Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 2.17.1

2.17.1

But Dara seemed doomed never to succeed in any enterprise. Considering it impossible to raise the siege with his handful of men, he was at one time resolved to cross the river Indus, and make the best of his way to Persia; although that plan would likewise have been attended with nearly insurmountable obstacles: he would have had to traverse the lands of the Patans, inconsiderable Rajas who acknowledge neither the authority of Persia nor of the Mogol; and a vast wilderness interposed in which he could not hope to find wholesome water. But his wife persuaded him to abandon the idea of penetrating into that kingdom, alleging a much weaker reason than those I have mentioned. If he persevered in his intention, he must make up his mind, she told him, to see both her and his daughter slaves of the Persian Monarch, an ignominy which no member of his family could possibly endure. She and Dara forgot, or seemed to forget, that the wife of Houmaÿon, when placed under similar circumstances, was subjected to no such indignity, but treated with great respect and kindness. While Dara's mind was in this state of perplexity and indecision, it occurred to him that he was at no considerable distance from Gion-kan, a Patan of some power and note, whose life he had been twice the means of preserving, when condemned by Chah-Jehan to be thrown under the elephant's feet, as a punishment for various acts of rebellion.