Muntakhab al-lubab 108: Campaign against the Mahrattas. Siege of Sattara.
Muntakhabu-l Lubáb, of Kháfí Khán (Elliot & Dowson, extracts) 108
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- English
Campaign against the Mahrattas. Siege of Sattara.
108.1
[Text, vol. ii. p. 459.] The daring inroads of the Mahrattas brought Aurangzeb to the resolution of waging a holy war against them, and of reducing the fortresses which were their homes and defences. His camp had now remained at Islampuri four years, and fine mansions and houses had been built there, so that a new city had sprung up, and men thought they would never move far away. Orders were given for throwing up earthworks round the place, and the officers and men worked so well that in fifteen or twenty days a defence was raised which might have occupied six or seven months. The Nawab Kudsiya Zinatu-n Nissa, sister of Prince Muhammad A'zam Shah, and mother of Muhammad Kam Bakhsh, with other ladies of the royal household, were left there under the charge of Jamdatu-l Mulk Asad Khan. Orders were also given that all amirs and officers should leave their wives and families and property behind. The people belonging to the royal establishments were also to remain. Strict orders were also given that no ahadi should take his wife or children with him, Great stress was laid upon this order, but in the marches and campaigns of Hindustan such orders could not be enforced without resorting to such punishments as the Princes of the House of Timur held to be inconsistent with their sense of justice. So the order was not obeyed as it ought to have been. On the 5th Jumada-l awwal the army marched towards the fort of Basant-garh, and in twenty days it arrived at Murtaza-abad, or Mirich.
108.2
There Prince Muhammad A'zam Shah came, in obedience to summons, from Bir-ganw. Ram Raja, brother of the deceased Sambha, had, under the pressure of the royal armies, abandoned his fortresses and fled, taking refuge in the hills and places of difficult access. When he heard of the royal design upon the fortresses, he went off towards Birar, ravaging the towns and inhabited places. The Zamindar of Deogarh, in consequence of disturbances in his country, and the superior force of those who disputed the inheritance, had fled to the Court of Aurangzeb, and had received the title of Buland-bakht upon his becoming a Musulman. Upon hearing of the death of his competitor, he hastened back to Deogarh without leave, and opposed the officers who were appointed to collect the tribute. He now joined Ram Raja in plundering the country. His Majesty ordered that his name should be changed to Nigun-bakht, and that Prince Bedar Bakht should march against him with a suitable force. * * Ruhu-llah Khan Bakhshi, with Hamidu-d din Khan, were sent to plunder the environs of the forts of Parnala and Sattara. When the royal army came near to Basant-garh, Tarbiyat Khan, the commander of artillery, was ordered to take steps for investing the place and throwing up lines. * * The word was given for an assault, but the besieged were frightened and surrendered. Aurangzeb gave to the place the name Kilid-i futuh, Key of Victory.
108.3
At the end of Jumada-s sani the royal army arrived opposite Sattara, and the camp was pitched at the distance of a kos and a half. Prince Muhammad A'zam Sháh encamped on another side, and the amírs and officers were posted according to the judgment of Tarbiyat Khán. They all vied with each other in throwing up lines, digging mines, and in carrying on other siege operations. * * On both sides a heavy fire was kept up, * * and the garrison rolled down great stones, which came bounding down and crushed many men and animals. The rain obstructed the arrival of corn; the enemy were very daring in attacking the convoys, and the country for twenty kos round the fortress had been burnt, so that grain and hay became very scarce and dear. A battery twenty-four yards (dar'a) high was thrown up in face of the hill, and on the Prince's side also the batteries were carried to the foot of the hill. A hundred and sixty thousand rupees were paid for the services of the troops and máwalis of that country, who are very efficient in sieges. * * Matters went hard with the garrison, and the chance of firing a gun or a musket was no longer in their power; all they could do was to roll down stones from the walls. * *
108.4
Stone-masons were employed by the besiegers to cut two vaults in the side of the rock four yards long and ten yards broad, which were to be used as stations for sentinels. But when they were found not to answer for this purpose, they were filled with powder. * * On the morning of the 6th Zí-l ka'da, in the fourth month of the siege, one of these was fired. The rock and the wall above it were blown into the air and fell inside the fortress. Many of the garrison were blown up and burnt. The besiegers, on beholding this, pushed boldly forwards. At that time the second mine was fired. A portion of the rock above was blown up, but instead of falling into the fortress, as was expected, it came down upon the heads of the besiegers like a mountain of destruction, and several thousands were buried under it. * * The garrison then set about repairing the walls, and they again opened fire and rolled down the life-destroying stones.
108.5
When Aurangzeb was informed of the disaster, and of the despondency of his men, he mounted his horse, and went to the scene of action as if in search of death. He gave orders that the bodies of the dead should be piled upon each other, and made to serve as shields against the arrows of calamity ; then with the ladder of resolution, and the scaling-ropes of boldness, the men should rush to the assault. When he perceived that his words made no impression on the men, he was desirous to lead the way himself, accompanied by Muhammad A'zam Shah. But the nobles objected to this rash proposition. Afterwards he addressed his soldiers in encouraging words * * [and gave fresh orders for the conduct of the siege].
108.6
An extraordinary incident now occurred. A great number of Hindu infantry soldiers had been killed all at once (in the explosion), and their friends were unable to seek and bring out their bodies. The violence of the shock had entirely disfigured them, and it was not possible to distinguish between Musulman and Hindu, friend and stranger. The flames of animosity burst forth among all the gunners against the commander of the artillery. So at night they secretly set fire to the defences (marhala), which had been raised at great trouble and expense against the fire from above, in the hope and with the design that the fire might reach the corpses of the slaughtered Hindus. A great conflagration followed, and for the space of a week served as a bright lamp both for besiegers and besieged. A number of Hindus and Musulmans who were alive in the huts were unable to escape, and were burnt, the living with the dead.