A History of the Mahrattas v1.c9.174

v1.c9.174

The Emperor was exasperated at the opposition made, in a country which he had considered as subdued on the capture of Doulutabad, and being highly incensed against Mohummud Adil Shah, he prepared a great army with the determination of bringing affairs in the Ahmednugur territory to a speedy settlement, even if it should involve the reduction of the other kingdoms in the Deccan; to which Shah Jehan, in his deliberate judgment, was always averse. Whether this moderation proceeded from policy or a sense of justice, it is difficult to determine; but his hostilities against both Beejapoor and Golcondah were always commenced in the spirit of personal anger. On the present occasion he sent an ambassador to Beejapoor, directing him to demand the restitution of the forts lately belonging to the Nizam Shahee state, of which the Sultan of Beejapoor had obtained possession: their guns and military stores were likewise to be delivered up, particularly the large cannon called Mullik-i-Mydan,¹ which had been conveyed from Purinda to Beejapoor. But above all, the envoy was directed to insist upon the Sultan’s renouncing Shahjee, and affording no countenance or protection to him or to those persons by whom disturbances were excited. To induce a compliance with these demands, a promise of the fort and district of Sholapoor, together with the whole of the Nizam Shahee Concan, and a vaunting threat of annihilation in case of refusal were at once held out. Both proved ineffectual; and Shah Jehan, according to his usual practice of dividing his attacks, broke his army, of which forty eight thousand were select cavalry, into four divisions; two to act against Shahjee, and two against Mohummud Adil Shah. Of the two former, one under Shaisteh Khan and Aliverdy Khan was destined to besiege Shahjee’s forts about Chandore, Sungumnere and Nassuck; and another, consisting of 20,000 horse under Khan Zuman, was to drive him from the field, to pursue him, to take possession of his strongholds in the Concan, and to expel him from every quarter of the Nizam Shahee territory. Of the two latter, one under Khan Dowran was originally ordered to take up a position near Nandere, owing to suspicions entertained of Sultan Abdoollah Kootub Shah of Golcondah; but on these doubts being removed, and his paying the arrears of tribute for which the Emperor’s envoy was then settling, and which he did before the campaign opened, Khan Dowran’s division became available both for the capture of the forts to the eastward and for hostilities in the heart of the Beejapoor dominions.