History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c27.29

v2.c27.29

Jai Singh's task was done; the enemy was no longer on the Indian soil. So, he wrote to the Emperor asking to be recalled to Court,—"When appointing me to this service, your Majesty had told me that so long as Dara was not captured or killed, or did not quit the empire, I should not withdraw my hand from him. I have left no means untried to accomplish the first two alternatives. I have, at no place, however hard and difficult to traverse, taken thought of the scarcity of water and grain or of the predominance of lawless men. But God ordains every thing, and so the third alternative has come to pass. As your Majesty has now been freed from the mischief of that [enemy], I beg to submit that, in view of the extreme privations borne by the army and the weakness of the horses and transport cattle, which have not strength enough to move more than six or eight miles a day,—I should be recalled to Court."*