History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c65.s2.1

v4.c65.s2.1

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.