Storia do Mogor 147: Death of Sultan Muhammad.

147

I have already stated earlier that Aurangzeb suspected his son, Sultan Muhammad, knowing him to be a brave soldier, and therefore he had him carried off a prisoner to the fortress of Gwaliyar. But in the end it oppressed him to see his son for such a long time in prison. He was also in want of his services for several undertakings he was bent upon — that is to say, the destruction of Shiva Ji, the conquest of Bijapur and Gulkandah, and a campaign against the Rana. He therefore sent for him from Gwaliyar, and placed him in the fortress of Salimgarh. Some liberty was accorded to him, and his father took him to the mosque with him. Still he placed no trust in him, his object being to test him more and more in order to see if prison had weakened him.
One day he sent him in sign of love a melon, of which he (Aurangzeb) had eaten a portion. He wanted to see if Sultan Muhammad retained his qualities of a son. They presented the melon to him, saying that the king, his father, had already tasted thereof and sent him the remainder. He asked for a knife. The eunuch who had brought the melon, putting his finger on the slice cut by Aurangzeb, said that it was already cut; there was no need of a knife to cut it. Sultan Muhammad replied that he would not eat what he had not cut himself. The eunuch retorted that knives were not given to prisoners. This was enough, and Sultan Muhammad [150], flying into a passion, laid hold of the melon and flung it with all his might at the eunuch's head. The man returned to Aurangzeb, and gave an account of his reception. Thereupon the king bit his lips, and, holding his head down, said: 'What a terrible madness must that be which, after the medicine of so many years in prison and of opium drinking, has not been cured!' He ordered his son to be guarded with great care, and in secret caused poison to be administered, to remove from his sight a son who had done service to him in the fighting against Dara, and who was so obedient to his father's orders that he seized his own grandfather, as may be seen in the First Part of my history.
The day on which the poison was to be given to the prince Aurangzeb went out hunting, and in the evening the death of his son was reported to him. He pulled up his horse and pretended to cry; then he offered up a prayer for the repose of his son's soul, and ordered his interment at the mausoleum of Humayun. The next day he went with his court to the mausoleum to pray, as is usual. Seeing a white bier cloth upon a tomb, he asked who was buried there. On hearing that it was Dara's grave he ordered the cloth to be taken away, and imposed the penalty of death on anyone who should pray there; his object was to wipe out the remembrance of Dara. Thus ended the name of Sultan Muhammad in the year one thousand six hundred and seventy-one.