CHAP. VIII.] REBUKE FOR THE FAILURE. 163 later Biddulph's division followed at the end of the Second Afghan War,-reported that the Baluch clans had already risen and rendered the road unsafe. So, Aurangzib withdrew his out- posts from Pishin and Duki, and led the army back to Kabul, joining the Emperor on 7th August. The Van under Sadullah had arrived eight days earlier.* Bitter corres- pondence bet- ween Shah Jahan and Aurangzib on the failure. Bitter was Aurangzib's humiliation at the ill- success of the expedition. Shah Jahan wrote to him, "I greatly wonder how you could not cap- ture the fort in spite of such vast preparations.” Aurangzib protested that he had done his utmost, but the scantiness of siege materials and insuffi- ciency of artillery had rendered the attempt hopeless, as Sadullah Khan himself had testifi- ed. But Shah Jahan angrily rejoined, “I am not going to give up Qandahar. I shall try every means to recover it." The Prince pleaded hard to be permitted to stay in Afghanistan or the Panjab and to take part, even as a subordi- nate, in the next attempt on Qandahar, in order to retrieve his character as a general. For this he was willing to forego the viceroyalty of the Deccan
- Adab-i-Alamgiri, 18b, Waris, 66b, Zubdat-ut-Tawa-
rikh, 44a & b, (very meagre). Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
