Muntakhab al-lubab 162: Murders, and other Punishments.
Muntakhabu-l Lubáb, of Kháfí Khán (Elliot & Dowson, extracts) 162
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Murders, and other Punishments.
162.1
Asafu-d daula and Zu-l fikar Khan came with their hearts full of doubt and apprehension to wait upon the Emperor. Amiru-l umard Husain 'Ali Khan, having been informed of the consultation and desires of Mir Jumla and the Emperor, sent a message to Asafu-d daula, promising him that, if he would wait upon the Emperor under his (Husain Khan's) introduction, not a hair of his head should be injured. Some other nobles, when they heard of this advice, disapproved of it, and sent Takarrub Khan, who was a man of I'ran, and chosen for being a compatriot, to Zu-l fikar Khan, to console him, and to assure him, after taking the most sacred oaths, that his introduction to the Emperor by Husain 'Ali Khan would be productive of nothing but repentance and danger to his life and property. * * Mir Jumla having brought Asafu-d daula and Zu-l fikar Khan, fastened the hands of the latter to his turban, and thus presented them. Asafu-d daula spoke two or three words, expressing sorrow for his offences and hope of pardon. Farrukh Siyar spoke with apparent kindness, ordered (Zu-l fikar Khan's) hands to be released, and made presents of robes and jewels. He then told Asafu-d daula to return home, and said that there was some business about which he wanted to consult with Zu-l fikar Khan, and that Zu-l fikar Khan should sit down in an outer tent.
162.2
The father saw that his son was doomed, and with a swelling heart and tearful eyes he repaired to his tent. Zu-l fikar Khan washed his hands of life, and having prepared himself for death, he went to the place appointed. He was surrounded by amirs and their men (chelas). First, with bitter words, they demanded of him the blood of 'Azimu-sh Shan and Muhammad Karim, and he replied to them with rough and sharp answers. Thereupon Lachin Beg, entitled Bahadur Dil Khan, and according to common report, one of the chelas, came behind Zu-l fikar Khan, threw a thong (tasma) round his neck unawares, and pulled it tight. The chelas surrounded him on all sides; they struck him with sticks and their fists and kicked him; others used their knives and daggers, and never ceased till they had despatched him.
162.3
On the same day the order was given that men should go into the fort, to the tirpauliya, a small and dark room in which Jahandar Shah was confined, and despatch him also with the thong. Muhammad Farrukh Siyar entered the city and fort on the 17th Muharram (15th Feb. 1712 A.D.), and gave orders that, in retaliation for violent acts against his brothers and the amirs, his head should be stuck upon a spear, and carried round the city on an elephant, with the carcase lying in the howda. The corpse of Zu-l fikar was ordered to be hung head downwards from the tail of the elephant. After thus being paraded before the people, the bodies were to be brought into the city and thrown down at the gate of the fort. Directions were also given that Asafu-d daula should be placed in a palankin and conducted along with his zanana—and carrying only the clothes and appurtenances which he and his attendants stood upright in—to the house of Khan-Jahan, there to be kept in confinement and under guard. An order of confiscation was also made against the household effects of father and son, and the effects of Kokaltash Khan, Raja Sabha Chand, and some others connected with Jahandar Shah, who had incurred the anger of the Emperor and of Heaven. Raja Sabha Chand abused the officials, and so an order was given for cutting out his tongue. [More executions.]
162.4
In common conversation the title of Lachin Beg was changed into the nickname Tasma-kash (thong-puller). As men were subjected to this punishment of the thong without ascertainment or proof of offence, such a terror of it seized the hearts of the nobles of the reign of Aurangzeb and Bahadur Shah, that when any one left his home to attend upon the Emperor, he took farewell of his sons and family. Matters went to such a length that actors and mountebanks got a living by exhibiting the newly-invented punishment of the thong. * * Hakim Salim had been one of the personal attendants upon 'Azimu-sh Shan, and it was said that the Prince was killed at his suggestion. Mir Jumla invited the hakim to his house, and treated him sumptuously at night; but before morning men were sent to his door, and they strangled him. The deaths of several victims were attributed by evil report to Mir Jumla. [Text, vol. ii, p. 737.] An order was made that the reign of Jahandar Shah should be considered as an adverse possession, and that the reign of Muhammad Farrukh Siyar should date from the 1st Rabi'u-l awwal, 1123 A.H. (April 8, 1711 A.D.).
162.5
After Nizamu-l Mulk Bahadur Fath Jang arrived in the Dakhin, the might of his hereditary sword and his own sound judgment brought about, as they had done before, a great abatement of the ravages perpetrated by the Mahrattas upon the country and upon caravans, without his having to resort to war with the vile foe. But wherever Nusrat Jang and Daud Khan went, the Mahrattas made their incursions, and levied the chauth.