Page:Aurangzíb and the Decay of the Mughal Empire.djvu/43

Rh was needed to show the Court that Sháh-Jahán intended his eldest son to succeed him. When the King's dangerous illness withdrew him from the management of affairs, it was naturally Dárá who took his place. In so doing he was within his rights as eldest son and presumptive heir to the crown of Delhi. But he knew he had to reckon with three brothers, each at the head of an army and in command of a province, and the measures he took to prevent the news of his father's illness reaching them show that he dreaded the consequences of his assumption of royal functions. A singular light is cast upon the instability of the imperial organization when it is remembered that no Mughal king dared to absent himself from the public levees for more than a day or two, for fear of a general rebellion. The people were satisfied only if they could see their king: if he were not seen he must be dead. Even Jahángír, after his nightly debauch, had to 'pull himself together,' coûte que coûte, and make his punctual appearance at the levee window. Sháh-Jahán’s absence from his accustomed seat overlooking the great Hall of Audience could not fail to arouse suspicion, and the rumour that he was dead, in spite of Dárá's assurances, spread rapidly throughout the provinces, and every man looked to his weapons and made ready for the fray. Bernier describes the tumult of this anxious time: –

'The Mughal's illness filled the whole extent of his dominions with agitation and alarm. Dárá collected power-