The King Refused To Listen To Them, Or To Accept Their Gifts,
And Turned Them Over To His Son, Saying That Peace Or War Rested
Entirely With Him.
The prince was so puffed up by this favour, though
informed that the proposed conditions of peace were highly
Honourable,
that he declared proudly he would listen to no terms, till he was in the
field at the head of the army, being resolved that Khan-Khannan should
not deprive him of the honour of finishing that war.
The ambitious views of this young prince are quite obvious, and form the
common talk of the country, yet the king suffers him to proceed,
although he by no means intends him as his successor. Sultan Cuserou,
the eldest son, is highly beloved and honoured of all men, and almost
adored, for his excellent parts and noble dispositions, with which the
king is well acquainted, and even loves him dearly. But he conceives
that the liberty of this son would diminish his own glory, and does not
see that the ambition of Churrum greatly more tarnishes his own fame
than would the virtuous character and noble actions of the other. Thus
the king fosters division and emulation among his sons, putting so much
power into the hands of the younger, which he believes he can undo at
his pleasure, that the wisest here foresee much fatal division in this
mighty empire when the present king shall pay the debt of nature,
expecting that it will then be rent in pieces by civil wars.
The history of this country, for the variety of its incidents, and the
many crooked practices of the present king during the reign of his
father, Akbar Shah, and these latter troubles, were well worthy of being
committed to writing. But, as the country is so remote, many would
despise such information, and as the people are esteemed barbarous, few
persons would give it credit. I content myself, therefore, with
privately contemplating the singular history of this nation, although I
could narrate so many singular and amusing state intrigues, subtle
evasions, policies, answers, and adages, as could not be easily equalled
in the history of one age or country. One incident, however, that
occurred lately, I cannot omit relating, as it evinces the wisdom and
patience of the emperor, the incorruptible fidelity of a servant, the
detestable falsehood of a brother, and the impudent boldness of a
faction, ready to dare every infamous action, when permitted by the
supreme ruler to exercise an authority beyond the limits of their
condition, and contrary to the dictates of reason and true policy.
The favourite Prince Sultan Churrum, together with the favourite Queen
Nourmahal, aunt to his wife, Asaph Khan father-in-law to Churrum, and
brother of Nourmahal, and Etiman Dowlet, father of Asaph Khan and
Nourmahal, being the faction that now governed the emperor, and who
believed their bad influence in danger of being overthrown if the prince
Cuserou were allowed to live, determined to use every effort for his
destruction, and to endeavour to get him into their power, that they
might end his days by poison, for they knew that he was universally
beloved among the nobles, and that his remaining in life and restoration
to liberty must some day overthrow and punish their ambitious projects.
To attain their infamous purposes, Nourmahal was instructed to practise
upon the king's weakness, by false tears and bewitching blandishments,
to insinuate that Sultan Cuserou was not in sufficiently safe custody,
and that he still meditated aspiring projects, contrary to the authority
and safety of the emperor, who listened to all her insinuations, yet
refused to understand her, as she did not plainly speak out her meaning.
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