Empire of the Moghul: The Serpent's Tooth (24 page)

‘Good. You will depart within the next few days. Now let us turn our attention back to details of the Balkh campaign – I am determined to send my army well equipped and provisioned and we have little time to lose.’

‘Y
ou are the only person I can turn to now. You’ve been loyal to us in dangerous times as well as more prosperous ones.’ Jahanara could still scarcely believe that she had asked Nicholas Ballantyne to visit her in the courtyard of her palace on the banks of the Jumna, but many hours of careful thought had convinced her she must. ‘Forgive me. You must be thirsty.’ Turning to an attendant, she said, ‘Fetch some iced sherbet, please,’ before gesturing to Nicholas to sit opposite her on cushions piled beneath a canopy to protect against the afternoon sun.

‘How can I help, Highness?’

‘In a few days’ time my father’s armies depart for the north and you will go with them.’

‘Yes. To lead the foreign mercenaries.’ Nicholas’s expression betrayed his puzzlement.

‘Can I be frank? I am worried about Murad. This is my brother’s first important campaign. He’s had no experience of command or real training for it. I believe my father has made a grave error in appointing him, though I cannot say so.’

‘Ashok Singh has experience of the north. He quelled the tribes in the hills around Kabul some years ago. He will guide the prince.’

‘He will try, but you don’t know Murad. He was only an infant when my father became emperor and still very young when our mother died. He’s grown up in the
haram
, spoiled and indulged for his good looks and high spirits. He is no fool but he’s used to having his own way and can be impulsive … headstrong even if the mood takes him. My father doesn’t see that side of him. Murad is in awe of him – ever respectful and obedient in his presence – but I know his real nature. Once Murad is far from court, power may go to his head. Equally, it may overwhelm him. Though my father doesn’t agree, I think Ashok Singh – good and loyal general though he is – will find it hard to understand and control Murad’s reactions if my brother is confronted by the unfamiliar or unexpected.’

‘Forgive me, Highness, but wouldn’t you do better to discuss this with your other brothers?’

‘Dara Shukoh doesn’t share my concerns. He thinks it will do Murad good to shoulder some responsibility.’ Jahanara frowned, recalling her brief conversation with Dara, currently so absorbed in the philosophising of the Sufi he had invited to court that he had had little time for what he casually dismissed as her female fluttering and fussing. ‘Shah Shuja is far away in Bengal and Aurangzeb is on his way to Gujarat. In any case …’ She hesitated and cast Nicholas a searching look. Yet if she didn’t trust him, why had she invited him here? She forced herself to continue. ‘Aurangzeb couldn’t be expected to have very much sympathy with my concerns. He thought my father should have given him the command of the army and he was right. Aurangzeb is a resolute campaigner and experienced fighter and was the obvious choice.’

‘Then why didn’t the emperor appoint him?’

‘As you and all the court know, some while ago he and Aurangzeb had a … disagreement. That was why my father terminated Aurangzeb’s appointment in the Deccan so suddenly. I believe he gave Murad command of the Uzbek campaign partly to teach Aurangzeb a lesson – put him in his place, you might say. To be truthful, I’m worried about Aurangzeb too – that his relationship with Dara and my father is broken beyond any but the most superficial repair.’

Jahanara paused, tears forming in her eyes as she watched Nicholas sip the rose-flavoured sherbet from the jade cup, his unruly fair hair flopping over his sunburnt face. Why couldn’t life be as it had been in the past when her mother lived and their family was united against the world by their difficulties? Suddenly she was a child again, peeping through the curtains of her litter and seeing Nicholas, a reassuring presence, riding close when she and her family were in flight from Jahangir in the swamps of Bengal. With those recollections came lighter ones – Nicholas playing with her and Dara in the Portuguese compound at Hooghly, distracting them from the worry of their mother lying ill, of his teaching Aurangzeb swordplay and carving a toy soldier for Murad.

Straightening her back, Jahanara began again. ‘You were always kind to me and my brothers and sister when we were children. That is why I’m appealing to you now to help me allay at least one of my worries by keeping watch over Murad and advising and restraining him if you can. As a foreigner and commander of his elite mercenaries as well as someone he has known since childhood you can be more blunt with him than the other commanders, who will feel they must treat him with the deference due to an imperial prince, however foolish or unconsidered his actions.’

‘I am not one of his most senior commanders, and though you think being a foreigner may give me an advantage it may equally exclude me from his inner circle.’

‘Even so – and strange as my request may sound – please do your best. And write to me by the imperial post riders when you can.’ Jahanara glanced at her three waiting women, standing impassive. If only she could be alone with Nicholas … but such a thing was unthinkable. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her attendants, but the temptation to gossip could be irresistible to even the loyallest.

Rising, Jahanara went to Nicholas and bending for a moment laid her small henna-painted hand on his sleeve. ‘Please, Nicholas … You know enough of our customs to realise I wouldn’t have invited you here if I wasn’t really concerned about the future of my family. You move in the world of men, whereas I …’

‘Majesty, a further despatch has come for you.’

As he took the folded paper from his steward, Shah Jahan saw from the seal that it was from Ashok Singh and opened it with impatient fingers. It was nearly a month since he had last had news of Murad’s campaign and that had been merely a brief report that the army was making progress towards Balkh.

Forgetful of those around him, as he finished reading Shah Jahan let out a great shout of joy and raised his clenched fist in a victory salute. Samarkand with its great palaces and
madrasas
, its orchards and gold-bearing river, would be his – the fulfilment of his long-nurtured ambition. Not even his grandfather the great Akbar had thought of such an audacious plan. After one and a half centuries the Moghuls were reclaiming their ancestral lands. That would be something for his chroniclers to write about and for his descendants to glory in when they sat on his peacock throne. What’s more, Murad was proving his worth. Neither Aurangzeb nor even Dara could have done better.

Soon he would summon his council, but first he wanted to share the good news with his family. A few minutes later eunuchs flung open the great gilded wooden doors of the
haram
and his Rajput guards bowed low as Shah Jahan entered. Dara, he knew, was out hunting but he hoped to find Jahanara there – she often visited her younger sisters. But as he came into Roshanara’s apartments, to his disappointment he saw she was alone. She looked up and smiled.

‘I’ve received great news from Murad’s army. They have taken Balkh and will shortly be across the Oxus and in a few more days in Samarkand.’

‘That’s wonderful! Our empire will know no rivals! Will you give a feast to celebrate?’

‘No … not yet. Let’s wait for news of Samarkand and then I will give the greatest celebrations Hindustan and the Moghuls have ever seen.’

‘Aurangzeb will be glad to hear of the success of our armies. Should I write to him in Gujarat – and also to Shah Shuja in Bengal – so they can both share in our happiness?’

‘No. Let me have that pleasure. But where is Jahanara? I must tell her.’

‘In her own house. Satti al-Nisa has taken Gauharara there today.’

‘After I’ve told my council the news, I will ride there.’

He was already turning to leave when he heard Roshanara say, ‘Father, I’m not sure if this is a good time, but there’s something you should perhaps know.’

There was an edge to Roshanara’s voice that did not bode well and Shah Jahan turned back. ‘What’s that?’

‘Some months ago I recommended a young Gujarati noblewoman called Nasreen to Jahanara as an attendant. I had always found her diligent and thought she would serve my sister well. Nasreen has an aunt here in the
haram
and when she visits her she also sometimes comes to see me. A few weeks ago she told me something I haven’t been able to dismiss from my thoughts – that not long before Murad and the army left Agra, Nicholas Ballantyne visited my sister in her mansion. He was with her for nearly an hour, and though Nasreen couldn’t overhear what they were saying she said they spoke very earnestly.’

Shah Jahan blinked in surprise. What could Nicholas Ballantyne and Jahanara have to discuss? And how could his daughter be so blind to propriety as to entertain a man in her palace?

‘You look angry, Father. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.’

‘Did Jahanara herself say anything to you about Nicholas’s visit?’

‘No, and that in itself seemed strange.’

‘Why didn’t you ask her?’ The directness of his question seemed to surprise Roshanara. For a moment she looked down, then shrugged. ‘I was too embarrassed – it might have looked as if I were prying. Besides, it’s hardly my place to question her. She is the honoured First Lady of the Empire while I’m only her younger sister.’

Recognising the sense of grievance implicit in her remark, Shah Jahan felt more of his earlier elation at the news from Balkh seep away. ‘What made you decide to tell me? And why did you wait so long?’

‘I wasn’t sure what to do at first but then I began to worry about my sister’s reputation – especially as she doesn’t live here in the
haram
but has her own establishment. It’s all too easy for wild stories to circulate at court. I insisted Nasreen promise to tell no one else and also to swear the other attendants present that day to secrecy. I decided I should tell you, not only because you are our father but so that you could talk to Jahanara … make her understand that such behaviour could damage her position …’

‘You were right to do so. As you yourself said, malicious gossip spreads fast and redounds to no one’s credit. Now, though, put the matter from your mind.’

After Shah Jahan had left her apartments Roshanara stood for a moment. When her father was buoyed by a great triumph had definitely not been the time, she now realised, to raise Jahanara’s behaviour. But even so, his reaction hadn’t been the one she’d anticipated. Shah Jahan had seemed as suspicious of her motives as of Jahanara’s – but why was she so surprised? Jahanara was perfect in his eyes. Yet she herself had done nothing wrong … Everything she’d told her father had been pure truth, and if Jahanara – for all her status – was foolish enough to be indiscreet then she deserved any consequences. Nasreen had already told her that Nicholas was writing regularly to Jahanara though she had never managed to read any of the letters – Jahanara always locked them in her jewel chest. She would continue to watch and listen. Perhaps one day Nasreen would provide enough evidence to prove to her father that he should have paid more attention to her and to teach Jahanara a deserved lesson. Her father was blind to his two elder children’s faults and both of them too confident of the place they held in his heart. As a consequence both did as they pleased and acted as if their younger brothers and sisters didn’t matter. But let them wait …