History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c80.s3.1

v5.c80.s3.1

The effect of the enemy's robbery and stoppage of rent from the Mughal officers' jagirs was aggravated by a long-continued famine. "Nowhere south of the Narmada could grain be found cheaper than six seers a Rupee,"—while in certain periods it sold in the imperial camp for two seers or even less. Hence, "the condition of the Mughal army grew worse from the high price of grain and the devastation of jagirs, while the resources of the Marathas increased through robbery. They even attacked walled cities like Haidarabad, Bijapur, Aurangabad, and Burhanpur. When the Emperor was marching from Khed to Wagingera (Nov. 1704), the Marathas plundered his baggage near Bahadur-garh and set fire to much that they could not carry off. This year their audacity was even greater than in the past. Out of the capital cities of the eight chief subahs of the empire, population has decreased in the three Deccan towns of Bijapur, Haidarabad and Burhanpur, while the villages round them have been totally ruined. From the Narmada southwards, throughout the entire Deccan, in every pargana and village, the Marathas have spread like ants and locusts." [Dil. ii. 146a, 149, 138b.]