Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/342

312 artillery. The Prince, no doubt, wrote a lying letter to the Emperor, saying that he had arrested Mir Jumla for treasonable intrigue with Bijapur and neglect of the Imperial business; but Dara knew the true reason. Murad had captured Surat Fort, and the preparations of the two brothers to advance into Hindustan could not be kept concealed any longer. Aurangzib's Vanguard began its northward march from Aurangabad on 25th January. At last all the three younger princes had rebelled; they had dropped the mask, or, in the language of the Persian annalists, "the curtain had been removed from the face of the affair."

At Dara's instigation the Emperor threw into prison Isa Beg, the Court agent of Aurangzib, and attached his property. But after a time he felt ashamed of such persecution, released the innocent man, and let him go to his master, whom he joined at Burhanpur early in March.

Shah Jahan's severe illness and withdrawal from the public gaze had at once

created a popular belief that he was dead. Dara guarded the sick-bed day and night; none but one or two