Later Mughals v1.c9.s13.9

v1.c9.s13.9

Superstition was even more powerfully brought into play. It was a superstitious country and a superstitious age; and Farrukh-siyar was as much subject to these influences as any of his contemporaries. A prophecy had been made, which met with the widest acceptance, that after Bahadur Shah's death his youngest descendant would reign. He would, in his turn, be followed by a Sayyid. Talk about this became so common that soon everyone had heard it. Of course, it was at once urged on the Emperor that the Sayyid who was to reign could be no other than one of the two brothers. Acting on the principle that dropping water wears away a stone, they repeated this story over and over again to Farrukh-siyar, till it had the effect of making him openly show ill-feeling to the two Sayyid brothers. [Warid 149a.]