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History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c65: Chapter XLV

History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c65

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English

Contents

Chapter XLV

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THE FALL OF BIJAPUR, 1685-6.

§ 1. Aurangzib's policy towards Bijapur from 1680 to 1683.

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For four years after Dilir Khan's failure and retreat (February 1680), nothing was done by the Mughals against Bijapur, as they were harried and distracted by the fertile audacity of Shambhuji, who raided various points in the imperial dominions with startling rapidity and unexpectedness. The Adil-Shahis got a respite from foreign attack, but it was of no avail to them; their monarchy was now in the last agonies of dissolution, the sad story of which will be unfolded in this chapter.

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After the last invasion under Dilir had been rolled back, the regent Siddi Masaud highly rewarded the victorious Berad chieftain, Pam Nayak. He also released his former favourite Venkatadri Murari from prison (where he had been confined from 12 Aug. 1679 to 12 May 1680), after torturing and fleecing him, though this Brahman's diplomatic skill had detached Sharza Khan from the Mughals and brought him back to the side of his old master, Adil Shah. (B.S. 523.)

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His rebel son Akbar having taken refuge with Shambhuji, Aurangzib hurriedly patched up a peace with the Maharana of Udaipur (14th June, 1681), left Rajputana for the South on 8th Sep., and reached Burhanpur two months later. At this stage, Shambhuji was his only enemy, and no invasion of Bijapur or Golkonda was as yet contemplated. Indeed, Aurangzib wrote a friendly letter to Sharza Khan, the leading general of Bijapur, (13th July, 1681), pressing him to co-operate with the Mughal generals in crushing Shambhuji and recovering the Bijapur territory he had usurped: "The Emperor is going to the Deccan to punish Shambhu and wrest the Bijapuri forts from him. Don't be alarmed, but assist Khan-i-Jahan in this work." Shahar Banu, the Bijapuri princess recently married to Azam, also sent a personal appeal to Sharza (18th July), saying "Help the imperialists loyally for the good of the Bijapur State. Conquer the infidel's possessions." (B.S. 520-21, 528.)*

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But a rupture with Bijapur could not be long averted. No response came from any Adil-Shahi officer to the Emperor's appeal for co-operation with him by recovering what Shambhuji had seized of their master's territory; "they would not leave the side of Shambhu," as the Bijapur historian frankly admits. (B.S. 528.) The Emperor received repeated and clear proofs of the help that the Marathas used to get from the Bijapuri Government. Adil Shah's secret treaty with Shivaji in 1663 had been strengthened by the Maratha king's priceless services in defeating Dilir Khan's attempt on Bijapur in 1679. And in Shambhuji, both Adil Shah and his advisers knew that they had their only reliable friend in the day of need.

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So, Aurangzib decided to increase the pressure on Shambhuji by making a diversion against the Bijapuris and compelling them to concentrate their resources on the defence of their own realm. As early as January 1682, a division under Ruhullah Khan was detached to invade Bijapur territory, evidently the northern frontier of it, which had been a scene of anarchy since the accession of the

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to wage war on Shambhuji, and if they recovered the lands taken from them [by the Marathas], they were to hold them as before in fee......It is said that a great number of Mughal horse has invaded Bijapur and wished to compel the young king to add his weak forces to theirs and attack Shambhuji." [Dutch Rec. Vol. 37.]

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boy-king Sikandar and the outbreak of faction-fights at his Court. The object of this expedition was simply to ravage as much of Bijapuri territory as possible and curb Shambhuji's activity in the Parenda and Sholapur region. The detachment did not effect, nor was it intended to effect, any conquest. It was evidently too small to do anything more than raid defenceless villages and lay corn-fields waste, and it soon returned to headquarters. (M.A. 216-218.)

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On 13th May, 1682, an envoy from Bijapur waited on the Emperor at Aurangabad with a few presents, but these peace-offerings were not accepted. A month later, a much larger force was sent under Prince Azam to enter Bijapur territory. He ravaged the frontier, took the fort of Dharur (about 140 miles north of Bijapur), and tried to fight his way to the environs of the Adil-Shahi capital. The campaign languished for many months, and the Prince had not advanced further south than the Nira river when he was recalled to Court (June 1683). His force was inadequate for the purpose of conquering the vast Adil-Shahi kingdom, and this fact was recognized by the Emperor. After the rainy season, Azam was again sent to invade Bijapur (20th August), but was two months later transferred to Nasik (30th October), and these desultory attacks on Bijapur ceased for a time. (M.A. 218-219, 230, 239; B.S. 529.)

§ 2. Aurangzib actively attacks Bijapuri territory, 1684.

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But on 13th November 1683, the Emperor himself arrived at Ahmadnagar to direct the operations, and a vigorous campaign was begun. On the 13th February following, Azam was sent to Bahadurgarh (Pedgaon), about 45 miles south of Ahmadnagar, and made it his headquarters for a year. The Mughal plan of war at this stage was to establish a number of outposts in the Bijapur territory,—under Azam in the north-west and Khan-i-Jahan in the north-east of that kingdom,—and try to occupy or at least to ravage the surrounding lands. The great energy thrown by both sides into the Maratha war in the first half of 1684 prevented the Mughals from undertaking any serious enterprise against Bijapur. Moreover, during the earlier months of the year, the disastrous march of Shah Alam into South Konkan diverted all the imperial resources into that quarter. Bijapur was besieged in right earnest only as late as March 1685. And we shall have to revert to the internal affairs of that city in order to understand this crisis in its history.

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The condition of Bijapur was now hopeless. Five years' *wazir-ship* at the decadent Court of Adil The first of these, the *Gospel of the Hebrews*, was used by the Jewish Christians of Palestine, and was probably a version of the Gospel of Matthew, though it contained some traditions not found in our canonical books. The *Gospel of the Egyptians* was used by the ascetic sects of Egypt, and was marked by a strong tendency towards mysticism and asceticism. The *Gospel of Peter* was used by the Docetists, and taught that Christ did not really suffer, but only appeared to do so.

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These gospels, and others like them, were not accepted by the Church as a whole, and were gradually lost or suppressed. The Church, however, felt the need for a standard collection of writings that would serve as a guide for faith and practice. This led to the formation of the New Testament canon, a process that took several centuries to complete.

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The first step in this process was the collection of the letters of Paul, which were widely circulated among the churches. Then came the four Gospels, which were accepted as the authoritative accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles and the other epistles were gradually added, and finally the Book of Revelation.

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By the end of the second century, the core of the New Testament was generally accepted by the Church. The process of canonization was not a formal act of a council, but rather a gradual recognition by the churches of the writings that were most valuable for their life and worship. It was only in the fourth century that the canon was formally closed by the councils of the Church.

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The formation of the New Testament canon was a crucial event in the history of the Church. It provided a standard of faith and practice that helped to unify the Church and to protect it from the influence of heretical sects. It also ensured that the teachings of Jesus and the apostles would be preserved for future generations.

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vigorous steps had been taken for the defence of the realm: Sikandar had entrusted this task (3rd March 1684) to his bravest general Sayyid Makhdum, surnamed Sharza Khan, the head of a family famous throughout the Deccan for valour and martial skill. At the same time he invited his vassal Pam Nayak of Wagingera, to come to the capital with his Berad clansmen, who were reputed as the bravest foot-soldiers and best shots in the country.

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On 30th March, a letter was received from Aurangzib, calling upon Adil Shah as a vassal, to supply provisions to the imperial army promptly, allow the Mughal troops a free passage through his territory, supply a contingent of 5 or 6 thousand cavalry for the Emperor's war with the Marathas, abstain from helping or harbouring Shambhuji, and expel Sharza Khan from his country! In the meantime the Mughals continued to appropriate bits of the Adil-Shahi kingdom and establish their own outposts in it. At the end of May, Khan-i-Jahan took possession of Mangalvide and Sangola and their environs. So, Sikandar sent a spirited reply to Aurangzib, demanding that the Mughals should return to him the tribute and territory they had exacted in the past, withdraw their outposts from his dominions, march against Shambhuji through their own territory only, and never make peace with the Maratha king till they had recovered from him and restored to Adil Shah every inch of his territory that Shambhuji or Shivaji had usurped, and, finally, refusing to banish Sharza Khan. (B.S. 530.)

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"The show of friendship which Aurangzib had so long kept up with Adil Shah, was now dispelled, as the Emperor became convinced of Sikandar's unalterable determination to support Shambhu." The Mughal generals were now ordered to plant outposts in Bijapuri territory and they at once came into collision with Sharza Khan, who was guarding the land, but whose force was repulsed with heavy loss (near Jālihal.) But even then war did not formally break out; for some months after, Sikandar continued to receive letters and robes of honour from the Mughal Court, and even pretended to be equipping a contingent for co-operating with Prince Azam against the Marathas. In the meantime, he was busy seeking allies. An envoy was sent to Golkonda (30th July), earnestly beseeching aid, and a messenger despatched to Siddi Masaud at Adoni for his advice. The defence of the environs of the capital was entrusted to Chintu Chimna, a Brahman, (18th June), while the premier noble, Nawab Abdur Rauf, with Sharza Khan as his right-hand man, took the command of the field army. (B.S. 532).

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The Bijapuris are said to have made two brisk sallies on the Mughal army in June and inflicted a severe defeat on Azam in August, 1684. (F.R. Surat 109, Karwar to Surat 15 June, Surat to Karwar 22 Aug.)

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In January 1685, Sharza Khan returned to the capital, and a son of Masaud came to deliver his father’s counsels to the Sultan. Shortly before, promise of support had arrived from Golkonda. On 21st February a Maratha contingent under Shambhuji’s *diwan* Melgiri Pandit reached Bijapur and was welcomed by the Sultan from the Zuhrapur gate. Diplomatic relations with the Mughals had already ceased, and both sides were preparing for an appeal to the sword.

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True, there had been another collision between the Mughals who were setting up outposts near Turgal and the Bijapuri troops who opposed it (January), but the war was precipitated at the end of March, when the Mughal army arrived within sight of Bijapur. On 28th March, Khwajah Abdur Rahim, the Mughal envoy, was attacked by the Adil-Shahi troops and the imperialists hastened to his aid. Next day the fort was reconnoitred from the side of Daulatpur (or Khawaspur) and Raz Muhammad’s tomb, and on 1st April 1685 the first trenches were opened and the siege of Bijapur began.* (B.S. 533-534.)

§ 4. City of Bijapur described.

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As the traveller enters the Bijapur district from its northern boundary near Sholapur, he passes through a vast desolate plain, absolutely treeless, uncultivated and untenanted by man as far as the eye can see. For forty miles this stretch of country is a monotonous succession of low wavy uplands which grow a crop of millet during the three months of rain but are covered with dry dust-coloured grass or expose large patches of black trap-rock for the rest of the year. Hidden deep among the uplands are the beds of some streams, with a few trees and hamlets and patches of cultivation, forming a pleasing oasis in the surrounding desert. The landscape is extremely depressing by reason of its barrenness and dreary by reason of its monotony; even the villages look deserted on account of their ruined battlements and houses with flat mud roofs and blind walls all around.

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Half way across this plain the southern horizon is first seen to be pierced by a gigantic faint white bubble,—the largest dome in the world, standing 300 feet above the ground, which dominates the entire landscape. It is the Gol Gumbaz or tomb of Muhammad Adil Shah. Coming nearer, as the railway climbs up from a dip in the ground, Bijapur suddenly bursts into view like a dream city, with its strange mingling of beauty and melancholy, its sadly impressive grandeur derived from palace and tomb. "Far on every side the country is covered with buildings of varied shapes in different stages of decay. A number of tombs, mosques, palaces and towers lie scattered in every direction. To the right (i.e., north-west of the city), the white domes of Pir Amin's tomb gleam in the sunlight, a brilliant contrast to the dark grey ruins in the foreground. In front lie the city's massive walls and bastions, with here and there a stately building towering over the fortifications, while on the left the colossal proportions of the Gol Gumbaz dwarf its surroundings. Still further to the left (i.e., north-east of the city), the plain outside is dotted with tombs, among which is conspicuous the massive dark grey mausoleum of Ain-ul-mulk." (Bomb. Gaz. xxiii.)

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∗ A contemporary official return (Zawabit, 138) tells us that Aurangzib assembled at the siege of Bijapur, 2900 barqandazes, 23 027 ahsham, 110 pieces of artillery, 40 gajnal, 154 shutarnal, 404 (?) banduq, and 7561 maunds of powder The Chahar Gulshan (89a) says that 77,105 horse and foot was the armed strength of the besiegers

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The city walls enclose two and a half square miles of land, forming an ellipse. After crossing the deep moat, 40 to 50 feet broad, we meet the massive and strong walls, varying in height from 30 to 50 feet, with an average thickness of 20 feet and strengthened with 96 bastions besides ten at the gates. The broad masonry platform, which constitutes the top of the walls all around the fort, was protected inside by a battlemented curtain wall ten feet high running from bastion to bastion and loopholed for artillery and small arms. The strongest bastions are three, namely the Lion Tower (Sharzi Burj) on the west, built in 1658, and containing the famous cannon Malik-i-maidan; the Landa Kasab Burj in the south wall, completed in 1662, and armed with the largest gun at Bijapur; and the Firangi Burj, built by a Portuguese general in 1576 with extreme durability and massiveness. Aurangzib seems to have let the Sharzi Burj alone and directed the whole fire of his artillery against the Landa Kasab tower, pitted it with shot-marks, and breached the curtain wall close by. Between this tower and the Firangi Burj is the Mangali gate, which was renamed Fath Darwaza after Aurangzib's victorious entrance into the city through it. In the plain outside, some distance south of this gate, stands the tomb of Ikhlas Khan, a convenient advanced post for the besiegers, which changed hands repeatedly during the siege, as its battered condition graphically tells the visitor to this day. As for the five large gateways in the city wall, they were impregnable with the siege appliances known in the 17th century and Aurangzib wisely made no attempt to force them.

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In the heart of the city there is an inner fortification, called the *qila ark* or citadel, forming a circle about a mile in circumference and "a perfect treasury of artistic buildings. Its defences are a strong curtain, with, on the south and east, several bastions of considerable strength, a *fausse braye* or rampart mound and ditch, the whole well-built and massive. The *fausse braye* is very wide, especially on the north and north-west, where a second wet ditch was cut at the foot of the rampart, which on these sides was very low." But "the site of the citadel is unfavourable. It is almost the lowest part of the city and is commanded by the rising ground on the north-west, on which is built the *Upri Burj*. It seems unlikely that such a citadel could have ever stood for any time against an enemy armed with artillery who had forced the city fortifications." But all the royal palaces and public offices of the Adil Shahs were situated within this inner enclosure. (Bomb. Gaz. xxiii.)

§ 5. Siege of Bijapur begins.

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The Mughals began their siege operations on 1st April, 1685, when Ruhullah Khan and Qasim Khan opened their trenches on the Shahpur or N. W. side, half a mile from the fort-wall, with a large tank in their rear, while Khan-i-Jahan ran his approaches near Zuhrapur or Rasulpur in the west, a mile from the wall, enjoying the shelter of this large suburb. The supporting army of Prince Azam was posted far in the south-west, on the bank of the Tungabhadra,* where the Bijapuris under Sharza attacked it early in April, but were routed with heavy loss. (M.A. 256; Dil. 185—186; B.S. 534.)

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The Emperor felt it necessary to go nearer to the scene of war. On 26th April he left Ahmadnagar and on 24th May reached Sholapur, which continued as his headquarters till next year. But at first the Mughal operations were languidly

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*The movements of Azam's divisions in the Karnatak portion of the Bombay Presidency are described fully in the Factory Records (only source) On 19th February 1685, the Karwar factors write, "Gokak, Hubli, and many other places [e g Karwar fort and city] are already in the possession of the Mughal's army In all likelihood they will fall down into these parts after they have taken Bankapur and some other strong places above the Ghat" On 2nd March "The Prince had left Dharwar for Gadak, where the army now lies being about 40,000 horse and four or five hundred elephants And within 4 kos [of him] lies about 15,000 men that belong to the king of Bijapur, who on all occasions retire a little as they find the Mughal's army to approach nearer to them" Again, on 30th April "It is reported that Sharza Khan and Bahlol Khan with about 20,000 men have fought the Mughal's army at Kopal and have killed them a great many men and that the Prince Sultan Azam is wounded" The Surat Council answered Karwar on 18th July, "The news you write of Sultan Azam being wounded and his forces beaten we have confirmed from others to be true" (F R Surat, 109 and 92)

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carried on; of the two generals of the siege army, Khan-i-Jahan left Bijapur for Sholapur and was then sent off to Indi, on 29th May, to guard the line of communications with the base, while Ruhullah Khan was posted to Ahmadnagar on 15th July. Prince Azam arrived with a large army on 14th June and took over the supreme command, halting at the Begam Hauz, due south of the city. A fortnight later he came nearer the fort and began to advance his trenches, run mines and raise batteries.

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The Mughals were proverbially slow and clumsy in taking forts by siege. The soil round Bijapur was, in addition, extremely hard; only a foot or two below the surface one strikes solid rock. (B.S. 536-'39.) The Mughal advance was, therefore, extremely slow and laborious. And the garrison gave them no rest. Following the time-honoured Deccani plan of war, Adil Shah kept 30,000 men in the fort for resisting the besiegers, while another and equally large army was sent out to cut the Mughal communications and raid the imperial territory. For more than a year after its commencement, the siege of Bijapur was in no sense an investment. The Mughals simply made lodgements in the suburbs at two points and tried to batter down or undermine the wall opposite. It was beyond their power to hem the fort round and prevent all ingress and egress. The garrison sallied out whenever they liked, and attacked the siege trenches, while reinforcements and provisions freely entered the fort from outside.

§ 6. Difficulties of the besiegers.

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Allies began to flock to Adil Shah in his distress. On 10th June Siddi Masaud's contingent arrived in response to a pathetic appeal written by Sikandar on 18th April. Next, on 14th August, a Golkonda force, under Ambaji Pandit, arrived, and finally on 10th December a second army from Shambhuji under Hambir Rao.* But the last corps was sent away a few days afterwards to create a useful diversion by ravaging the Mughal dominions,—a task more congenial to the Maratha spirit and military capacity. (B.S. 536.)

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In the meantime the Mughal cause had been further weakened by an open rupture with Golkonda, which Aurangzib with all his efforts could not avert. Before beginning the siege of Bijapur, he had warned Qutb Shah not to help Sikandar in any way, if he cared for his own throne. (B.S. 533.) As early as July 1684, Sikandar had appealed to Abul Hasan for a defensive alliance, and four months later his envoy had returned from Golkonda after winning over the prime minister Madanna Pandit to the wise policy of making all the Deccani Powers stand side by side against the spoiler from the North. Qutb Shah’s chivalry was also touched by the distress of a brother king who was a mere lad of sixteen.

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∗ Jedhe S states that in July Shambhuji ordered Kavi kalash to go to the aid of Bijapur, but the minister himself stayed at Panhala and merely despatched an army under some officers to Bijapur

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Arrived at Sholapur, Aurangzib had sent a small force under Bahramand Khan to watch the Golkonda side, (24th May, 1685.) He soon intercepted a letter from Qutb Shah to his agents at the Mughal Court, promising to send 10,000 men to the help of Sikandar and urging Shambhu to do the same. This new situation had to be met at once, and, therefore, on 28th June Shah Alam was sent with a large army to invade Haidarabad, though the Emperor knew that “this dispersion of forces was sure to cause delay and obstruction to the enterprise against Bijapur.” Khan-i-Jahan who was holding the outpost of Indi, 30 miles n. e. of Bijapur, to guard the route of supplies for the investing army of Azam, was ordered to join Shah Alam. (M.A. 259-261.)

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Prince Azam had arrived close to the fort of Bijapur (29th June, 1685) and infused more vigour into the siege; but the garrison were no less active. In less than a month he had to fight three severe battles with them. On 1st July his trenches were assailed by Abdur Rauf and Sharza Khan, and several Mughal officers were wounded and slain, while an explosion* of the Prince's powder-magazine destroyed 500 foot-musketeers. (M.A. 262; B.S. 536.) Next day the Deccanis fell on the supplies coming to the siege-camp and evidently cut them off. On 25th July a Mughal foraging party was attacked with heavy loss near Mangali, 16 miles south of the city.

§ 7. Famine among Mughal besiegers.

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Nor were the Bijapuris the only enemy that Azam had to face. A famine broke out in his camp; the oft-ravaged neighbourhood of Bijapur could yield no food supply, the roads from the north were closed by the activity of the Marathas and the flooded streams, as the rainy season had now set in. "Grain sold at Rs. 15 a seer, and that too in small quantities." (Dil. 198.) The hungry soldiers ate up their draught cattle and camels, and then began to pine away through lack of food and sleep, because they had to be ever on the alert to repel the daily sorties of the garrison and the attacks of the Bijapuri field army roving in the open. "No food came from any side. The soldiers were greatly weakened and many of them died." (B.S. 536; M.A. 263).

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∗ *Dilkasha*, 201, says that the explosion took place after Aurangzib's arrival at Bijapur, and that the sound of it was heard distinctly at Naldurg, 38 *kos* off. The miserable condition of Azam's army in September (before relief arrived under Firuz Jang) gave rise to strange rumours. Thus the Karwar factors write on 2nd Oct: "It is here reported that the king of Bijapur with the assistance lately received from Golkonda &c., hath given the Mughal forces a battle near Bijapur, and killed them a great many men and taken Prince Sultan Azam prisoner, who hath since taken poison and is dead"!!! (F.R. Surat, 109.)

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For lack of men the Mughal outpost at Indi, midway between Sholapur and Bijapur, had been withdrawn, and thus the road from the base to the siege-camp was closed. (Dil 198; M.A. 266.) Aurangzib saw no other means of saving his son than by ordering him to retire from Bijapur with his army. The Prince held a council of war, and told his chief officer, Ali Khan, "The work of the campaign depends upon the co-operation of my officers. I have received this order from the Emperor. Your advice on the question of war or peace, haste or delay, is a weighty thing. What is your opinion in the present case?" They all voted for a retreat. But the Prince's spirit had been roused; he would not reduce himself to the level of his rival Shah Alam, who had recently come back from Konkan covered with dismal failure. Turning to his officers, Azam exclaimed, "You have spoken for yourselves. Now listen to me. Muhammad Azam with his two sons and Begam will not retreat from this post of danger so long as he has life. After my death, His Majesty may come and order my corpse to be removed for burial. You, my followers, may stay or go away as you like." Then the council of war cried out with one voice, "Our opinion is the same as your Highness's!" (M.A. 263-264.)

§ 8. Mughals at Bijapur reinforced.

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When this Spartan resolution of his son was reported to Aurangzib, he at once took steps to send relief. All the grain-dealers in his camp with their 5,000 pack-oxen were despatched to convey food, some treasure loaded on many hundred spare remounts, and much munition to the Prince. A strong escort under Ghazi-ud-din Khan Bahadur Firuz Jang, left the imperial camp with the party on 4th October, 1685, and fought its way to the famished army. Sharza Khan at the head of 8,000 cavalry, barred their path at Indi,* and during the encounter a detachment of Deccani horse made a swoop and carried off 500 oxen with their loads, from the centre of the Mughal host. But finally the enemy were repulsed, though with the loss of some imperial officers.

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The arrival of Firuz Jang "turned scarcity into plenty in the Mughal camp, and the famished soldiers revived." His next success was the cutting off of a force of 6,000 Berad infantry, each man carrying a bag of provisions on his head, which Pam Nayak tried to smuggle into the fort at night. Firuz Jang, informed of the position of these men by his spies, "fell on them before daybreak and not one of them escaped the Mughal sword." The outpost of Indi was re-established in the middle of October and communication between Bijapur and Sholapur was again made secure. (M.A. 265-'6).

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∗ K. K. ii. 317 gives a graphic account of this battle; Ishwardas 97b, Dil. 199 says that it was fought at Nagthan. M.A. 265.

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The outlook now brightened for the imperialists in other quarters too. Early in October, Haidarabad, the capital of Qutb Shah, was entered by Shah Alam unopposed, its ruler having shut himself up in Golkonda. Many of his officers deserted to Shah Alam, and the king wrote to Aurangzib offering submission. The Mughal control over the Qutb-Shahi State was confirmed in March, 1686, when the prime minister Madanna Pandit—who had pursued a policy of alliance with Bijapur and the Marathas,—was murdered. On 7th June Shah Alam rejoined his father, bringing tribute from Golkonda.

§ 9. Aurangzib goes to the siege.

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By this time (June 1686) the siege of Bijapur had dragged on for 15 months with no decisive result. On 2nd November 1685 the Mughals had captured an elevated gun-platform near Bijapur and seem to have drawn their lines closer round the city.

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(Ishwardas, 98a.) But discord and mutual jealousy broke out among their commanders. The Bijapuris, undismayed by the immense superiority of the Mughal armaments and the confusion and faction fights in their own Government, continued to offer a stubborn opposition, destroying the siege trenches and driving the Mughals back from the walls. (B.S. 537.) The Emperor realized that unless he took the command in person, the fort would not fall. As he told a holy Shaikh of Sarhind, "I had hoped that one of my sons would take the fort; but it is not to be. So, I want to go there myself and see what kind of barrier this Bijapur is that it has not been forced so long." On 14th June 1686 he left Sholapur and on 3rd July reached Rasulpur, a suburb west of the fort. (M.A. 276-'7.) Orders were at once issued to press the siege vigorously. "He ordered Firuz Jang and the Chief of Artillery to work even harder at night than in the day and advance the trenches. The circumference of the fort was divided into sections and distributed among his generals for investment." (B.S. 539.) Working under their master's eyes the sappers carried the galleries to the edge of the moat in a short time and the city was completely beleaguered. But even then it took him 70 days more to capture it.

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The Emperor had brought Shah Alam from Sholapur, and with Shah Alam he had imported the chronic rivalry of his sons into the siege. This Prince, now the eldest living, commanded the sector opposite the north-western or Shahpur gate and wanted to steal a march over his brother Azam, the general in charge of the siege. During his long viceroyalty of the Deccan, Shah Alam had always been friendly to the Sultans of Bijapur and Golkonda, and he now opened a correspondence with Sikandar Adil Shah and his officers to effect the peaceful surrender of the fort and thus rob Azam of the credit of being called the captor of Bijapur. One of his confidential officers, Shah Quli, even used to enter the fort in secret to negotiate with the garrison, while Sayyid Alam, the agent of Sikandar, used to visit the Prince in return. "It was impossible for these intrigues to remain a secret, with a jealous rival like Azam Shah watching close at hand. The drunken ruffian and babbler Shah Quli, when visiting the trenches to change the guards, used to shout to the Bijapuris on the wall, 'These are your friends. Take care not to shoot your muskets artillery and stones this way.' The matter became the talk of the camp and reached the ears of Muhammad Azam Shah and of the Emperor." (K.K. ii. 320-321.) Shah Quli was arrested and put to torture and betrayed the whole plot and the names of his accomplices among the Prince's servants. Shah Alam was censured, but he disavowed Shah Quli. Some of the officers incriminated were thrown into prison and the others were expelled from the camp* (28th Aug.), and the Emperor's heart grew bitter against his eldest surviving son. (M.A. 293; Ishwardas, 100b—101a.)

§ 10. Sufferings of the besieged.

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The result of this silly backdoor diplomacy was to "throw the Bijapur enterprise into confusion." The sufferings of the besiegers were aggravated by a scarcity† which was raging in the Deccan on account of the failure of rain that year. (K.K. ii. 317.) But the sufferings of the besieged were ten times worse. The Mughals could now draw their supplies from all parts of India, the Bijapuris had to depend solely on their sterile neighbourhood. As the lines of investment were drawn closer round the city, the supply failed altogether. "Countless men and horses died within the fort," and from lack of horses the Deccanis could not follow their favourite tactics of hovering round the enemy and cutting off stragglers and transport. (K.K. ii. 322; Dil. 202.)

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∗ M.A. 293 says that some of these secret couriers were executed

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† Ishwardas draws a lurid picture of the famine of grain and fodder in the Mughal camp and the consequent epidemic of fever and flux But the official history and Dilkasha (whose author was present in the camp by deputy) are silent about it. I fear that Ishwardas has transferred to the siege of Bijapur what happened at the siege of Golkonda a year later

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In the extremity of the siege, a deputation of Muslim theologians issued from the city and waited upon Aurangzib in his camp, pleading, "You are an orthodox believer, versed in Canon Law, and doing nothing without the warrant of the Quran and the decrees of theologians. Tell us, how you justify this unholy war against brother Muslims like us." Aurangzib was ready with his reply. "Every word you have spoken is true. I do not covet your territory. But the infidel son of the infernal infidel (meaning Shambhuji) stands at your elbow and has found refuge with you. He is troubling Muslims from here to the gates of Delhi, and their complaints reach me day and night. Surrender him to me and the next moment I shall raise the siege." (B.S. 542.) The scholars were reduced to silence.

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Shortly after Aurangzib's arrival the sap had been carried to the edge of the moat, but the filling up of the ditch seemed an impossible task. "From the fort walls the artillery struck down whosoever reached the edge of the ditch. None durst show his head. For three months the broad and deep moat remained unfilled. Then it was proclaimed that every man throwing a basket of earth into the moat would get four annas for it. But when many of the men were struck down, the labourers gave up the work. Then one Rupee and finally one gold coin were given as the reward for throwing one basket of clay. The work was now done incessantly. Every man or beast that died was dragged and flung into the ditch. Nay more, some godless work-people, inspired by greed, threw living men and women into the ditch and took away their money! By dint of hard exertion many of the trenches were carried to the moat and it was almost filled up." (Ishwardas, 101 b.)

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When this stage was reached, Aurangzib on 4th September advanced his tent from two miles in the rear to a place immediately behind the trenches. Thither he rode fully armed, by a covered lane, and received the salute of the investing officers. Next he rode to the edge of the moat to inspect the battery raised to command the fort bastion and to learn for himself why the conquest was delayed. The Mughal troops, inspired by the Emperor's presence and words, attempted an assault on the wall opposite. But it failed. The Bijapuris fired briskly at him and his cortege, inflicting much loss. (Ishwardas, 102 a; M.A. 278.)

§ 11. The Fall of the last Adil Shah.

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Bijapur fell a week after this date, but not to assault. At these proofs of the grim determination of Aurangzib and the completeness of his preparations, the garrison lost heart. The cause of the Adil-Shahi monarchy was hopeless: the king was a plaything in the hands of selfish nobles, the administration could not possibly be reformed, the dynasty could not be restored to real power and prosperity, and all hope of help from outside was gone. The future was absolutely dark. For what master and with what prospects would the Bijapuri generals continue their resistance to the bitter end? Even to Sikandar Adil Shah himself it was hardly a change for the worse to pass from the condition of a puppet under his "mayors of the palace" to that of a pensioner under Aurangzib.

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So judging, Sikandar and his officers decided on capitulation, as the only means of preventing useless bloodshed. (B.S. 540.) The garrison had by this time shrunk to 2,000 men. (Dil. 203.) In the night of 9th September the secretaries of the two Bijapuri leaders, Nawab Abdur Rauf and Sharza Khan, waited on Firuz Jang and discussed terms of surrender. Next night their masters themselves visited the Mughal general and agreed on behalf of Sikandar to yield the fort. On the 11th they repeated the visit and were introduced to Aurangzib, who received them with favour.

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Sunday, 12th September, 1686, saw the downfall of the Bijapur monarchy. Amidst the tears and lamentations of his subjects who lined the streets, Sikandar, the last of the Adil-Shahi Sultans, gave up his ancestors' throne and issued from the capital of his house, at one o'clock in the afternoon, in charge of Rao Dalpat Bundela and some other imperial officers whom Firuz Jang had sent into the fort. The fallen monarch cast a last look at the royal city, henceforth to be widowed of her lord, and passed out of the Shahi gate of the citadel towards Aurangzib's camp in Rasulpur. As soon as he came in sight, the imperial band struck up the music of triumph proclaiming far and wide the crowning success of Mughal arms. Firuz Jang with many other nobles of high rank advanced to the gate to welcome the captive and lead him to the Emperor.

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Meantime the large tent which served as the Hall of Public Audience in Aurangzib's camp, had been richly decorated for this historic scene. "All the high grandees and *mansabdars*, great and small, had by order come fully armed to the Hall and each taken his stand at his proper place. Bahramand Khan, the superintendent of the Private Audience Chamber, marshalled the ranks and regulated the ceremony." When Sikandar arrived at the door of the tent, the Chief Paymaster, Ruhullah Khan, with a train of high officers, welcomed him and ushered him into the Presence. The fallen monarch made his bow at the foot of the conqueror's throne. His extreme beauty and combined grace of youth and royalty excited universal admiration and pity for his fate. Even Aurangzib was touched: he spoke soothingly to Sikandar, "God's grace be on you! You have acted wisely and chosen your own good. I shall exalt you with many favours and gifts. Be composed in mind." Then he seated Sikandar on his right hand, close to his grandson Muizz-ud-din, and presented him with a gorgeous robe of honour, a dagger set with jewels, worth Rs. 7,000, a pearl necklace with an emerald pendant, worth Rs. 13,000, a jewelled crest (kalgi), and a costly mace. The deposed Sultan was enrolled among the Mughal peers with the title of Khan (lord), and a pension of one lakh of Rupees a year was settled on him. The princes and nobles present shouted their congratulations and made the customary presents to the Emperor.

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After the vesper prayer, Sikandar was given leave to retire and was conducted to the tents erected for him and his family within the enclosure of the imperial residence. All the Bijapuri officers were taken over into Mughal service, their chiefs, Abdur Rauf and Sharza Khan, were created 6-hazaris with the titles of Dilir Khan and Rustam Khan respectively. Imperial officers took possession of Bijapur and attached Sikandar's property. (Ishwardas, 104; M.A. 280; Dil. 202.)

§ 12. Aurangzib enters Bijapur.

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A week afterwards, Aurangzib's tent was removed from Rasulpur to a tank a mile outside the Allapur gate. That day (19th September) the victor, seated on a portable throne, rode into the fort by way of the trenches of Saf Shikan Khan and the southern or Mangali gate, which had once been chosen for the assault. Along the roads of the city he marched, scattering handfuls of gold and silver coins right and left, and viewed the fort walls and bastions and the palaces within the citadel. Then he went to the Jama Masjid and rendered two-fold prayers to God for His favours. In Sikandar's palace he rested for some hours and received congratulatory offerings from his courtiers. All paintings on the walls drawn in violation of the Quranic law that man should not presumptuously vie with his Creator by depicting living beings, were ordered to be erased, and an inscription recording Aurangzib's victory was placed on the famous cannon Malik-i-maidan. In the evening the Emperor returned to his camp amidst a salvo of artillery. The Mangali gate was repaired and newly named the Gate of Victory (Fath Darwaza). (Ishwardas 105; Dil. 202; M.A. 281.)

§ 13. Bijapur in ruin.

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Complete desolation settled on the city of Bijapur after the fall of its independent dynasty.

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From a royal capital it became the seat of a provincial governor. The revenue of a kingdom was no longer spent on it; there was no resident royalty or nobility to foster the fine arts, no Court to maintain a vast crowd of idle but cultured dependents. Two years after its conquest, a terrible plague swept away more than half its population. A few years later, Bhimsen noticed how the city and its equally large suburb Nauraspur looked deserted and ruined; the population was scattered, and even the abundant water-supply in the city wells had suddenly grown scanty! (Dil. 203; M.A. 310.) Bijapur had formerly been a city of splendid sepulchres; and it henceforth continued as a dismal example of departed greatness,—a vast city covered with "long lines of fallen houses, ruined mansions and lonely patches of jungle, stretching far and near in a waste whose desolation glimpses of noble buildings, some fairly preserved, others in ruins, make the more striking... Half its interior is a dreary waste, with almost nothing save fallen palaces and roofless dwellings overgrown with custard apple and other wild shrubs, while an occasional unharmed tomb or mosque makes the surrounding desolation the more complete." "Mournful as is the desolation, the picturesque beauty of the buildings, the fine old trees and the mixing of hoary ruins and perfect buildings form an ever changing and impressive scene." (*Bombay Gazetteer*, xxiii, 568, 573.) Above the whole scene the lofty domes of many kingly tombs brood in silent but winkless reverie upon the buried royalty and departed greatness of a city that was the queen of Southern India for a century.

§ 14. Death of Sikandar Adil Shah.

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We may here conveniently follow the last Adil-Shahi Sultan to his grave. After being carried about in the Emperor's train for some time, and begging in vain for the trans-Krishna district of his late kingdom to be given to him as a fief, he was lodged in the State-prison of Daulatabad. Here in a few small apartments almost overhanging the steep bare side of the hill, he sighed out many years of his life in the company of a brother in misery, Abul Hasan, the deposed Sultan of Golkonda. Later, he was again carried about with the camp of Aurangzib, a captive within the limits of the gulalbar tents, in the keeping of Hamid-ud-din Khan Bahadur. In this condition he died on 3rd April, 1700, at the foot of Satara fort, which Aurangzib was then besieging. (*Akhbarat*, 44/52.) He had not yet completed 32 years of age. Having ascended the throne when a boy of four only, he had passed 14 years as an impotent puppet in the hands of his ministers and another fourteen years as Aurangzib's prisoner.[*] (B.S. 541.)

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According to Sikandar's dying wish, his mortal remains were carried to Bijapur and buried at the foot of the sepulchre of his spiritual guide, Shaikh Fahimullah, in a roofless enclosure. As the bier of the last of the Adil Shahs entered the capital of his fathers, the whole city went into mourning; "thousands of women wept, broke their bracelets and performed such other ceremonies as if they had been widowed." (B.S. 545.)

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And well they might do so. True, their king had been deposed fourteen years ago, and during his whole reign he had never once governed by his own will. But under him they had at least had a king of their own; they had formed a nation and an independent State, instead of being a mere province of an alien empire, ruled by a mere officer who had to take his orders from a capital a thousand miles distant. Even a subject race liveth not by bread alone.

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∗ B.S., 544, tells a story that Aurangzib murdered Sikandar by means of a poisoned melon, in order to deprive the old Adil-Shahi officers of the plea that they had a master other than Aurangzib. The story has a Manuccian ring, and rightly finds a place in *Storia do Mogor*, iii. 195. The author of B.S. qualifies his statement by adding the pious cry, "The burden of proof lies on the original narrator!"