History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c8.77

v1.c8.77

Abdul Aziz proposed that Balkh should be delivered to his younger brother Subhan Quli, as Shah Jahan had publicly offered to restore the country to their father. Aurangzib referred the question to the Emperor, and Abdul Aziz left the neighbourhood of Balkh, and from Khulm turned sharply to the north, crossing the Oxus at Aiwanj on inflated skins, his soldiers following his example wherever they could.* The historian Abdul Hamid has blamed Aurangzib for not immediately giving chase and killing or capturing Abdul Aziz.† But he forgets that the Uzbak war was a national rising and did not depend on any individual leader, even when that leader was a powerful and able prince like Abdul Aziz Khan.