History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c39.s3.9

v3.c39.s3.9

On 27th July the envoy was given leave to depart. On him and his entourage the Emperor conferred gifts worth Rs. 5,35,000.* The despatch of a return embassy charged with a reply to Shah Abbas's letter, was delayed by the Emperor's illness and his visit to Kashmir. Tarbiyat Khan, the governor of Multan and a Commander of 4000 Horse, was selected for the mission and sent off from the Court on 2nd November, 1663, with presents worth more than seven lakhs of Rupees, and a letter drafted by Danishmand Khan, the scholarly Persian courtier known to readers of Bernier's *Travels* as the French doctor's patron. We possess this letter in which, as was the literary usage in such compositions, the sense is buried under piled up flowers of rhetoric and an endless succession of epithets. The patronizing tone in which the Shah had offered his friendly help and probably also his reference to Qandahar where Aurangzib had twice failed and the Persian arms had triumphed, galled the spirit of the Mughal Emperor. He replied by thanking the Shah for his friendly views, but declared in a lofty tone that he needed no *man's* help as he depended solely on God’s favour; his astonishing victories were a proof of God’s abounding grace on him. Then he naturally glided into a long and exultant narrative of his triumphs over his brothers, and concluded with a self-righteous declaration that he was devoting every hour of his life to doing good to his subjects, promoting peace and prosperity in the land, and advancing the cause of Islam. (Bahar-i-sakhun.)