History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c77.s3: § 4. Attempts to storm Satara fail.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c77.s3
- Language
- English
§ 4. Attempts to storm Satara fail.
v5.c77.s3.1
Tarbiyat Khan by hard labour dug a mine 24 yards long and carried it under the fort-wall. But assault by breaching was deemed inadvisable. Then, a surprise escalade was attempted by 2,000 Mavlés in Mughal pay,—who were experts in hill-climbing,—on 23rd January, an hour before dawn. Three years' salary was paid to them in advance to inspire them to the deed of daring. But the garrison were warned by some friends outside and the attempt failed.
v5.c77.s3.2
Then Ruhullah Khan carried another mine under the fausse braye (rauni) of the fort, on the other side of the gate. On 13th April the two mines were fired. The first killed many of the garrison and buried the havladar Pragji Prabhu under the debris of the wall, but he was dug out alive. The second exploded outwards with disastrous consequences to the Mughals. A tower was blown up and fell upon the Mughal troops densely assembled at the foot of the wall for the assault. Nearly two thousand of them, including 500 Mavlés, perished.
v5.c77.s3.3
This explosion made a breach in the wall, 20 yards wide. Some brave imperialists, notably Baji Chavan Daflé, the son of Satva Daflé (the founder of the State of Jath in the Bijapur district), ran up to the top of the wall, shouting to their comrades, "Come up! there is no enemy here!" But none followed them; the men in the Mughal trenches who survived were too dazed and alarmed by the catastrophe to stir outside. The garrison now recovered from their surprise, and rushing up to the breach, slew the gallant forlorn hope.
v5.c77.s3.4
The huge raised platform had collapsed and its guns lay overturned on the hillside. The Mavle infantry, saddened by the loss of 500 of their kinsmen and comrades and unable to recover their bodies from under "that hill of stone and clay," at night set fire to the entrenchments, which were entirely made of wood, so as to ensure the Hindu form of funeral for their dead! The fire burnt for a week and these costly siege-works were reduced to ashes. [M. A. 419.]
v5.c77.s3.5
§ 5. Satara capitulates, 21st April, 1700.
v5.c77.s3.6
Meantime Rajaram had died (March) and his minister Parashuram offered submission to the Mughals. Tarbiyat Khan had demolished 70 yards of the fort walls, 400 of the garrison had been killed by the mines. Considering all these facts, Subhanji, the qiladar of Satara, lost heart and made terms with the Emperor through Prince Azam. On 21st April he hoisted the imperial flag on his fort and vacated it with the garrison the next day. Subhanji was taken into the Emperor's service as a 5-hazari zat (2,000 troopers) with a cash reward of Rs. 20,000, besides many presents. His relatives and followers were also enlisted.*
v5.c77.s3.7
The fort was renamed Azamtara in honour of Prince Md. Azam.
v5.c77.s3.8
§ 6. Parli besieged.
v5.c77.s3.9
Satara fell on 21st April, 1700. On that very day Fathullah Khan was sent in advance to open trenches before Parli, six miles west of Satara. This fort had been the seat of Shivaji's guru Ramdas Swami and it was serving as the head-quarters of the Maratha Government while Satara was invested by the enemy. The siege materials used at Satara were quickly transferred to Parli, and the Emperor arrived before the fort on 30th April. The Mughal lines of investment encircled the hill.
v5.c77.s3.10
∗ M. A. 410-420; Akhbarat (years 43 and 44); Ahkam (my ed.) § 71.
v5.c77.s3.11
Parashuram, the chief revenue officer of the Maratha Government, being disheartened by the death of Rajaram and the fall of Satara, escaped from Parli and sent to beg for terms of peace. Parli, however, continued its resistance under his subordinates, with whom he frequently corresponded from outside.
v5.c77.s3.12
But the invaders suffered terribly from excessive rain and the scarcity of grain and fodder. Aurangzib held grimly on. Fathullah's covered way having reached the foot of a big sloping rock in front of the smaller gate of the fort, his men scaled it with ladders on 4th June. The general wished to hold the top of the rock, mount guns there, and batter down the fort-gate. A few of his men had entered the fort pell-mell with the fugitives, but they were killed, and the garrison, soon recovering from the panic, shut the door and shot down the Mughals standing unsheltered on the rock. They also blew up a mine previously laid by them under the road leading from this rock to the gate. Fathullah had, therefore, to abandon his gain after losing 60 or 70 men.
v5.c77.s3.13
Terms were now made with the qiladar of Parli.
v5.c77.s3.14
and he evacuated the fort (on 9th June) for a bribe. The old and neglected mosque built within it during the Bijapuri occupation was restored and used again for prayers, while the new temple of Shivaji's reign was demolished. "Thus was verified," as the pious official chronicler writes, "the Quranic verse, *Truth came and falsehood disappeared*." The fort was newly named Nauras-tara. (*M. A.* 428, Hamid-ud-din's *Ahkam* § 17.)