Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/23

Rh (Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Muala). They are bare skeletons,—dry, extremely brief, and good only for dates. Only a few have been preserved for the first 22 years of the reign, but from the 36th year they are more numerous.

The accounts of Aurangzib's reign now current in India, especially in Urdu, are based on works like the Tarikh-i-Muhammad Shahi, and the Tarikh-i-Farah-Bakhsh, written long after the events and merely reproducing the bazar gossip and popular traditions. Not being based on official records and other contemporary sources of information, their evidence must be rejected wherever they conflict with the earlier and authoritative histories of Aurangzib's reign. These unreliable but picturesque works have inspired Dow's History of Hindostan and Stewart's History of Bengal, and continue to perpetuate many historical heresies in the popular belief of India.

Most fortunately, for several portions of Aurangzib's reign I have been able to secure the very raw materials of history,—a source of information even more valuable than the contemporary official annals described above. These are the LETTERS of the actors in the political drama of the 17th century, of which nearly three thousand are in my possession. In them we see