Mir Khalil, an officer in the Mughal bureaucracy was sent to the Deccan in the year 1649-50 as the Chief of the Artillery. In his harem, he held a ravishing beauty, Zainabadi by name, who was known to mesmerize the senses through her skills in music and the art of blandishment. One day Prince Aurangzeb, who was then serving as the governor of Deccan, went to the Ahu-Khana (deer park) of Burhanpur with an entourage of his concubines for a stroll. Zainabadi was there too; she had come along with Mir Khalil’s wife (who also happened to be the prince’s maternal aunt). Brimming with mirth and amorous charm, she leapt up and plucked a fruit, unaware that the prince was present there and watching her. In the usual course, failing to display proper respect for a member of the royal family would invite swift punishment and chastisement. But in this instance, it was the prince who was robbed of his equanimity and self-control. From that day he could not stop thinking of the heavenly beauty
Inspired by Amar Chitra Katha; Backed by Solid Evidence