Aurangzeb and Mughal War of Succession

According to some historians Kankwari Fort within the Sariska National Park in Alwar is the place where Dara Shikoh was held captive by Aurangzeb 

As soon as the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan fell ill in September, 1657, it sparked a deadly war of succession among his four sons – Dara Shikoh, Shuja, Aurangzeb and Murad. In this fratricidal war of succession, his two daughters Jahanara and Raushanara sided with Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb respectively. 

At the time of the emperor’s sickness, his eldest son Dara was at his bedside in Agra where he resided at the court. Shah Jahan was very fond of Dara and in normal circumstances the latter would have been his successor. Dara was a man of liberal persuasions and spent time in scholarly pursuits. This made him the adversary of the orthodox elements in Islam. Though intelligent and brave, Shuja, then governor of Bengal, loved the life of ease and was pleasure seeking. The youngest, Murad, was the governor of Gujarat. He was somewhat liberal compared to Aurangzeb but was devoid of the qualities needed for leadership. He was also addicted to hard drinking. Aurangzeb was the ablest of the brothers. Apart from being a person of intense energy, he claimed the Mughal throne as zealous champion of Sunni orthodoxy. 

When Shah Jahan fell ill, the three absentee brothers suspected that their father had already died and the news had been suppressed by Dara.

Consequently, Shuja proclaimed himself emperor at Rajmahal, the then capital of Bengal and marched with an army and fleet towards Agra. He reached Benares on January 24, 1658 and was defeated by the army under Sulaiman Shikoh, son of Dara at Bahadurpu.

Murad did the same at Ahmedabad on 5^th December, 1557 and struck coins and had the Khutba read in his own name. Aurangzeb entered into an alliance with Murad. Under the agreement the empire will be partitioned whereas Punjab, Afghanistan, Kashmir and Sindh was to be given to Murad apart form the one-third of the booty. The terms of the agreement were solemnized in the name of God and prophet.

In February 1658, Murad’s forces joined Aurangzeb near Ujjain. Their combined forces signally defeated the imperial forces, sent to contain them under the leadership of Raja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur and Qasim Khan, at the battle of Dharmat, fourteen miles south-south-west of Ujjain, on 15^th April 1658. The proud wife of Jaswant Singh refused to give him shelter because he fled from the battle-field.

After Dharmat, Aurangzeb and Murad crossed the Chambal river and were on their way to Agra. As they reached the plains of Samugarh, eight miles form Agra, they were confronted with Mughal forces under Dara. In the battle of Samugarh, which took place on 29^th May, Dara was decisively defeated and he fled from Agra. He was chased by the Mughal forces from place to place. At last he was executed in September 1659 on the charge of heresy and infidelity.

Soon after his victory at the battle of Samugarh, Aurangzeb marched to Agra and took possession of the Agra fort on the 8^th June 1658. All efforts by Shah Jahan for an amicable settlement for accession to throne ended in vain. Shah Jahan was deprived of throne and was made a prisoner by Aurangzeb who died there on 22^nd January, 1666 at the age of seventy –four. 

From Agra Aurangzeb set out for Delhi on the 13^th June 1658. On the way he made Murad fall into a trap. Murad was apprehended on June 25, 1658 and was kept first in the fort of Salimgarh whence he was removed to the Gwalior fort and was executed on the 4^th December, 1661 on the charge of murdering Ali Naqi who was Murad’s one time Divan.

Already after Murad’s capture, Aurangzeb had crowned himself as emperor in Delhi on 21^st July 1658 in Sheesh Mahal in Delhi's Shalimar  Bagh and assumed the title of Alamgir. But his formal coronation took place on June 5, 1659.

As motioned earlier Shuja was defeated by Dara’s son Suleiman Shikoh, it was now turn of Aurangzeb to get rid of him. Aurangzeb routed Shuja at Khajwah near Allahabad on the January 5, 1659. The defeated prince fled to Arakan where he was killed by the Arkanerese in May 1660. Prince Muhammad, Aurangzeb’s eldest son, who sided with Shuja for a time, was imprisoned for life and died in 1676.

Mumtaz Mahal (1593- 1631)

Mumtaz Mahal ("Jewel of the Palace") is the woman whose mausoleum is popularly known as Taj Mahal, arguably the most famous symbol to royal love in the world. Located in Agra in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Taj Mahal was built by her husband Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal Emperor.

Originally named Arjumand Bano Begum, Mumtaz Mahal (name given to her by Shah Jahan) was the daughter of Asaf Khan, elder brother of Nur Jehan, wife of Mughal emperor Jehangir, father of Shah Jahan. Apart from her stunning beauty, Mumtaz was a kind hearted lady, also known as a patron of men of letters.

In 1612, Shah Jahan married Arjumand Bano who was his third wife, but his favorite. She bore him 14 children, though most of them died in infancy. Mumtaz died on June 17, 1631 in Burhanpur in childbirth at the age of 39. In order to immortalize the name of Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan ordered the building of Taj Mahal.

Khusrav Khan donning the role of Malik Kafur

Alauddin Khilji the second Sultan of Khilji dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, died in 1316. His general Malik Kafur, who unleashed a reign of terror by persecuting the sons and family members of the late Sultan, was in turn killed by another son of Alauddin Khilji, Mubarak Shah, who became the next Khilji sultan under the title of Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah. Like his father, who was under the influence of Malik Kafur, Mubarak Shah was infatuated with Khusrav Khan, a low-caste (Hindu) Baradu convert from Gujarat who was made the wazir, malik naib and Commander in Chief of the Khilji dynasty by the Sultan against the advice of his nobles.

In April 1320, Mubarak Shah was murdered by Khusrav Khan bringing the Khilji dynasty to an end. Khusrav Khan ascended the throne of Delhi under the title of Nasir-ud-din Khusrav Shah and tried to strike a veritable reign of terror by murdering the relatives, friends and those loyal to the Khilji Sultan.

If historians like Barni, Yahiya Bin Ahmand Sirhindi, and Ibn Batutah are to be believed, Khusrav gave preferential treatment to the Hindus. This was resented by the Muslim nobles specially the Alali Nobles who invited Gazi Malik, the noble of Dipalpur, to put an end to the reign of Khusrav Khan. Gazi Malik defeated Khusrav at Delhi on the 5th September, 1320 and beheaded Khusrav. Gazi Malik became the Sultan of Delhi Sultanate under the title of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq and the dynasty, he founded, is known as Tughluq dynasty.

Akbar and His Concubines

As with case with many ancient and medieval cultures, in addition to their legal wives, the rulers have also kept concubines as well. And Mughal rulers were no exceptions. In most cases, these concubines’ served the same purposes as wives. However, they could not legally the men that they served.

These concubines also became the mothers of children of the Mughal monarchs. The children born of these concubines were treated on par with those born of the legal wives. Akbar was a famous keeper of many concubines some of whom bore children to him. Two of Akbar’s three sons, Murad and Daniyal were born of concubines. According to English traveller William Finch, Anarkali who have been portrayed in films and books as the valentine of Saleem (Later Jahangir the fourth Mughal Emperor) was the mother of Daniyal.

The concubines lived in an area which is known in Muslim culture as harem. The harem was not accessible for the male members.

Black Hole Incident of Calcutta

The ‘Black Hole’ was a tragic incident that happened in the run-up to the Battle of Plassey that took place in 1757. The incident served as casus belli for the invasion by the British on Murshidabad.

Siraj ud Daulah, the then Nawab of Bengal, resented to the interference by the East India Company in his province. He was also livid with the company’s abuse of the commercial privileges which was granted by the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar under the firman of 1717.

Though inexperienced and devoid of taking decisions, Siraj ud Daula set out to begin a military campaign against the English. During his military campaigns he captured Calcutta on 20^th June, 1756. Consequently, John Zephaniah Holwell, a narrator of the ‘Black Hole’ tragedy and a number of Europeans were taken prisoners who were confined in a chamber 18 feet by 14 inches, with only on window, throughout the hot and humid night of June in Calcutta. According to Holwell, they numbered about 165 or 170, and the next morning only about 16 came alive, the rest being suffocated to death. This event has been described by the British historians as the Black Hole tragedy.

Holwell’s account of Black Hole tragedy remained in vogue for about two centuries. However, Holwell’s account has been challenged in modern times. Authorities are of the opinion that only sixty prisoners met the death at a result of their confinement at the dungeon. And Siraj ud Daula was in no way personally responsible for the consequence of the incarceration of the prisoners which was arranged by his officers.

The First Anglo-Afghan War: A Disaster for Britain

William Brydon riding into Jalalabad/Wikipedia Commons

The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1842) caused the greatest misfortune that ever befell the British army and dealt a severe blow to their prestige in India.

With the fall of Napoleonic France in 1814, Russia had emerged as Britain’s potential rival by 1830s. India was the prized possession of the British Empire at that time. Russia has made its Asiatic ambitions clear. But to realize its ambition it would have to gain a diplomatic and military foothold in Afghanistan, an insignificant and impoverished tribal society in the early 19th century.

Instead of entering into an alliance with Afghanistan’s ruler, Dost Mohammad, Britain chose to back Shah Shuja, the deposed ruler of Afghanistan, who had been living in exile in India for three decades.

In 1837, Alexander Burnes, an envoy sent by  George Eden (Lord Auckland), the then Governor-General of India, reached Afghanistan. The Afghanistan’s ruler Dost Mohammad was willing to have the British as his ally but he sought British help in restoring the lost province of Peshawar to him from the Sikh leader Ranjit Singh.  Lord Auckland cited the doctrine of non-intervention in the affairs of the States for his inability to help Dost Muhammad. Consequently the negotiation, which was not conducted in right earnest, failed. Auckland was adamant on deposing Dost Mohammad who was a capable ruler. He chose to back Shah Shuja. Unable to secure British friendship, Dost Muhammad sought Russian help. Until treated insignificantly, Russian envoy Viktevitch was now received by him with favour.  

Now the stage was set for the inevitable war of the English with Afghanistan. Britain initially gained success. Under the supreme command of Sir John Keane, the British army occupied Qandahar in April 1839, stormed Ghazni on 23rd July and Kabul fell into their hands on 3rd August.  Shah Shuja was enthroned in Kabul by the British thirty years after he had lost the throne to Dost Mohammad. Dost Muhammad surrendered in 1840 and was sent to Calcutta as a prisoner.

However, Shah Shuja was not welcomed by the people of Afghanistan. They resented the stationing of the British troops in their own country.  Meanwhile the position of the British army became untenable with the rebellion of the populace. On the 2nd November, 1841, Captain Alexander Burnes was pulled out his house by a mob and murdered along with his brother Charles and lieutenant William Broadfoot.

The situation came to such a pass that British were left with no choice but to evacuate Afghanistan. However, on 6 January 1842, the retreat of the British troops and camp-followers, 16,500 men in all, began from Kabul. Of them only one, the British doctor Dr. Bbrydon, reached Jalalabad to tell the painful story of the destruction of the rest due to the attacks by the rebellious Afghans. The invincibility of the British Empire was shattered.

In 1842 Lord Auckland was replaced as Governor-General of India by Lord Ellenborough who released Dost Mohammad from prison and reinstalled him on the throne in Kabul.

Udham Singh (1899-1940)

Born on 26th December in Sunam Village in Sangrur district of the north-western Indian state of Punjab, Udham Singh was a great revolutionary. He avenged the infamous Jalianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar by murdering Michael O’Dwyer, who was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in 1919 when Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, the military commander of Amritsar had ordered the firing on the innocent people who have gathered here to protest the arrest of Congress leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satya Pal under Rowlatt Act.

Udham Singh killed O’Dwyer in London on 13th March 1940. He was arrested on the spot and sentenced to death on 21st July in the same year.