History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c40.s1.2

v3.c40.s1.2

When, on 8th June, 1658, Prince Muhammad Sultan, on behalf of Aurangzib, first visited the fallen Emperor in Agra fort, he was well received by his grandfather. There is a story that Shah Jahan greatly flattered the young man and urged him to seize the throne and rule as his deputy, promising to lend him the prestige of the lawful Emperor's authority in a war with Aurangzib. But if any such temptation was really offered, Muhammad Sultan was too wise to yield to it. For, he had no independent position or power, he was acting merely as his father's agent, as a channel of communication between Aurangzib and Shah Jahan. He had to report every incident and conversation in the fort to his father very promptly and obey his written directions implicitly at every step of the negotiations with Shah Jahan, and the troops guarding the captive Emperor were under Aurangzib's own orders. No one could visit the ex-Emperor without Aurangzib's permission. The least breach of these precautions brought down on Sultan's head the sharp rebuke of his father.*