artillery. The Prince, no doubt, wrote a
lying letter to the Emperor, saying that he had
arrested Mir Jumla for treasonable intrigue with
Bijapur and neglect of the Imperial business;[1]
but Dara knew the true reason. Murad had
captured Surat Fort, and the preparations of the
two brothers to advance into Hindustan could
not be kept concealed any longer. Aurangzib's
Vanguard began its northward march from
Aurangabad on 25th January. At last all the
three younger princes had rebelled; they had
dropped the mask, or, in the language of the
Persian annalists, "the curtain had been removed from the face of the affair."
At Dara's instigation the Emperor threw into prison Isa Beg, the Court agent of Aurangzib, and attached his property. But after a time he felt ashamed of such persecution, released the innocent man, and let him go to his master, whom he joined at Burhanpur early in March.[2]
Shah Jahan's severe illness and withdrawal from the public gaze had at once Dara tries to cut off news of Shah Jahan. created a popular belief that he was dead. Dara guarded the sick-bed day and night; none but one or two
