Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/334

304 ostensibly to be read out for his order, and royal letters were still issued in his name and stamped with his seal. The acute stage of the disease had passed, no doubt. But his death was now regarded as only a question of time. He knew it, and in the presence of the nobles appointed Dara as his successor. Then, with his mind freed from earthly cares, he went to Agra to die there quietly in sight of the tomb of the wife he had loved so well. A change of air had also been advised by the doctors. On 18th October Shah Jahan left Delhi and moved by easy stages to Agra. Sami Ghat, on the Jumna, six miles above Agra Fort, was reached on 5th November, and here he waited for an auspicious day. The journey had restored him to health and he now discarded drugs as unnecessary. On the 26th, the day chosen by the astrologers, he made a royal progress from Bahadur-pura, down the Jumna, in a State barge, the people thronging both banks for miles and miles to gaze on their beloved and long-lost ruler. Shouts of prayer and blessings for him filled the air. In this way he entered Agra city and put up in Dara's mansion on the river-bank. After nine days he entered his sumptuous palace in the Fort and there held a darbar. At Agra he lived for