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36 Thus Shah Jehan and Morad, his youngest son, were the prisoners of Aurungzebe; while Dara, the rightful heir to the throne, was flying ingloriously to the boundaries of the empire. Shooja alone was in a condition to offer any effective resistance to the actual possessor of the throne of Delhi; and, putting himself at the head of a numerous army, he marched on the capital. A desperate battle took place between their respective forces, which, owing to the defection of Jeswunt Singh, the Rajpoot chief, was going rapidly against Aurungzebe, when fortune again declared in his favour; for, in the confusion of a personal conflict that was about to take place between the rival brothers, Shooja committed the error which had been fatal to Dara. When his elephant could not be moved forward, he descended, and mounted a horse which was brought on the emergency; but the appearance of the elephant with the empty castle gave rise to the report that Shooja had fallen, and the flight of his forces was the immediate consequence.

It would be foreign to our purpose to pursue the career of this wily usurper through all its vicissitudes; suffice it to say that he ultimately triumphed by the death of his father in misery and captivity, and the murder of his brothers and their families, till at length he became the undisputed master of a mighty empire; his soubadars, or lieutenants, governing in his name the numerous and wealthy provinces of that vast peninsula, from Cashmeer to Cape Comorin.

But a new power was now rising in the Deccan, destined to occupy a prominent place in the history of India; and as the English, throughout their whole career, have been in some way or other mixed up with it, either in friendship or hostility, it will be desirable to make our readers acquainted with its origin and character at greater length than our narrow limits would otherwise justify.

The Mahrattas consisted of several tribes of mountaineers, whose early history partakes of that obscurity which hangs over Hindoo antiquity; but at this period