Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/267

CHAP. X.] Aurangzib even begged Shah Jahan not to answer Qutb-ul-mulk's submissive letter, nor to listen to the intercessions of Dara and others on his behalf,—because it would result in a great sacrifice of expected gain! When Mir Jumla's son would reach the Court, he would tell the Emperor all about the wealth and weakness of the Golkonda king, and suggest the means of squeezing the utmost out of him. In short, as he wrote, the Emperor "should make the most of this splendid opportunity."

But these grotesquely mixed appeals to orthodoxy and cupidity, humanity and ambition, were wasted on Shah Jahan. The Emperor was loth to ruin a brother king for merely trying to bring his disloyal wazir under discipline. Dara, who had been bribed and implored by the Golkonda envoy at Delhi,—to the intense disgust and anger of Aurangzib, —pleaded hard for Qutb-ul-mulk, and secured peace for him on the payment of an indemnity. The Emperor's letter accepting this settlement reached Aurangzib on 24th February. But meantime his position at Golkonda had greatly improved. The