New History of the Marathas v1.c18.40

v1.c18.40

His officers and soldiers had by then become utterly wearied of camp life, away from their homes now for 17 years, and urged the Emperor to return to Delhi after concluding some kind of peace and understanding with the Marathas. The Emperor felt sorely disappointed at this turn of events, and as he could no longer trust his officers, he himself undertook the arduous campaigns for the reduction of the hill forts of Sātara and others. After capturing Satara in 1700, he encamped during the rains at Khawaspur on the river Mān. Here he encountered a severe disaster, his whole camp was washed away by unexpected floods. The uproar woke him from sleep and while running out in the dark he slipped and became lame for the rest of his life. During the next three years he fixed his monsoon camp at Poona and other adjacent places. In 1703 he captured Sinhagad and then encamped at Poona, which he named Muhiyabad. But the captured forts could not be long held in subjection: they were all recovered by the Marathas by the year 1705.