Transformation

 Winter 1606-07, Lahore Fort:

“Quick! Guards! Close the gates!”

The sudden urgency prompted Rukaiya Begum to rush towards the corridor where the soldiers stood alert. Ladies in waiting and concubines shrieked at the sight from the roof above, and most of the ladies rushed towards the Rajput Harem where Mariam Ur Zamani was stationed.

“What is the matter?” Rukaiya’s cry of shock was ignored by a pair of guards who ran down the corridor towards the gates of the fort. The Akbari Gate, which stood at a distance, was being closed off, by hundred-odd men who stood alarmed. Never in her lifetime had Rukaiya seen those gates close off to the world outside. A sudden fear crept into her heart as she rushed out to the courtyard her eyes scanning the crowd.

“Where is Khurram? Has anyone seen Shehzaade Khurram?” She heard no responses. The Eunuchs rushed out of the Pari Mahal immediately to look for the prince concerned. Rukaiya Begum didn’t wait. She ran up the stairs to the rooftop domes, upon which doves perched. Her searching eyes stopped relieved as upon a dome stood the boy, with a pair of binoculars in hand.

“Look Shah Ammi!” He sounded alarmed “What is that cloud of dust reaching the sky?” Rukaiya heard the ladies gasp again. She made her way to the boy and held him back close to her chest. Then she looked up.

The army at a distant horizon was fairly good enough to take over the fort. She took the binoculars from the prince. Who dared to attack a Timurid Fort this way? The flags made her heart skip a bit. It was the green and gold lion itself.

“Calm down everyone.” Mariam Ur Zamani’s voice made the gasps and whispers die down instantly as she appeared on the roof. “It is not safe to be here; they will be here soon, go down to your rooms and continue with your daily chores. I promise you no harm will be done.” The ladies stood in disbelief at her words, which totally contradicted the situation they were in. She knew she didn’t sound convincing enough. “I have sent the emperor an emergency message.” She spoke again, this time looking at the Dowager Empress hoping for some help. Rukaiya Begum looked away.

“Go inside and lock your doors, and don’t come out unless told.” Rukaiya told staring at Khurram softly, “Do you understand?”

“Yes Shah Ammi, but... who... we have to fight,” Khurram spoke with a spark of manly excitement in his eyes.

“You don’t have to fight now.” Rukaiya Begum said sternly “Do as I told you to. Wait for your father. Sometimes being brave too quick is also foolery.” She stood firm in authority. “Everyone disperse.”

At her words, the whispers fell silent again and everyone walked away quickly. Mariam Ur Zamani stood there, watching the cloud of dust come closer.

“Don’t worry.” She spoke looking at Rukaiya’s displeased face “Everything is under control.”

“Everything is under control?” Rukaiya Begum spoke up as soon as the last lady dispersed.

“They have to believe...” Mariam Ur Zamani whispered almost pleading.

“They are not fools! Some of them have been part of this Harem even before you. Some of them have seen real wars!” Rukaiya’s voice echoed through the dome, making the doves fly away. The flutter of their wings died down to the sound of hooves of the horses of patrolling soldiers making their way to the Akbari Gates.

“What do you want me to tell them?” Mariam Ur Zamani asked.

“The truth.” Rukaiya Begum spoke sternly “They deserve the truth. And if you can’t tell the Harem that your own nephew and grandson have invaded ...”

“It is not what you think Begum! I had no idea Khusrau will ever...” Rukaiya Begum stopped Mariam Ur Zamani with a hand gesture.

                                                        
“May I take over the emergency situation?” Rukaiya Begum asked.

Mariam Ur Zamani looked relieved as she followed Rukaiya to the courtyard where the Harem had gathered.

“Shehzaade Khusrau has rebelled against his father with the aid of Maan Singh and is headed towards Lahore.” Rukaiya Begum’s voice made the ladies gasp. “The army you see out there is not of any enemy but our own.”

“But Shah Ammi...” Khurram stopped at her stern look.

“We have half a day till sunset today, and I don’t think they will attack the fort today.” Rukaiya spoke as Mariam Ur Zamani agreed.

“They will set up tents, and block the entry doors to our fort. How many rations do we have?” Her words were replied to by a general.

“A week’s Sultana Sahiba.”

“That will be enough, help is on the way. Nobody will leave the fort or talk to anybody except the people they regularly do for their work concerned. Everyone will be kept under vigil, any wrong movement from anyone will be treated as a movement of rebellion against the throne and he or she will be immediately killed. Is that understood?” Rukaiya Begum gave one last look at the crowd with authority and walked back to her room in the same calm posture in which she had arrived.

She stared at her reflection in the gold-framed mirror, as the sun rays lit up her face. After months, she had felt this alive and in control. She was happy in contrast to the fear that loomed outside. This war will have its consequences and mostly if luck favoured them, the consequences would be on their side.

She had proved to the Queen Mother that she was powerless in leading the Harem, unlike Rukaiya Begum who had been doing so since forever. The news of the rebellion reaching Jahangir would ensure Khusrau’s exit as the heir apparent if things went well. Knowing Salim, he surely wouldn’t spare the son like his own father did. He knew his blood too well. And all that would mean is Khurram being everyone’s favourite for the throne.

“Shah Ammi!” Khurram stood at the threshold worried “Will we be okay?”

“Yes my dear Shehzaade, we will be, the Padshah is on his way.” She had smiled at her son.

“But why do you not want me to fight?” Khurram frowned. He was taking his lessons well.

Rukaiya Begum sighed. “I didn’t tell you not to fight Baba, I told you to wait for the Padshah and his orders for you. That is the protocol.”

For the next two days, the Harem watched in silence as swords clashed and men groaned to death in the fields outside the fort. Khusrau had almost broken down the beautiful iron gates his grandfather had put up and was about to take over the throne room when Jahangir and his army intervened just in the nick of time. Jahangir had trusted Khurram to guard the royal treasury, with his men, and to Rukaiya Begum’s immense pride, Khurram stood brave, sword out, day and night at the door of the treasury himself, controlling the men with authority.

What followed the war was a spine-chilling sight Rukaiya would never forget. Jahangir sat on the throne as a chained Khusrau bled and pleaded for mercy. The Queen Mother whispered prayers with closed eyes while Rukaiya stared at Jahangir looking pale at his son. It was like history repeating itself. Rukaiya gestured at Khurram to stand by his father’s side. Jahangir stared once at the purdah that covered the harem ladies at the Diwan E Aam. The common foot soldiers, the elephants and the camels stood in rows witnessing the trial. It was as though Jahangir looked straight at her, and a second’s glance was exchanged.

“I order Maan Singh to be banished to the fort of Anchalgarh which falls under his own territory. He will remain there and not participate in any Timurid army movements or administrative work.” Maan Singh stood his head bowed in chains, as Rukaiya heard Mariam Ur Zamani sigh. “And as for Shehzaade Khusrau, I...” Jahangir stopped. The court stood in pin-drop silence. Khusrau looked up first at his father, then the brother who stood beside his throne.

“I order him to be blinded by both eyes.” The courtroom gasped. Khurram stood in shock, his mouth dried up. Khusrau fell to his knees. “Rahm Shahehshah! Mercy! Mercy!” He pleaded while being dragged away by two-foot soldiers. Being blinded meant he was never qualified to fight wars or sit on the throne again. With his eyes, his future too would be plunged into darkness by this severe punishment. Khurram stood shocked, his throat dried up.

“Disperse!” The court was adjourned.

Rukaiya sat unmindfully staring at the water from a distance dancing in the moonlight as the dead silence of the fort was broken by the shrieks of a man in pain. Khurram ran into her room, his hands on his ears, and hugged her tightly from behind.

“Shah Ammi.... please... make them stop! He is in pain! Make them stop!” he begged. The boy’s voice trembled.

“I can’t!” Rukaiya’s voice seemed emotionless and distant.

“But why, Shah Ammi?” He shook her shoulders with his hands “He will listen to you, make them stop!”

“Khurram!” Rukaiya scolded “Enough now boy!” He stepped back a few feet in shock. Never before had she raised her voice at him.

“Shah Ammi?” He whispered surprised.

“You want to know why I won’t stop it. Because I don’t want to!” Rukaiya looked up at the boy, knowing it was time to let her protective shackles break and let him sink into reality. “I don’t want to because.... if I stop this then years later, it might be him on the throne, and you in those chains. No Shah Ammi will save you then my Shehzaade, I am silent today, for you.”

“But...”

“You think your Shah Baba died of diarrheal disorder? You think a man of fine health just dies like that?” Rukaiya stood facing Khurram “You are not a boy anymore, your naivety and poetry have no place in this palace. Pick up the sword and snatch what is your Khurram. Choose your sides and words right. You need to survive the odds. Like I did.”

“Shah Ammi!” Khurram stood at a loss for words “What will I... What can I do?”

“Be the son your father needs now, to be the son I want you to become when you can.”

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“It’s time to pack our bags and head to Agra with the emperor, Khurram. To be by his side, and go to war for him. Show him your capabilities as a warrior and administrator. Leave the rest on your Shah Ammi.”

“I am scared...”

“We all are my child, but a true royal doesn’t show it on the face.” She smiled as she wiped the tears off the boy’s cheeks.

“Are we ready Khurram?” She asked. He nodded with a deep breath, taking out his sword from the case, and putting it in Rukaiya’s hand. The gold handle shone in the light of the lamp, upon it was inscribed “Khurram” in the language of the Hind. His Shah Baba had chosen this name for him. The cold blade brushed against Rukaiya’s soft palm as she smiled at the son she desired. He kissed her palms and closed his eyes, as their reflection danced in shadows on the cold red walls of the Pari Mahal.

Khusrau rebelled in 1606 and his rebellion continued to the seizure of Lahore in late 1606 to his father ordering him to be blinded after the war in 1607. After Khusrau was blinded Khurram gained a position in administration and warfare and led many successful missions to the Dakkhans. He began to stay mostly away from the Harem close to 1608 and continued to do so till his own rebellion against his ill father in 1626. 

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