166 HISTORY OF AURANGZIB. [CHAP. VIII. tion was that he had given occasion for laughter at his expense to his envious eldest brother and that brother's party at Court. But Dara's crow- ing did not last long; Aurangzib soon tasted the sweets of revenge. Dara* led a still vaster army and a larger part of artillery against Qandahar and vowed to capture it in a week. His siege dragged on for five months and in the end Qandahar was not taken. The long history of Dara's doings there written by the courtly pen of Rashid Khan (Muhammad Badi)† is remark- able only for the sickening flattery offered by his courtiers and the insane pride displayed by the Prince. It unconsciously but most effectively condemns Dara and by contrast places Aurangzib in an honourable light. These failures left a lasting sting in the mind of Aurangzib. Half a century later, when he was a dying man, he heard that his son Shah Alam, then Governor of Kabul, was enlisting troops evidently to dispute the succession on the Emperor's expected death. Aurangzib tauntingly wrote to him, "I hear that inspite of your lack of
- Dara sat down before Qandahar from 28th April to 27th
September, 1653, with an army of 70,000 men. Two of his heavy guns carried 112 lb. and 96 lb. shot. He was supplied with 30,000 cannon balls, 5,000 maunds of powder, 1,500 maunds of lead, and 14,000 rockets. (Waris, 70a et seq.) Khafi Khan, i. 717-728. t Lataif-ul-Akhbar. Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
