History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c65.s8: § 9. Aurangzib goes to the siege.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c65.s8
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§ 9. Aurangzib goes to the siege.
v4.c65.s8.1
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.
v4.c65.s8.2
(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.
v4.c65.s8.3
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.)