CHAP. XII.] DISORDER IN THE EMPIRE. 3¹3 ministers in his confidence had access to the Emperor. Even the people of Delhi, therefore, had reason to suspect that Shah Jahan was no more. The rumour spread to the farthest provin- ces with the proverbial speed of illnews. The evil was aggravated by Dara's injudicious action. To smooth the path of his own accession, he set men to watch the ferries and stop all letters and messengers going to his brothers in Bengal, Guzerat, and the Deccan. He also kept their Court agents under watch lest they should send any report to their masters.* But this only wrought greater mischief. Igno- Alarm, suspi- cion and confu- sion throughout the Empire. rance and uncertainty are more dangerous than the knowledge of truth. The princes and people in the distant provinces, with their regular news-letters from the Court sud- denly stopped, naturally concluded that the worst had already come to pass. What letters they got indirectly only confirmed the belief. While their official news-writers and Court-agents at the capi- tal were being guarded by Dara, other people of the city contrived to smuggle letters out to the princes, offering their devotion and reporting the gossip of the market-place about the condition
- Alamgirnamah, 28. Kambu, 8b. Faiyos-ul-qawanin,
418. Masum, 30a and b. Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
