History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c17.49

v1.c17.49

After the first week of illness Shah Jahan, as we have already seen, felt some relief, but no hope of recovery. So he piously set himself to prepare for the next world. Calling to his presence some confidential courtiers and the chief officers of the State, he made his last will before them, and ordered them to obey Dara henceforth as their sovereign in everything, at all times, and in every place. To his successor he gave the advice to seek to please God, to treat the public well, and to care for the peasantry and the army.† Dara now had the supreme power in his hand, though he did not assume the crown but continued to issue orders in his father's name. The history of the next eight months is the history of his attempt to strengthen his position,—an attempt often thwarted by the necessity of taking Shah Jahan’s consent in important matters, and also by his own faults of judgment. His policy lacked that strength and singleness of purpose which it might have gained if he had been the absolute master of the realm, or if Shah Jahan, in full possession of his physical powers, had dictated every step himself.