There was a problem when proofreading this page.
118
SHAH JAHAN

who entered the fort of Agra on the 18th of June, overcame the guard, and turned the palace into a prison. Shah Jahan never left the castle during his seven remaining years of life. He was allowed every enjoyment that his sensuous nature demanded, loaded with presents, and supplied with such amusements as most entertained him. His daughter, the Begam Sahib, and all his numerous women, kept him company. Cooks skilfully ministered to his appetite, and dancers and singing-girls enlivened his senile revels. Like many another aged voluptuary, he became wondrously devout at times, and holy Mullas came and read the blessed Koran to him. Aurangzib granted him everything, in fact, except liberty. The two became partly reconciled, and the father bestowed his blessing and forgiveness on the son, but they never met. Shah Jahan died in 1666 at the age of seventy-six. The new emperor hastened to Agra to pay respect to his obsequies, and the body was laid in a tomb near the beautiful Taj which the late sovereign had set up in memory of his wife.

MUMTAZ-I-MAHAL. THE LADY OF THE TAJ.

The day after Shah Jahan had been safely locked up, Aurangzib entered Agra, seized Dara's house and