On  his  accession  to  the  throne  he  took  the  title  of  Alara-
gir.  The  circumstances  relating  to  his  accession  were  as
eventful  as  they  were  cruel.  Shah  Jehan  had  four  sons,
Dara  Shikoh,  Murad  Bakhsh,  Aurangzib  and  Shah
Shujah.  Of  these  Dara  Shikoh  the  eldest  was  the  pros-
pective heir  apparent.  Before  he  aspired  to  the  imperial
throne  Aurangzib  had  been  busy  in  making  expeditions
against  Balkh  and  Kandahar.  But  his  attempts  were
unsuccessful  and  in  1655  he  returned  to  the  Deccan  and
gained  some  easy  victories  over  the  kingdoms  of  Golconda
and  Bijapur.  In  1658  Shah  Jehan  became  seriously  ill
and  the  internecine  struggle  among  his  sons  for  the  coveted
throne  of  Delhi  began.  In  conjunction  with  his  brother
Murad  Bakhsh,  Aurangzib  seized  Agra  and  made  his
father,  the  old  Shah  Jehan,  a  prisoner.  He  did  not
remain  faithful  even  to  Murad  who  had  taken  his  side.
Murad  too  was  imprisoned  soon  after.  Next  he  defeated
Dara  Shikoh  in  battle.  Dara  fled  towards  Sindh  but
was  captured  and  put  to   death.     Shah  Shuja,  the  last


17

brother,  was  driven  into  Arakan  from  where  he  never
returned.  All  obstacles  being  thus  removed  the  trium-
phant Aurangzib  proclaimed  himself  emperor.
The  most  eventful  thing  in  his  reign  was  the  rise  of
the  Maharatha  power  under  Sivaji.  Bijapur  and  Gol-
conda  became  Sivaji's  tributaries  and  affairs  in  the
Deccan  became  so  serious  that  the  emperor  himself  had
to  take  the  field  in  1681  and  during  the  last  twenty- six
years  of  his  life  he  was  engaged  in  constant  warfare.  He
died  in  1707.
B-33        Zeb-un-Nisa.
