History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c6.62

v1.c6.62

The Mughals could not follow him at once as they had to cross three big rivers and also waited to see whether Randaula Khan would succeed in inducing Shahji to give up his forts peacefully. At last they crossed the Bhor-ghat in three divisions. Meantime Shahji had fled to the Konkan by the Kumbhá Pass and begged for asylum in vain at Danda-Rajpuri and other places. Then he doubled back by the same pass. But hearing that the Mughals had entered the Konkan, he lost his head, and fled towards the fort of Mahuli, some 32 miles north-east of Bombay. Khan-i-Zaman followed hard on his track, leaving his baggage behind. News came to him that Shahji was at Muranjan, 30 miles ahead. The Mughals pushed on thither in spite of the mud; but as soon as they were seen descending from a hillock 6 miles behind the place, the Marathas lost heart and fled, leaving much of their property behind. At this the Mughals galloped on, slew many of Shahji’s rear-guard, and chased them for 24 miles, till their horses gave up in sheer exhaustion. Shahji then effected his escape; but his camp, baggage, spare horses, and camels, and the royal kettledrum, umbrella, *palki*, and standard of his creature, the boy Nizam Shah, were all captured. The Maratha leader fled fast and in twenty-four hours reached Mahuli, dismissed his unnecessary retainers, and prepared to stand a siege. Khan-i-Zaman made another forced march through the rain and mud, seized the village at the foot of the fort with its store of provisions, and sat down before the two gates of Mahuli, stopping all ingress and egress. Shahji, after higgling for terms, at last capitulated: he entered the Bijapur service, and gave up to the Mughals his Nizam Shahi princeling, together with Junnar and six other forts still held by his men. Evidently he got good terms out of the Imperial Government, but the Court-historian is discreetly silent about the details. The campaign was over by the end of October, and Khan-i-Zaman returned to Aurangzib at Daulatabad to act as the Prince’s chief adviser.