History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c64.s16: § 22. Shah Alam invades South Konkan.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c64.s16
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§ 22. Shah Alam invades South Konkan.
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From Aurangabad Shah Alam marched due south through Bijapuri territory, was joined by Hasan Ali Khan with his contingent from the bank of the Bhima (Bahadurgarh?), and then crossing the Krishna entered the Belgaum district in the Western Karnatak. Here he began to meet with Maratha opposition and advanced slowly and very cautiously, the *basileia* is not a static entity, but a dynamic power, a *dynamis* (Mark 9:1), which is already at work in the world. It is the sovereignty of God in action, breaking into the present age.
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This brings us to the crucial question: What is the relationship between the *basileia* and the Church? It is a question that has exercised the minds of theologians for centuries. Some have identified the two, arguing that the Church is the Kingdom on earth. Others have sharply distinguished them, seeing the Kingdom as a future, eschatological reality, and the Church as a temporary, historical institution.
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The truth, as so often in theology, lies somewhere in between. The Church is not the Kingdom, but it is the *sign* and *instrument* of the Kingdom. It is the community that has been called out to bear witness to the sovereignty of God, to embody its values, and to work for its realization in the world. As such, the Church is always under judgment by the Kingdom it proclaims. It is always in danger of becoming an end in itself, of confusing its own institutional interests with the interests of God’s reign.
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The *basileia* is not a territory to be conquered, but a reality to be received. It is a gift, a *charis*, which demands a response. That response is *metanoia*—a radical turning of the heart and mind, a reorientation of one’s entire life towards God. It is the response of the tax collector who leaves his booth, of the fisherman who leaves his nets, of the woman who pours out her alabaster jar. It is the response of faith, which is not merely an intellectual assent to a set of propositions, but a total commitment to the person of Jesus and the reality of his Kingdom.
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In the end, the *basileia* is the hope of the world. It is the promise that God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven, that justice will roll down like waters, and that peace will kiss righteousness. It is the vision that sustains the weary, that gives courage to the faint-hearted, and that drives the Church forward in its mission of love and service. It is the gospel, the good news, that God is King, and that his Kingdom is near.
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retreated northwards for Raigarh, leaving Kavikalash to make a settlement with the Portuguese from Bhimgarh and Phonda. Shah Alam reached Bicholim on 5th January, 1684, and there demolished the spacious mansions and pleasure-gardens of Shambhuji and Akbar. Three days afterwards a large Mughal fleet rode into Goa harbour with provisions for the Prince's army.
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On arriving near Goa, Shah Alam demanded a huge fee from the Portuguese for having saved them from being plundered by Shambhuji! He then tried to bring the imperial gallivats from the sea up the river of Goa to his camp. This the Portuguese disallowed as likely to endanger the safety of their city, and in revenge the Prince ordered his army to plunder the village of Nerul in Bardes. If we may believe Manucci, he also plotted to seize Goa by treachery. This rupture with the Portuguese was the worst mistake that the Prince could have committed, because it ultimately caused the annihilation of his army through famine.
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From the neighbourhood of Goa Shah Alam marched northwards to Malvan and there blew up with gunpowder the famous white temple and other edifices belonging to the Maratha king. Kudal and Banda (in Savant-vadi) were burnt and Vingurla sacked by him during this expedition. Turning south again he returned to the bank of the Chapora river, (north of Goa), either to establish touch with his provision-vessels or to make a second attempt on the Portuguese capital. (Storia, ii. 286.)
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§ 23. Disastrous retreat of Shah Alam, 1684.
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It was now March and the further progress of the Mughal army was stopped by famine. It had been Aurangzib’s original plan that while Shah Alam’s army would work its way northwards through the Ratnagiri district, another division under Shihab-ud-din would enter Konkan from the north by the Devghat, advance conquering southwards, and join hands with the Prince near Mahad. This second body did indeed gain many victories and looted Nizampur, 11 miles north of Raigarh (27 Dec. Jedhe S., Dil. 182.) But its junction with the Prince now proved impossible.
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As early as September 1683 the Emperor had ordered his governor of Surat to buy four lakhs of maunds of corn there for feeding the Prince’s army in Konkan. (Surat to Bomb. 2nd Oct.) Two months later the Mughal provision-fleet of 12 vessels was ready at Surat and expected to sail for Vingurla and Goa on 21st Dec. (Ibid, 17th Dec.) Portuguese suspicion had prevented the fleet from sailing up the creek of Goa to the Prince’s camp, but in Bardes he received from these vessels a supply of grain.* It was however insufficient for a large army like his own and seems to have been wastefully consumed, while no corn could be secured locally, and famine was raging in Goa. (Storia, ii. 286.) The Prince's only work in Konkan had been, as the English merchants remark, "to range to and fro, as he pleases, with little resistance. He hath taken no stronghold but ruins the country, lays all waste and burns all towns he comes near." (Surat to Hugli, 28th Mar. 1684.) The factors also record the universal report that the Prince and his officers were bribed by Shambhu into wasting their time and men by aimless marches and fruitless raids. (Surat to Co., 30th Nov. 1683.)†
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† 'So long as he [Shambhu] can anyway get money to feed the Umrahs who sell the King's interest and honour daily and not only they but the whole soldiery account Shambhu their bread, so that it is not their interest to destroy him for then they may lose their employment and income, for when the King's occasions require them not they are laid aside' Also Fryer.
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The army ranging along the coast found no forage for their horses, nor food for themselves. "The scarcity in the camp reached an extreme point. Nay more, for some days the very name of grain was unknown. The soldiers through fasting retained only the last breath of their lives." (Ishwardas, 89a.) Just then a consignment of provisions was landed by the Siddi and the Prince returned to the ghat on 20th February.
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∗ Dilkasha says that the Prince received grain twice, Ishwardas says once by ship from the Siddi base of Danda Rajpuri
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His difficulties only thickened. In the narrow Ramghat pass, the air bred a pestilence of such virulence that in a week one-third of his men died, none escaping who was attacked. The horses, elephants and camels perished in an even larger proportion and their carcases poisoned the air. This failure of transport led to a second famine, and "the soldiers had more than enough to undergo." The troopers had to trudge on foot on the death of their remounts, and many of the officers (amirs) even had no horse left to ride on. "Many died of the great heat and thirst they underwent." (Storia, ii. 287, K. K. ii. 292.)
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About the middle of April the Emperor heard the news of the disaster and immediately sent his Chief Paymaster, Ruhullah Khan, with a strong force and many transport beasts and horses to reinforce the Prince (M.A. 242—243) and bring him back in safety. Shah Alam crossed the pass and descended into the Kanara plains. The enemy hovered round, cut off stragglers and plundered the baggage and convoys "in all directions". The miserable remnant of the army, with its woe-begone condition somewhat concealed by the gifts of the Emperor and Khan-i-Jahan on the way, passed some 20 miles west of Indi, and reached Ahmadnagar on 18th May (M.A. 244; Dil. 183)*, without having done anything except burning a few villages and robbing a few towns.