35⁰ HISTORY OF AURANGZIB. [CHAP. XIV. way he would follow the former route and march into Northern India; otherwise he would set his face westwards and return to Aurangabad, the seat of his viceroyalty. But the period of un- certainty was only prolonged; no decisive infor- mation came from Delhi, and for weeks after leaving Bidar, Aurangzib passed his time in the greatest anxiety and vacillation. On 18th October he learnt from a letter of his agent at Delhi that Shah Jahan had become helpless; on the 21st came another letter, saying that the Emperor's illness was decreasing. A third letter, received on the 22nd, brought news of an opposite tenour: Dara had become supreme at Court and was daily strengthening his position. A secret message from the Collector of Agra, evidently professing devotion, reached Aurang- zib at this time. It only confirmed his worst suspicions: the very fact of such a letter being written meant that a demise of royalty had taken place or was very imminent; "one of these two alternatives must have happened,-Shah Jahan is either dead or a helpless invalid.”† In view of these facts Aurangzib proposed to send his son Muhammad Sultan with an army to Burhanpur, to close the ferry over the Tapti river,
- Adab, 198a.
† Adab 199a-200b, 169b. Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
