Page:Aurangzíb and the Decay of the Mughal Empire.djvu/68

62 man,' father of Murád the Great, humane as he was by nature, blinded his brother and slew his nephew. He had witnessed the disastrous effects of civil war among Ottoman scions, and he would not suffer the empire to be again plunged into the like intestine troubles. An oriental prince cannot be happy without a throne, and 'it becomes a matter of sheer necessity, and not a question of jealous suspicion, to make it impossible for him to attain his ambition. In the present day this is done by imprisoning him in the seraglio till he becomes idiotic. The old, and perhaps the more merciful way, was to kill him outright .'

Aurangzíb, in his heart, was at least as humanely disposed as the Gentleman Sultán of Turkey, but he had equal reason to dread the ambitious tempers of his brothers and kindred. His forefathers had suffered from the rebellions of their nearest relations. Akbar had to fight his brother; Jahángír rebelled against his father, and in turn was resisted by his own oldest son, who was condemned to pass his life in prison, where he was a perpetual anxiety to the government; Sháh-Jahán had defied his father, and came to the throne through the blood of his brother Shahriyár. With such warnings, Aurangzíb could expect no peace whilst Dárá, Shujá', and Murád-Bakhsh lived. Each of them had as good a right to the throne as he had himself, for there was no law of succession among Mughal princes; and each of them