The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.23

v4.c20.23

Another cause of discord in the imperial camp was that the many Shiahs in the imperial service heartily disliked the prospect of the extinction of the last Shiah kingdom in India, and even many orthodox Sunnīs, like the chief Qāzīs Shaikh-ul-Islām and ‘Abdullah, condemned the attacks on Bījāpur and Golconda as “wars between Muslims” and therefore sinful. Fīrūz Jang, a Turk and Sunnī, was at first the leading officer at the siege, and therefore Saf Shikan Khān, the chief of artillery and a Persian Shiah, after working strenuously for some time, resigned “in order to spite Fīrūz Jang”. The next two chiefs of artillery were utter failures, and then this post, the most important in a siege, went begging, till at last Saf Shikan Khān was reinstated (2 July); but by that time the field-works had been demolished by the enemy and the investment had to be begun anew. The fort had an inexhaustible supply of munitions and its walls bristled with guns of large calibre. Its incessant fire caused heavy losses to the Mughuls, but they carried the trenches to the edge of the ditch in six weeks. The ditch however could not be filled up.