The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c26.41

c26.41

Thūn (First Siege). In another instance the attempt to take a place by starvation was not successful. Thūn was a fort built by the ancestors of the Jāṭ rajahs of Bhartpur, and it was their chief place of strength before they removed to Bhartpur. It was situated somewhere between Dīg and Gobardhan, to the west of Mathurā. In 1716 the cup of Churāman’s transgressions being full, it was resolved to proceed against him, and the duty was confided to Rajah Jai Singh Sawāe of Amber. Thūn having been completely invested, the siege began on the 19th Nov. 1716. The fortress was provided with lofty walls and a deep ditch filled from springs, and round it spread a thick and thorny jungle “through which a bird could hardly make its way”. Supplies were abundant; indeed (though this is probably an exaggeration) there were, it was said, grain, salt, ghī, tobacco, cloth and firewood sufficient for twenty years. When the siege was imminent, Churāman had forced all merchants and traders with their families to quit the place, leaving their goods behind them. He made himself personally responsible for compensation, if he gained the day, and as the property could not be removed, the owners gave their consent without much demur. Churāman’s son, Muḥkam Singh, and his nephew, Rūpā, issued from the fort and gave battle in the open. In his report of the 21st Dec. 1716, the Rājah claimed a victory. He next cut down the trees round the fort, and erected a large number of small guard-houses, in which he placed his men. A large cannon was sent to him from Dihlī, while three hundred mans of gunpowder, one hundred and fifty mans of lead, and five hundred rockets were supplied from the arsenal at Āgrah. The siege dragged on for twenty months, and even in the end Thūn was not taken. The rains of 1717 were very late in coming, prices rose very high, and great expense fell on the Rajah in bringing supplies from his own country of Amber. In January 1718 the Rajah reported that he had had many encounters with the Jāts, in which he had overcome them, but owing to support at Court, they were not willing to yield. Soon after this Sayyad Khān Jahān, Bārhah, a near relation of the wazīr, negotiated a peace over Jai Singh’s head, and Churāman was allowed to settle matters by offering a tribute of thirty lakhs of rupees to the government, and a present of twenty lakhs for the minister himself. Rajah Jai Singh was then recalled.