The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.21

v4.c20.21

But the fall of Bījāpur (September, 1686) set the imperialists free to deal finally with the Qutb Shāhī government. On 7 February, 1687, the emperor arrived before Golconda, to which Abu-’l Hasan had again fled. The Mughuls occupied Hyderābād for the third and last time. On the first day the Mughuls charged and drove in the Qutb Shāhī soldiers who were assembled in the dry ditch under shelter of the fort walls. Qilich Khān (the grandfather of the first Nizām), in trying to enter Golconda pell-mell with these fugitives, was fatally wounded, and regular siege operations began (17 February). Aurangzīb himself encamped north-west of the fort along the Sholāpur road; trenches were opened against the south-eastern and southern faces of the fort, the Mughul soldiers with the city behind them moving along both banks of the Mūsī river.