Storia do Mogor : or, Mogul India, 1653-1708 / by Niccolao Manucci, Venetian ; tr., with introduction and notes, by William Irvine.

Storia do Mogor, or, Mogul India, 1653-1708 / by Niccolao Manucci, Venetian ; tr., with introduction and notes, by William Irvine.

  • Manucci, Niccolò, 1639-approximately 1717.
Date:
1907-08
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Storia do Mogor, or, Mogul India, 1653-1708 / by Niccolao Manucci, Venetian ; tr., with introduction and notes, by William Irvine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    472/512 (page 350)
    then would not Aurangzeb be so oppressive to you, nor so cruel to me ! What could become of me after such a loss ? Could I survive without sons, without a husband ? Could I endure the deeper disgrace of becoming a concubine to Aurangzeb ? God does not delight in this my evil state. Buti since there is now no other remedy, by taking my life I put anr end to all my pains, and this tyrant gathers in by my death a portion of the spoils intended to grace his triumph.’ Speaking thus, she took the poison, which was so potent that as soon as she swallowed it she fell dead. Then her women*^ attendants ran to her, and, seeing their mistress in the last: throes of life, they cried aloud. At this outcry everyone ran to see what was the matter. Finding the princess already un-- conscious, her brilliant colour gone, her eyes suffused with chilly tears, her son and her daughter fell upon her with loud : lamentation. At these sounds the unhappy prince Darà arrived'* and found his princess, Nur Mahal Begam, already cold and quite [250] dead. He was so dejected that he was entirely, unable to speak, and quite stunned. He was driven forth by^ the heartrending weeping of his son and daughter, the despair: of the women, and the wailing of the relations. I wish my readers just to think of the confusion prevailing j then in the house of Jlwan IQian. He could not avoid feeling r compassion at such an event. For the qualities of Nur MahaF Begam, a princess of the blood royal, were quite exceptional 1 both in body and in mind. If time had allowed, it is possible ^ that he might have taken pity on Darà, and granted him his ; liberty. But at this time arrived the hurrying Bahàdur Khàn 1 eager for Dàrà’s blood, and with a great uproar he and his; soldiers entered in search of Dàrà’s person. The latter, hearing all the noise, knew it to be the enemy, and tried to get hold of ‘ his weapons to end his life fighting, hoping to fall where his cherished companion had expired. But the attempt was frus- trated. In a loud voice Bahàdur Ixhàn cried : ‘ Seize the prisoner !’ and his luck was such that he could do nothing. Thus the soldiers rushed at the prince, took him, and separated him from his wives and sons. They behaved with extreme harshness, paying no heed to ro3/al immunities, a