History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c28.19

v2.c28.19

Despair seized Sulaiman Shukoh as he discovered the real motive of his faithless advisers. He decided to return to Srinagar. But his troubles were only beginning. Next day, when he set his face towards the hills, "all the servants of the various departments and stores,—foragers, camel drivers, and elephant men,—fled away. From 700 men his train sank to 200 only. With such a diminished retinue and transport it was impossible for him to supply conveyances to the ladies of his harem, who numbered two hundred. The enemy were close behind; there was no time to be lost. So, he made up his mind to distribute his women to any body who would take them. At the very proposal "ladies of spotless honour" who "had so long been kept in seclusion with care, became frantic with grief, plucking their hairs out and slapping their own cheeks." But misfortune is pitiless. Some of the women were given away to new masters, many others were abandoned, and only the highest ladies of his harem accompanied the Prince on the few elephants whose drivers still clung to him faithfully. The party now reduced to two hundred souls, made a precipitate flight, covering long distances every day without daring to halt, as the enemy was close on their track. Qasim Khan, the Imperial jagirdar of Moradabad, reached Nagina only 18 hours after Sulaiman had left it, and learning of the fugitive's route he continued the pursuit without halting there. The news of the approach of the Imperialists and the rapidity of the flight dissolved Sulaiman Shukoh’s party; most of his men deserted him, and at last with his wife, a few other ladies, his foster-brother Muhammad Shah, and only seventeen followers, he reached the entrance to the hills.* The Rajah of Srinagar gave him an asylum, promising to harbour the suppliant in spite of the danger and loss that were sure to befall him for his hospitality.