History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c65.s4: § 5. Siege of Bijapur begins.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c65.s4
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§ 5. Siege of Bijapur begins.
v4.c65.s4.1
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.)
v4.c65.s4.2
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
v4.c65.s4.3
*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)
v4.c65.s4.4
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.
v4.c65.s4.5
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.