Muntakhab al-lubab 162.4

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.).