New History of the Marathas v1.c17.63

v1.c17.63

6. Aurangzeb's discomfiture.—The season of 1682 and 83 indeed offered a good chance for a sudden attack either upon the Emperor's head-quarters, as Akbar was persistently suggesting, or for a dash through Gujarat into Rajputana. Why such a move was not made we have no means of knowing. But during that first year of Aurangzeb's invasion, his position was certainly very precarious, and he got so frightened that during the autumn of 1683 he called to his presence all his army leaders for a personal consultation to determine upon the right plan for a speedy victory. The Emperor was very uneasy even suspecting the loyalty of his eldest surviving son Shah Alam, who was reported to be in collusion with Akbar. He felt imminent danger to his own life in this land of that ‘satan’ Shivaji and his ‘devilish’ comrades. Every Mughal soldier always stood in fear of a sudden premeditated Marāthā attack upon their main camp, resulting in terrible havoc to life and property. At the above mentioned conference with his generals, the Emperor gathered that they were all afraid to face the Marāthās. He then called upon his eldest son to lead an expedition against Sambhāji. The son replied, “I can do so only if you recall Amir Khan from Afghanistan and appoint him my deputy.” But the removal of that man from the north-western frontier meant the loss of that part of his Empire. A realistic picture of the Emperor's sore predicament is well revealed in the contemporary writings of the European merchants. A Surat letter reports on 19th June, 1783 “the Mughal is grown very crazy and his mind continually alters. In all likelihood he will not live much longer. Sultan Akbar hath the good will of most”. “The king is extraordinarily peevish and uneasy because of Sultan Akbar. Sultan Azam, Begam Jahanzeb Banu and Dilir Khan are degraded for suspicion of being kind to Akbar.” The Emperor felt a suspicion against Prince Azam. He summoned the Prince and Dilir Khan to his presence. They delayed coming. Dilir fell under the Emperor’s punishment.”⁶ He took poison to avoid the Emperor’s wrath. Dilir Khan had been the most trusted of Aurangzeb’s generals and had served him faithfully in the Deccan for over twenty years. That such a faithful servant should have to commit suicide, shows how perverse the Emperor had then grown.