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.

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    the girl was wasting away, he forwarded her to the fortress of Àgrah to be made over to King Shàhjahàn and Begam Sahib. By beholding her the old emperor’s sorrows were in part alleviated ^ Begam Sahib was pleased with J3'nl Begam s beauty, a reproduction of lost originals ; and she herself was delighted at finding herself free from the sight of him who had killed her father, and out of the hands of a cruel enemy, Roshan Ara Begam. Aurangzeb also sent for the two second wives of Darà that is to say, the inconstant Udepurl, a Georgian by race, and the faithful Ranadel (Ra‘na-dil), a Hindu by birth. Udepurl obeyed and appeared [261] in the presence of Aurangzeb, who made her his wife, and by her he had the prince Kàm Bakhsh. But Ra‘na-dil—that is to say, ‘ Clear-heartsent to ask the king why he wanted to see her. They answered her that the king wished to take her to wife, since the law thus directed that the wives of a dead elder brother belonged to the living younger brother. On hearing this reply, she sent to inquire with what in her was he enamoured. The king sent word that he had an affection for her lovely hair. Owing to this answer, she cut off her hair and sent it to Aurangzeb, saying that here was the beauty that he longed for, while she wished to live in solitude. But Aurangzeb, who wanted to marry her, sent once more to say that her beauty was great, that he would count her as one of his wives. She ought to assume that he was that same Darà. Not one point should be omitted in the pre-eminence due to a queen, nor in her rights as sovereign lady, being, as she was, wife of his brother. But the brave Ra‘nà-dil went into her apartments, and taking a knife, slashed her face all over, and collecting the blood in a cloth, sent it to Aurangzeb, saying that if he sought the beauty of her face it was now undone, and if her blood gratified him he was welcome. Encountering such resolution, Aurangzeb ceased his solicitations, yielding high esteem to her, and treating her with the courtesy deserved by her constancy. 1 Kàm Ba^sh, the fifth and youngest son of Aurangzeb, was born on the loth Ramazan, 1077 H. (March 6, 1667). His mother was Bàe Udepurl (‘ Ma.asir- i-'Alamglri,’ p. 538).