History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c80.s4.1

v5.c80.s4.1

At Devapur the soldiers had just recovered a little from their campaigning hardships of the last six years, when the whole camp was thrown into the greatest alarm and distress by the Emperor's illness. His spare frame had been enabled by regular habits and a sober life to stand incessant work and rigorous marching for well-nigh ninety years marvellously well; but at last it seemed to have been worn out. And if he died, the only bond that held the empire together, the single force that guided and protected the lives of hundreds of millions, would be dissolved, and the North-Indian army, girt round by countless ill-subdued enemies in that far-off southern land of hills and jungles and strange peoples, would perish helplessly. Despair seized all men, from the highest officers to the humblest tent-pitcher, when Aurangzib fell ill and took to his bed.