Storia do Mogor 118.2

118.2

The ambassador was well received upon his entry into Isfahan; but he did not receive equal honour in the presence of Shah 'Abbas. When permission to appear in audience had been given to him, the king recollected what Aurangzeb had done to his ambassador. He now took a twofold revenge. The first was he received him while mounted on horseback, as he was coming from the court on a promenade. In this way the wretched Tarbiyat Khan was forced to follow the king on foot for some distance. Then he was told to go away and take some rest; he would be sent for another time. This was the first mouthful the ambassador had to swallow. He was forced to wait for about a year before he obtained leave to depart. In this interval he was sent for several times to the court, where they treated him with much less respect than Persian subjects were treated. His going to court served for no purpose but to expose him to the king's contempt. They merely made a mock of him and of Aurangzeb. One day, speaking of Aurangzeb's hypocrisy, Shah 'Abbas called him his slave, as the Persians are used to do in naming Indians. Another time he scoffed at the complexion and customs of the people of Hindustan. Thus many months elapsed.