to detain in the Deccan nobles like Nasiri Khan
then returning north at the Imperial summons, and
also to assemble the local landholders in the
Prince's service and enlist new troops. But to do
so would have been to commit himself openly; it
would have been an overt act of rebellion, which
he could not have explained away if Shah Jahan
recovered. Aurangzib, therefore, hesitated and
asked Mir Jumla's opinion, who condemned the proposal and requested that Muhammad Sultan should be sent towards Parenda instead.[1]
In fact, while days and weeks wore on without the expected event taking place Aurangzib despairs of getting Parenda Fort, at Delhi, Aurangzib and Mir Jumla were wistfully looking towards Parenda. Every letter of Aurangzib to the Mir contained an urgent order "to settle the affair of Parenda as quickly as possible, in order that the most important business of all may be undertaken before it is too late." The minister still flattered himself that the fort could be secured by threat or bribe, and both these means were employed in turn. But Aurangzib made a more correct estimate of the character of the Bijapuris and their future line of action than Mir Jumla did. He frankly wrote, "No trust in the words of the Bijapuris....They used to lie
- ↑ Adab, 200a, 201b.