Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/405

CHAP. XIV.] many nobles, professing devotion to Aurangzib and asking him to push on to the capital, without fearing the largeness of the Imperial army, as it was at heart hostile to Dara.

Encouraged by these promises of support and unwilling to let Jaswant Singh have more time to consolidate his power in Malwa or close the northern road effectually, Aurangzib set out from Burhanpur on 20th March. From Mandwah he sent his eldest son back to arrest and imprison Shah Nawaz Khan, who was unwilling to accompany Aurangzib in his open rebellion, and had lingered behind at Burhanpur under false pretexts. This high officer, though he was the father-in-law of Aurangzib and descended from the royal blood of Persia, had to sacrifice liberty to loyalty, (26th March). By Aurangzib's order, he was kept a prisoner in the fort of Burhanpur for seven months.

At Mandwah there is a parting of the roads to Hindustan. One path running north-eastwards crosses the Narmada at Handia. But Aurangzib took the other route, turned to the