Storia do Mogor 281.11
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 281.11
- Language
- English
281.11.1
At last the king, as a final remedy, said to him he was an impertinent fellow to ask for impossibilities. 'Such, sire,' replied the poet, 'are all infants, and that is why it is so difficult to satisfy them.' 'Ah!' said the king, 'you are too clever for me. However, here is a question; let us see if you can give a good solution. Tell me, if you please, what is the greatest consolation that man has in this world?' 'Ah, sire!' retorted he without a pause, 'it is when a father finds himself embraced by his son.' Here is an adventure which happened to King Akbar. I overlooked it in my former volumes; but as it is so strange, it should not fall into oblivion. After he had defeated Baz Bahadur, sovereign of the forests of Mandu, Akbar caused him to be cruelly decapitated, and forthwith proposed marriage to his widow. The affected princess, who was of surpassing beauty, absolutely refused to consent to such a marriage, in spite of all the promises made to her. However, she sent word to him that if he would order a palace to be built for her, and concede to her a year in which to mourn for her beloved spouse and perform the ceremonies due to his memory, she would consent to the marriage.
281.11.2
The amorous prince granted her request, and on the expiration of the year he intimated to her that the time had come for her to carry out her promise. Then the lady dressed herself as magnificently as was possible, putting on her richest jewels, and came to see the king. He received her with all imaginable demonstrations of joy. But when they had engaged in conversation, the beauty drew from her pocket a poisoned betel-leaf, impregnated with a very subtle poison, and ate it. Thus she expired in her lover's arms, repeating frequently the name of her first husband, Baz Bahadur. This deed showed the king that she could never love one who had sent to his death a person held by her as dear as life itself. Although invariably successful on the field of Mars, Akbar was unfortunate on that of Venus, a fact which can be seen from my First Part (I. 79, 80) in my narrative of the siege laid to the fortress of Chitor. That siege added to his glory but was most fatal to his love for the far-famed Padmini. As I have said so much about the Portuguese, it will not be useless, I believe, if I tell here the events that happened to two gentlemen of that nation called Mendocaz. Usually the nobles born in India are naturally opposed to people of quality who come from Europe. The two Mendocaz were from Europe, and they fell into a quarrel with two Indian Portuguese of the house of the Mellos.
281.11.3
These latter procured the assassination of the other two, and then sought refuge in a country-house owned by them. There they collected men, endeavouring to increase their strength sufficiently to enable them to become independent masters of Bassein. However, they did not succeed in this undertaking, for, since they were acting only through the passion of revenge, and not from a desire for justice, God did not permit these two traitors and betrayers to accomplish their design. Shortly afterwards some reinforcements arrived from Goa, not only obliging them to abandon their plot, but to seek safety in flight. In addition to the murder that I have mentioned, these wretches had been guilty of other crimes. They had suborned men to assassinate a Royal Commissary named Carilho, who had been sent to decide the cases against them. During the investigation he allowed them to retire to their houses, there to consider the accusations against them and prepare for their defence. It was precisely this murder which compelled these two traitors to flee into Mogul territory. Upon arriving within it they offered their services to Prince Aurangzeb, and asked from him help in taking the towns [32] of Bassein and Daman, promising that after they had succeeded they would become his subjects.
281.11.4
But at that moment Aurangzeb was occupied with his designs upon the crown, and wished to avoid a war with the Portuguese, the more particularly as he had already tested their strength in his campaign against Daman, as described by me in my First Part (I. 123). For these reasons he advised those two gentlemen to give up their enterprise. He said to them he wanted men for his own purposes, and if they consented to enter his service he would give them a good and honourable position. They declined, and withdrew to Surat. Some years afterwards, when Aurangzeb's objects were attained, these two gentlemen came to see him, and laid before him the same proposal. But the prince declined to listen, harangued them on their rebellion, and said that he held it unfair to make war on a nation for the benefit of two traitors. After this rebuff these two wretches wandered hither and thither in a miserable state until they died. As I forgot in my Third Part to speak of the virtues of elephant hide and fat, in spite of all I did say about those enormous beasts, I add here that their fat is of use to strengthen weak and shrivelled sinews by rubbing it in on the surface of the skin. Also if you take the hide and the toe-nails, adding some stag's horn, and after mixing place the whole on some live coals, a smoke is produced which is of marvellous effect for haemorrhoids ; it also reduces inflammation, relieves pains, and removes hard lumps.
281.11.5
At the end of October, 1701, the sea destroyed about fifteen villages on the coast of Masulipatam (Machhlipatanam). With reference to this catastrophe, I have always noticed in this country that when such disasters occur they are a prelude to war and coming misfortunes. Thus, after the inundations at the above town in 1680, we saw the destruction of the kingdoms of Gulkandah and Bijapur, a calamity which reduced the people to extreme misery. At the beginning of this very year of 1701 a comet appeared on the coast of Choromandal; it was about a cubit in length, its head to the east and its tail to the west. All these things foretell nothing but misfortune, for after the earlier floods at Masulipatam above mentioned, a similar comet appeared in the sky. May God deliver us from it! But as I believe that what is about to happen will comprise events worthy of being handed down to posterity, I promise, should God grant me life, to do my very best to satisfy the curiosity of the public by imparting to them all I shall consider worthy of remembrance.
281.11.6
I have mentioned above (IV. 27) that Muhammad Sa'id had written to the court that he proposed to rebuild the town of San Thome, that the money required, or the greater part of it, was ready, and only the king's orders were awaited before commencing. Since then this lord has received an answer to his letter, whereby he is forbidden to begin this work; he is told to think no more of it, for his majesty fears that if the town were rebuilt, the French would again possess themselves of it, like they did once before, as I have told you (IV. 27).
281.11.7
Noticing that all his great strength was incapable of hindering [33] the continual ravages of Shiva Ji (i.e. the Mahrattahs) in his kingdom, Aurangzeb resolved to advance into the territories belonging to this rajah, with the object of reducing some of his fortresses. The first of these that he had designs against was Quelna (Khelnah), above the high hills that are in the direction of Goa. It is built upon the hillside in such a way that to traverse the roads leading to it is extremely difficult. Moreover the emperor, having entered upon the campaign, soon found himself in trouble from the want of supplies. He was forced to await the help brought to him by one of his generals. Shiva Ji knew of the approach of these reinforcements, and took good care not to let pass unused such an opportunity for advantageous attack. In short, he went out to find this general, delivered battle, and fought with such good fortune that he gained the day, left the general dead upon the field, seized as booty all his goods, and carried off into the fortress the supplies intended for the king's army. Even if this mishap had not occurred, it may be doubted if the prince could have taken the place with the ease that he supposed. Its position is favourable to a defence, while the water-supply and the atmosphere are most pernicious to strangers. Thus they caused many swellings among the king's troops, who thereby suffered extremely, as also by the deficiency of food.
281.11.8
To render his march the easier the king divided his force, sending some divisions by one route and some by another, hoping thus to keep the roads unencumbered. The plan has not been a success, for the enemy have not remained idle during the interval, but have inflicted a fresh defeat on the division of Prince Bedar Bakht, son of A'zam Tara. He commands twelve thousand horse under twenty-two officers, all of whom have fallen. The prince himself escaped with difficulty, taking to flight on horseback, accompanied by no more than five troopers.