The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s3.95

v4.c23.s3.95

But he sat with folded hands while they roamed the land at will, the crops could not be sown, the city granaries ran low, and the guards and the palace staff were plunged into mourning by the massacre of their kinsmen in the villages. The guards could get no food to eat, and finally they found that the royal concubines had cornered what rice there was and were selling it at iniquitous prices. The king exercised no control and when they appealed to him he mournfully said he could not help them. They approached his brother Pye, who at once marched on the palace. Hearing the drums, the king sent eunuchs to see what was happening. They told him, and he went to hide while the queen with her son aged eight and grandson aged four remained on the couch of state. Pye and his men entered the palace cutting down some twenty men and women. Pye said: "Brother, I wish thee no harm, but these things cannot be. Many a time have the ministers called me, and now I must do as they say." The queen entreated him, saying: "Be king but spare our lives. We will end our days in religion. Let the children become monks." But Pye shook his head, saying: "When have our families been monks? They will only throw off the robe. Yet will I do you no harm, remembering the oath of brotherly love I took to our father." He kept them in a royal house, sending them food daily. But after a few weeks the court said: "There cannot be two suns in the sky", and he drowned¹ the king, queen and their son and grandson in the Chindwin river.