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.

    482/512 (page 360)
    apparently lifeless. Begam Sahib and the other women present began to wail, beat their breasts, tear their hair, break their ornaments, and rend their garments. Then Ttibàr IGiàn removed the head. When the old man recovered consciousness he began to pluck out his beard till it was all bleeding, and to beat his face ; then, dissolving into a flood of tears, he raised both hands to heaven and said these words [260] : ‘ Coda teri rasa ’ (Khuda ! teri riza)—that is to say, My God, Thy will be done.’ At this time there came in various women and carried off Begam Sahib, who had swooned. They also removed the aged emperor. I leave out any consideration of the affliction of the father, who loved Darà so tenderly, and of Begam Sahib, who thus saw the lifeless head of the brother she doated upon, for I profess only to write of outward events and not to explain inner feelings. Following the orders of Aurangzeb, Ttibàr Khan then sent the head of Dàrà to be buried in the sepulchre of Tàj Mahal, his mother, which is opposite the palace, as I have said. This (the queen s death) was one of the greatest sorrows endured by the emperor Shahjahan in all his life, as many a time he had declared to the nobles. This is why he built this mausoleum opposite to his palace, thinking by a sight of the tomb to dissipate the pain he felt at the death of his beloved wife, Tàj Mahal. But after the head of his beloved son was buried in the same place his sorrows were redoubled, and became so poignant that in a short space his life came to an end. The eunuch I tibàr Khan made a report to King Aurangzeb of what had passed, with all the details, whereby he and Roshan Arà Begam received great delight. Aurangzeb ordered his men to bring into the palace the lovely Jam Begam, daughter of Darà and of Nur Mahal Begam (who with her own hands took poison, as I have described). When the unfortunate young lady saw the throne of his murderer placed in the palaces where her father had sat, she began to distil from her eyes the tokens of her grief with such deep feeling that her^ life began to waste away. She was badly treated by Roshan Àrà Begam, who incessantly recalled to her the memories of the dead. When Aurangzeb found that