History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c85.s5.10

v5.c85.s5.10

How impossible of realisation were the promises of bribes made by the Government to enemy captains and ministers and how ruinous was the price at which forts were bought by Aurangzib is strikingly illustrated by the case of Matabar Khan, the wise and able governor of Kalian. He had secured the capture of some forts in the Nasik and Thana districts by spending Rs. 1,20,000 out of his own pocket in bribes to their commandants and his own army expenses; but the Emperor in return granted him only Rs. 30,000 or a quarter of his outlay, and even this small sum remained unpaid for years afterwards. If a minor Maratha hill-fort cost on an average Rs. 45,000 in cash to take it peacefully, the Emperor might well despair of taking all of them at this rate. And yet he obstinately went on capturing fort after fort by heavy bribery or by regular sieges which were ten times more costly. As Khafi Khan tells us, "Most of Aurangzib's generals, whether posted in far-off provinces or conducting sieges under his eyes, after some fighting used in the end to secure the capitulation of the forts by bribing the qiladars. The Emperor was informed of it by his spies, and used to pay to the officer who had thus contrived the surrender the exact amount of the bribe (neither more, nor less), under the name of reward"! [ii. 503.]