The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.11

v4.c20.11

After the capture of Shambhūjī his younger brother Rājā Rām was crowned by the ministers at Rāigarh (18 February). But, soon afterwards, an imperial army under I‘tiqād Khān (afterwards Zu-’l-Fiqār Khān, Nusrat Jang) laid siege to this Marāthā capital, and Rājā Rām slipped out of it disguised as a religious mendicant (15 April), and finally, after many adventures, made his way to Gingee (11 November). In the meantime Rāigarh capitulated on 29 October, and the Mughuls seized there the surviving ladies of the Marāthā royal family and Shambhūjī's children, including Shāhū, a boy of seven. These were detained in Aurangzīb's camp with every respect and privacy. Thus by the end of 1689 Aurangzīb became the unrivalled lord paramount of northern India and the Deccan alike; but it was the beginning of his end.