Storia do Mogor 65.18
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 65.18
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65.18.1
These two armies when joined together formed a powerful force. The court of Shahjahan was now thrown into confusion, fear, and anxiety, which were shared by the king and the prince Dara, for they already perceived the strength their adversaries possessed, and the persistence with which they were marching on; also the ability of Aurangzeb, coupled with the great courage of Murad Bakhsh. Clearly did they see that a fire had been lighted, which it would be very difficult to quench. By means of many letters and protests sent to the two princes, Shahjahan told them to return each to his own government. He pledged them his word that in no way would he take notice of their rebellion. Nothing he could say was of any avail. But Aurangzeb continued ever to pretend, and told Murad Bakhsh that such letters were forged by Dara, that Shahjahan was of a truth dead. Even if he were not, it was right to deliver him from the hands of Dara, by whom he had been seized, for he never appeared in public. If their father [176] were alive, they would beseech him to pardon them, disculpating themselves by saying that they wanted to deliver him from the hands of Dara, and then go back each to his own government.
65.18.2
The whole of this was falsehood, for have I not seen with my own eyes that one day he (Shahjahan) gave audience, ailing as he was, for more than half an hour in his royal apartments, seated at a window looking towards the river. There were present a very great number of men from the army and the common people, all of whom heard and saw. But the greater part of them said that it was not Shahjahan, but a made-up figure prepared by Prince Dara for that purpose. That could not be truly said by those who were present. There were many traitors at the court friendly to Aurangzeb. They wrote to him that he should arrange to reach Agrah before the arrival of Prince Sulaiman Shukoh from Bengal. This prince had been ordered by Dara to rejoin at headquarters. They also wrote that the illness of Shahjahan was mortal. Letters of this sort which had been despatched by Xastecan (Shaistah Khan) and Muhammad Amin Khan, son of Mir Jumlah, were seized by Prince Dara. Thereupon he (Dara) arrested those two nobles and confined them in a room of his palace. The whole court supposed that without a doubt he would order them to be beheaded, and the whole of that day I waited on in the court solely to learn the end of the business. At seven o'clock at night they were liberated on the prayer of Roshanara Begam and other princesses, who persuaded the king that the captured letters were forgeries. Dara had afterwards to repent that he had not then and there ordered their decapitation.
65.18.3
The unhappy king, Shahjahan, saw that his sons had lost all respect for him, neither paid they any obedience to his orders. They marched on by long daily journeys, fully resolved and determined to give battle to Dara ; and even if King Shahjahan went out in person to resist them, they were not likely to desist from an attack, the greater part of the advancing host being traitors and asserting that the king was dead (whereas he was very much alive, only with little strength left). Shahjahan told Prince Dara that the best thing was, in any case, for him (the king) to be present in the battle, even in such feeble condition as he was; by his going forth it might happen that the traitors would be held in more subjection. With this arrangement Dara seemed satisfied. Having heard of this plan, the traitors objected to it, chiefly Callilcan (Khalilullah Khan), who said to Dara: 'It is not right for your highness, whatever happens, to allow the king to be present and to fight this battle, because I give you my word that the victory will be with your highness, and if, perchance, the king take part, the name and the fame thereof must inevitably be his.'
65.18.4
The good old man (Shahjahan), believing that his appearance in the field might be of some use, began resolutely his preparations, ill as he was, to share in the battle. Spurred by honour and by the advice of the traitors, Dara in the end said to his father that if he went out to give battle, he (Dara) would take his own life with his dagger in his father's presence. The disconsolate old man, with tears in his eyes, said: 'I abandon to you all my authority, and God aid you!' Dara was very elated, believing that he would be the victor, owing to his reliance upon the traitors, and exclaimed: 'With my bowstring will I without fail bring in my enemies bound.' He (Dara) made ready with all imaginable energy to give [177] battle and wreak vengeance upon his brothers.
65.18.5
Meanwhile the poor king was in great affliction, finding himself thus persecuted and oppressed in the evening of his days, forced to divest himself of his treasures and confide them to the descretion of Dara. Then he sent for Chatarsal (Chhatarsal) and Rao Ramsing Rotella (Rao Ram Singh Rawatela), and placed them over the other generals at court, some of whom were not well affected to Dara. He gave these men orders to fight on his behalf against his own sons. In spite of all this, the king never ceased to feel the very greatest concern at the disorder existing in the empire, and the peril he was in of seeing himself soon destroyed. The larger number of his descendants would, he felt sure, be beheaded; and he never forgot what the faqir had told him, the man with the two apples (I. 118).
65.18.6
Dara sent off fresh orders in all haste to Sulaiman Shukoh, his son, to give up the campaign against Shah Shuja', and come promptly with his commanders to join forces with him (Dara), and deliver battle against Aurangzeb and Murad Bakhsh, who were then advancing by forced marches. Imperative injunctions were given not to make any delay, seeing how very important it was for their forces to unite before the battle. The decision thus arrived at was very good, but it was too late, and it was impossible (owing to Dara's unlucky star) for Sultan Sulaiman Shukoh to arrive in time. If his force could have joined, it would be almost impossible to conceive Aurangzeb and Murad Bakhsh having the audacity and temerity to attack as they did, the sides becoming then very unequal.
65.18.7
In this interval of preparation for the army to take the field, there arrived news at the court of Agrah that Aurangzeb and Murad Bakhsh had crossed the river at Brampur (Burhanpur), and traversed by a very narrow passage the difficult, hilly, and wooded country of Mandu. I have passed through these defiles many times myself. Dara had hoped to block their exit; now the above news only augmented the confusion at court. King Shahjahan thereupon sent for two famous leaders—the first, Raja Jaswant Singh (Rajah Jaswant Singh, Rathor), the king's loyal subject; the second, Caçamcan (Qasim Khan), a man not well affected to Dara, and enjoined them to proceed against Aurangzeb and Murad Bakhsh. His orders to them were to take every possible step to induce the two princes to retire. If they declined to listen, they were to be stopped by force. To please Shahjahan, Qasim Khan joined Rajah Jaswant Singh, but he had little inclination to undertake the campaign or withdraw from the king's court. At the farewell audience Dara gave splendid presents to Jaswant Singh, and also to Qasim Khan. He presented them with several elephants and horses with their trappings, and some costly arms. He behaved in a most friendly manner to them, and thus they were sent off. During the march they sent many letters to Aurangzeb and Murad Bakhsh, telling them they ought to withdraw to their governments.
65.18.8
But all these requests were in vain, for no replies were sent, nor did the men who carried them appear again. The princes marched with such expedition that before Shahjahan's generals expected to meet them, they were espied on some high ground not very far from the river at Ugen (Ujjain). It was during the time of the great heats at the end of April, and there was little water in the river. Thus on the instant the generals of Shahjahan made ready for battle; but Aurangzeb took no notice of the movement. Neither had his whole force arrived, nor was his army in battle array; he therefore ordered some of his pieces of artillery to be discharged to hinder the enemy from coming [178] too near to the river. The object was to allow time for the remainder of his army to arrive, and for his men to get some rest, they being worn out by the march and depressed by the great heat. He also wanted to secure a position with better air. All these things were managed by him. For if the rajah had attacked at that very moment, in the condition he (Aurangzeb) then was he must have been defeated without XII. MURAD BAKHSH, SON OF SHAHJAHAN. making much resistance. At this time I was at the court in Agrah, and I was not present in this first battle.
65.18.9
All the same I am able to describe it, because I was on very familiar terms with the higher officers who took a part in it, and in addition thereto I obtained good information from some Europeans of different nations who directed the artillery of Aurangzeb. All of these set forth the facts in one and the same fashion. But Rajah Jaswant Singh contented himself with holding a position on the bank of the river to bar its passage in accordance with the orders that he had received.