History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c28.5

v2.c28.5

This last course Sulaiman Shukoh adopted. Leaving his surplus property, heavy baggage, stores, and harem attendants in the fort of Allahabad in charge of his father’s trusty servant Syed Qasim of Barha, he crossed the Ganges with light kit (14th June), passed by Lucknow and Moradabad, and rapidly moved on Nagina, where he plundered the Government treasury of two lakhs of rupees and some private property also. But numbers of soldiers deserted him daily, and his following rapidly dwindled from the 6,000 men who had left Allahabad with him. Even for his diminished numbers he could not secure a crossing over the Ganges to the right bank. “At every ferry......the men took their boats to the other side at the report of his approach, and he could not cross. So he was forced to proceed further up the river towards Hardwar in the hope of crossing with the help of the local zamindars.” At Chandi, situated in the Srinagar State opposite Hardwar, he halted for some days, and sent his officer Bhawanidas to the Rajah of Srinagar to beg his help.∗