[1] A narrative of the contest for empire between the
four sons of Shah Jahan may, perhaps, prove both interesting and
instructive; and, as I shall have occasion, in the course of my
rambles, to refer to the characters who figured in it, I shall
venture to give it a place. . . .[2]
Notes:
1. 'The prisons of Gwalior are situated in a small outwork on the
western side of the fortress, immediately above the Dhondha gateway.
They are called "nau chauki", or "the nine cells", and are both well
lighted and well ventilated. But in spite of their height, from
fifteen to twenty-six feet, they must be insufferably close in the
hot season. These were the State prisons in which Akbar confined his
rebellious cousins, and Aurangzeb the troublesome sons of Dara and
Murad, as well as his own more dangerous son Muhammad. During these
times the fort was strictly guarded, and no one was allowed to enter
without a pass' (_A.S.R._, vol. ii, p. 369), Sulaiman Shikoh, whom
Manucci credits with 'all the gifts of nature', was poisoned at
Gwalior early in the reign of Aurangzeb, by order of that monarch,
paternal uncle of the victim (Irvine, _Storia do Mogor_, i.
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