Book I. 
652, The HISTO RT of the 
of their Palaces while living. He' thought, it feems, that 
Power and Pleafure were incompatible, and that the for- 
mer ought to be preferred to the latter : Plow far he was 
in the right I pretend not to determine ; but, moft evi- 
dent it is, that he took the right Method to obtain what 
he chofe, and to keep it when obtained. His Govern- 
ment, with refpeft to his Subjects in general, was exa£t 
without Severity ; for, though he improved the Revenues 
of the Empire, and took care that the Governors of the 
refpe&ive Provinces ftiould pay into the Imperial Trea- 
fury the Tributes levied upon the People, yet. he alfo took 
care that there flioulcl be none of that Extortion or Op- 
preffion which had been praftifed under the Reign of 
his Father, but allowed all his Officers competent Salaries, 
and punifhed them feverely, if they were guilty of any 
Exactions. 
He kept up, in the feveral Provinces of his Empire, 
an Army of regular Troops, amounting, in Horfe and 
Foot, to upwards of Nine hundred thoufand, who were 
regularly paid and well difciplined, fo that his Sons were in 
Want of Soldiers, when they came, after his Death, to 
difpute the Succeffion. In his Father’s Time, the Em- 
pire confided of twenty- three Provinces, the Revenues of 
which amounted to Twenty-feven Millions and a half of 
our Money but, in the latter End of his Father’s Time, 
the three Provinces of Balkb , Kandahar , and Bidduckjhan 
were loft, which produced a Revenue of Six hundred thou- 
fand Pounds *, and yet, at his Deceafe, he left his Domi- 
nions in a better Condition than he found them, as will 
appear from the following fuccincft Table of Provinces, 
and their Revenues, which may be depended upon, and 
which will be of great Ufe in underftanding the fubfequent 
Part of this Work, as well as other Books which treat of 
the Mogul Empire. 
The Nineteen Old Soubahs, i. e. Provinces. 
Names. Capitals. Revenues in Dams,, 
JDebli - - Dehli - - 122 1950 137 
Agra - - Agra - - 1146760157 
Ajtnir - - Ajmir - - 652345362 
Alebabad - Alebabad - 456543248 
Panjab - - Labor - - 826132107 
Audih - - Audih - - 322327829 
Multan - - Multan - - 214442936 
Cabul - - Cabul - - 161039354 
Cajhmir - - Strimgar - 22991 1397 
Guzerat - Abmedabad - 6078491 35 
Beha - - Patna - - 407161000 
Scind - - Tati a - - 91816810 
Dowlatabad Aurengabad 1034945 100 
Malva - - Eugene - - 4039016^8 
Bera - - - - - - 614025000 
Khandeijlj - Prampore - 448630000 
Bedr - - Zafferab-ad 372974370 
Bengali - - Dacca - - 524636240 
Odjfea - - - - - - 142820000 
The Two New Soubahs, 
Hyderabad Hyderabad 1 1 1 3 3 60000 
VijapGre- - Vijapore - 1078305000 
12071 876840or/. 37.724.615 02 06 
12. The great Emperor, Aurengzebe , had no fooner 
breathed his laft, than his Sons were immediately in Mo- 
tion, in order, each of them, to force his Paffage to the 
Throne at the Head of an Army. His fecond Son being 
on the Spot, had fome Advantage •, he affumed immediately 
all the Enfigns of the Imperial Dignity, took the Title of 
Mohammed Azem Shah , i. e. The glorious , or, illujlrious 
.. Monarch \ and, at the fame Time, by the Advice of his 
Minifters, polled Guards on the Frontiers of the Pro- 
vince, to prevent any Correfpondence between his elder 
Brother and the Grandees of the Court. He made great 
Prefents to the principal Minifters and Officers in the Ar- 
my, and much greater Promifes, in which he certainly acted 
very wifely. But, being naturally of a haughty Temper, he 
could not help fnewing it in the Letters that he wrote to 
the Rajahs, in which he difclaimed their Affiftance, but 
threatened, at the fame time, to punifti, with the Otmoft 
Severity, fuch as fhould prefume to take the Field againft 
him. 
His elder Brother, Mohammed Mauzm , or, as he is 
commonly ftiled, by our European Writers (from the Ti- 
tle he afterwards affumed) Shah Alum , i. e. King of the 
World , was then in Cabuliftan , the moft diftant Part of 
the Empire ; but he foon raifed Forces fufficient to put 
him in a Condition to make good his Claim to the Em- 
pire ; and that Kindnefs and Alacrity with which he re- 
ceived every Body, did him as much Service as his Arms. 
He wrote feveral Letters to fuch Governors of Provinces 
as he fuppo'fed leaft in his Intereft, importing his great 
Regard for their Perfons, and his Defire that they would 
remain neuter till the Empire was eftablifhed on a fettled 
Foundation, and make Ufe of their Troops to proteft the 
People in their refpettive Governments, from the Miferies 
incident to a Civil War. This Advice they took very 
kindly, and followed it very exactly. When Shah Alum 
had advanced as far as Dehly , that Capital, without any 
Scruple, opened her Gates to him, and he there feated 
himfelf on the Throne of his Grandfather Shah jehan. 
He marched from thence towards Agra , and on the 
Banks of the River Chun, both Armies met. That of 
Shah Alum confided of 150,000 Horfe, and 178,000 
Foot, exclufive of the Auxiliaries furnifhed by the Rajahs 
and Shah Azem , had very near the fame Force. The Bat- 
tle was fought in the Middle of the Month of June , with 
great Obftinacy on both Sides, and lafted for near three 
Days ; but, at length, Fortune declared in Favour of the 
elder Brother, and Shah Azem loft the Field, the Crown 
and his Life together. Some Writers tell us, that when 
he found himfelf furrounded, and heard one of his Bro- 
ther’s Sons calling out to take him alive, he was fo trans- 
ported with Rage and Defpair, that he killed himfelf 
with his own Poniard, to avoid falling into the Hands of 
his Enemies, of whom he is faid to have (lain twenty be- 
fore he fell. This fingle Battle put an End to the Dif- 
pute, and the Conqueror entering Agra in Triumph, af- 
cended the Throne of his Father, and was immediately 
owned for their Emperor, by fuch of his Brother’s Mini- 
fters and Generals as efcaped from the Defeat k . 
13. Sultan Mohammed Mauzm , or Shah Alum, affumed, 
on his mounting the Throne at Agra, the Tide of Koteb 
o’ din Bahadr Shah , i. e. The Axis of Religion, the moft 
valiant Monarch \ thence he is called by our Writers Sim- 
ply Badour Shah. He declared Mohammed Khan his Prime 
Minifter, and Zulfekar Khan his High TreaSurer : So that 
under this Reign thofe Offices were diftinct, though un- 
der many of the Mogul Emperors they had been enjoyed, 
by the fame Perfon. As foon as every thing was fettled, 
he formed a Defign of attacking his furviving Brother, 
upon what Provocation is not very clear ; but, if what 
fome Writers relate of this Monarch be true, he was not 
the moft tenacious Man in the World of his Word. 
After that great Battle, which gave him the Empire, 
he is reported to have been fo over-joyed, that he offered 
the Rajahs, who had affifted him, whatever Proofs of Gra- 
titude they could poffibly defire, and gave them his Con- 
fent freely, to confider what they would alk. After con- 
fulting among themfelves, they defired him to grant them 
the free Exercife of their Religion, with leave to rebuild 
their Pagods, or Temples, to exempt them from the 
Capitation of Poll-Tax, which Aurengzebe had impofed 
upon them, to admit them to Offices and Employments 5 
and that with refpebi: to Cuftoms and Tolls, and generally 
in all other Points, they might be treated in the fame. Man- 
ner as Mohammedans , which Privileges were all granted 
them by Bahadr Shah, but they did not enjoy them 
long. 
k This has been always a common Practice in. the Mogul Empire, where, without Victory, no Caufe is good, and with it none is ever quefli- 
oned, but every Man fubmits to the Conqueror, and acknowledges him for his lawful Sovereign to Day, with whom Yeiterday it would have been 
Treafon to have had the leaft Correfpondence. 
HlS 
