Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/385

CHAP. XIV.] Aurangzib had arrived at Aurangabad on nth November, 1657, and set himself

to the task of preparing the way for his own succession to the throne. He had one eye turned on Mir Jumla at Bir and another on Shah Jahan at Agra. The idea of his marching to Ahmadnagar to overawe the Bijapuri officers was definitely abandoned. On 28th October he had taken a very necessary precaution by sending a force under Malik Husain to Handia to seize all the ferries of the Narmada and prevent correspondence between Dara and the Mughal officers in the Deccan. He also wrote friendly letters to the Gond Rajahs of Deogarh and Chanda, through whose territories his road to Agra lay. A few men in his camp who had tried to send news to Agra w^ere punished and carefully watched, and a secret courier was expelled. At the same time he urged his

friends to collect news: "We should be on the watch to get news from all sides. His alliance with Murad was made strong and its terms clearly defined. Letters were frequently sent to Shuja, both by way of Agra—which route was unsafe, being in his enemy's hands,—and also through Orissa. But distance forbade any useful