INDIA.] BABER AND AKBAR. 283 66 Thus also neither added to the Indian POOR or prince.* Mahmoud of Ghuznee, nor Gengis-Khan, nor Tamerlane, had to encounter a sole mon arch of India. But at the beginning of the sixteenth century of our era (I pass by the earlier dynasties) a great empire was founded at Agra by a race of Moguls. The first of these Emperors was Zehur-ood - Deen Mahomed, surnamed Baber, or the Tiger," a descendant of the great Tamerlane. His own Memoirs, which are still preserved, relate in detail the exploits by which he overcame, and the arts by which he circumvented, his numerous opponents. He died in 1530, when on the point of carrying his arms beyond Bahar. But his schemes of conquest were fulfilled or exceeded by his successors, each of whom became known in Europe by the title of the Great Mogul. Above all, however, the name of Baber's grandson, Akbar, is yet famous through the East. During a reign of fifty years, concluding in 1605, he was ever waging fierce and successful wars, sometimes against rebellious provinces, sometimes against Hindoo tribes, and sometimes against Mahometan neighbours. Nevertheless, while thus extending his empire, he did not neglect its internal improvement; on the contrary, so numerous were his measures of legislation and finance that they rather seemed to betoken a period of uninterrupted peace. Another reign, distinguished by conquest, and extending to half a century, was that of Aurungzebe. His armies spread far in the south of the Deccan, and overthrew the powerful RAJAHS or Princes of Beejapour and Golconda. But by far his most formidable enemy in this quarter was Sivajee, the founder of the Mahratta dominion. For many years did this intrepid and wily chieftain balance on the south of the Nerbudda the fortunes of the Great Mogul. The tidings of his death, in 1680, at the untimely age of fifty-two, were as joyful to Aurungzebe as those of any victory; nor did the Emperor then attempt to conceal either his own satisfaction or the merits of his foe. "He was," said Aurungzebe, a great captain, and the only one who has had the mag 66 * Vincent on Nearchus, p. 19. vol. viii. p. 206. ed. 1829. Mitford's History of Greece, 66 66 'nanimity to raise a new kingdom, whilst I have been ' endeavouring to destroy the ancient sovereignties of "India. My armies have been applied against him for "nineteen years, and nevertheless his state has been "always increasing." The loss of Sivajee was, for the time at least, irreparable to the Mahrattas. Though never subdued, they were defeated and dispersed, and compelled to take shelter in their hill forts or impervious jungles. Among other tribes, the Rajahs readily acknowledged themselves the tributaries or dependents of the Mogul Empire. Other states, again, became governed by SOUBAHDARS or Viceroys, under the immediate appointment of the Emperor. On the whole, it is probable that there never yet had been a time in Hindostan when the whole peninsula was so nearly brought beneath the supreme dominion of one man. 66 The power of Aurungzebe, and the magnificence of the Court of Delhi (for to Delhi had the seat of empire been again transferred), are described by more than one intelligent European traveller. "In riches and resources," says Tavernier, "the Great Mogul is in Asia what the King of France is in Europe. When I took leave "of His Majesty on the 1st of November 1665 he was pleased to desire that I should stay, and see the festivals "in honour of his birth-day..... On this occasion the Emperor is weighed in state, and if he is found to weigh more than on the preceding year there are great public rejoicings. The grandees of the empire, the Viceroys of "the provinces, and the ladies of the Court, came to make "their offerings, which, in precious stones, gold and "silver, rich carpets and brocades, elephants, camels, and "horses, amounted when I was present to upwards of "thirty millions of our livres. . . . . The tents are of red velvet, embroidered with gold, so heavy that the poles "which support them are as thick as the masts of ships, "and some of them from thirty-five to forty feet in height. 66 .... The Great Mogul has seven splendid thrones; *Orme's Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, p. 94. ed. 1805. From another passage (p. 263.) it appears that Aurungzebe used to call Sivajee "the Mountain Rat," which, like the ovos of Homer (Jl. lib. xi. vers. 557.), was designed for praise. INDIA.] 66 one covered with diamonds, another with rubies, with "emeralds, or with pearls. The value of the one most "precious (called the Peacock Throne) is estimated by "the Royal Treasurers at a number of lacs of rupees "equivalent to above one hundred and sixty millions of “livres. . . . . While the Emperor is on his throne fifteen "horses stand ready caparisoned on his right and as many on his left, the bridles of each horse enriched with pre"cious stones, and some great jewel dependent from his "neck.. Elephants are trained to kneel down before "the throne, and do His Majesty reverence with their "trunks; and the Emperor's favourite elephant costs five "hundred rupees of monthly expense, being fed on good "meat with abundance of sugar, and having brandy to “drink. . . . . When the Emperor rides abroad on his "elephant he is followed by a great number of his OMRAHS, or nobles, on horseback, and the meanest "of these Omrahs, commands two thousand cavalry." Another traveller, Gemelli Carreri, in the year 1695, visited the camp of the Great Mogul. According to his description, "the Imperial army consisted of 60,000 horse 66 66 men and 100,000 infantry; there were for the baggage "5,000 camels and 3,000 elephants, but the number of "suttlers and camp-followers was immense; so that the camp contained above half a million of people. It was thirty miles in circuit. . . . . Aurungzebe himself was "of slender figure and of delicate features; a little bent "at this time, with the weight of fourscore years. His 66 66 beard, which was white and full, shone forth in striking contrast to his olive complexion." † cessors, Aurungzebe expired in 1707; almost the only instance of either sovereign or statesman who has approached the age of one hundred years. The character of his sucas compared to his own, to Akbar's and to Baber's, -was feeble and unwarlike. Throughout the East the fortunes of the state ever follow in quick succession the disposition of the Monarch; and thus the decline of the Mogul dynasty was most rapid and most com * I have here abridged a chapter of Tavernier. (Voyages, vol. ii. p. 266-272. ed. 1679.) † Anecdotes Orientales, vol. ii. p. 441. ed. 1773. plete. In little more than thirty years from the death of Aurungzebe the Persians under Nadir Shah had sacked the city of Delhi.* The Mahrattas, emerging from their fastnesses, had resumed their expeditions, and begun to aim at empire. The conquered Rajahs, or the appointed Soubahdars, though still professing themselves dependent, had ceased to pay any real obedience and submission to the Mogul throne. In this distinction between nominal and substantial authority, the state of India might be, not unaptly, compared to the state at the same period of Germany. According to ancient forms, the princes who had long since become independent of the Germanic Emperor,-nay, who were sometimes hostile to him, still continued, in name, the humblest of his vassals. The Margrave of Brandenburg was still Great Chamberlain, and the Elector of Hanover Arch-Treasurer of the Empire.† Yet Frederick the Second of Prussia would not have been more surprised had he been summoned, in conformity with his patent, to carry a white wand and a golden key in the pageantries of the palace at Vienna, than would the contemporary Rajahs of the Deccan if required to pay tribute or do homage to the Court of Delhi. At nearly the same period that the Moguls were founding their empire along the Ganges did the Portuguese discover the passage of the Cape of Good Hope. Vasco de Gama and his brave companions stepped on the Indian shore at Calicut in the month of May 1498. Seldom have truth and poetry been so closely combined; the achievement of that voyage by Vasco de Gama is the greatest feat of the Portuguese in arms; the celebration of that voyage by Luis de Camoens is their greatest feat in letters. The valour of their captains, of their Albuquerque and their John de Castro, -overcame the resistance of the native chiefs, and made good their settlements from the coast of Malabar to the gulph of Persia, * Histoire de Nader Chah traduite par Sir W. Jones, vol. ii. p. 74. The bombast of Eastern panegyric extends even to the Sovereign's horse. "Le coursier de Sa Majesté, dont les pas étaient semblables “à ceux du soleil, et dont les traces s'étendaient dans tout l'univers,” &c. &c. (p. 21.) † Butler's Revolutions of the Germanic Empire, p. 105., &c. INDIA.] THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. 287 But at Goa and Ormuz. For some time it appears to have been thought by other European Powers, that the discovery of the passage round Africa by the Portuguese gave them some exclusive claim to its navigation. after the year 1580 the conquest of Portugal by Spain, and the example of the Dutch who had already formed establishments not only in India but the Spice Islands, aroused the commercial enterprise of England. In 1599 66 an Association was formed for the Trade to the East Indies; a sum was raised by subscription, amounting to 68,000l.; and a petition was presented to the Crown for a Royal Charter. Queen Elizabeth wavered during some time, apprehending fresh entanglements with Spain. At length, in December 1600, the boon was granted; the "Adventurers" (for so were they termed at that time) were constituted a body corporate, under the title of "the Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies." By their Charter they obtained the right of purchasing lands without limitation, and the monopoly of their trade during fifteen years, under the direction of a Governor, and twenty-four other persons in Committee, to be elected annually. In the exercise of those privileges they had to contend against numerous opponents, at home as well as abroad, but they did not want powerful friends and allies. I confess," writes Lord Bacon to King James on another occasion, “I did ever think that trading in Companies is most agreeable "to the English nature, which wanteth that same general "vein of a Republic which runneth in the Dutch, and "serveth to them instead of a Company, and therefore I "dare not advise to venture this great trade of the king"dom, which hath been so long under Government, in a "free or loose trade.' Thus, in 1609, the Charter of the new Company was not only renewed but rendered perpetual, - with a saving clause, however, that should any national detriment be at any time found to ensue, these exclusive privileges should, after three years' notice, cease and expire. 66 It does not seem, however, that the trade of the new * Bacon was here referring to the Woollen Trade. Letter to the King, February 25. 1615. Bacon's Works, vol. iv. p. 614. ed. 1740. |