Empire of the Moghul: The Serpent's Tooth (37 page)

‘Yes, Majesty, I fear so. It happened as the prince said. When we took him from the field, groups of our fighters were continuing to resist but becoming isolated and, as they were surrounded, being killed by the enemy. Many others were already dead or, I am sad to say, throwing down their weapons and fleeing for their lives. It was becoming a rout … I wish I could give you better news, but you must know the truth.’ Nicholas looked at the floor.

Shah Jahan was silent. For the sake of them all and of the empire he realised he must think calmly and above all appear calm. ‘It’s clear we have little time,’ he said after a few moments. ‘Aurangzeb and Murad won’t delay their advance on Agra for long. The most important thing, Dara, is for you and your family to get away from here … On no account must you be taken prisoner.’

‘No!’ Dara said. ‘Surely enough of our men will have managed to get back to Agra to defend the fort against my brothers. We can hold out until Suleiman and his army arrive from the east …’

‘We’ve still had no news of Suleiman’s whereabouts and I won’t take the risk. If your brothers capture you, their position becomes almost unassailable. I won’t let you be a hostage for the second time in your life …’

‘But I can’t leave you, Father …’

‘I don’t fear Aurangzeb and Murad – my own sons. Anyway, I’m not giving you a choice. As your emperor and your father I’m commanding you to go.’ Shah Jahan turned to Jahanara, standing silent and very still by her brother’s side. ‘Go to Nadira Begum. She is with Roshanara and Gauharara. Tell her what’s happened and to prepare herself to leave Agra immediately. Have Sipihr told to ready himself too.’ As Jahanara hurried from the room, Shah Jahan turned back to his son. ‘Listen to my instructions. Gather as many of your men as you can and ride immediately for Delhi. With Suleiman still absent, the scattering of Jaswant Singh’s army at Ujjain and the defeat you have just suffered we have too few men to defend the Agra region. Our remaining strength – and it is substantial – lies in the north and the northwest. Mobilise them effectively and we will still be victorious. I will give you a letter for the Governor of Delhi ordering him to turn the imperial forces under his command over to you so you can organise the city’s defences against your brothers, who I’m certain won’t be long in following you. I will also instruct him to open the imperial treasuries to you so you can recruit more men to rebuild your army.’

Alarmed by the doubt in his still dazed son’s eyes, Shah Jahan took Dara’s head between his hands and looked into his eyes. ‘Listen to me, Dara. You must leave Agra not only because I say so but because it is your duty to yourself and your family. You were defeated at Samugarh but that was only one battle in this war. You must not lose heart. I suffered setbacks on the battlefield but I never let them crush me. In fact, they only made me more determined that next time I would be the victor. Remember the advantages you still have over your brothers. I have proclaimed you heir to the Moghul throne. That gives you a power and an authority they don’t possess. Use it and you can still prevail.’ He was placing a mighty burden of leadership on his son, Shah Jahan thought, one from which he had shielded him so far, but now there was no choice.

‘Majesty, I will accompany the prince to Delhi if he will permit me,’ said Nicholas.

Dara managed a faint smile. ‘I would be glad of it. You have already saved my life today. Perhaps the time will come when I can repay you … Now I should go to Nadira and help her prepare … she will be very anxious.’

‘I will come with you to the
haram
.’ Shah Jahan helped Dara to his feet again, then led the way from the apartments. Nicholas heard the customary cries of ‘the emperor approaches’ preceding them and then slowly fade as they went through the series of doors into the
haram
. But for how much longer would Shah Jahan be emperor, he wondered as he mopped his brow. It seemed unthinkable that such a mighty ruler could be toppled from his throne by a single battle and yet who would ever have thought that Aurangzeb and Murad’s rebellion would get this far?

He was about to leave the imperial apartments as well, to gather the few possessions he would take with him on the ride to Delhi, when to his surprise Jahanara returned. For a few moments they looked at one another in silence. Then Jahanara burst out, ‘Dara tells me that you have offered to go with him … Why are you so generous to us after everything that happened?’

‘It’s not generosity. I belong in Hindustan. I hadn’t realised that until I was about to leave. Your family has done me much kindness despite the event to which you refer …’ Nicholas’s voice trailed off for a moment, but then he continued, ‘It will be an honour to fight for Dara as I once fought for your father.’

‘Then on behalf of my father and Dara I thank you. But I must also ask your forgiveness. My thoughtlessness put you in terrible danger … I’m so sorry … I was only thinking of my own worries, never imagining …’

‘You have nothing to be sorry for,’ he interrupted her gently. ‘You were acting from the best of motives.’

Above her filmy purple veil, Jahanara’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I have no truer friend than you and I know you will help Dara in any way you can. He is the true heir of everything our great-grandfather Akbar strove for – justice for all, regardless of their faith. Aurangzeb would only divide our people, setting Hindus against Muslims. If he ever became emperor, his intolerance would scar this land just as fire once scarred this face of mine.’ With her right hand she slowly lowered her veil to reveal her blemished cheek. For a moment Nicholas stared at the mark, then reached out very gently to touch it, his blue eyes looking deep into hers. But then from outside came a series of shrill trumpet blasts, doubtless rallying Dara’s men ready for departure.

Nicholas’s hand dropped to his side. ‘I must go … but I will do all that I can, I promise you.’ Then without a backward glance he was gone.

Half an hour later, Jahanara watched through a
jali
screen as a small body of men began issuing from the fort. Somewhere among the riders would be her brother and Nicholas. As the column vanished into the gathering twilight she realised that she and Dara had never said goodbye.

Three days later, Dara, with Nicholas riding at his side, urged his sweat-scummed black horse up a low ridge. As they reached the crest they saw the city of Delhi laid out before them, sun glinting on the white marble domes of mosques visible above the crenellated walls, most of which were shrouded in purple shadow.

‘Delhi at last,’ said Dara. ‘And no sign of any rebel troops blocking our approach.’

‘We have been fortunate again, Highness, as we were when skirting Mathura.’

‘Besides, it would take a strong force to oppose us now on open ground given the numbers of men who have joined us.’

Nicholas nodded. Spread out behind them were nearly ten thousand men who had rallied to Dara’s flag over the past seventy-two hours. Some were elements of the imperial army defeated at Samugarh, others the garrisons of small forts along the road and yet others new recruits under local rulers responding to the urgent summons to arms issued by Shah Jahan.

‘Should we wait to take closer order before making our final approach to the city?’ Nicholas asked.

‘There is no need with no sign of opposition. Let’s hurry. Soon we’ll be relaxing with the governor in his apartments and planning how our joint forces will defeat my brothers,’ said Dara, and with a wave to his bodyguard to follow he kicked his black horse into a canter down the ridge towards the city about five miles away.

How much Dara’s mood had improved, thought Nicholas, as he followed him. The dazed and disconsolate prince had quickly recovered his spirits as forces had joined him, seeming to grow physically as well as mentally, so much straighter was he sitting on his horse.

A quarter of an hour later, shading his eyes against the setting sun, Nicholas peered towards Delhi’s great southern gateway a mile away. The gates themselves were closed, weren’t they … ? ‘Highness, the gates are shut.’

‘A wise precaution in these troubled times,’ Dara responded. ‘The scouts I sent to alert the governor to our arrival should return soon. They’ve already been gone longer than I expected.’

Dara was right. Almost at once the gates opened just far enough to allow a small group of horsemen to emerge. A few minutes later the riders – as expected, Dara’s scouts – galloped up, leaving clouds of golden dust hanging in the still evening air behind them.

‘Is the governor preparing apartments to receive me?’ Dara asked, a broad smile on his face.

There was no answering grin from the tall bearded Punjabi who was the leader of the scouts. ‘They will not admit Your Highness,’ he said simply.

‘What do you mean? You must have handed over my father’s letter to the governor …’

‘We did, Highness. The captain of the guard took it to the governor. We were surprised that he did not return for half an hour. When he did, the governor was with him. He told us the letter was a forgery, that you were a renegade and that we were lucky he did not have us executed. Then he handed us this letter.’ The Punjabi produced a folded parchment from his green tunic.

Dara, a look of incredulity on his face, snatched it from the man’s grasp. As he broke the seal and read it, his expression changed to anger. ‘How low will my brothers stoop? Have they no respect either for truth or my father? Read this, Nicholas.’

‘How dare my brothers produce such perverted lies – an exact reversal of the truth – and how can the governor be such a fool as to believe them?’

‘Or perhaps pretend to,’ said Nicholas. ‘He is clearly aware of your defeat at Samugarh. Messengers from Aurangzeb or Murad must have alerted him to your likely arrival and I suspect brought him extravagant promises of reward if he adheres to them and forestalls your attempt to revive your fortunes.’

‘I will not be thwarted. The governor will regret his insolence when he grovels before me in the courtyard of his captured citadel. I must call a war council at once to plan our attack.’ Dara spoke with vehemence, jerking so much in his saddle that his black horse began to skitter sideways.

‘Highness, before you summon the council think what is possible or practical. You must give your commanders realistic prospects of success or else those who have recently joined us may equally quickly disappear again. And – if I may speak frankly – it is not realistic for us at present to attempt to besiege Delhi, let alone to contemplate a full frontal attack. We have insufficient men and, because we have had to move so fast, no cannon. Besides, we know Aurangzeb and Murad’s men cannot be far behind us. We’ve been lucky to outstrip them so far. They could easily attack us in the rear while we were assaulting the city, crushing us against these imposing walls.’

The light of hope seemed to die in Dara’s eyes just as the light of day was leaving Delhi, and it was some time before he spoke. ‘You may be right, Nicholas … I may only have one further chance to turn the tide of my fortunes. I cannot afford to be rash, particularly since I have Nadira and Sipihr with me. It is probably better that for the moment I turn away to the northwest where I can reflect with you and my other officers on our next move at more length and in greater security.’

Nicholas reined in his horse beneath the shade of a group of densely leaved mango trees and patted its sweating neck. Dara rode up beside him and they dismounted. In the dappled light filtering through the branches the prince’s face looked drawn. Dara had said little during their ride from Delhi after the war council had, just as Nicholas anticipated, decided to move northwest towards Lahore where they might expect to find some support. However, what had there been to say? Who could have anticipated that the Governor of Delhi in defiance of orders from Shah Jahan himself would have barred the gates of the city? It was a sign of how quickly the balance of power had shifted since Dara’s defeat at Samugarh.