8. The cleverness, astuteness, energy, and business capacity of
Aurangzeb are undoubted, and yet his long reign was a disastrous
failure. The author reflects the praises of Muhammadans who cherish
the memory of the 'namazi'. The Emperor himself knew better when, in
his old ago, he wrote to his son Azam the pathetic words, 'I have not
done well by the country or its people. My years have gone by
profitless' (Lane-Poole's version in _Aurangzib_ (Rulers of India),
p. 203. Letter No. 72 in Bilimoria, _Letters of Aurungzbe_, Bombay,
1908. Another version in E. and D. vii, 562.) His reign lasted for
almost forty-nine years, from June 1658 to February 1707, and not for
only forty years.
9. The real tombs are in the vault below. Beautiful cenotaphs stand
under the dome. The inscription on the tomb of the Empress is exactly
repeated on her cenotaph, and runs thus:-
'The splendid sepulchre of Arjumand Bano Begam, entitled Mumtaz
Mahall, deceased in the year 1040 Hijri.'
The epitaph on Shah Jahan's tomb is as follows:-
'The sacred sepulchre of His Moat Exalted Majesty, nesting in
Paradise, the Second Lord of the Conjunction, Shah Jahan, the
Emperor.
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