Chapter 30
Jahanara’s Tent, Emperor’s Camp
June 1635
“Atisheh, make a circuit. Assure there are no listeners who might overhear our words with the up-time woman.”
The big Turkic warrior-woman bowed and departed, mail ringing.
“Is this wise, Shehzadi?”
“I do not know, but I must hear them first before making any decision.”
“But—”
“I know, Smidha. I would rather not go to Father with some new request so soon after our reconciliation. Let us hope the up-timers are not going to ask a favor of me.” She smoothed her robes and settled herself. “Now, let them in.”
Smidha did as she was told, returning shortly with the up-timer and her two friends as well as Sahana. The women bowed and sat among the cushions before Jahanara. Sahana off to one side, ready to translate.
“Smidha informs me you have an important request to make of me?”
Priscilla nodded, the other women deferring to her. “We actually have a few things to tell you first.”
Atisheh pushed into the tent and signaled the all clear.
“Please,” Jahanara said, gesturing for her guest to continue.
“First,” her eyes traveled to Sahana and Smidha, “are you reasonably sure what we say will not be repeated?”
Jahanara looked first to Sahana, then arched a brow at Smidha.
“Sahana will not betray us, Shehzadi.”
Jahanara returned her gaze to Priscilla, “Then, aside from what I must tell Father as a dutiful daughter, you need not fear any wagging tongues.”
Priscilla nodded again. “Good enough for me, Shehzadi. Someone tried to poison your brother’s opium two nights ago. Actually, they succeeded, but Monique’s father found the drug they added before it could be administered. In fact, it was Salim who woke in the middle of the night and saw the poisoner leaving. Fearing Dara had been assassinated, he was surprised to find him both alive and unharmed. The next morning he told Monique’s father of the odd event, which caused Gervais to look through their medicines, suspicious—”
“Pardon, but you used two different terms: drug and poison.” She looked at Sahana. “Or was that some error of translation?”
Priscilla shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m probably not telling this well. Whoever planned this was quite clever. They added another drug to your brother’s opium, one that would likely cause him to stop breathing during the middle of the night. It’s not uncommon for people who overdose on opiates to have this happen, so it would likely have gone unnoticed had Salim not seen the intruder’s rope.”
“So if I understand you correctly, the addition of this other drug would have had the effect of a poison?”
“Exactly, Shehzadi.”
Jahanara looked at Monique, the quickest of the mission women to learn Persian and said slowly but with feeling: “Then it appears I owe your father a great deal.”
Monique smiled and answered without Sahana. “While I would like to say it’s nothing, I’m sure my father would disagree. He certainly does like his rewards.”
“Did the poisoner escape?”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
I shall have to tease Salim about that, when next we meet. She had a vision, sudden and intense, of the man’s hawkish, fascinating face and broad shoulders. Blinking it away, she asked, “And what has my brother said about all this?”
“He wanted to reassure you that he does not believe the Sikhs were behind the attack. He suspects someone in the Sultan Al’Azam’s harem, as the attempt required significant knowledge of the interactions between the two drugs. Since there are few physicians without close links to their respective masters, he believes it to be either a woman or a eunuch, one who is advised by or themselves have significant knowledge of the reactions between these substances and the human body.”
Jahanara looked at Smidha. “Subtle, this move against my brother.”
Her servant did not respond immediately, cocking her head and considering her reply. “This is not some inexperienced concubine or eunuch trying to advance their position, but someone with patience, talent, and nerve.”
“I can think of but one person who fits those criteria, but we won’t speak her name just yet.”
Smidha’s eyes narrowed as she gave a barely perceptible nod.
“Did Dara Shikoh leave instruction as to how he wishes to deal with this matter?”
“No. He asked us to tell you he is not healthy, nor fully in his right mind. He hopes to be, soon, but his efforts to quit the opium will make him sick and unable to make”—a pause as Sahana sought clarification on a term—“trustworthy judgments for some time.”
“I see.” Jahanara closed her eyes in frustration.
No instruction whatsoever. Should she tell her father? And what of Nadira? The poor woman would be most upset to hear this…and likely more upset if she learned Jahanara hadn’t told her.
She opened her eyes to see Monique was leaning forward, a concerned look on her face. “Shehzadi, we’re sorry to put this on you. My father, your brother, and Priscilla’s husband were all in agreement: you were the only one we could trust with this information.” She smiled, gestured at the other women. “And, of course, we agreed.”
Jahanara Begum closed her eyes again. I prayed for power over my own fate and here I am asked to navigate this intrigue with my brother’s life in the balance.
God does surely answer in his own time and fashion.
God wills it, then so be it!
She opened her eyes. “Smidha said you had a request to make of me. I trust it was not just a pretext to give me this information?”
Priscilla glanced uncomfortably at Ilsa. “I think, given the information we just passed to you, it can wait, Shehzadi.”
“I would prefer it if you told me now. We may not have another moment such as this to discuss sensitive issues openly.”
“Well…Shehzadi, we had hoped to talk to you about purdah…” she trailed off.
Jahanara motioned for her to continue.
“Well, as you no doubt know, we are not Muslim and unaccustomed to the rules and restrictions placed on us as guests attached to your father’s harem. We were wondering if it would be possible for us to be relieved of these restrictions. Not entirely, of course. But to be allowed out wearing veils and modest clothing rather than being escorted everywhere, having our contact with friends severely restricted.”
Jahanara struggled to understand what the women were asking for. “But, you are all able to speak with one another, and with me and with all the women of the harem.”
Monique smiled, answered for the others: “All true. But we…We often have friends of the opposite sex. Priscilla and the up-timers even more so.”
“I see.” She shook her head, felt a sad smile spread across her lips. “Here I was worried my brother overestimated my ability to affect Father’s policies. That concern is but a teardrop in relation to the river of worry this subject causes. Father and I had a falling out just before you came to court. He accused me of trying to maneuver him into granting me permission to marry, and implied I was betraying him.”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Smidha tense, give a tiny shake of the head.
She looked directly at her servant but spoke for the benefit of all: “He ordered me from him and refused to see me until Nadira gave birth. You see, while he encourages me to manage the affairs of the harem and my holdings, Father fears that if he allows me or Roshanara to wed, it will imperil his sons’ claims to the throne.
“Father believed me to be his opponent in this. I am not, but I am uncertain whether or not he truly knows this. Should I come to him on your behalf, I believe he will take it as a sign I mean to resume trying to move him to allow me to marry.”
“Shehzadi—” Priscilla looked at Ilsa and Monique, who both nodded encouragement. “We didn’t know. We’ll bide our time and wait for you to tell us when you think it’s safe to ask your father. We certainly do not want there to be any bad blood between you and him, not on our behalf.”
Moved by Priscilla’s understanding, Jahanara looked at her guests and spoke from the heart. “I will do my very best to seize the first opportunity to ask him about this. I’m sorry that you, who have given us our brother back, must wait for this small favor. I will make it up to you, I swear.”
Red Tent, Emperor’s Camp
“Peace! The Sultan Al’Azam has concluded a peace with Hargobind Singh!” The news writer’s announcement went through the camp like a grass fire, a crackling heat in the air that forever changed the lay of the land for all in its path.
Concealing some trepidation, Aurangzeb turned and entered the Red Tent for the Diwan-i-Khas with Father.
Inside, he found Shah Shuja already seated, waiting. Wazir Khan was standing below the throne, giving orders to a rider.
Aurangzeb approached and bowed.
Father waved him to his proper place. “Aurangzeb, be seated.”
Wazir Khan smiled at his grandsons.
Aurangzeb returned a nod. He wished that he could tell what his grandfather was thinking. He’d spent the better part of a life around him, and yet Aurangzeb still could never tell what he was thinking. Then again, he imagined that was what Nur Jahan had said right up to the moment Wazir Khan had betrayed her to the emperor.
Shah Jahan interrupted Aurangzeb’s thoughts: “Now that peace is concluded with the Sikhs, I have new orders for you.” He gestured at his father-in-law. “Wazir Asaf Khan will not be returning to the Deccan. I have decided that he will, instead, move from here into Bengal to better enforce our will there against Ahom and the Old King.”
He looked at Shah Shuja and Aurangzeb. “While he does this on my behalf, you will both take command of armies and march them into the Deccan to attack Ahmednagar. You will reduce their capital to rubble and see to the dismantling of that troubling sultanate for good and all. I do not set you an easy task, my sons: Ahmednagar and its Nizams have repeatedly proven their willingness to contribute to strife in the Deccan, their latest offense against peace being an alliance with Bijapur against our supposed ‘aggression.’”
“Wazir Asaf Khan has the freshest information from the Deccan.” Shah Jahan gestured his father-in-law to speak.
“This latest conflict comes about solely because the Sultan Al’Azam insisted on his rights; that the terms of the agreement reached between himself and these Deccani Sultans be kept.”
The petty border sultans were always falling behind in their payments of tribute. Which provided his father with ready excuses to invade, raid, and pillage just about any one of them at any given time.
Asaf Khan was still speaking: “They even went so far as to install a child on their so-called throne and, as the Sultan Al’Azam says, have already announced an alliance with Bijapur. Between the two sultanates, they can field an army of about fifteen thousand horse. Most of it inferior to ours, of course, but still proficient. They have few elephants—”
“Aside from those they refused to send me in tribute,” Shah Jahan added.
“As the Sultan Al’Azam says. They have few elephants, but their infantry is…motivated against us. They believe us responsible for their many pains these last years. I will provide you both with more detailed information before you depart. But for now, know that you will be facing what will likely be two separate armies. This is the reason your father has decided to split the command. If any of the other so-called sultanates take the field against you with their allies, then you may take whatever action you deem appropriate against them.”
Shah Jahan nodded. “Yes, they must be taught it is unwise to side with our enemies against us.”
The emperor’s eyes traveled from Shah Shuja to Aurangzeb. “I leave it to you to decide how best to cooperate and achieve my ends. You will be given ample resources to accomplish this task, including jagirs in the Deccan to entice your followers to good service and perhaps suborn a few Deccani fence-sitters to your side. There will also be sizable sums to offer as bribes for those who hesitate to engage with our bureaucracy. I expect success.”
Shah Shuja bowed from the waist. “We will not disappoint, Father.”
Aurangzeb bowed as well but asked: “And once we have successfully defeated them? What then, Father?”
“Then I will decide which of you is to remain in the Deccan as governor. Perform well and it may be you. If you both disappoint, it will be some umara of the court.”
“Our forces will be equal?” Shah Shuja asked.
Shah Jahan nodded. “You are free to raise further sowar out of your personal establishment, of course.”
Aurangzeb did not miss the sly look Shah Shuja sent his way. He believes he can recruit more men than I.
I’ll even encourage that belief to allow Mullah Mohan opportunity to introduce more men loyal to me, or at least Mohan, into Shuja’s army.
“That said, the purpose of this is not to see who can raise the largest army, but, through your combined efforts, bring to heel all of the Deccani Sultans so that we may avoid future conflicts with our coreligionists.
“I want the sultans to remember what it is you do when next they think to defy me. Am I understood?”
The brothers bowed, chorused, “Yes, Father.”
It wasn’t until after, when the meeting was over and he was leaving, that Aurangzeb began to process the actual meaning of what was said. Process, and question: Having read what he’d read, why was Father giving him an army? The obvious answer: to get Aurangzeb out of the way while Dara Shikoh recovered, did not satisfy. Dara might recover, but he’d still be far less experienced than Aurangzeb when the time came.
Realization struck as Aurangzeb stepped into the afternoon sunlight outside the Red Tent. He nearly bit his tongue fighting the urge to curse as the simple yet brilliant strategy behind Father’s gambit unfolded before his mind’s eye.
He wants me fighting fellow Muslims, especially Shia Muslims, to divide and undercut my power-base. Then, even if I win—no, especially if I win—and he gives me the Deccan to rule as governor, I will be too busy ruling fractious nobles who hate me for either religious differences or the actions I will be forced to take in order to assure the quick victory I need.
And, to be certain it must be a quick victory, he places me in competition with my brother.
Shaking his head in admiration, Aurangzeb resumed walking.
But he only made it a few more steps toward his own tent when another troublesome thought surfaced: This new plan, so soon after Wazir Khan’s return? No, this was not Father’s idea alone. Grandfather had a hand in this.
He needed to speak with Nur Jahan.
Wait, tread carefully. He slowed. Think it through. She failed to foresee her brother’s hand before it was too late last time, why should it be any different now?
* * *
“You are very thin, my son,” Shah Jahan said, holding Dara at arm’s length.
Though he tried to hide it, Jahanara saw the relief in Father’s eyes reflected in her brother’s as Dara answered, “It is only recently that I have begun to eat normally again, Father. I had no appetite. But now,” he looked at his wife and child, “I find I hunger for a great many things life has to offer.”
“Good. Good.” Shah Jahan released Dara and sat down, gesturing for the rest of the royal party to do the same.
The baby squealed as his mother eased herself onto the cushions.
Shah Jahan smiled to hear it. “Have you considered what to name him?”
“Nadira and I have both prayed over that very question. I think tonight we shall decide upon a name for him. I’m sure you and my brothers all have thoughts on the matter.” He looked around, “Where are my brothers?”
“Already departed, I’m afraid. They left this morning for the Deccan. They are to undertake the task I originally assigned Wazir Asaf Khan while he moves on to Bengal.”
“I see.”
Jahanara could see Dara’s disappointment, though she was uncertain whether it was a result of their being picked for such an important task or the apparent lack of interest both displayed by failing to stay long enough to see him.
“Will we soon be on the move as well?”
“Not so very far. I plan to hunt in the hills here, making sure my presence is noted by the rest of the Punjabi even as I make sure my subordinates do not attempt to subvert my will to accommodate the Sikhs. There will be a great many officials upset that their source of graft and sinecure has suddenly dried up. I must make sure they do not commit some fresh offense against Hargobind Singh.”
“Most wise, Father.”
Mustering her courage, Jahanara leaned forward and addressed Father, “Pardon, but the up-timer physicians, Rodney and Priscilla both, suggest that Dara not be moved a great deal for the next few weeks.”
Shah Jahan cocked his head. “I will not offer Hargobind Singh offense by encamping much longer in the vicinity of Ramdaspur.”
“Perhaps we could go to Lahore while you complete your tour?”
“Which would also allow you both to pay your respects to Mian Mir…” Shah Jahan nodded after a moment’s consideration. “He offered encouragement to both sides in reaching this peaceful conclusion.”
The emperor chuckled to see the matching expressions of surprise on his children. “I give a great deal of thought to events that occurred when you were both children. Jahangir did a vicious, cruel thing when he decided your education would be different from that of your siblings, Dara and Jahanara.” He looked at his hands. “I thought at the time he was continuing Akbar’s search for understanding between religions of the land we live in, but I know now he was merely driving a wedge between my children to match that which he saw his father drive between me and him.”
Jahanara blinked back tears.
“I would not have it so, Father,” Dara said.
“Nor I, but God has already laid these things out for us and we must make do.” Shah Jahan fixed his eyes on Dara. “You must get well and grow strong. None of my other sons possess the spirit of tolerance you carry in your heart. If they ascend the throne, what follows will be hundreds of years of religious strife, sectarian violence, and the defilement of our peoples and heritage by the Europeans. This cannot be my—no, our—legacy. To this end, I will continue to train you as my heir and do everything I can to reestablish your court as second only to mine.”
Dara, white with shock, did not speak.
Hardly less surprised, Jahanara found her tongue first: “But Father, surely Shah Shuja and Aurangzeb are not beyond redemption?”
Shah Jahan shook his head. “I cannot bring myself to believe they are, but Aurangzeb in particular has chosen allies I know harbor hatred toward non-Muslims and, more directly, my rule.”
Nur Jahan? Was it Aurangzeb who brought her back to court?
“He has done nothing so far to act against me. In fact, he has acted in near-perfect accordance with my wishes at every turn. While that continues, I will not move against him.”
Shah Jahan sighed. The look he gave his eldest children was haunted. “Even should he rise up in rebellion, I do not know I could act against him; such is the love I bore your mother, such is the love I bear each of you.”