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from Aiirungabad in llie Deccan, and the two brot'ners joined 

 at Eutrcne, nearwliich place they encountered and defeated 

 the troops whicli Dnra had fent to oppofe them. They 

 afterwards marched towards Dehli ; and in the fields of 

 Kejouh, near Agra, obtained a complete viftory over Dara 

 and his army ; fo that Dara himfcif fled towards Lahore, 

 and Aurcng-Zebc entered the cadle of Agra. After this 

 viftor)' he took pofTefllon of the throne, July 20, A. D. 1658, 

 and was proclaimed emperor at the town of Eazabad, about 

 fix miles from Dehli. On the 15th of May 1659, he was 

 proclaimed a fecond time, and he then ifl'ued a decree, that 

 for the future the beginning of his reign fliould be dated 

 from the full Ramazan, in the year 1069 of the Hegira, 

 cr the 1 2th of May 1659. For the fecurity of his throne, 

 he confined his father at Agra ; and his brother Movad, in 

 violation of a folemn oath of fidelity, he imprifoned in a 

 fortrefs near Dehli, where he was afterwards beheaded. 

 During the civil war which commenced at the time of his 

 acceflion to the throne, and which was continued till his 

 power was completely eitabliflicd, his brother Sujah was 

 hrft defeated at a place called Kuvra, in the province of 

 Bengal, and compelled to fly ; but being concerned in a 

 plot for dethroning him, he was put to death, and his whole 

 family was extirpated. Dara was taken prifoner, and brought 

 in triumph to Dehli, and fent from thence to Khefrabad, a 

 place at the diltance of about 1 iS miles, where he was mur- 

 dered by Aureng-Zebe's order, Auguft 28th, 1659. In 

 1661, Aureng-Zebe confined his own fon Mahommed, and 

 the fon of Dara, in the cattle of Gnaliar, where the former 

 died, as fonie fay, in confequence of confinement, and the lat- 

 ter was difpatched by flow poilbu. Aureng-Zebe, after his 

 acceffion to the throne, found fome diihculty in perfuading 

 the chief cadi to acknowledge his fovercignty , becaufe the old 

 king, Shah Jelian, was (till living. But another cadi being ap- 

 pointed in his room, the ceremonial of coronation was per- 

 formed, and Aureng-Ztbe obtained undifputed and peaceable 

 pofTeffion of the throne. The recolleftion, however, of the 

 crimes by which he had gained the fovercignty, was an oc- 

 cafion of remorfe ; and in order to quiet his mind, he im- 

 pofed upon himfelf a rigorous penance ; eating only barley 

 bread, herbs, and fruits, and drinking nothing but water. 

 This abftemious diet brought on an illnefs, which endan- 

 gered his life ; and during the agitation which enfucd at 

 court, he had an opportunity of dii'playing that refolution 

 and firmnefs of mind for which he was always diflinguifhed. 

 Although he had depofed his father, his behaviour to him 

 was fo refpeftful and fubmiflive, that he at length obtained, 

 before his death in 1666, his forgivenefs and paternal blelF- 

 ing. When Aureng-Zebe became emperor, he aflTumed the 

 titles of " Muhy o' din," i. e. the reviver of religion : and 

 *' Alumguir," or the conqueror of the world, of which his 

 ignorance and vanity led him to believe that he poflefled 

 three parts in four. 



From the year 1660 until the year 1678, there prevailed, 

 through Hindoftan in general, the moil profound peace 

 that had ever perhaps been known ; but Aureng-Zebe dif- 

 dained to have any other boundary on the fouth befides the 

 ocean. Accordingly, the conqneft of the remote part of the 

 Deccan employed a very confidcrablepart of his Icifure, dur- 

 ing the latter part of his reign, when the whole of that region, 

 together with the peninfiila, a few mountainous and inacceffi- 

 ble trafts excepted, were cither entirely fubjefted, or rendered 

 tributary to the throne of Dehli. Aureng-Zebe was particu- 

 larly induced to lubdue the Deccan, by the determined fpi- 

 rit and growing power of Sevajee, the founder of tlie Mah- 

 ratta (late, who, by his conquells in Vifiapour, appeared un- 

 der the chara(5ter of his rival. Soon after he had quelled by 

 8 



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his pcrfonal prefcnce a rebellion of the Patans beyond the 

 Indus, in 1678, his perfecution of the Hindoos ilirred up 

 the Rajpoot tribes in Agimere. This war he alio under- 

 took in perfon ; but he and his whole army were flint up 

 between the mountains, and the emprcfs hcrfelf was 

 taken prifoner. She, however, and alfo the emperor, 

 were permitted to efcape. This difaller did not difcou- 

 rage him from carrying the war into the Rajpoot country 

 again, in 1681 ; when he took and deflroycd Chcitore, the 

 famous capital of the Rana, as well as all the objects of 

 Hindoo worfliip which he found in this place. Neverthe- 

 lefs the fpirits of thefe gallant people were ftill unfubdued, 

 and Aureng-Zebe was under a necefiity of granting them 

 ptace. In Mr. Orme's " Hiflorical Fragments of the Mo- 

 gul Empire," we have a letter written by Jefwont Sing, 

 rajah of Jcudypour, to Aureng-Zebe, expoftulating with 

 him on the unjuft meafures he w-as purfuing with refpeft 

 to trio Hindoos. This letter breathes the moft admirable 

 fpirit of philanthropy, and of toleration in matters of reli- 

 gion, together with the moft determined refolution to op- 

 pofe the meditated attack on the civil and religious rights 

 of the Hindoos. Whilft Aureng-Zebe was engaged in his 

 contells viith the Rajpoots, confilling of feveval of the moll 

 warhke tribes among the Indians, his fon, fultan Mahommed 

 Akbar, revolted from him, and joined them ; but he was 

 purfued by the emperor to Deccan, from whence he found 

 means for tfcaping to Perfia. In the year 1680, upon the 

 death of Sevajee, the rifing ilate of the Mahrattas devolved 

 on his fon Sambajee, who was afterwards betrayed into the 

 hands of Aureng-Zebe, and barbaroufly put to death. Still, 

 however, the mountainous parts of Baglana were unfubdued ; 

 and although the kingdom of Vifiapour was reduced in 

 1686, and Golconda in the following year, he found it very 

 difficult to profecute his conquefts towards the wefl:, as we 

 may infer from his camp's being fixed on tiie Kiilnah river, 

 about 200 miles to the north-eaft of Goa, in 1695. But 

 we have no regular hiftory of any later period than the loth 

 3'ear of Aureng-Zebe, or the year 1670, when Mr. Dow's 

 hiftory terminates. It is faid, that Aureng-Zebe w'as em- 

 ployed in the Deccan from the year 1678 to the time of his 

 death, and was adluallv in the field during the greateft part 

 of the laft fifteen years of his life. This derehclion of his 

 original empire and capital for nearly thirty years, was the 

 occalion of various diforders. To this circumftance were 

 owing the fecond rebellion of the Rajpoots in Agimere, 

 that ot the Patans towards the Indus, and alio that of the 

 lats, or lates, in the province of Agra. Befides the con- 

 quefts of Vifiapour, Golconda, and the Carnatic, to the 

 fouth ; and thofe in the kingdom of Afam to the north, 

 Aureng-Zebe reduced Bengal, and rcfcued the mouths of 

 the Ganges from the Portuguefe pirates, who had long in- 

 fefted them. Under his reign tlie empire attained its full 

 meafure of extent. His authority reached from the loth to 

 the 35th degree of latitude, and nearly as much in longitude; 

 and his revenue, fays major Rennell, exceeded Thirty-two 

 milhons of pounds ilerling, in a country where the produfts 

 of the earth are about four times as cheap as in England. 

 Frafer eftimates the whole revenue of the empire from 2 1 

 foubahs, or provinces, at 12,071,876,840 dams, which at 

 320 dams to a pound fterling, amount to 37,724,615!. 

 2 s. 6 d. Such indeed was the reputation for power and 

 wealth which Aureng-Zebe acquired, that embaflies were 

 fent to him from all the neighbguring nations, as well as 

 from the European powers, who wiflied to obtain commer- 

 cial advantages in his dominions. But under an apprchen- 

 fion of the defigns of his fons both againft himfelf and 

 againll each other, he was obliged to pals moft of his time 



