History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c60.s7.5

v4.c60.s7.5

The year 1664 that lay between the departure of Shaista Khan and the arrival of Jai Singh, was not marked by any Mughal success. The new viceroy, Prince Muazzam, lived at Aurangabad, caring only for pleasure and hunting. His favourite general, Jaswant Singh, was posted at Puna. From this place he marched out and besieged Kondana, (Nov. 1663.) The Rajputs are proverbially inefficient in sieges, and Jaswant, after wasting some months before the fort, delivered a rash and fruitless assault, in which he lost many hundreds of his soldiers, chiefly owing to a gunpowder explosion. Then he quarrelled with his brother-in-law Bhao Singh Hada, evidently on the question of responsibility for the failure, and the two officers abandoned the siege (28th May, 1664) and with their armies retired to Aurangabad to pass the rainy season. The campaign ended with absolutely no gain.