The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s2.29

v4.c23.s2.29

Shujāʻ, brother to Aurangzīb, being defeated in his struggle for the throne, had to flee in 1660.⁶ The people of Bengal regarded the Maghs as unclean savages, but Shujāʻ was in such straits that he asked the king of Arakan to shelter him and lend some of his famous ships to take him on the way to Mecca, where he wished to end his days. The king consented. Shujāʻ was brought to Mrohaung in Portuguese galeasses and greeted with courtesy. But with him were his family, including a beautiful eldest daughter, and half a dozen camel-loads of gold and jewels—wealth such as had never before been seen in Arakan. Shujāʻ kept away from the king, repelled by his table manners. Eight months passed, and on one pretext or another the promised ships were never forthcoming. Finally the king demanded Shujā‘s daughter in marriage. A blue-blooded Moghul of the imperial house, Shujā‘ refused. The king told him to go within three days. Unable to move, and refused supplies in the bazar, he resolved to take his chance of overthrowing the king. He had two hundred faithful men, and many of the local Muslims supported him; thrones in Indo-China have been overthrown with fewer men, and good judges on the spot thought he had a reasonable chance. But there were too many in the plot, and the king heard of it in time. Shujā‘ was thus reduced to firing the city and cutting his way out in the confusion. Most of his party was taken, and though he himself succeeded in reaching the jungle he was ultimately traced and executed. For days it was a sight to see his treasure being melted down and conveyed to the palace strong-room. His daughters were taken into the harem, the marriage of the eldest to the king being celebrated in song and verse that are still greatly admired in Arakan. A year later the king, scenting a plot, starved them all to death, though the eldest was in an advanced stage of pregnancy by himself; and their brothers' heads were hacked off with dahs.¹