New History of the Marathas v1.c10.84

v1.c10.84

6. Jay Sinh and Shivaji face to face.—By his surprise attack on Surat Shivaji invited upon himself the full wrath of the Emperor. Aurangzeb recalled Muazzam and Jashvant Sinh and despatched a fresh expedition under Mirza Raja Jay Sinh with Dilir Khan to assist him and with full equipment to annihilate the growing power of Shivaji and to effect the final conquest of Bijapur. Jay Sinh and Dilir Khan were the ablest and most devoted of Aurangzeb's nobles and whole-heartedly undertook their mission. Jay Sinh had never known a reverse in his career. In 1617 when twelve years old he entered the Delhi Emperor's service and had since then distinguished himself in various imperial campaigns from Balkh in the north to Bijapur in the south, and from Kandahar in the west to Monghir in the east. During Shah Jahan's reign he had been rewarded practically on every annual birthday celebration for some victory gained by him. At the Emperor's Court Jay Sinh was on the same level of honour as the sons of the Emperor. He was no less adept in the art of diplomacy than in that of war, for which his coadjutor Dilir Khan was highly distinguished. In any serious danger threatening the Empire Jay Sinh alone was the Emperor's last resort. He possessed a sweet persuasive tongue, and could speak the three foreign languages Turki, Persian, and Urdu in addition to his own Rajasthani. He had now reached the age of sixty and had developed the statesman's sobriety and circumspection by long past experience. It was not, however, with a light heart that he accepted the present command, having before him the sad examples of Afzal Khan, Shaista Khan and Jashvant Sinh.