CHAP. VIII.] SHAH JAHAN DIRECTED SIEGE. 165
himself, on being referred to, confirmed the
change of plan.'*
In truth it is unjust to blame Aurangzib for
, „ . the failure to take Qandahar.
Aurangzib not '^
the real com- Throughout the siege he was mander. really second in command. The
Emperor from Kabul directed every movement through Sadullah Khan. His sanction had to be taken for every important step, such as the re- moval of guns from one battery to another, the disposition of troops, the date, hour and point of assault. Fast couriers brought his orders from Kabul to Qandahar in four days, and the Prince had merely to carry them out. Indeed so thoroughly subordinate was Aurangzib that dur- ing the first month of the siege only one despatch from him reached the Emperor, while Sadullah corresponded frequently and the Emperor's letters were often written to the Prime Minister, to be afterwards shown to the Prince."!"
Unjustly held responsible for the defeat, Au- rangzib lost the favour and confi- Failurc of the ^^^^^ ^f p^j^ ^^^^^^^ ^^at add- third siege.
ed a keener edge to his mortifica-
- Waris, 656, Adab-i-Alamgiri, 12a and b, 20b.
The plan, even if carried out, would have availed little. In the next siege, a detachment from Dara's army did <;apture Bist and Girishk, but Qandahar held out for five months all the same, and was not taken at the end.
t Adab-i-Alamgiri, 136, 176, 1 86, and elsewhere.
