EmperorHe describes him about this time as "of countenance cheerful, and not proud in nature, but by habit and custom: for at night he is very affable and full of gentle conversation." On his part, Jehangir was not less drawn to the ambassador, whose manly yet courtly bearing and frank independence stood out in pleasant relief in a world in which dissimulation and abject abasement were everywhere conspicuous. When Roe fell ill, as he did in the course of the progress, the Emperor showed the most kindly feeling. He caused frequent inquiries to be made as to his condition and one day sent him from the imperial store five bottles of wine, and what was more remarkable, "a fat hog," procured from Goa, which was dispatched with a message to the effect that since it had been in the imperial charge it had been fed on nothing but sugar and butter.
At the outset of the progress the Emperor's ultimate destination was kept a profound secret. It was thought at first that Agra was the objective, and the route taken lent colour to this supposition, but when a certain point on the road was reached a more southerly course was followed, which indicated that Jehangir was making for Mandu, the old capital of the Mohammedan kingdom of Malwa, situated in what is now the Dhar State, one of the petty principalities of Central India.
Jehangir's object in proceeding to this isolated and, from the standpoint of his Court, inconvenient spot, was to be in a position to lend support to a campaign which his son, Prince Khurrum, was conducting against the Bling of the Deccan. This prince had for years previously been struggling to throw off the Mogul overlordship and had successfully resisted a force which Jehangir had sent against him
