History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c77.s5: § 8. Imperial camp at Khawaspur flooded.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c77.s5
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§ 8. Imperial camp at Khawaspur flooded.
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After five weeks' rest at Bhushangarh, the imperial camp was shifted (on 30th August 1700), to Khawaspur,† a few miles off, where food-stuffs and grass were abundant. Khawaspur stands on the left bank of the Nandani, a small waterless stream at that point. The tents of the army covered both its banks and even its dry bed, which in that season presented "only the mirage of water." But in the night of 1st October, while the men were fast asleep, a high flood caused by heavy and untimely rainfall on the hills, came suddenly sweeping through the river bed, overtopped its banks and spread over the plains beyond, "turning the land into one sheet of water." Many men and animals perished; many more, including even the nobles, were left absolutely poor and naked; nearly all the tents and property were damaged. Happily, the water went down early in the morning, otherwise "not one man would have survived." [M. A. 431, K. K. ii. 475.]
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∗ 7 m. s. of Aundh, 10 m. s. of Vaduj, and 30 m. s. e. of Satara in a straight line. [Atlas, 40 N. W.]
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† I conjecturally place it on the Nandani river (Nandhi in Atlas), west of Bhushangarh, and not on the Yerla (east of B.) which has an unfailing water supply. Bhimsen (134a) says that it stood on the river Man, which is impossible, if we accept the statement of the Masir-i-Alam. that Khawaspur was only one march from Bhushangarh. There is a Khawaspur (17.30 N. 75.1 E.) on the Man river (Atlas, sheet 40 N. E.) ; but it is 36 m. east of Bhushangarh, and 14 m. s. e. of Mhasvad.
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When the flood first struck the camp, a little before midnight, and the tents began to fill with water, men tried to run to safety, but could see no path of escape in the darkness, only waves on all sides. A loud cry arose throughout the army. The Emperor was in his privy when this universal outcry reached his ears. Imagining that the Marathas had burst into the camp, he rose in alarm, but stumbled and dislocated his right knee. The doctors failed to set it properly, and he remained a little lame for the rest of his life.* The Court flatterers used to console him by saying that it was the heritage of his ancestor Timur the Lame and a token that he would repeat the victories and success of that world-conqueror! [K. K. 476, *Storia* iii. 255, *Dil.* ii. 134a.]
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∗ He took his bath of recovery, on leaving the sick-bed, on 30th November. [Akhbarat.]
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But vigorous efforts were made to replenish his army. Orders were sent to the governors of Northern India to enlist strong men and buy good horses in every province and send them to the Deccan. Two thousand horses were bought in Kabul, and 2,000 mares locally, besides the remounts purchased in other provinces. The new recruits began to arrive in January 1701.
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The Marathas put the misfortunes and weakness of the imperialists to the best account. In addition to their normal raids, Hanumant Rao* plundered the *thana* of Khatau and killed its Mughal officer Ramchand (a Maratha), 16 August, 1700. The Berad chief, Pidia Nayak, posted his infantry all over the Bijapur district levying *chauth*, while the Marathas plundered up to the very tank of Shahpur, outside Bijapur city, (*c.* 15th Nov.) Ranuji killed the Mughal thanadar of Bagehwari (30 m. s. e. of Bijapur) and looted that outpost as well as Indi (north-east of Bijapur city.)
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The camp was broken up on 16th Dec. 1700, and the city of Miraj was reached on 1st January 1701. Here the Emperor spent the month of fasting (29 Jan.—27 Feb.) and received during the interval the new recruits and materials sent up from the provinces.* The imperial Paymaster Mukhlis Khan (a grand-nephew of the prime minister of Persia) died on 3rd January and was buried in the tomb-garden of the saint Sayyid Shams-ud-din in Miraj. [M. A. 434.]
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∗ His adopted son Anantaji died of wounds received in this battle, and Hanumant himself was soon afterwards taken ill of dropsy (swelling of the body.) [*Akhbarat.*]