INDIA. 



*n**j. diligently nd wiiely to their improvement. Schools 

 > ^f mf were established, in which both the Indian and Arabic 

 languages and sciences were taught Translations of 

 work* both of instruction and taste were made at his 

 express derire, and under the direction and superin- 

 tendence of AbulFazel. Under his mild and equita- 

 ble goveniment, agriculture flourished, commerce re- 

 vived, the arts prospered, and his subjects enjoyed the 

 fruiU of their increased industry, free from those ap- 

 prehensions of insecurity to which they had been so 

 long exposed. Acber participated in the prosperity of 

 his people. His regular annual revenue amounted to 

 nearly 30,000,000 sterling ; and from sources less re- 

 gular and permanent, he frequently derived in the 

 course of the year about twenty millions more. His 

 armies were not less . remarkable for their numerical 

 t>trength, than their excellent equipment and disci- 

 pline. They consisted of about 30Q,000 horse, and an 

 equal number of foot. They were composed principal- 

 ly of detached tribes under independent chiefs ; and, 

 from this circumstance, it required all the vigilance and 

 vigour to prevent rebellions and insurrections from be- 

 ing much more frequent and dangerous than they ac- 

 Dic, tually were. Acber died after a reign of 51 years, in 



A. D. 1605. the year A. D. 1605. Prince Danial, his eldest son, 



died just before him. 



e- Immediately on his decease, a powerful party of the 

 nobility intrigued for the purpose of placing Khosru, 

 the son of Selim, Acber's only surviving son, on the 

 throne ; but their designs were frustrated, and Selim 

 succeeded. The new monarch assumed the appellation 

 of Jehanghire, or conqueror of the world. Scarcely 

 was he seated on the throne, when his nephew Khosru 

 engaged in open rebellion ; to this step he seems to have 

 been led rather by the advice and intrigues of the no- 

 bility, than by his own wishes or judgment. The re- 

 bellion, however, was soon quelled, and Khosru thrown 

 into prison. As soon as Jehanghire had restored in- 

 ternal tranquillity to his kingdom, he turned his thoughts 

 to the conquest of the Decan. He seems, however, 

 from some cause, not very apparent, not to have pur- 

 sued this object with perseverance or zeal. War was 

 also made on the Rajpoots, and the Rana, or chief prince, 

 compelled to sue for peace, on terms most favourable 

 to the emperor. 



Influence of Jehanghire was a man of talents, and would have 

 hi mutrcM. proved himself such by his conduct, had not his coun- 

 cils been rendered vacillating and weak, and his go- 

 vernment been constrained, by the influence of his mis- 

 tress Noor Jean. She was the daughter of Aiaas, a 

 Tartar, and was born in the wilderness, to which the 

 poverty of her father had obliged him to flee. Aiaas 

 afterwards came to the court of Jehanghire, and being 

 a man of considerable abilities, and of probity, he was 

 soon noticed and patronized ; his daughter was educa- 

 ted with the greatest attention and care, and she soon 

 became one of the most accomplished women in Asia. 

 As she was also greatly distinguished for her beauty and 

 her_ wit, she was not long in attracting the particular 

 notice, and exciting the warm affections, of the young 

 prince Selim. He requested his father Acber to de- 

 mand her in marriage for him ; but as she was betrothed 

 to Shore Afkhun, one of the most accomplished and 

 bravest nobles in India, Acber refused to interfere. 

 Selim therefore was obliged to wait till he ascended the 

 throne, when, his passion still being as ardent as be- 

 fore, he resolved, by whatever means, to gratify it. 

 Noor Jean was by this time married ; but this circum- 

 stance possessed no weight in the mind of the new 



sovereign. He caused her husband to be assassinated, Hittorj. 

 and the widow to be conducted to the royal Zenana. v "' "V" ' 

 She soon proved that she dioT not bear implacable resent- 

 ment against the murderer of her husband, and that 

 ambition was more powerful in her breast than affec- 

 tion. She became the wife of Jehanghire, and shortly 

 afterwards her influence over him was almost without 

 limits. Her father and brothers were raised to the 

 first offices in the empire, and her relations, to the most 

 remote degree, came from Tartary to the Mogul court, 

 where she heaped upon them wealth, rank, and power. 



In one respect, however, her influence, and the si- 

 tuation to which he was raised, was beneficial not only 

 to the emperor, but also to the kingdom at large. Her 

 father was appointed prime minister ; and as His talents 

 were not weakened nor abused by his elevation, and 

 his probity remained unimpaired, he did great service 

 to the state. Under the name of Actemad ul Dowlah, 

 he exercised the office of prime minister in such a man- 

 ner till his death, that his name is to this day revered 

 by the people of Hindostan. The principles upon which His *!*" 

 be administered the government were similar to those a< ' m!n " >t - ra - 

 upon which Acber had conducted himself; he regarded * 

 the industry of the people, not only as the only source 

 of wealth and prosperity, but also as the surest defence 

 against foreign foes, and the best preservative of inter- 

 nal quiet. Forests were cut down, and towns and vil- 

 lages were built; manufactures flourished under his 

 auspices ; but it was to the improvement of agriculture 

 that he specially directed his attention and his measures. 

 Those provinces, which during war had been desolated, 

 were repeopled and cultivated. Religious persecution 

 was unknown ; the Hindoo and the Mahomedan were 

 equally the objects of his care, and placed equally un- 

 der the protection of the laws. It was in this reign 

 that Sir Thomas Roe was sent as the first English am- 

 bassador to the Emperor of Hindostan. He presented 

 a coach to Jehanghire from James I. ; and, in spite of 

 the opposition of the Prince Royal, obtained the object 

 of his mission, which was leave to establish a factory 

 at Surat. In the second division of thjs article, the 

 European establishments will be particularly consider- 

 ed ; we shall therefore only remark in this place, that 

 the Portuguese had by this time acquired considerable 

 settlements in Bengal and Guzerat ; but only those at 

 Guzerat, where they also possessed some extent of ter- 

 ritory, attracted the notice of the court; and it is cu- 

 rious to observe in what terms the author of the Ayeen 

 Acbaree mentions them. Speaking of the lands of Gu- 

 zerat, he says, " By the neglect of the king's governors, 

 several of these districts are in the hands of Europeans." 

 Ferishta also, mentioning the site of an ancient Hindoo 

 temple near Diis, says, that it was situated in the dis- 

 tricts that were subject to the " idolaters of Europe." 



The rebellions of his son, Shah Jehan, embittered 

 the latter part of his reign ; and these rebellions were 

 sometimes fostered and strengthened by the nobles, 

 whose martial habits rendered a life of peace irksome 

 to them, and sometimes excited by the intrigues of the 

 empress. 



Jehanghire died in 1 628 : at the time of his death n <es, 

 he was on a journey to Cashmere, in the cool and beau- A - D - 1628> 

 tit'ul rallies of which he was accustomed to reside du- 

 ring the sultry months of summer. " This monarch H' s charao 

 had the character of being a Deist, because he protect- ter> 

 ed the followers of Brahma and Zoroaster, and even to- 

 lerated Christians as well as Mahomedans : he was most 

 rigorous in administering justice, punishing even those 

 he loved, without regard to greatness of situation or 



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