CHAP. IV.] FASCINATED BY HIRA BAI. 65 Zainabadi. Besides the above four there was another woman whose supple grace, musical skill, and mastery of blandishments, made her the heroine of the only romance in the puritan Emper- or's life. Hira Bai surnamed Zainabadi was a young slave-girl in the keeping of Mir Khalil, who had married a sister of Aurangzib's mother. During his viceroyalty of the Deccan, the Prince paid a visit to his aunt at Burhanpur. There, while strolling in the park of Zainabad on the other side of the Tapti, he beheld Hira Bai un- veiled among his aunt's train. The artful beauty "on seeing a mango-tree laden with fruits, ad- vanced in mirth and amorous play, jumped up, and plucked a mango, as if unconscious of the prince's presence." The vision of her matchless charms stormed Aurangzib's heart in a moment; "with shameless importunity he took her away from his aunt's house and became utterly in- mother, who has been with me during my illness, wishes to accompany [me in death]." From this expression Tod, (Annals of Mewar, Ch. XIII, note) infers, "Her desire to burn shews her to have been a Rajpoot." Such an inference is wrong, because a Hindu princess on marrying a Muslim king lost her caste and religion, and received Islamic burial. We read of no Rajputni of the harem of any of the Mughal emperors having burnt herself with her deceased husband, for the very good reason that a Muslim's corpse is buried and not burnt. Evidently Udipuri meant that she would kill herself in passionate grief on the death of Aurangzib. 5 Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
