History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c17.12

v1.c17.12

But some ominous shadows had already been cast on this bright prospect, and with the passage of time they were deepening. One by one the great ministers and generals who had contributed to the glory of the reign were being removed by the pitiless hand of Death. The three best known officers and dearest personal friends of Shah Jahan died within the last five years: Said Khan Bahadur Zafar Jang on 4th January, 1652, Sadullah Khan, the Abul Fazl of his age, on 7th April, 1656, and Ali Mardan Khan, the premier peer, on 16th April, 1657.* And, as the giants of old passed away, the Emperor found no worthy successors to them among the new faces and younger men about him.† He had already completed 67 lunar years,‡ and the life of warfare and hardship that he had gone through in his father's latter years, followed by the long ease of his own tranquil reign, had undermined his body, and he already felt the hand of age. What would happen after him?