History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c10.24

v1.c10.24

Daulat Khan* had risen to be a commander of five thousand. By birth a Bhati of the Panjab, his extreme beauty in youth had gained him Jahangir's favour and the easy office of Captain of the Imperial Body-guard. Under Shah Jahan he had distinguished himself by personal bravery and enterprise in the wars of the Deccan and the arrest of a powerful rebel. But he was now verging on sixty and had evidently lost his old energy and leadership of men. He had neither resourcefulness nor power of initiative, nor the iron will that nerves heroes to hold a fortress till the last moment in scorn of famine and impending massacre. Above all, he utterly failed to keep in hand the diverse races,—Rajputs and Hindustani Musalmans, Afghans and Turks,—who formed the garrison of Qandahar. With an impregnable fort, a garrison of 7,000 men, and provisions and munitions for two years,* his task was easy in comparison with that of many an English subaltern known to fame, an Eldred Pottinger or a Grant (of Thobal); and he failed in it. If he had held out a month longer, the Persians would have raised the siege through lack of provisions. The garrison had lost only 400 men out of 7,000 effectives when he opened the gates to the enemy.†