Storia do Mogor 151: AURANGZEB MAKES PEACE WITH SHIVA JI.

151

Although Aurangzeb was anxious to obtain satisfaction from the Pathans for this outbreak, he found he could not punish them, being involved in war with Shiva Ji and Bijapur. He therefore sent Fida,e Khan to Peshawar to try and smooth things over; but, discovering that he (Fida,e Khan) was not of that opinion, he sent his artillery general, Ra'dandaz Khan, a valiant man, with a large army to overawe them. But when he got among the mountains the Pathans cut off his head and destroyed his army as they had done to that of Muhammad Amin Khan. This was the opening of a new war. Since the Pathans were strong, there was no army sufficient to reduce the fury of these men, who once claimed the crown of Hindustan and the lordship over Dihli. Ever since they lost King Sher Shah they had refused to bind on turbans, wearing in their place a fragment of cloth. This custom is, they say, to endure until there is a Pathan king. Thus was Aurangzeb obliged to obtain peace from Shiva Ji, who was content to give him the time he wanted to fight the Pathans. Aurangzeb took the field against them with a firm determination to extirpate them, believing it would be easy [157] to accomplish this purpose, just as he had succeeded in his previous undertakings. Thus he withdrew considerable forces from that quarter (the Dakhin), leaving Bahadur Khan to continue the war with Bijapur.