Knowing the prince's incapacity, Shah Jahan His wasir. Ali Naqi,had tried to remedy the mischief by sending to him. Ali Naqi as his revenue minister and chief counsellor. This officer,[1] conscious of his own ability and honesty, and proud of enjoying the Emperor's confidence, looked down with scorn on the flatterers and boon companions who formed Murad's Court. He was strict even to harshness in conducting the government, and his honesty and vigilant care of the public revenue raised against him a host of enemies among those who wished to profit by the prince's ignorance and extravagance. As the whole administration was under Ali Naqi's control, he was also envied by the other nobles posted in Guzerat. His draconic punishments left him without a single friend in the province.
And soon his enemies got their chance. The news of Shah Jahan's severe illness and retirement to impenetrable privacy, as well as of Dara's virtual usurpation of the Imperial authority, reached Murad towards the close of
- ↑ My account of Ali Naqi and his murder is based upon Khafi Khan, ii. 7—9, Isardas, 10a and b, Kambu, 9a. The date of the murder was most probably some day in the first week of October, as confirmation of the news reached Aurangzib (returning from Bidar) on 29th October, and the first rumours had come some days earlier (Adab, 2016). Alamgirnamah, 135.
