History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c68.s7.1

v4.c68.s7.1

Indeed, his troops sorely needed to be heartened by appeals to supernatural aid. The siege operations had ceased to make any progress for some time past, on account of the confusion in the artillery branch. Saf Shikan Khan, quarrelling with the commander-in-chief, had resigned the supreme command of the artillery, and the post had been filled by the cowardly Salabat Khan and then by the sleepy Ghairat Khan. The enemy's fire was still unsubdued, and the ditch far from filled up. The Mughals also now fell into the grip of famine. During the preceding year there had been an utter failure of rain throughout the Deccan, and the millets (*jawari* and *bajra*) which are the chief food crops of the peninsula, had dried up on their stalks. In the Haidarabad district, rice was the staple produce; but the war had prevented the sowing of the fields, and this fertile region had become a desert. The Deccanis and their Maratha allies infested the roads and prevented the transport of grain to the Mughal camp. Then, in June, the rain descended in torrents, the swollen water-courses and rivers became impassable, the roads were turned into quagmires. No provisions could reach the besiegers even from their neighbourhood. To crown their misery, terrible reverses fell on them in quick succession at this time.