Aureng-zebe was proclaimed emperor in 1659, du ring the lifetime of Shaw Jehan, whose pardon and paternal blessing he had obtained by his indulgent behaviour and respectful letters, but whose death neither increased nor diminished the power of Aureng zebe. Securely seated on the throne of Delhi, there remained no competitor to dispute with him the em pire ; and for a period of nearly twenty years, the profoundest tranquillity reigned throughout Hindo stan. The latter part of his life, however, was spent in constant activity and alarm. The rebellion of his sons, the revolt of some of the dependent provinces, and the insurrections of the Hindoos, whom he at tempted to convert to Mahometanism, kept him al most continually in the field for the last fifteen years of his life. During that time he quelled a rebellion of the Rajapoots in Agimere; of the Patans beyond the Indus ; and of the Jates in Agra : He reduced Bengal ; annexed to his territories the Carnatic, with the kingdoms of Visiapour, Golconda, and Assam, and extended his authority over the whole peninsula within the Ganges. Aureng-zebe died 27th Fe bruary 1707 at Ahmednagur, where he had taken up his winter quarters, in the 90th year of his age, and the 50th of his reign. His body, according to hiS own directions, was deposited in the cell of a holy demise, near that city, in a plain tomb, without either pomp or ornament.
Destitute of that elegance of person, and winning behaviour, which instantly attracts our regard, Au-. reng-zebe acquired popularity by the decency of his character and the sanctity of his life. He was of a low stature, and slender make, with a large nose, and olive complexion. the traveller Gemelli saw him in 1695, he was stooping with age, and support ed himself on a staff. From the severe austerity of his manners, and his zealous endeavours in the cause of religion, his memory is held in great veneration by the Mahometans, and numerous pilgrims resort to Ahmednagur to pay their devotions at his tomb.
The character of 4ureng-zebe has been drawn in very different colours. While some have represented him as a monster of cruelty, who waded to the throne through the blood of his family ; who persecuted an inoffensive people from bigotry and hypocrisy ; and whose remorse for his crimes was the bane of his fu ture life : he has been painted by others as the great est warrior and statesman which India ever as having raised Hindostan to its highest glory ; and• as having lived and ruled for the happiness of his people. For our part, we agree implicitly with nei
ther ; and when we attempt to rescue his memory from the calumnies of the one, we must not be un derstood as acceding to the commendations of the other. In the government of Hindostan, where the succession to the throne is undecided by law, the death of the reigning monarch is always the signal for a civil war among the surviving branches of his family, and the safety of each depends upon the ex tinction of the rest. Aureng-zebe's severity to his brothers, therefore, was what the security of his per son, and the tranquillity of the empire demanded, and can be viewed in no other light, than as a measure of self-defence,—a measure dictated by the urgency of the times, which his predecessors had taught him, and which succeeding monarchs have been compelled to imitate. His persecution of the helpless Hindoos, however it may call for our reprehension, must be at tributed to the religion which he professed, and to the dictates of that, prophet which he obeyed. But his hypocritical and perfidious treatment of the un suspicious Morad, we can neither justify nor pal liate. Though in "Aureng-zebe we may discover much to blame, we find more to admire. If his obe-. dience to the customs of his country have lowered.. him in our esteem, his abilities, as a warrior and a statesman, claim our admiration, and we cannot re fuse our praise to his strict observance of religious duties, to his mild and equitable distribution of jus tice, to the abstemious severity of his life ;, to that nobleness of mind, which made him disdain not to labour for his subsistence with his own hands ; and to that benevolence humanity of disposition, which led him to declare " that the food was bitter which was drawn from the sweat of his subjects." He ne ver did an act of injustice till he aspired to the throne; . and the moderation and equity of his government make us regret that he did not obtain it without a crime. His name will ever be revered in Hindostan, of which empire lie may be said to be the real foun der and legislator. See Mod. Un. Hist. vol. vi. p. 386-155. Gemelli 7'ray. apud Churchill's Col lect. vol. iv. p. 232. Dow's Hist. of Hindostan, p. 218, &c. Rennell's Memoir of a Map of Hin dostan, introd. p. 61-64. Fraser's Hist. of Nadir Shaw, &c. p. 29-39. (p)