Storia do Mogor 281.13.7

281.13.7

Aurangzeb is well aware that if he does not go in person at the head of his armies, it is impossible to become master of any fortress. To carry on this war he is put to enormous expense, and when all things are reckoned up, many a year he has gained nothing, although he has consumed many men and much money. Nevertheless [38] he never ceases to push on his purpose, and in this way his conduct of affairs is not without profit to Shiva Jí, who, like an able man, succeeds in making use of this persistence for the advancement of his own interest. At times he is sly enough to let a fort be taken, then, waiting till it is fully provisioned and afterwards fortified, he retakes it with even greater readiness than it had ever fallen before. It is true that his troops are very much better, and more inured to war than those of the Mogul. For they are Dakny soldiers, who pass for the bravest and most enterprising in India. It may also be asserted that if the monarch (Aurangzeb) maintains his design of becoming master of all Shiva Jí's fortresses, he will need, before he succeeds, to live for as many years more as he has already lived. But it is quite clear that he would throw up the war most readily did he not imagine that his reputation is at stake.