History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c64.s16.11

v4.c64.s16.11

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.)†