HISTORICAL SUMMARY.
A.D.1628.—In the year of the Hegira 1037, Shah Jehan ascended the Imperial throne of the Moguls. The Rajah of Bundelcund was taken prisoner by Mohabet, who was shortly afterwards removed from the head of the army. The Usbeck Tartars made a successful irruption into the imperial dominions, laid siege to the fort of Bamia in the mountains of Cabul, and made themselves masters of it.
Heg. 1038 (1629).—Chan Jehan Lody escaped from Agra. Having opposed the accession of the reigning Emperor, he had been publicly disgraced. He was pursued and overtaken; but his retreat was secured by the gallantry of his son, Azmut, who engaged the imperial army, and thus enabled his father to get beyond the reach of his enemies. The noble Azmut, however, fell a sacrifice to his filial intrepidity; he was slain gallantly fighting against a host of foes. Lody having effected his escape, found an asylum at the court of the Nizam at Dowlatabad. This year died Shah Abbas, Sovereign of Persia.
Heg. 1040 (1631).—Shah Jehan sent a large army into the Deccan to oppose Chan Lody, who had induced the princes of that extensive district to take up arms against the house of Timur. For a while Lody was successful against the imperial general, Eradit, whom he prevented from penetrating into Golconda, by throwing himself into the passes of the mountains before his march, and thus repelling his advance. He was finally obliged to retreat; and being attacked by Lody, was defeated with great slaughter. Six Omrahs of the imperial army were slain. After this defeat, Eradit was superseded, and the Vizier appointed to command the army. This struck the confederates with dismay, and they abandoned their brave friend. The Nizam proposed terms; and Lody, being at length left without support, was pursued by a detachment of the Vizier’s forces, and slain, with thirty followers only, who had resolved to participate in his fallen fortunes. During this year Shah Jehan’s favourite Sultana died in childbed. She was the daughter of Asiph Jah, the Vizier, and niece of the celebrated Noor Jehan. The magnificent Taje Mahal was raised at Agra as a tribute of respect for her memory.
Heg. 1044 (1633).—Prince Dara, the Emperor’s eldest son, married the daughter of his uncle Purvez. About the same time, Suja, the second son, espoused the daughter of Rustum Suffavi, of the royal line of Persia.
Heg. 1044 (1634).—Mohabet died. He was the greatest general of his time.
Heg 1045 (1635).—A new throne of solid gold was erected at Agra. It was seven years in finishing, and the value of the jewels alone amounted to twelve hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling. Among the ornaments was a parrot, the size of life, cut out of a single emerald.
Heg. 1046 (1636).—The Emperor again sent an army into the Deccan, reduced the refractory Rajahs to obedience, and concluded a peace with Persia.
Heg. 1049 (1639).—The capital of Bengal was destroyed by fire.
Heg. 1051 (1641).—Asiph Jah, the Vizier, died, in the seventy-second year of his age.
Heg. 1052 (1642).—Shah Jehan removed his court from Lahore to Agra, and completed the Taje Mahal, a splendid mausoleum, raised at vast expense, to the memory of his favourite Sultana, Mumtaza Zemani, niece to Noor Jehan.
Heg. 1053 (1643).—The Usbeck Tartars, who had made incursions into the Emperor’s territories, were defeated by Ali Murdan, governor of Cabul.
Heg. 1054 (1644).—Aurungzebe was removed from the government of the Deccan.
Heg. 1055 (1645).—The Sultana, Noor Jehan, died at Lahore.
Heg. 1056 (1646).—By an imperial edict Prince Morad was banished to the mountains of Peshâwir.
Heg. 1057 (1647).—Aurungzebe defeated the Usbecks, and took their camp.
Heg. 1058 (1648).—The repairs of Delhi were finished, and the Emperor mounted the throne of his ancestors in this city, which afterwards became the capital of the Mogul empire.
Heg. 1059 (1649).—Aurungzebe defeated the Persians, who had become masters of Candahar.
Heg. 1062 (1652).—Dara was appointed successor to the empire, under the title of Shah Belind Akbal—the Emperor of exalted fortune.
Heg. 1066 (1656).—Mahommed, the son of Aurungzebe, took Hyderabad, and defeated the King of Golconda.
Heg. 1067 (1657).—Shah Jehan was seized with a paralysis, and his life despaired of; the management of public affairs consequently fell into the hands of Dara.
Heg. 1068 (1658).—Aurungzebe, secretly aspiring to the throne, induced his brother Morad to join him, and defeated the imperial army, under the command of Dara, who retired to Delhi. Having raised fresh forces, they were corrupted by the wily conqueror. The confederate princes appeared before the capital with the combined army. Aurungzebe sent a message to his father, who commissioned his daughter, Jehanara, to visit him: she was deceived by his duplicity, and incautiously betrayed to him the resources of her brother Dara. Heintercepted his father’s letter to that prince; and shortly after Mahommed, Aurangzebe’s son, seized within the citadel at Agra, Shah Jehan, who offered him the crown of the Moguls as the price of his release. It was declined by Mahommed. Morad having discovered the duplicity of Aurungzebe, in attempting to defeat it was seized by his crafty brother, and sent prisoner to Agra. The ambitious conqueror advanced to Delhi, and mounted the imperial throne. Dara fled to Lahore.