Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c24.s2.3

v2.c24.s2.3

After the tiger came the jackal. "When after the massacre Ahmad Shah's troops marched onward from Mathurā, Najib and his army remained there for three days, plundered much money and buried treasure, and carried off many beautiful females as captives." [Nur-ud-din Hasan, 15b.] The blue waves of the Jamunā gave eternal repose to such of her daughters as could flee to her outstretched arms; some other happy women found a nearer refuge from dishonour in the dark depths of their household wells. But for those of their sisters who survived there was no escape from a fate worse than death. A Muslim eye-witness thus describes the scene in the ruined city a fortnight later: "Everywhere in lane and bazar lay the headless trunks of the slain, and the whole city was burning. Many buildings had been knocked down. The water of the Jamunā flowing past was of a yellowish colour, as if polluted by blood. The man [a Muslim jeweller of the city, robbed of his all and fasting for several days] said that for seven days following the general slaughter the water flowed of a blood-red colour and then the water had turned yellow. At the edge of the stream I saw a number of huts of Vairāgis and Sannyāsis (i.e., Hindu ascetics), in each of which lay a severed head with the head of a dead cow applied to its mouth and tied to it with a rope round its neck."*