Thus the Sultin of Golkunda, was betrayed by Mir Jumla Aurangzeb procured an order from Shah Jahan bidding the Sultan of Golkunda release Mir Jumla’s family, but without allowing the Sultan a reasonable time to reply to the Emperor’s letter, he declared war against him. Acting under Aurangzeb’s instructions, his son, Prince Muhammad Sultan, attacked Hyderabad in January, 1656, and the Mughul soldiery plundered the country. Aurangzeb himself reached there on the 6th February and besieged Golkunda the next day. His ambition was nothing short of the complete annexation of the kingdom. But the intervention of ShAh Jahan, under the influence of Dara Shukoh and Jahanar,, prevented it. In obedience to the of his father, Aurangzeb was compelled to raise the siege of Golkunda on the 30th March, 1656, and the kingdom thus got a further lease of life on paying to the Mughul Emperor an indemnity of ten lacs of rupees and ceding to him the district of Rangir (modern Manikdrug and Chinoor). Prince Muhammad Sultan, Aurangzeb’s son, was married by proxy to the Sultan’s daughter, and, by a secret governmenmt, Aurangzeb extorted & promise from the sultan to make his new son-in-law his hair. Mr Jumla was soon afterwards appointed prime minister of the Empire.
Next came the turn of the kingdom of Bijapur, which had fallen into disorder after the death of its capable ruler, Muhammad ‘Adil Shah, on the 4th November, 1656. This presented an opportunity to Aurangzeb for the fulfillment of his design. He obtained Shah Jahan’s permission to invade the kingdom on the ground that the now ruler of Bijapur, a youth of eighteen years, was not the son of the deceased Sultan but his origin was obscure. This was nothing but a flimsy pretext and it is clear that the war against Bijapur “was wholly unrighteous. Bijapur was not a vassal State, but an independent ally of the Mughul Emperor, and the latter had no lawful right to confirm or question the succession at Bijapur. The true reason for the Mughul interference was the helplessness of its boy-king and the discord among his Officers, which presented a fine ‘opportunity for annexation’, as Aurangzeb . expressed it “. With the assistance of Mir Jumla, Aurangzeb invaded the kingdom early in January, 1657, and, after a prolonged siege, reduced the fortress of Bidar towards the end of March and of Kalyani on the lst August. Further conquest of the Deccan was prevented ‘by the sudden intervention of Shah Jahan under the influence of Dara Shukoh and other opponents of Aurangzeb. The Emperor granted peace to the Sultan of Bijapur (1657), as conditions of which the latter had to pay a heavy indemnity, like the SuItan of Golkunda”, and surrender Bidar, Kalyani and Parenda. The illness of Shah Jahan, and the consequent scramble for the throne among his sons, postponed the complete fulfillment of Aurangzeb’s designs in the Deccan, which thus gained a respite for about thirty years.
War of Succession
Shah Jahan’s last days were made highly tragic by the outbreak of a terrible war of succession among his s-ons. It broke out as soon as he fell ill in September, 1657, and subjected the old Emperor to extreme humiliation and agony till his exit from this world. Shah Jahan had four sons, all of mature age at that time-Dara Shukoh aged 43, Sbuja aged 41, Aurangzeb aged 39, and Murad aged 3and two daughters, Jahanara, who aided with Dara Shukoh, and Raushnara, who joined the party of Aurangzeb. AU the brothers had by that time gained considerable experience in ,civil and’ military affairs as governors of provinces and commanders of armies, but there were differences among them in personal qualities and capacities. The eldest of them, Dara, Shukoh, was in the confidence of his father, who d him to be his successor. A man of eclectic views, liberal disposition, and of scholarly instincts, Dara, Shukoh mixed with the followers of other faiths and studied the doctrines of the Scholary, the Talmud, the New Testament and the works of Sufi writers. He caused a Persian version of the Atharva Veda and the Upanishads to be made with the assistance of some Brahmana scholars’ and aimed at finding, a modus vivendi among the apparently hostile creeds. For this he naturally incurred the displeasure of the orthodox members among his co-religionists, who went against him. But he was not a heretic. He never “discarded the essential dogmas of Islam; he only displayed the eclecticism of the Sufis, a recognised school of Islamic believers. If he showed contempt for the external rites of religion, he only shared the, standpoint of many noble thinkers of all Churches, such as John Milton”. His latest biographer has aptly remarked: “It is hardly an exaggeration to say that any one who intends to take up the solution of the problem of religious peace in India must begin the work where Dara had left it, and proceed on the path chalked out by that prince. ” But the excessive fondness of his father for him, and his constant presence at the court, prevented the growth in him of the qual-.ties of an astute politician or the abilities of a brave general and also bred in him a sense of pride, which made him contemptuous of advice. His anger was, however, “seldom more than momentary. The second brother, Shuja, then governor of Bengal,intelligence and was a brave soldier. But his excesser love of ease and pleasure made him “weak, indolent, and negligent, incapable of sustained effort, vigilant caution, and profound combination”.The youngest, Murad, then governor of Gujarat, was no doubt , liberal and brave, but was addicted to hard g and could not therefore develop the qualities needed for leadership. Aurangzeb, the third brother, was the ablest of au. He possessed uncommon industry and profound diplomatic and military skill, and an unquestionable capacity for administration. Further, as a, zealous Sunni Mussalman, he naturally obtained the support of the orthodox Sunnis. As we shall see, the differences in the character of the rival princes did much to influence the course of the struggle. Dara Shukoh, a liberal man but an ill-qualified general and statesman, was a poor match for the clever and intelligent Aurangzeb; Shuja and Murad had also to suffer for their incompetence before the superior generalship of Aurangzeb.
Dara Shukoh alone of the four brothers was present at Agra when Sh&h J&h&n fell ill in September, 1657. The illness was indeed serious and it was suspected by the three absentee brothers that their father had really expired and the news had been suppressed by Dara, Shukoh. So precarious is the position of an autocracy that even the illness of the Emperor gave rise to confusion and disorder in the kingdom, which became more intense as soon as the fratricidal contest commenced. Shuja, proclaimed himself Emperor at Rarajmahal, the then capital of Bengal, and marched towards the metropolis of the Empire. But on arriving near Benares be was defeated by an army sent against him under Dara Shujkoh’s son, Sulaiman Shukoh , and was forced to retire to Bengal. Murad also crowned himself at Ahmad,b&d (5th December,’ 1657). He joined Aurangzeb at Malwa and formed an alliance with him. They entered into an agreement to partition the Empire, which was solemnized in the name of God and the Prophet.
