Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/179

CHAP. VII.] This victory cast a dying gleam on the Mughal arms, and Shah Jahan celebrated it with great pomp and pride: the Imperial band played for three days, the Court went into rejoicing, and honours and promotions were bestowed on the generals. But the siege of Qandahar was already hopeless, and ten days after this victory it was abandoned. Aurangzib had lost two to three thousand men and double that number of horses, camels and oxen in the siege, and his army had been severely tried by scarcity of grain and fodder. Mihrab Khan, the Persian commandant of Qandahar, died on the day the Imperialists began their retreat; but he had held his trust inviolate.