Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/229

CHAP. IX.] of Dharur, a fort on the frontier. Aurangzib highly commended his expert knowledge of artillery matters and success as an administrator, saying, "The presence of such an officer in a frontier fort gives me peace of mind." His successor was Hushdar Khan, a capital marksman, who held the Inspectorship of Ordnance for a year only. The next to fill the office was Shamsuddin (the son of Mukhtar Khan), appointed in the middle of 1654,-who, too, greatly pleased Aurangzib by his ability and received many favours from the Prince.

Aurangzib's second viceroyalty of the Deccan was marked by a series of wrangles with his father, for which, as Aurangzib's version alone is before us, the chief blame seems fall on Shan Jahan. Either Aurangzib's enemies had got hold of the Emperor's ears, or the latter failed to appreciate the Prince's difficulties in the South. But the result was that Aurangzib was misunderstood, suspected, and unjustly reprimanded from the very beginning of his term of office. And the bitterness of feeling thus roused was one of the reasons why the War of Succession was conducted so heartlessly and