History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c66.s5.1

v4.c66.s5.1

The active help that he gave to Bijapur during its last siege brought his quarrel with the Mughals to a head and sealed his fate. Aurangzib had begun his attack on that fort (in March 1685) by warning Abul Hasan not to assist Sikandar Adil Shah in any way. Next, as a precaution he had, immediately after his arrival at Sholapur (24th May), detached Bahramand Khan to watch the Haidarabad frontier. In the imperial camp at Sholapur the two Golkonda envoys were kept under watch and their correspondence was opened by the Mughal police. At the end of June, a letter from Abul Hasan to these agents was intercepted, in which he had written, "The Emperor is a great man, and has acted magnanimously up to this time, but now, finding Sikandar a helpless orphan, he has laid siege to Bijapur and pressed him hard. It is, therefore, necessary that while the Bijapur army and Shambhu with his countless hordes are offering resistance from one side, I should, from this side, send 40,000 men under Khalilullah Khan to enter into the war. We shall then see on which front the Emperor can meet and repel his enemies." (B.S. 533; M.A. 259-260.)