History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c62.s3: § 3. Reign of Ali Adil Shah II., 1656-1672.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c62.s3
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§ 3. Reign of Ali Adil Shah II., 1656-1672.
v4.c62.s3.1
The accession of Ali Adil Shah II., a youth of 18, in November 1656, was followed by quarrels among his nobles for the division of power, and some rebellions in the frontier provinces, especially in the newly conquered Karnatak. The evil was aggravated by Aurangzib's wanton invasion of Bijapur (January 1657) and his seduction of its officers. But the kingdom, thus unfairly attacked, made a heroic defence, and the danger ceased altogether at the end of the year when the contest for the throne of Delhi suddenly recalled Aurangzib from the Deccan. The storm of foreign invasion having blown over, the Bijapur State next showed a revival of power for some time. Ali Adil Shah II. developed great capacity and enterprising spirit from 1661 to 1666. He took the field in person, curbed the growing power of Shivaji, forced the refractory Abyssinian officers of the N. E. province
v4.c62.s3.2
B.S. (347) names the dependent zamindars thus;—Srirangapatan, Sunda (in N. Kanara), Chitaldurg, Habri (? s.e. of Bankapur), Tarikhera (s. e. of Shimoga), Ratangiri (13·50 N. 77·10 E.), Sarhashi (?), Paogar (14·6 N. 77·20 E.), Manikpala (?), Chak-bala (? Chak Balapur), Kuntikhera (13·30 N. 76·30 E.), Manori (? north of Goa), Hagalwari (s. of Kuntikhera), Harpanhali (14·50 N. 76 E.), Anigundi (n. of Vijaynagar), Kapkuri (?), Kanakgiri (15·35 N. 76·26 E.), Ballary, Gudikota (14·50 N. 76·40 E.), Sagar-gar (the Berad capital.) Fryer (ii. 56-57) mentions only the ten chief grandees of Bijapur, including the Sunda Rajah and the Rajah of Kanara (? Bednur.)
v4.c62.s3.3
(Karnul) back into submission, humbled the rebel Rajah of Bednur, and finally rolled back the flood of Mughal invasion under Jai Singh. Thereafter the Sultan gave himself up to the pleasures of the harem and the wine-cup, for the rest of his life; but his able wazir, Abdul Muhammad, continued to carry on the administration with great success.
v4.c62.s3.4
With the death of Ali Adil Shah II. on 24th Nov. 1672, the glory of Bijapur departed. His son Sikandar, a boy of four, was placed on the throne, and the reign of selfish regents commenced which finally ruined the monarchy. The expert and successful wazir Abdul Muhammad, with his 12 years' experience in guiding the State, was ousted by Khawas Khan, the leader of the Deccani party. This man "held supreme power for three years, but during that period, owing to his indolence and incompetence, affairs went from bad to worse." (B.S. 447.) At last Abdul Karim Bahlol Khan, the head of the Afghan faction, imprisoned the drunken wazir (11th Nov. 1675), seized the regency and for two years governed in the king's name amidst constant fights with the Deccani party and a war with the Mughals, while the people groaned under the misery of Afghan rule. On his death, 23rd December, 1677, Siddi Masaud, the leader of the Abyssinians, succeeded to the wazir-ship and the control of the puppet king (21st Feb. 1678), and for the next five years misgoverned the unhappy and disunited country, deserting his post only on the eve of the extinction of the dynasty by Aurangzib.
v4.c62.s3.5
The history of Bijapur from 1672 to 1686 is really the history of its wazirs. It was a period marked by chronic civil war among the factious nobles, independence of the provincial governors, paralysis of the central administration in the capital itself, occasional but indecisive Mughal invasions, and a secret alliance but pretended hostility with the Marathas.