The Moghul Read online

  Mukarrab Khan reread the order carefully, scrutinized the black inkseal at the top of the page to assure himself it was indeed theMoghul's, and then placed it aside. So at last it had come. Theprospect of English presents was too great a temptation for theacquisitive Arangbar, ever anxious for new baubles. The Englishmanwould be going to Agra. No one at court could have prevented it.

  But that road--east through bandit-infested Chopda to now-threatenedBurhanpur, then north, the long road through Mandu, Ujjain, and Gwaliorto Agra--was a journey of two hard months. The Moghul's seal meant lessthan nothing to highwaymen, or to servants and drivers whose loyaltieswere always for sale. It's a long road, Englishman, and mishaps on thatroad are common as summer mildew.

  He smiled to himself and took up the other silver-trimmed bamboo tube.It had arrived by the same runner. The date on the outside was one weekold.

  It always amazed Mukarrab Khan that India's runners, the Mewras, wereactually swifter than post horses. This message had traveled the threehundred _kos _south from Agra to Burhanpur and then the remaininghundred and fifty _kos _west to Surat--a combined distance of almostseven hundred English miles--in only seven days.

  Runners were stationed at posts spaced five _kos _apart along the greatroad that Akman had built to link Agra to the seaport of Surat. Theywore an identifying plume at their head and two bells at their belt,and they gained energy by eating _postibangh_, a mixture of opium andhemp extract. Akman even conceived of lining the sides of the roadwith white stones so his Mewras could run in darkest midnight withoutlanterns. There were now some four thousand runners stationed alongIndia's five main arteries.

  The only things swifter, Mukarrab Khan had often told himself, arelightning . . . and a blue, white-throated Rath pigeon. A distancerequiring a full day for a runner could be covered by a pigeon in one_pahar_, three hours, given good weather. Arangbar kept pigeons allover India, even in Surat--but then so did everyone else at court.Recently, it seemed, everyone was training pigeons.

  Next to the date was the seal of Nadir Sharif, prime minister andbrother of the queen. Mukarrab Khan knew Nadir Sharif well. A dispatchfrom Nadir Sharif, though it always reflected the wishes of the Moghulor the queen, could be relied upon to be reasonable. If the Moghul infury condemned a man over some trivial transgression, Nadir Sharifalways forgot to deliver the sentence until the next day, having foundthat Arangbar often tended to reverse sentences of death when musing inhis evening wine cups. This order will be reasonable, Mukarrab Khantold himself, but it will have to be obeyed, eventually.

  As always, Mukarrab Khan tried to guess the message before unsealingthe two-inch-long silver cap attached to the end of the tube. Probablytaxes, late delivery. Or perhaps there's been a discrepancy between theopen report filed from my chamber by the wakianavis, the publicreportefs, and the private report, which I supposedly do not see, sentdirectly to the Moghul by the harkaras, the confidential reporters. Andif that's the complaint, it will disprove my suspicion that no one inthe Imperial chancery ever actually reads the reports. I deliberatelyinserted a difference of one-half lakh of rupees as reported logged atthe mint last month, just to see if they would catch it.

  Mukarrab Khan unrolled the dispatch. And his heart stopped.

  Clasping the paper he wandered distractedly out of the now-emptyaudience hall and down the stairs toward the courtyard. When he reachedthe veranda he only half-noted the heavy clouds threatening in thewest, toward the sea, and the moist air promising one last spatter ofthe monsoon. Servants were removing the tapestried canopy that shadedhis cushioned bench, and when they saw him they discreetly melted outof sight, leaving one side of the cloth still dangling from the poles.He dropped heavily onto the bench and reread the order carefully, hisdisbelief growing.

  On the recommendation of Queen Janahara, Mukarrab Khan had just beenappointed India's first ambassador to Portuguese Goa. He would leave intwo weeks.