The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.50

v4.c20.50

Leaving his family, surplus baggage and unnecessary officials in the fortified camp of Brahmapurī in charge of the *vazīr*, and giving Zu-'l-Fiqār, surnamed Nusrat Jang, a roving commission to fight the Marāthā field-armies that hovered round the emperor or threatened this base camp, Aurangzīb started from Brahmapurī on 29 October, 1699. Capturing Basantgarh on the way without a blow, he arrived before Sātārā on 18 December and took up his quarters at Kārañja, a mile and a half to the north of the fort. The entire siege-camp, five miles round, was enclosed with a wall to keep the Marāthā raiders out. The rocky soil made sapping a very slow and difficult work, and the fort was never completely invested. The garrison made frequent sorties, which were repulsed with more or less loss, while the Marāthā field-forces reduced the besiegers to the condition of a beleaguered city, cutting off outposts and closing the road to grain dealers.