Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/262

232 chy, it was the centre of the diamond trade of the world and the seat of many fine arts. A vast concourse of nobles, officers, traders, and artisans filled the city and its extensive suburb (named Aurangabad) across the Musa river. From the night of the 22nd to the noon of the 24th, plunder raged in the city unchecked. The king had left behind him all his costly carpets, Chinaware, furniture, &c., besides elephants and horses. Muhammad Sultan inspected the royal property, closed the doors of the palace, and placed a guard over it. The looting of Haidarabad was the talk of all India in that age. As Aurangzib's equerry, Aqil Khan Razi, wrote in his history, "Most of the stores and property of Qutb-ul-mulk, such as precious books and other costly things beyond computation, were plundered by Prince M. Sultan Much of Qutb-ul-mulk's property,—among the rareties of the age,—was confiscated by Aurangzib. But so rich was the king and so vast his wealth that, in spite of these several acts of looting, so much treasure was left behind at Aurangzib's retreat that nobody could suppose that the treasury and palace had been looted." Another historian, Bhimsen, records that the Mughal army gathered much booty in the city,