History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c13.104

v1.c13.104

Qutb Shah intrigued hard to retain the rich province; his agent at Delhi interceded with Dara; he promised a fresh offering of 15 lakhs as the price of the Karnatak being left to him.* But Aurangzib counter-intrigued through Mir Jumla; he appealed to the Emperor's cupidity by pointing out the immense richness of the Karnatak,—its diamond mines, its fertile valleys, its hoards of buried treasure of old Hindu dynasties. It was, as he wrote, "equal to the kingdom of Golkonda itself in wealth and extent." Mir Jumla, too, spoke from personal knowledge more fully about the vast resources and wealth of the province.† At last he prevailed; the Emperor decided to hold the Karnatak in his own hands as Mir Jumla's jagir, and Qutb Shah was ordered to recall his officers from that province.‡ Mughal armies under Shah Beg Khan, Qazi Muhammad Hashim and Krishna Rao, entered the Karnatak, but the Golkonda officers (especially Abdul Jabbar) were loth to yield the rich prey. They lingered there and threw every difficulty in the path of the