The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.52

v4.c20.52

Aurangzīb next laid siege to Parlī, a fort six miles west of Sātārā and the headquarters of the Marāthā government. It resisted for some time, and the invaders suffered terribly from excessive rain and the scarcity of grain and fodder. But the emperor held grimly on, and at last the commandant evacuated the fort for a bribe (19 June). These two sieges caused an enormous waste of men and animals; the Mughul treasury was empty and the soldiers were starving as their pay for three years was in arrears. Excessive rain aggravated their sufferings. On the return march from Parlī to Bhūshangarh, transport utterly broke down, much property had to be abandoned, even nobles had to walk on foot through the mud, and only forty-five miles were covered in thirty-five days. While the emperor was encamped at Khavāsspur (on the Mān river), the river suddenly rose in flood at midnight (11 October) and swept through the camp, destroying many men and animals, and ruining the tents and baggage. The emperor himself stumbled and dislocated his knee in trying to escape. This left him a little lame for the rest of his life, which the court flatterers used to say was the heritage of his ancestor, the world-conqueror Tīmūr-Lang! But reinforcements were summoned from northern India and many thousands of fresh horses purchased to mount the army again. The Marāthās and Berads plundered and levied *chauth* far and wide during this eclipse of the Mughul power.