When the Emperor marched from Brahmapuri, which he had named Islampuri, in order to capture [the Maratha] forts, he ordered that whether he was sick or well there should be no halt on any day except Friday. So that, before reaching Khawaspur where his knee was hurt, he had two severe fits of illness, once fever, and another time diarrhœa; yet except on Friday there was never a halt. During illness he used to be carried in a sedan chair (takht-i-rawan) with an open top, whereas in health he rode in a chair with glass [sides]. By chance, it was on a Thursday night that his knee got hurt at Khawaspur. Immediately he said, “Strike the kettledrums for a march.” Hamid-ud-din Khan, by reason of his being very bold, submitted, “It would be contrary to what you had fixed when leaving Islampuri.” His Majesty smiled and said, “If you had the least knowledge of the science of logic, you would not have said so. I was then referring to the question of halting or not on days other than Friday. My object was to arrange for the march, and not that there must be a halt on every Friday. An opposite conception does not conflict with the validity of the original.”

Text.—MS. N. 7b 2—11 and then 33a 1—8.

Notes.—Aurangzib set out from Islampuri on 19th October, 1699 (M. A. 408), and arrived at Khawaspur on 30th August, 1700 (430). Aurangzib means to say that the expression “there should be a march on all the days of the week other than Friday” does not logically imply that there would be no march on Friday. For the hurt to his leg, see Hist. of Aurangzib, v. 171.