The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c17.53

v4.c17.53

Shāh Jahān, at the beginning of his rebellion, had been stigmatised by Jāhangīr as *Be-daulat* (infelix) and as he made his toilsome journey back to the Deccan felt the truth of the epithet. On arriving there he found conditions slightly more favourable. The alliance between Bījāpur and the Mughuls, concluded before Parvīz proceeded north to meet Shāh Jahān, had stimulated Malik ‘Ambar to fresh intrigues with Golconda. A division of Bījāpur troops had joined the imperial headquarters at Burhānpur during the absence of Parvīz and Mahābat Khān, and Malik ‘Ambar invaded Bījāpur territory, defeated the forces that tried to stop him and invested Bījāpur itself. Reinforced by part of the imperial army the Bījāpur division returned and forced Malik ‘Ambar back to his own country. His efforts to persuade the imperial troops to stand aside and leave him to settle his own quarrels failed. He then made an unexpected attack on the combined forces and scattering them completely laid siege at first to Ahmadnagar and then again to Bījāpur, overrunning the whole of the Bālāghāt.² A year before he had declined to help Shāh Jahān, but now he offered him assistance and was glad to use him as commander of a force to attack Burhānpur itself, with ‘Abdullah Khān as one of his chief officers. The fort was actually penetrated but the defenders still held out till Parvīz and Mahābat Khān returned from the Dūāb, when the siege was raised. Shāh Jahān, sick in body and despairing of success after so many failures, withdrew towards Berār. ‘Abdullah Khān, the chief of the captains who had survived the recent campaigns, became a religious recluse at Indūr (now Nizāmābād) but retained sufficient interest in worldly affairs to send his submission to court. His other allies being dead or deserters Shāh Jahān saw no alternative but to seek pardon from his father. Nūr Jahān, who had become practically supreme, exacted terms which though rigorous were not excessive either as a punishment for rebellion or to safeguard the emperor against further attempts. Shāh Jahān was to give up the two forts of Rohtās in Bihār and Asīr in Khāndesh, which were still held by his adherents, and to send to court two of his sons, Dārā and Aurangzīb, who were still boys. He accepted the terms and was formally appointed governor of the Bālāghāt, a tract at a safe distance from the capital, and one in which the proximity of dangerous enemies might tend to keep him occupied.