History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c49.s9: §10. The war in Mewar.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c49.s9
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§10. The war in Mewar.
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Raj Singh began his preparations for war. With huge portals he closed the pass of Deobari which leads to his capital, and also repaired the fortifications of Chitor. Aurangzib with his usual promptitude struck the first blow. He left Ajmir (30th November, 1679) for Udaipur. Seven thousand picked soldiers under Hasan Ali Khan marched in advance from Pur ravaging the Rana's territory and clearing the way for the main army. The Rajputs had nothing that could make a stand against the excellent Mughal artillery served by European gunners. On the plains they were hopelessly outclassed. Hence, the Rana had prepared for the invasion by abandoning the low country and retiring with all his subjects to the hills, whither the Mughals durst not penetrate. The deserted pass of Deobari, leading to Udaipur from the east, was occupied by the Emperor on 4th January, 1680. Even the capital Udaipur, was found evacuated. The Mughals took possession of it and destroyed its great temple, "one of the wonders of the age and a building that had cost the infidels much money,"—its twenty self-elected defenders fell fighting one by one in a hopeless resistance, after slaying many times their own number. Three temples on the Udai-sagar lake suffered the same fate.*
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Hasan Ali Khan entered the hills north-west of Udaipur in search of the Rajput army; but all trace of him was lost among those rugged defiles. There was extreme anxiety about him in the imperial camp, as all communication with him had ceased for several days. The regular scouts refused to go out on reconnaissance in fear of the Rajputs. At last a young Turani lieutenant, Mir Shihab-ud-din, undertook the perilous adventure and by a combination of audacity and cleverness reached Hasan Ali's camp, and brought back news of his safety to the anxiously expectant Emperor. This achievement was the beginning of a long and successful career which ended in his becoming the highest peer of the realm and the father of the founder of the greatest Muslim State that rose on the ruins of the Mughal empire.†
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∗ M. A. 182, 186. Ishwardas, 78b—79a. Tod, i. ch.
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¹³ Storia, ii.
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²⁴⁰ K. K. ii.
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²⁶³ Aurangzib, on taking possession of Udaipur, set about "demolishing the portals of Deobari, dismantling the palaces and temples, and cutting down the garden trees." (Ishwardas, 79a.)
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† M. A., 186-187; Ishwardas, 80a. Anecdotes, §33, places this feat of scouting later, but it is wrong.
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Hasan Ali was reinforced and freshly provisioned, and he inflicted a defeat on the Maharana (22nd January), capturing his camp and property and much grain on the way, and destroying 173 temples in the environs of Udaipur. Chitor had been already occupied by the Mughals, and 63 temples of the place were destroyed when Aurangzib visited it at the end of February. The power of Mewar having been seemingly crushed and its ruler being a fugitive among the hills, the Emperor left Udaipur and returned to Ajmir (on 22nd March), while a strong force under Prince Akbar held the Chitor district as a base.* The Udaipur valley was evidently abandoned by the Mughals, as too distant to be occupied with safety. Even then the imperial outposts were too far scattered to be defended easily, while the whole of the Rajput land was seething with hostility. The Mughal positions in Mewar and Marwar were isolated from each other by the wedge of the Aravali range, whose crest the Rana held in force, and from which he could make sudden descents and deal crushing blows on the east or on the west as he pleased, while the Mughals in transferring troops from Chitor to southern Marwar had to make a long and toilsome detour through the Bednor, Beawar, and Sojat districts.
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∗ M. A. 187, 189-190.