History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c15.2

v1.c15.2

The treaty of 1636 had turned the king of Bijapur into a friendly ally of the Emperor of Delhi, but left his sovereignty unimpaired. He had not become a vassal prince, nor bound himself to pay an annual tribute. On the other hand, he had been formally confirmed in the possession of a large portion of the territory of the extinct royal house of Ahmadnagar, the whole of which the Mughals had once claimed.[*] Secure from his mighty neighbour on the north, the Bijapur Sultan began to extend his dominions westwards into the Konkan, southwards into Mysore, and eastwards into the Karnatak. The principality of Ikkeri (or Bednur, in N. W. Mysore), had been raided in 1635 at the invitation of a local faction, and a heavy fine of 30 lakhs of hun imposed on its Rajah, Virabhadra Nayak. Two years later the invasion was renewed and the Nayak deposed.* Shortly afterwards, a vast Bijapuri army, numbering 40,000 and led by the famous general Randaulah Khan, took Sira, Bangalore, and the country north of the Kaveri (1639), and then, advancing eastwards into the Karnatak, went on capturing forts and cities for many years. In 1647, the entire Bijapur army under Mustafa Khan, the foremost noble of the State, repeated the invasion, but met with stubborn opposition at first. In a great battle fought east of Bangalore,† the impetuous valour of an Abyssinian general, Malik Raihan, saved from destruction the lives of the Bijapur troops and the honour of their king: the famous Hindu general Vailuar was routed and his master's cause ruined. Finally starvation opened the impregnable fortress of Jinji to Bijapur arms (17th December 1649), and the whole Southern Karnatak lay open to the Muslims. The prize thus secured was most splendid; besides the