Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. VoI.XXVII 1997. pp. 53 to 62

AURANGZEB'S BELIEF IN DIVINE HELP FORCURE OF DISEASES

APARNA CHATTOPADHYAY*ABSTRACT

Aurangzeb had employed the most learned and experienced physicians forhimself, for the members of his palace and for his courtiers. During his reignmany hospitals were established in the capital as well as in other cities. Thereign of Aurangzeb was note-worthy for the composition and compilation ofmedical texts. So we can say that Aurangzeb had a very scientific attitudetowards the problems of health. We find, at the same time, that he attached greatimportance to virtuous deeds and divine help for cure of diseases.

Aurangzeb had realised the impor-tance of Ganges water for health. Heused to drink Ganges water and his foodalso was prepared in Ganges water.Ganges water was taken even to thebattle-field for him and one pot ofGanges water was supplied to each andevery soldier. It seems, Aurangzeb hadunderstood the utility of Ganges waterfor health by consultation with his phy-sicians.

In the end of his letter to Bahadur,Aurangzeb expresses his full faith inGod, who alone knows all the weak-nesses and troubles of man and who isthe Supreme Healer of all diseases.

Niccolao Manucci, a venetian trav-eller, who was in India from A.D. 1653-1708, says about Aurangzeb that "theMughal (Aurangzeb) himself is ex-tremely choicy and scrupulous over theselection of his physicians, appointingalways the most learned and the mostexperienced in order the better to pre-serve his health. What is more, asthere are so many people in his palace,

and his court extraordinarily numerous,he keeps, in his employ several physi-cians to whom names are given, whichagree eitherwith their knowledge orthetreatment and cure they have accom-plished" (Jaggi, 1977).

During Aurangzeb's reign manyhospitals devoted to the service of thesick were established in the capital andthe outlying cities and many wealthynobles and citizens also built hospitals(Jaggi, a). Further we learn that thereign was specially noteworthy for thecomposing and compiling of medicalbooks. There is special mention ofeight distinguished writers on medicine,the most famous of whom was HakimMuhammad Akbar -bin- MuhammedMuqin Arzani. (Jaggi, b)Recitation of Surat -E- Ikhlas &Surat-E-Shafa :

In consideration of the above factswe can say that Aurangzeb. had a verysci entific attit ude towards the problemsof health. Still we find that he had firmbelief in divine help for cure of dis-

• Reader in History (Retired) C/o Post Master, Malaviya Nagar post office, Central office, Banaras HinduUniversity, Varanasi - 221005 (India).

54

eases. Aurangzeb writes in a letter tohis grand-son prince Bedar Bakht,Azam's eldest son, who was given thetitle of Bhadur in 1691 (Bilimoria, 1972)that, for removing of physical diseasesand avoiding dangers, he should con-tinue the morning prayer which is "ac-cepted by God." In this letter Aurangzebfurther writes that all erudite andlearned persons unanimously agreethat to blow on water by reciting 'Surat-e-Ikhlas' and 'Surat-e-Shafa' and thento drink that water is the great andimmediate cure of diseases (Bilimoria,a).

According to J.H. Bilimoria, Surat-e-Ikhlas is the 'Chapter on sincerity'and Surat-e-Shafa is the 'Chapter oncure'. (Bilimoria, b). But by anotherauthority Sura-e-Ikhlas (or Surat-e-Ikhlas) is translated as 'Chapterof unity'.It is chapterC XII of the Holy Quran. Itis given below-The Quran -The Chapter of Unity

In the name of the merciful andcompassionate God Say' He is Godalone.

God the Eternal!He begets not and is not begotten!Nor is there like unto him anyone!(Palmer, 1965)E.H. Palmer tells us that this chap-

ter is generally known in Arabic by thename of Ikhlas 'clearing oneself', i.e, ofbelief in any but one God. (Palmer, a)

Surat-e-shafa perhaps can be writ-ten rightly as Surat-e-Shifa (or Sura-e-Shifa). It is commonly known as Surat-e-Fatiha or Sura-e-Fatiha and it is thevery first sura of the Holy Quran. ThisSura-e-Shifa may mean the 'Chapteron Cure' as told by J.H. Bilimoria. Oneof its names is "ummulquran" (mother

Aurangzeb's Belief - Chatfopadhyay

of the Quran)* which means the mainsubstance of the Quran The Surat-e-Shifa runs as follows:

The opening chapterIn the name of the merciful and

compassionate God. Praise belongs toGod, The Lord of the Worlds, the mer-ciful, the compassionate, the ruler ofthe day of Judgement. Thee we serve& Thee we ask for aid. Guide us in theright path, the path of those thou artgracious to, not of those thou art wrothwith nor of those who err (Palmer, b).Weighing Ceremony ('Tula-Dana' -Weighing Charity) :

Aurangzeb advises Bahadur in hisletter mentioned above, to practicetula-dana' which also helped curing physi-cal and mental ailments. Aurangzebsays that toweigh the entire body of aperson against gold, silver, copper,corn, oil and other commodities wasnot a practice of the country of theancestors of Aurangzeb and also not ofthe Mohammedans of India; but manyneedy & poor persons are benefitted bythe practice and therefore the practiceshould be observed. Here Aurangzebalso adds that "His Majesty (ShahJahan) also used to weigh (against goldsilver etc.) his auspicious body twice ayear and then he distributed the goldand silver equal to the weight of hisbody among the poor."

Aurangzeb says" if the light of myeye (that is, his grand son Bahadur) willweigh his body against various com-modities, which are mentioned in theletter, fourteen times a year, it will beefficacious for removing mental andphysical calamities" (Bilimoria, c).

From the Ain-e-Akbari we learnthat from reasons of auspiciousness,and as an opportunity of bestowing

* According to Dr. Hateem, Sr. Lecturer, Dept, of Arabic, Banaras Hindu University.

BuIUnd.lnst.Hist.Med. Vol. XXVII. 1997 55

SURA-E-FATHIA OR SURA-E-SHIFA

)~\~". ,\ ~W\~~&'~\~'~

o ~)\("; ~ O~,)\u2'v>\· 0 U:lI.lI,-:"v ••••..11

&l~\j.~1 ~~\ OU~; .,j...!.J~1, ~ ...!J~I

O~~uJ.1~,-:,~I';' .~~I':'?'W

( Courtesy: Department of Urdu, Banaras Hindu UniverSity).

56

presents upon the poor, Akbar wasweighed himself twice a year. On thefirst day of the month of Aban (15thOctober) which was the solar anniver-sary of Akbar, he was weighed twelvetimes against the following articles qold,quick silver, silk, perfumes, copper,ruh-e-tutiya' drugs, ghee, iron, rice milk,seven kinds of grain, salt; .

Akbar was weighed a second timeon the 5th of Rajab (the lunar birth dayof Akbar) against eight articles, that is,silver, tin, cloth, lead, fruits, mustardoil, and vegetables. On both the occa-sions the festival of salgirah' (birth day)was celebrated (Ain, 1965).

We further learn that the imperialprinces, sons and grandsons of hismajesty (Akbar) were weighed once inevery solar year (Ibid). They are forthe first time weighed when two yearsold, but only against one thing. Everyyear, however, a new additional thing isput on the scales. When grown up theyare generally weighed against seven oreight things, but not against more thantwelve. (Ibid). In ShahJahan Namawefind the lunar weighing of princeAurangzeb when he became fifteenyears old (Begley and Desai, 1990).

Jahangir in his Memoirs describeshis solarweiqhinq in the first yearof hisreign. He says "the first time the weightin gold came to three Hindustanimaunds and ten seers. After this, I wasweighed against several metals, per-fumes and essences, upto twelveweighings Twice a year. I weighmyself against gold and silver and othermetals once atthe beginning of thesolar year and once at that of the lunar.The weight of the money of the twoweighings I hand over to the differenttreasurers forfaqirs and those in need."(Tuzuk, 1989). In Tuzuk Jahangir de-scribes lunarweighing (wazn-e-qamari)

AurangzelJ's Belief - Chatlopadhyay

for his 40th year. (Tuzuk, a). Jahangirsays that" late emperor Akbar approvedof this custom." (Tuzuk, b).

We learn from Shah Jahan Namathat the weighing ceremony (Jashn-e-wazn) was introduced by emperorAkbar (Begley and Desai, a).Aurangzeb also weighed himself on hisbirthdays against gold and silver whichwere distributed among the poor(Bilimoria, d; Sarkar, 1973; Ain, a). It ispointed out that 'tuladana' (weighingcharity) was a practice among former

. Hindu rajas. Shivaji also practiced it(Bilimoria, e). This practice introducedby Akbar, at first took place once ayear, on the birthday of the emperor;but with the introduction of Akbar'sDivine (Solar) Era, we find in the his-tory of every yearthe record of wazn-e-Shamsi, or solar weighing and wazn-e-qamari or lunar weighing .... The solarweighing was even retained byAurangzeb.' (Ain, b).

In the eleventh year of his reignAurangzeb stopped the ceremony ofweighing of the Emperor against goldand silver on his two birthdays (accord-ing to the lunar and solar calendars).Sarkar, a).

We lea rn that late in life Aurangzeballowed it in the case of his sons, in thebelief that as the money was givenaway in charity, the prayers of the poorwould do good to the princess. (Sarkar,b). So, forthesakeofhealth,Aurangzebrecommends this Hindu custom,though, as it has been significantlypointed out, he condemned Hindu cus-toms and rites (Bilimoria, f). It is alsonoteworthy that though after his formalaccession in 1659 Aurangzeb had dis-continued that lIahi era of Akbar andreverted completely to the Muslim lu-nar calendar (Smith, 1990), in the mat-ter of weighing ceremony we find that it

Bull.lnd.lnst.Hist.Med. Vol. XXVII. 1997

was performed both on his solar andlunar birthdays uptil the eleventh yearof his reign.

Aurangzeb's second and final coro-nation took place in 1659 AD; and thenin the eleventh year of his reign hestopped the weighing ceremonies. Thenafter 1691, the year in which his grand-son Bedar Bakhta was given the title ofBhadur, Aurangzeb, is advising him inthe latter to perform that ceremony andthat also not once or twice a year butfourteen times in a year, for removingmental and physical calamities. HowAurangzeb realised the efficacy of thispractice after a long gap of time sinceits stoppage in the eleventh year of hisreign, is not noted anywhere.

We notice here a very rational atti-tude of Aurangzeb in matters of health.It is particularly noteworthy thatAurangzeb recommends its perfor-mance to his grandson Bahadur, nottwice but fourteen times a year. Itmeans it was to be performed everymonth and in addition, it was to beperformed every month and in addi-tion, it was to be performed on the solarand lunar birthdays of the prince. ThatAurangzeb was not a blind follower andthat for the sake of health he couldadopt practices as further noticed in thefacts given below.Ganges water for Aurangzeb:

Francis Bernier who was in Indiafrom 1656-1668 A.D., tells us aboutAurangzeb's habit of drinking Gangeswater. Bernier says - He (Aurangzeb)keeps in Delhi and Agra from two tothree thousand fine horses always athand in case of emergency, eight ornine hundred elephants and a largenumber of baggage horses, mules and

57

porters intended to carry the numerousand capacious tents, with their fittings,hiswivesandwomen, furniture, kitchenapparatus, Ganges water and all theother articles necessary for thecamp ..... ( Bernier, 1968).

'While Aurangzeb was proceedingto Kashmir and Bernier was accompa-nying him, several camels were ladenwith 'Sourais' of Ganges water. Everyperson attached to the court usedGanges water (Bernier, a). Even in thebattle field a 'Sourai; of Ganges waterwas carried for a soldier. BecauseBernier says, it is only in the field thatthis tin flagon is used. When at home,we put the water into jars made of acertain porous earth (Bernier, b.)Bernier, in this connection, refers toAkbar's habit of using Ganges water forcooking food which we have noticed inthe Ain-e-Akbari (Bernier, c). AbulFazal tells us about Akbar in his Ain-e-Akbari that both at home and on travelshe (Akbar) drank Ganges water. AbulFazl says - 'some trust-worthy personsare stationed on the banks of that river,who despatch the water in sealed jars.When the court was at the capital Agraand in Fathepur, the water came fromthe district of Sorun, but now * that hisMajesty is in the Punjab, the water isbrought from Hardwar. Forthe cookingof the food, rain water or water takenfrom the Jamna and the Chenab isused, mixed with a little Ganges water(Ain-e-Akbari, c).

Edward ferry who came to India aschaplain of Sir Thomas Roe and was inIndia at the court of Jahangir at Manduand Ahmedabad from 1617 to 1618,says about Jahangir ... It is remarkablethat "One pinte of the water of Ganges

* (A. D. 1596. As in 1586 Fathepur, had ceased to be the Capital, Akbar resided mostly in the Punjab(Ain-e-Akbari, d.)

58

weigheth less by an once than in thewhole kingdom" and therefore theMoghal, wheresoever he is, hath itbrought to him that he may drink it"(Foster, 1985). In this connection Fos-ter adds that Ovingtom (Voyage toSurat, 1689) says that' a quart of it islighter by much than any other water.

It is clear that the efficacy of Gangeswater for health was fully understoodby Aurangzeb and so he drank it. Thuswe find that though an orthodox Mus-lim, Aurangzeb was quite scientific inhis outlook and like Akbar and Jahangir,he continued the practice of drinkingGanges water. And while in the casesof Akbar and Jahangir we do not knowif Ganges water was supplied to thesoldiers, in connection with Aurangzebwe have seen that even to the battle-fields a 'Sourai' of Ganges water wascarried for a soldier and that everyperson attached to the court ofAuranqzeb.. used Ganges water, asnoticed and recorded by Bernier. Thusa very specifical importance attachedto the Ganges water by Aurangzeb, isnoticed. It is note-worthy that whileHindus probably did not use Gangeswater excepting for purifying articlesand in religious purposes, Aurangzeband his soldiers and courtiers used it,in all probability, for its efficacy forhealth. It is clear that Aurangzeb wasnot blindly following the practice intro-duced by his predecessors in drinkingGanges water.

It seems, he knew well the value ofGanges water for health. The remark-able activities in the field of medicalstudies and research in his times andhis close association with a large num-ber of medical experts, suggest thatAurangzeb had clear and scientificknowledge about the value of Gangeswater for health.

Aurangzeb's Belief - Chattopadhyay

Aurangzeb's supreme Faith in God,the Greatest Healer:

The letterof Aurangzebto hisgrand-son Bahadur ends with the followingcouplet" you (that is God) know our(man's) weakness, anxiety and invalid-ity, and you also know the remedy andcure of our diseases" (Bilimoria, h)"God is the curer and healerof disease,God is perfect and God is holy.' saysAur .mqzeb (Ibid).

So according to Aurangzeb the fi-nal faith is to be placed in God alone.He is the real curer and healer side byside with the establishment of hospi-tals, composition and compilation ofmedical texts and appointment of ex-pert physicians, both foreign and In-dian, emperor Alamgir expresses hisultimate faith in the Grace of God, theAI-mighty, for cure of all ailments.

Note: Please see the followingremarks of the refree: In this article theauthor highlighted certain practices ofAurangzeb which he used to adopthimself and recommend his grand sonBhadurto cure diseases. Among themthe first one was the recitation of Quran(Sura Ikhlas and Sura Fateha). Thesecond one was the practice of 'Tuldana'and the third one was of using theGanges water for himself and his sol-diers. While presenting these thoughtsthe author repeatedly wrote thatAurangzeb was not the blind followerbut his approach was always scientificand wherever he found useful prac-tices he adopted, for example the prac-tice of 'Tul-dana' which is a Hindu rite,and also the use of Ganges water.However, the author wrote these lineswith good faith but it may doubt aboutAurangzeb's Belief and Faith. As it isuniversally accepted that Aurangzebwas the strict follower of Islam andnever tolerated any transgresses from

Bull.lnd.lnst.Hist.Med. Vol. XXVI/' 1997

anybody however great he might beagainst the teaching of Islam here twopoints need clarification.

Recitation of Sura Ikhlas and SuraFateha is a pure Islamic practice andso has no need for any explanation.About 'Tul-dana' and use of Gangeswater the author thoughts that thesetwo are pure Hindu practices while it isnot so.

According to Hadith the 'Sadqa'cools the Anger of Allah. Sacrificingthe animals and distributing among pooras a Sadqa on behalf of a sick personis a common practice. Likewise theSadqa in the shape of any useful item(from gold to grain) equal to weight of asick person is not against the Islamicteachings (In Quran in Sura Aal-EmranAyat 91, it is mentioned that any disbe-liever if gives gold equal to weight of

59

Earth as a Fidya (to get rid of hispunishment by this way) will not beaccepted from him on the day of Judge-ment. Hence the practice of givingSadqa or Fidya equal to weight of par-ticular thing or a person may be justthink of Sadqat are highly recom-mended and praised in Islam. Aboutthe use of Ganges water, as the authorherself stated, Aurangzeb was a verywise person and had number of topUnani physicians around him in hisCourt. As a matter of fact there is aspecial chapterof'water' in AI-Qanoonthe famous book of Avicenna in whichhe (Avicenna) recommended differentwaters for use according to health pointof view. Thus the choice of Gangeswaterwas from the health point of view,not under any Divine belief.

60 Aurangzeb's Belief - Chattopadhyay

REFERENCESAin, (1965) The Ain-i-Akbari, Abu'I-Fazl AI/ami, Tr. into English by H. Blockmann,edited by S.L. Goomer, Published by Naresh. C.Jain for New Imperial Book Depot,53/D Dev Nagar, New Delhi 5, 1stedition 1871 second edition 1965 pp. 276-277, fn/.

Idem Ibid, a, p.277, fn.2.

Idem Ibid, b, p.277 fn.2

Idem Ibid, d, p.58 fn 1& 2.Bernier 1968 Francis BernierTravels in the Mughal Empire, S.Chand and Co., N. DelhiCalcutta l.ucknow, 2nd edition, 1968 pp. 221-222.

Idem Ibid, c, p. 356

Idem Ibid b, pp. 356.

Bilmoria (1972) Ruka' al-i-Alamgiri or Letters of Aurangzeb Translated from OriginalPersion into English by J.N. Bilimoria, Idarah-i- Adabiyat-e-Dehli 2209/ Qasimjanstreet Delhi-6, 1972, p.77

Idem Ibid, a, pp. 78-79Idem Ibid, b, p.78, fn.1Idem Ibid, c,p.78Idem Ibid d, p.78, fn.2Idem Ibid, e.p, 78, fn.2Idem Ibid, 'f, p.78, fn.2Idem Ibid, g, pp.5-6Idem Ibid, h.,p. 78-79.Begley & Desai (1990) The shah Jahan Nama of Inayat Khan, edited and completedby W.E. Begley and Z.A. Desai, Delhi, Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York,1990. Published by S.K. Mookherjee Oxford University press, Y.M.CA LibraryBuilding, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001, p.96

Idem Ibid, a, pp.28-29.Foster (1985) Early Travels in India, edited by william Foster First Indian edition 1985,published by Oriental Book Reprint Corporation, 54 Rani Jhansi Road, N. Delhi-110055, p.299.

Jaggi (1977) O.P. Jaggi, Medicine in Medieval India, Published by Ramlal Pury ofAtma Ram and Sons.(H.O.)Kashmire Gate Delhi-11 0006, 1977, p. 201.

Idem Ibid, p.a 194.Idem Ibid, b, pp. 194-196.

Bull.lnd.lnst. Hist. Med: Vol. XXVII. 1997 61

Idem Ibid c, pp. 194-196.

Lane Poole (1984) Stanley Lane Poole, Extracts from the Kuran .. Published in Indiaby B.R. Publishing Corporation, 461, Vivekananda Nagar, Delhi-110052. FirstPublished 1879, Reprinted 1984, p.5. Palmer (1965) The Quran Translated by E.H.Palmer, Part-II Motilal Banarasidas, Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi 7, Firstpublished by the Clarendon Press, 1880. Reprinted by Motilal Banarasidass, 1965 p.344.

Idem Ibid, a,p. 344, fn.2Idem Ibid, b, The Quran translated by E.H. Palmer Part I, Motilal Banarasldass, Delhi,Varanasi, Patna, First published by the Clarendon press, 1880, Reprinted by MotilalBanarasidass, 1965.p.1.Sarkar (1973) Jadunath Sarkar, History of Aurangzeb, Vols I and II, Orient Longman'sFirst Impression, 1973, p. 381. .

Idem Ibid, a, pp. 55-56.Idem Ibid, b, p.56.

Smith (1990). V.A. Smith, the Oxford History of India First Indian Impression 1974Eighth impression 1990 p.404.

Tuzuk. (1989) Tuzuk -i-Jahangiri or Memoirs of Jahangir Tr. by A. Rogers, edited byH. Beveridge, 1st published 1909-1914, Reprinted 1989. Published by Low Pricepublications, 425 Nimri, Ashok Vihar, phase IV Delhi 11052, pp, 77-78.

Idem Ibid, a.pp.111-112.

62 Aurangzeb's Belief - Chattopadhyay

m-~~~ q(q~a( ~cnQT1R~ ~

~~~I~a~~

3f\ <11si\~ of ~ m ~ ~ ~ R:lfCflffiCf)'fCfiT wR m, wR

{1\l'11i~C1~ ~ ~ ~ m~ 3llR ~Sfi@llCfi <{~If<q'f ~ m~ ~~ I ~ ~ if ~ if ~ flHlI\J'll ~ ~ orrU if ~ ~ 3H:qdlC1 -m~*W ~ ~ ~ filfCfiffil ~ cn1 ~ ~ fiCfiW1 ~ I 310: ~ mart fCfI" 3fl (Jlsi\~ COT filFchffil ~ ~ if ~ m ~$1IP1Cfi~feCf)101 ~ I ~ m ~m ~ ~ m ~ ~ ~ fl~14dl CfiT CfiTlb1 ~ ~ ~ I

~ ~ m 3d<Si'114 t fCfI" ~<IIsi\~ <trrr \iWf COT ~ ~ m ~ ~cp:ff fCfI" ~ <trrr \iWf <fu:rr ~ ~ <trrr \iWf ~ m ~ ~ ~ ~ I ~ if

m ~ 3IICI~4Cfi ~.m ~ ~ ~ m <trrr \iWf Q§'q141 'ffidT ~ ~ ~

~ ~m ~-~ ~ <trrr \iWf Q§'q141 'ffidT ~ I Ijlll\l'1C1 ~ 1JCfiT"{ ~

\iWf Cfl1 "¥ffi if ~ t ~~ lGSClI,g ~ of ~ t I ~of \l'1E.\Nl { <li <trrr\iWf -Qt;f c)j fucroJr <li Wrr if ~ ~ ~ t I ~ t fCfI" ~ <11si\~ wR ~

~ <trrr \iWf Cfl1 3QqIPH'11 <li ~ if ~ m I

3f\<II~~ 3llR"ta c)j 3Rf if ~ CfiT ~. mm t fCfI" ~ m ~<li ~ Cfi1i~lf<ql' CfiT ~ Cfiif CfiT ~ ~ ~ ~ m w CfiT ~ -m m t I