winter march to Afghanistan was unpleasant;
several provincial commanders delayed joining
the Emperor. Courtiers were not wanting to
suggest that there was no need for hurry, as a
Persian campaign in the depth of winter was
most unlikely. In a weak moment Shah Jahan
listened to the carpet knights of his Court; the
march of the grand army was put off till the
next spring. Only the Mughal Governor of
Kabul threw 5,000 men and five lakhs of treasure
into Qandahar to add to its defensive power.[1]
Empire is not for the ease-loving; victory is not for the indolent. The Persians besiege Qandahar. natural consequence of neglecting an enemy followed. The Persian king belied his tender age and character of a drunkard. He triumphed over the depth of winter, his lack of provisions, and other difficulties on which the courtiers of Shah Jahan
- ↑ Waris, 20b-21a, 23a; Khafi Khan, i. 684—686; Muhammad Afzal Husain's Zubdat-ut-Tawarikh, (Khuda Bakhsh MS.) 42a, (very brief). Rugat-i-Shah Abbas Sani, the Shah's letters to Shah Jahan before and after the siege, 52—64, his letter calling upon Daulat Khan to surrender the fort, 120—126, and some other epistles in which he exults over his victory, 105—120 (including the failures of Shah Jahan's sons). One of the letters to Shah Jahan contains the curious request, "Won't you make a free gift of Qandahar to me, who stand in the relation of a son to you?" (59) Tarikh-i-Shah-Abbas Sani by Mirza Tahir Wahid (Mulla Firuz Library) has a brief account of the Persian capture and the failure of the Mughal sieges.
