the latter end of the seventeenth century Religious perthe Hindus were harassed by the religious persecutions Aurangzeb. of Aurangzeb. A Nawab was appointed, who carried out his orders without scruple or remorse. Idols were destroyed, temples were broken down, festivals prohibited, and the worship of the gods suppressed with a strong hand. Many Bengalis became Muhammadans; but many broke out in rebellion. At last the disturbances grew serious, and Aurangzeb recalled the hated Nawab, and placed the government into new hands. He appointed his grandson Azim to be Subahdar or Nawab of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa; and a converted Brahman, named Mir Jafir Khan, to be Dewan, or superintendent of the finances of Bengal. Azim has left no mark in history. He was a son СНАР. Х. Viceroyalty of Rise of Mir Jafir Distinction of Shah Alam, who afterwards succeeded Aurangzeb on the throne of Hindustan under the name of Bahadur Shah. He held his court at Dacca, surrounded by favourites and parasites, and indulging in all the pleasures which were common to Moghul princes in the olden time.2 Mir Jafir Khan, better known by his later name of Murshed Kuli Khan, was an official of a very different stamp. His fanatical zeal as a convert to Islam recommended him at an early period to the notice of Aurangzeb, whilst his talent for increasing the revenue and cutting down the expenditure secured his rapid elevation. Accordingly he appears to have risen. from a small appointment in the revenue department of Berar to the post of Dewan of Hyderabad, and finally to the still more important post of Dewan of Bengal. During the reign of Aurangzeb the office of Nawab was always kept distinct from that of Dewan. The Nawab was the military governor of the province, who enforced a strict obedience to the laws as administered by the Kází and Kotwal. The Dewan superintended the collection of the revenue and checked the expenditure in salaries and establishments. Accordingly there was sometimes a clashing between the two offices. The Nawab and his courtiers wanted money for their pleasures, but could draw nothing for their personal use beyond their allotted salaries. The Dewan, on the other hand, was zealous 2 According to current scandal, Azim was very fastidious about his harem, which was constantly supplied by fresh inmates from all parts of his government. 3 Nawab or Subahdar were often convertible terms, both signifying the military and civil government, but Subahdar was perhaps the higher title. In Bengal the governor was known as the Nawab, or Nawab Nazim; the term Nawab denoting his military command, whilst that of Nazim referred to the administration of justice and other civil duties. in collecting every item of revenue and in cutting CHAP. X. down all possible expenses, well knowing that under the eye of a strict master like Aurangzeb the favour of the sovereign was only to be gained by remitting the largest possible surplus to the imperial treasury.* roy to murder A young prince like Azim, who was the grandson Plot of the Viceof the reigning sovereign, would naturally grow the Dewan. jealous and impatient of a Dewan like Mir Jafir. Accordingly he secretly plotted to get rid of him. One day when the Dewan was proceeding to the palace at Dacca to pay his respects, he was surrounded by a body of troops who clamoured for arrears of pay, and were evidently bent on mischief. Mir Jafir did not stop to parley, but charged them at once at the head of his guards. The would-be assassins fled in dismay, whilst the Dewan hurried to the palace and openly charged the prince with having authorised the attempt on his life. Azim was thoroughly alarmed. He knew his grandfather was suspicious and remorseless, and that an inkling of the plot would be followed by his own destruction. Accordingly he did his best to pacify the Dewan by protesting his own innocence and threatening his direst vengeance against the offenders. Khan, Nawab Mir Jafir feigned to be satisfied, and left the Murshed Kuli palace; but he sent a complaint to Aurangzeb, and and Dewau. fled from Dacca to Murshedabad. The result was that Azim was removed to Patna, and subsequently 5 After the death of Aurangzeb there was often collusion between the Viceroy and the Dewan, and the yearly remittances to Delhi gradually dwindled to nothing; but such collusion was next to impossible under the severe rule of Aurangzeb. 5 Murshedabad was at this time named Mukhsusabad. Subsequently, when Mir Jafir received the title of Murshed Kuli Khan, he named the place Murshedabad, or "the city of Murshed." |