1900.] Abdul W2di—Plagite in India. 83 



The following papers were read : — 



1. Note on the Plague in India daring the reign of the Emperor 

 Aurangzeh. — By Maulavi Abdul Wall 



111 two notes on Tulsi-Das and the Plague in Benares published 

 respectively in the Proceedings of the Society for March and May, 

 1898, Dr. Grierson says that the Plague, which raged in India in the 

 reign of Jahangir, was probably the cause of the death of the poet 

 Tulsi-Das. Dr. Bloch, in a supplementary note to the first paper of 

 Dr. Grierson, adds that the Plague broke out in March, 1616 A.D., 

 and lasted eight years. 



One of the symptoms of the disease, mentioned by the Emperor in 

 his Tuzuk-i-Jaliangui, and by the poet Tulsi-Das in his Ramayana, 

 (according to the above notes) was the extremely painful boils and 

 bubos which appeared in the groins or armpits. The Plague fi^rst 

 appeared in the Panjab, spread in all the towns and villages in the 

 neighbourhood of Agra, but tliere was no trace of it at Fathpur- 

 Sikri. The disease again increased in the cold weather. 



Another most terrible outbreak of the Plague or Ta'iin occurred in 

 the thirty-second year (1100 A.H. = 1688-89 A.D.) of the Emperor 

 Aurangzeb's reign at Bljapur, and is mentioned in the Madsir-i- 

 ^Alamglri. The following are the particulars : — 



In Muharram of the year J 100 A.H., ( = October-November 1688 

 A.D.) the pestilence. Plague, broke out in a virulent type at Bijapur, 

 at a time when the Emperor and his army were encamped at that 

 city. It burst forth suddenly, and spread rapidly. A terrible mortality 

 ensued, and it struck terror into every heart. All ceremonies of 

 pleasure were abandoned. The world sat bewailing. Verily it was 

 ihe Day of Judgment (qiyamat) that came upon the people, or an 

 annihilating blast that was about to sweep away the human species. 



Under the armpit or in the groin a boil appeared, fever and 

 delirium (madhUshi) of such a peculiar type came upon the patient 

 that no treatment gave him relief. The patient died of the pestilence 

 geneially in a day or two and sometimes in three days. Those who 

 were so fortunate as to remain safe from its attack, were so much 

 frightened that they considered themselves as dead. In fact, it came 

 to such a pass, that none would care for the other. The cry of nafsi, 

 nafsl, (myself, myself), was heard everywhere. Nlm-Janan, i.e., 

 those who were half dead with fright and consternation, having 

 forsaken their everyday business, were only waiting for the hour 

 of death. The maid-of-honour of Her Majesty Aurangabadi Mahal 

 (the Empress), Muhammadi Raj, son of Maharaja Jaswant Singh, 

 Fazil Khan, the Sadr, and a host of other nobilities succumbed to the - 



