ook L 
650 The HI STOUT of the 
lie prayed a third and fourth Time. The Remainder of 
the Day, till two Hours after it was dark, he fpent in the 
private Concerns of his Family, then he fupped, and 
flept afterwards only two Hours ; after which, it is faid, 
he read the Alcoran r and prayed almoft all the remaining 
Part of the Night. And here we have a remarkable In- 
stance of what vaft Advantage an ahftemious regular 
Courfe of Life is towards the procuring. Health and long 
Life, and rendering, a- Prince fit for the rnoft important 
and intricate Affairs for this Emperor, notwithftanding 
he was an unwearied Hearer of Caufes, and conftandy di- 
rected the Affairs of fo vaft an Empire, and conquered 
feveral large Kingdoms,, lived without contracting any 
Diftemper,. and neither his Judgment, or Memory, were 
at all impaired when he was near Ninety Years ©f Age. 
This Regularity was not at all the EffeCt either of Decay 
in his Conftitution,- or of Repentance on account of paft Li- 
berties. Fie v/as altogether as temperate in the Vigour of 
his Age as in the Decline of it, and from the fame Princi- 
ples of Wifdom, Moderation and Prudence •, for it is 
related of him, that even in his Youth, having fingled 
out a young Lady in the Haram to lie with him one Night, 
and fhe had dreffed and prepared herfelf to receive her 
Royal Lover, the King coming into the Apartments at 
the appointed Time, inftead of gping to Bed, fell to read- 
ing, and between his Books and his Devotions, paffed the 
whole Night without ever taking Notice of the expecting 
Lady. He gratified, however, his Appetites, when they 
were very ftrongQrom the very fame Motives that induced 
him to reftrain them, that is to fay, that they might not 
difturb or diftraCt his Reafon. 
He conducted his Conquefts in. the fame manner,, con- 
tenting himfelf for many Years with the Tributes of two 
neighbouring Kingdoms.; but at length finding, it neceffary 
to employ his Troops, and keep his Army in ACtion, he 
in the Years 1685 and 1686, deprived the Kings of Vifia- 
pour and Golconda , even of that Shadow of Sovereignty 
which till then he had left them, and bringing them Pri- 
foners to his Camp, annexed their Kingdoms as Provinces 
to his Empire, and appointed Viceroys to govern them, in 
which State they have continued ever fiance.. Thefe Con- 
quefts gave Aurengzebe the Sovereignty of moft of the other 
petty States in the South of the Peninfula , as far as Cape 
Comorin , for thefe were fubjeft or tributary to one or other 
of thofe Kings before the Great Mogul fubdued them. 
There are indeed fome Rajahs or Pagan Princes in the 
Mountains, who ftift govern their own People ; but thefe 
feldom think fit to attack the Mogul, and are very well 
iatisfied if he will let them remain at Quiet in their little 
Principalities. Some of them alfo are his Allies, and 
afiifted him in the Conqueft of Vifiapom and Golconda , 
and thefe are fuffered to retain their ancient Jurifdiftion. 
However, it may properly enough be faid, that the 
Empire of the Great Mogul has no other Boundaries 
than the Ocean towards the South, for the Sea-Coafts are 
generally in his Power, nor is there any Rajah now left 
able to meet him in the Field, though fome few of them 
may fkulk in inacceffible Mountains, and boaft to this Day 
that they have not fubmittecl to his Arms. 
It was in reducing thefe Kingdoms, and making frefti 
Acceffions to the Empire, that this great Monarch fpent 
his Time, and fpent it in a Camp, and in the Field. Fie 
thought that every Palace, every Caftle, had the Air of a 
Prifon, and therefore he feldom entered one, but when his 
Affairs would allow him fo much reft ; he was content to 
ftay fometimes a confiderable Space in the fame Camp, as 
particularly in that near Galgcla ; after the Defeat of his 
Son Sultan Akbar , he remained no lefs than four Years. 
His Magnificence appeared, however, as great in this mi- 
litary Life, as if, like his Ancestors, he had founded Cities, 
and erefted Palaces ; for when he decamped at any time no 
lefs than one hundred and twenty Elephants, one thoufand 
and four hundred Camels, and four hundred Carts, were 
employed in carrying the Royal Tents, Baggage and Fur- 
niture, and thefe were always fent away the Night before, 
the Emperor and every Omrah in the "Army had a dou- 
ble Suit of Tents ^nd Field Equipage •, lb that when they 
came to their Ground the Camp was always ready pitched, 
and Provifions of all kind to be had as foon as the March 
was over. It was by thefe extraordinary Precautions, and 
by a ftribt Adherence to thefe Maxims, which from a fteadv 
Attention to the Situation of things in that Country, he at 
fiift laid down, that foi fo many Fears he governed with 
fo great, Eafe fo, vaft an Empire, and left it not only entire 
but very much extended to his Children. In one thing 
only his Fortune failed him, which was in the War againft 
Seva-Rajah, commonly called by our Writers of Travels 
and Voyages Seva-gi , of whom we have hitherto had fo 
dark an Account, that it may not be amifs- to take this 
Opportunity of fetting it at once in a dear Light, This 
Seva was originally in the Service of the King of Vifiapour , 
and would have perfuaded him to have united with other 
Princes his Neighbours, when Aurengzebe firft attacked 
their Countries, before he afeended the Throne of the Mo- 
guls : But that Prince would neither liften to his Advice, 
nor believe that it was given with any other View than to 
put himfelf at the Head of an Army, with which he might 
attempt things to his Prejudice. This unjuft Sufpicion had 
a very bad Elfecc, for it put the Rajah Seva upon feizing. 
a Part of his Matter’s Dominions, which with fome of the 
adjacent Countries were confirmed to him by Aurengzebe ; 
but when that Prince had dethroned his Father, and was 
eftablifhed in the Empire, he was for depriving Rajah 
Seva of what he had before given him, in order to annex 
thofe Countries to his Dominions, which was the firft Caufe 
of the War ; for this Rajah Seva was as great a General^, 
and a much, better Man, than the Emperor himfelf; and 
by his Behaviour plainly proved, that if the reft of the 
Indian Princes had been Men of like Courage and Spirit, 
their Kingdoms had never become Provinces of the Mogul 
Empire. In order to accomplifh this Defign, and remove 
fo formidable a Prince out of his Neighbourhood, Aureng- 
zebe commanded his Uncle Chajla-Khan, with a numerous 
Army, to march againft him ; upon which Rajah Seva re- 
tired to his Mountains, where he bid Defiance to the whole 
Forces of the Mogul, and was very near furprifing Chafia- 
Khan one Might in his Tent, having killed his Son, and 
wounded the General himfelf ; and in ihort, he fo harraffed 
the Moguls Troops, that Chafta-Kban was glad to quit the 
Enterprize^ and return to his Government of Aurengabad. 
Rajah Seva foon after formed a Project of furprizing 
Surat , a Port of the greateft Trade in the Mogul’s Domi- 
nions. To cover his Defign,, he marched with the greateft 
Part of his Troops the direct contrary way,, and while Au- 
rengzebe' s Forces were preparing to oppofe him he, dif- 
guifed in the Habit of a Faquir, travelled to Surat on 
Foot, in order to view the Avenues to that City, and find- 
ing it a Place not capable of making any great Defence, at 
his Return to the Camp, he took with him no more than 
four thoufand Men, with whom he marched with the ut- 
moft Secrefy and Expedition, infomuch that the Governor 
had no Notice of his Approach, till he came within Sight; 
of the Town, and then thought fit to retire into the Caftle, 
with the Garrifon, and die Effedts of the greateft Value, 
The Inhabitants alfo forfook their Houfes, and fled into 
the Country, fo that the Rajah had the plundering one of 
the richeft Towns in the World four Days together, with- 
out any manner of Opposition, except what he met with 
from the Englijh and Dutch Factories, who having time to 
eredt a Battery or two of great Guns before their Houfes, 
faved all their Effedls ; nor was he prepared to attack the 
Caftles, and therefore thought fit to march off with the 
Plunder he had got, which was computed to amount in 
Gold, Silver, and Jewels, only to the Value of three Milli- 
ons Sterling at leaft for in the Houfe of one Banjan , Mer- 
chant, it is faid, he found twenty-two Pound Weight of 
ftrung Pearl, b.efides a great Quantity of others, unpierced e. 
This 
t The Courage and Conduft of this Indian General is very much magnified by moft of our Writers, on the Credit of the Relations received from 
fuch as. then refitted in the Indies, and particularly at Surat, when the thing happened. But there are two Remarks that are neceffary, in order to fe£ 
this Action in a true Light. The firft is, that he had formed in his Mind a Projeft of becoming at once a Prince able to defend himielf againft his old 
Matter, and againft the Mogul. It was a bold Refolution, but at the fame time it was neceffary. If he had not a Fund fufficient for an Army equal to 
that of the Mogul, his Force fignified nothing, and from being a Prince, he muft foon have funk into a Highway-man. The Plunder f Sura he 
lidged would' be fufficient to arffwer his Purpoles ; fo that coiffidersd in this Light, this appears a very different Exploit from what it does in moil of our 
Relations j. 
