CHAP. XII.] OFFICERS RECALLED TO COURT. 307 the history of his attempt to strengthen his posi- tion, an attempt often thwarted by the necessity of taking Shah Jahan's consent in important matters, and also by his own faults of judgment. His policy lacked that strength and single- ness of purpose which it might have gained if he had been the absolute master of the realm, or if Shah Jahan, in full possession of his physical powers, had dictated every step him- self. First of all, He attempts to strengthen his own position. Mir Jumla, the confidant and partisan of his rival Aurangzib, could no longer be retained as Prime Minister of the Empire. Towards the end of September he was removed from the wazirship, and his son Muhammad Amin, who had been acting as his vicar at Delhi, was forbidden entrance to the office. Orders were also sent to Mir Jumla, Mahabat Khan, and other Imperial officers to return from the Deccan to the Court with the reinforcements that they had led to Aurangzib's army for the Bijapur war. In the case of Mir Jumla the order of recall was not peremptory: he was first of all to secure the surrender of Parenda Fort from the Bijapuris. But Mahabat Khan and Rao Chhatra Sal were
- Kambu, 6b, 10a. Alamgirnamah, 29.
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