Opium has been known and used for more than 7,000 years.
A favourite mode of eliminating noble competitors was by poisoning through ‘poust,’ a drink of raw opium made from soaking poppy seeds overnight in water. A famous victim was the unfortunate Suleiman Mirza, the charismatic and popular son of Dara Shikoh. Aurangzeb imprisoned him at Gwalior fortress and force-fed him poust for a year, at the end of which he died debilitated, trembling and demented.
By the time Shah Jahan became Padshah Ghazi, every sliver of food was suspect and every drink bled the fear of poison. It was always women who guarded the most precious things of the empire; the lives of the young princes, the jewels of the Mughals, women’s safety, and the emperor’s food.
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