18
HISTORY OF AURANGZIB.
[CHAP. II.
in war, a bye-word for robbery and disturbance throughout the seventeenth century.[1]
Jhujhar could not long remain quiet. He led an army to Chauragarh, an old Gond capital,Captures Chauragarh. beyond the Narmada, captured it, and, in violation of his plighted word, slew the Rajah Prem Narayan and seized his ancestral hoard, amounting to 10 lakhs of rupees. The victim's son appealed to Shah Jahan, but strangely enough, the Mughal Emperor's righteous indignation was not roused by this act of spoliation, he only demanded a share of the booty[2] and offered to
- ↑ Imp. Gazetteer, ix. 70.
- ↑ Abdul Hamid, I. B. 95, gives the Gond king's name as Bim (=Bhim) Narayan. The Imp. Gaz. xviii. 387, has Prem Narayan. Shah Jahan's message to Jhujhar ran thus: "As you have shed the blood of Bhim Narayan and his family and seized the country of Garha without my permission, it is best for you to present the country to my officers. But if you wish to be confirmed in that country you must give up your jagirs near your home, in exchange of it, and send to me 10 lakhs of rupees out of the cash taken from Bhim Narayan." This is the official account revised by Shah Jahan himself. Not a word is said here about making restitution to the murdered Rajah's son. Khafi Khan, who admittedly took his facts from this book, however, says, "Shah Jahan repeatedly wrote to Jhujhar to restore Bhim Narayan's property to his heirs, but in vain" (i. 507).
