Storia do Mogor 335.2
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 335.2
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335.2.1
However, no account was taken of this protest, and, relying on his own valour and exceptional courage, he (Purdil Khan) entered the other's country. As soon as he had done so he was surrounded in the midst of mountains by a number of men who barred the road. It ended in all his men being killed without a single one escaping. Moreover, all the chiefs of the same race (Pathans) assembled and closed all the routes. Shah 'Alam, on hearing what had happened, grieved much over the loss of a leader so valiant, though wanting in prudence. He was obliged to send presents to allay the fury of this barbarous people, in order that they might leave the routes open, that the great caravans might be allowed to pass, and that he himself might find his road open for his annual journey to and fro [i.e., from Kabul to Peshawar]. When princes pass through this land of mountains they are never without fear of something happening to them, as has formerly been the case with others, as can be ascertained from my First and Second Parts (I. 123 ; II. 148, 153). [155] In the year 1703 Aurangzeb, having taken the fortress of Shiva Ji (the Mahrattahs) named Condena (Kandanah), he marched off and pitched his camp close to a place called Punia (Puna). It was here that he (Shiva Ji) killed the son of Shaistah Khan and that noble was himself wounded, as may have been seen in my First and Second Parts (II. 77).
335.2.2
During the monarch's march to this place it happened that an officer named Mirza Baffa (Mir Wafa), who had risen at the court by the favour and the support of the wazir, Asad Khan, forgetting all the benefits he had received, erected his tents in the wazir's quarters. The wazir's servants, observing this unaccustomed boldness, never resorted to by anyone else, protested in a modest manner. But since the noble would not listen to reason, the servants of Asad Khan cut the intruder's tent-ropes and put his men to flight by a hearty use of their staves. When the king heard of the affair he seemed put out, and sent a message to the wazir directing him to visit the quarters of Mirza Wafa and make him excuses. The wazir pretended he did not understand ; but the king did not desist from sending order after order. Thus the wazir was forced to obey, to his great chagrin and much against his will. Zu,lfiqar Khan, who was then on duty against the Shiva Ji (the Mahrattahs) in the direction of Surat, on learning of this dispute, resented very much the affront put upon his father. After the enemy had retreated, this general started for the court. On the way he received orders from His Majesty to proceed to the aid of the province of Bartar (? Bidar or Barar), where other bodies of Mahrattahs were ruining and ravaging the country. But the general made humble supplication to His Majesty that he might be permitted to come to court, for he had a communication to make.
335.2.3
He received the answer that he must march to the point given in his orders with all possible haste, and that such was the king's pleasure. He sent back word that he could not march without having seen His Majesty in person. On finding him so determined, the king consented that he should come. As soon as he arrived he made the first complimentary speeches as usual, then took off his sword, laid it on the ground, and spoke to the king as follows: 'Your Majesty knows that my ancestors have served the emperors Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, and Shahjahan, and your Majesty, too, with all possible fidelity, that we have never been deprived of our privileges, that all the kings just named maintained them, and even gloried in our splendid mode of living, the honours rendered to us, and all the respect paid to our dignity. But your Greatness has not thought it well to uphold these privileges, now so ancient; for you have obliged the chief wazir to beg pardon from a person that he had displeased. Since your Majesty has changed so much as well as the times, you can provide yourself with some other general. As for me, I can no longer serve your Majesty.'
335.2.4
Having heard this speech, the king could not fail to become despondent, but, dissembling, he pacified the general and consoled him, saying that no one could withdraw from him his ancient privileges, that he merited their continuance by reason of his merit and his services as much as by his birth. He had been wrongly informed, and he would soon set the matter right. At the same time he commanded him to resume his sword. However, Zu,lfiqar Khan declined to take up his sword and bind it on, giving several reasons that hindered him. Thus the king's soft words went for nothing. In this way three times over the king told him to fasten on his sword, and yet he remained firm to his text, and would not obey. Seeing this, the king told his son, Kaembakhsh (Kam Bakhsh), who was present, to come forward and attach the weapon with his own hands. The prince did as he was told, and the other could hardly refuse, seeing that it was the king's own son who was conferring on him this honour.
335.2.5
After this the king made him draw closer to his person, put a hand upon his head, and said he esteemed him equal to his own son. As a still further consolation the king took the dagger from his own waist-belt, and with his own hands stuck it into Zu,lfiqar Khan's, invested him with a set of costly robes, gave him a horse bearing a saddle covered with precious stones, along with twelve other horses and two elephants very richly caparisoned. In this way he sent him off, telling him to go now and chastise the enemy. From want of wisdom and honour many people in India are unworthy of any respect — just as little as some Europeans under similar circumstances. Finding themselves raised in fortune and provided with wealth that Nature had originally refused them, they decline, nevertheless, to admit what God and Nature have done for them. An instance of what I allude to happened at Goa in the year 1666, under the government of the then Viceroy, Anthoine de Mello de Castro, when I was living in that town. There was a Portuguese gentleman, called Dom Anthoine Franco de Amiral, a rich and powerful man much loved by the Viceroy. This man, while still a youth, had come as a soldier from Portugal to India. When he had passed the Cape of Good Hope he changed his Christian name and surname, and as soon as he reached Goa he married a rich girl, who owned a great deal of real property.
335.2.6
The father of this gentleman learnt that his son had become very rich, and this induced him to write several letters reminding him that he ought to be good enough to remember his father, who was in great want. But the young man paid no heed to all these letters, and sent no answer. Not knowing the cause of this silence, the good old man imagined that perhaps his letters had not been received. He embarked on a voyage to the Indies. On arriving, though very badly clad, he made straight for his son's house [157] and entered. The Kaffirs and the servants stopped him from going farther, saying he could not go in until they had warned their master. The good old man said innocently: 'Let me in; I am the father of this gentleman.' In spite of this they would not allow him to pass. The master of the house, on learning what was going on, put his head out of the window and ordered his Kaffirs and his servants to put his father out. He accompanied the order with much abusive language, calling his father a brute, a peasant, a man out of his mind; he was not the son of any such low-born man. By this talk the good old man was forced to withdraw as best he could, hanging his head for shame, and his only resource was to beg alms from door to door to obtain necessary food.
335.2.7
One day when the viceroy was walking in his garden the old man found an occasion to approach, and he said somewhat innocently that he had to communicate to his Excellency a matter of great importance. The viceroy, who was in a fairly good humour, called him near and asked his wishes. He used the opportunity to tell the story of all that had passed, showed the governor the certificates from the parish where his son was born, and specified the trade he followed when in Portugal, which was the making of saddles and boots. The viceroy consoled the old man, and assured him that he should be satisfied and sent back to Portugal.