persuade him to visit the Prince in order to receive an important oral message for the Emperor.
As soon as Mir Jumla entered the chamber of
Aurangzib, he was arrested at a preconcerted
signal,[1] and all his property and artillery seized
by Aurangzib in the name of the State. But the
mask had not yet been thrown off, and so
Aurangzib gave an ostensible reason for this
act: he publicly announced that Mir Jumla was
thus punished because he had not sufficiently
exerted himself against Bijapur and was in secret
collusion with the two Deccani sultans! But
his real motive comes out in the letter which he
wrote to the Mir after defeating Dara, when he
set him free and said, "You insisted on going
back to the Court at an inconvenient time in
spite of my urging you to the contrary."[2] The captive wazir was lodged in the prison-fort of Daulatabad, to be released, restored to his
property, and promoted to the highest rank of the nobility with the honoured titles of Premier
- ↑ Kambu, 10b. Aqil Khan 20. Alamgirnamah, 83 and 84.
- ↑ Aqil Khan, 20. Adab, 67b, 95a (Aurangzib writes, "That I imprisoned you was not due to any disloyalty on your part. Only you showed remissness in exertion and insisted on going back, &c.") Khafi Khan writes "Aurangzib imprisoned Mir Jumla at Daulatabad as a stroke of policy to prevent his ill repute." (ii. 9). The official history, Alamgirnamah also admits that Mir Jumla was arrested "for political reasons" (84).
