which was now offered to him. But Shah Jahan
was inexorable: he ordered Aurangzib to go to
the Deccan at once, and brushed aside the
Prince's excuses for his failure with the caustic
remark, "If I had believed you to be capable of
taking Qandahar, I should not have recalled
your army...Every man can perform some work.
It is a wise saying that men of experience need
no instruction." Aurangzib replied by quoting
the proverb, "Whosoever has a particle of sense
can know his own good from his harm" and
pointing out that he could not have purposely
failed in his task, as he knew that it would involve his father's displeasure.[1]
The Court ascribed the failure to the abandonment of Shah Jahan's plan of Causes of the failure. operations, which was that Aurangzib should invest the fort with half the force, while Sadullah should advance west with the other half and capture the forts of Bist and Zamin Dawar, when the garrison of Qandahar would see their communication with Persia cut off, lose heart and surrender to the Mughals. But Sadullah Khan opposed such division of the force and of the scanty supply of provisions and material, and the Emperor
- ↑ Adab-i-Alamgiri, 19a—20b.
