of his secretaries.* He understood and encouraged agriculture; was thoroughly versed in all the details of his vast empire; and the unfortunate and distressed invariably found a resource in the wise policy or bounty of the sovereign. Although his revenues amounted to thirty-two millions sterling, he left in his private treasury little more than 70007., of which, in his last will, he ordered 1000 rupees (1251.) to be distributed among the poor at his funeral. He directed his burial to be conducted without pomp, his tomb to be low and simple, like those of dervishes; and desired his "fortunate children to give themselves no concern about a monument. Such a man

that of either bigot or If he is to be judged of

deserves a better name than hypocrite, tyrant or monster. by comparison, it would be difficult to find a despotic reign of half a century, stained by fewer crimes on the part of the monarch, or marked by a more laudable attention to the general interests and improvement of the empire.+

At the time that the last illness of Aurungzebe commenced, his eldest son, Mahomed Mauzum (Shah Allum), was in Caubul; of which, as a distant province where he could be least dangerous, he was made governor upon his liberation from the confinement in which he had languished for several years. His two remaining sons, Mahomed Azim Shah, soubahdar of Gujerat, and Mahomed Kâmbuksh, on whom he had recently conferred the two new soubahs of Bejapore and Hyderabad, were both in the camp; but Aurungzebe hurried them away to their stations, fearing, it is

*If this was his constant practice, how came the breach of etiquette to be committed in the imperial epistle to Shah Abbas II.? Could it be an inadvertency?

† See Dow, iii. 358-368. Maurice, iv. 496-500.

supposed, lest their contests should anticipate his dissolution. He obviously foresaw the struggle that would ensue; and in his last will, not daring to appoint a successor, he expresses his desire that whosoever of his children might chance to rule the empire, he would not molest Kâmbuksh, should he rest contented with the two new soubahs. By enjoining on all the imperial servants fidelity to Azim Shah, he tacitly intimated his preference of that son as his successor; but at the same time, he refers to a proposed division of the empire as certain, "if agreeable" to his children, to prevent a great deal of confusion and bloodshed. "There are," he says in this interesting document, "two imperial seats, Agra and Delhi. Whoever settles in Agra, may have the province thereof, Deccan, Malwah, and Gujerat. And who resides at Delhi, may have Caubul and the other provinces."

Azim had not reached his government, when he received intelligence of the Emperor's decease. He hurried back to the camp, and, no competitor being present, received without difficulty the obedience of the army. As it was not expected, however, that Shah Allum would quietly resign his throne and his life, Azim began his march towards the northern provinces, and, on the approach of his brother, addressed him a letter offering to divide the empire. The proposal was indignantly rejected, and the two armies met on the banks of the Chumbul, near Agra. In the battle which ensued on the 9th of June, all the great omrahs who had served under the late emperor, displayed their standards on the side of Azim; but Zulfekkar

Fraser's Nadir Shah, p. 37. This document is not given in the Memoirs of Eradut Shah; and Major Rennell, not being aware of it, questions the assertion that Aurungzebe made, or rather recommended, a partition of the empire among his sons

Khan, the favourite general of Aurungzebe, taking offence at the rejection of his advice at the commencement of the action, withdrew with his forces. The conflict was, however, maintained with an obstinacy proportioned to the importance of the stake; and its issue was decisive. The two elder sons of Azim were slain, and the other two were taken prisoners. Azim himself stood his ground until he was left with only 6000 horse, who were surrounded by ten times their number, when, to avoid captivity, he stabbed himself to the heart.*

Another contest, however, remained to be decided, before Shah Allum could quietly enjoy the crown. The imperial throne was promised to Kâmbuksh by his own vanity, and by his astrologers; and although his generous brother, even when near him at the head of an irresistible army, invited him to enjoy in peace his kingdom of Bejapore and Golcondah, agreeably to their father's dying request, the infatuated prince rushed upon his own destruction. He was soon deserted by almost all his followers, and in a skirmish near Hyderabad, was taken prisoner, not before he had received a mortal wound. The Emperor then immediately began his march for the capital, though in the middle of the rains, leaving to his officers to execute whatever remained for the settling of those newly conquered territories, the scene of his father's mistaken ambition.

Shah Allum had, before leaving Caubul, assumed the title of Bahadar Shah. He does not appear to have disgraced his success by any subsequent acts of cruelty or revenge; but, during his short reign, supported his character for humanity. It is remarkable,

Orme, 307. Mill, ii. 275.

that he does not appear to have had an opportunity of visiting, or at least of making any stay at either of the imperial cities, Agra or Delhi. His return from the Deccan was hastened by the daring inroads of a new enemy, who had appeared in considerable force in Lahore, and had carried their ravages to the banks of the Jumna. These were the Seiks, who, during the reign of Shah Jehan, had silently established themselves along the foot of the eastern mountains, and were rapidly advancing to that importance which renders them at present one of the principal powers in Hindostan. The religious indignation of the Emperor and his omrahs, concurred with political considerations, to render the chastisement of these formidable intruders a more pressing object than either the subjugation of the Rajpoots or the conquest of the Mahratta country.

The origin of this warlike sect "is to be traced back to the time of the Emperor Baber, when a celebrated dervish, being captivated with the beauty of the son of a grain-merchant of the Cshatrya caste, by name Nannuk, brought him to reside in his house, and instructed him in the sublime doctrines and duties of Islamism. Nannuk aspired beyond the merit of a learner. From theological writings which he perused, he selected, as he went on, such doctrines, expressions, and sentiments as captivated his fancy. At length, his selections approached to the size of a book; and being written (it is said with elegance) in the Punjabee dialect, the language of the country, were read by various persons, and admired. The fame of Nannuk's book was diffused. He gave it a name, Kirrunt; and by degrees, the votaries of Kirrunt became a sect. They distinguished themselves by a peculiar garb and manners, which resembled those of the moslem fakîrs.

They united so as to live by themselves apart from the other inhabitants; and formed villages or communities, call sedangats, in which some one, as head of the community, always presided over the rest. Nannuk was followed by nine successors in the office of chief or patriarch of the whole sect; during whose time the Seiks led peaceable and inoffensive lives. Teeg Bahadur, the tenth in order, was perpetually followed by a large multitude of the enthusiasts of the sect; and united himself with a mussulman fakîr, who had followers approaching in number to his own. Το subsist so numerous a body of idle religionists, the neighbouring districts were laid under contribution; and the saints, having tasted the sweets of a life of plunder and idleness, pushed their depredations, and became the scourge of the provinces. Aurungzebe, who was then upon the throne, commanded the governor of Lahore to seize the two leaders of the banditti ; to banish the mussulman beyond the Indus, and to conduct the Hindoo to the fort of Gwalior, where he was put to death. The loss of their patriarch was far from sufficient to extinguish the religious flame of the Seiks. A son of Teeg Bahadur, whose family name was Govind, was raised to the vacant supremacy, and was distinguished by the name of Gooroo Govind; Gooroo being the title bestowed by a Hindoo on his religious instructor. The fate of his father taught him audacity; he instructed his followers, hitherto unarmed, to provide themselves with weapons and horses; divided them into troops; placed them under the command of those of his friends in whose conduct and fidelity he confided; and plundered the country by force of arms. He was not, however, able to withstand the troops of the province, which were collected to oppose him; his two sons were taken prisoners, and