History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c62.s12.5

v4.c62.s12.5

From this place he used to march out daily with his guns and men and exhaust his ammunition soldiers and horses by wildly firing at the impregnable fort-walls, one day from this suburb, another day from that. "The fort-guns killed many Mughal soldiers and elephants. The Deccanis made gallant sorties in which they lost heavily. Some of the Mughal cannon-balls fell inside the city." This fruitless artillery duel took place day after day. "In spite of his having 20,000 troopers under his command, Dilir Khan could not invest the fort, but only fired his guns from one point or another." (Dil. 163.) But he utterly destroyed the gardens, houses and cultivation in the many large and prosperous suburbs around Bijapur, and cut the channel which conveyed water from the tank of Shahpur to within the fort. On 22nd December the Deccanis made a sortie from the Allapur (or eastern) gate and repulsed the Mughals with heavy loss. (B.S. 502).