No More Learning

In 1671 an order was issued that the revenue collectors
of crown lands must all be Muslims and that the Hindu head-clerks
and accountants in all provinces and taluqs (estates) should be dis-
missed in order to make room for Muhammadans. The enforcement
of this order was found to be impossible on account of the lack of
competent Muslims, and therefore the emperor had later to tolerate
Hindus in half of these public posts. In 1668 Hindu religious fairs
were forbidden throughout the empire, and in 1695 all Hindus, with
the exception of Rajputs, were forbidden to ride in palanquins, on
elephants or good horses, and to carry arms.
Forcible opposition to temple destruction was offered only in
Rajputana, Malwa, Bundelkhand and Khandesh, which were remote
from the centre of the imperial authority, and even there only when
the emperor was not present. But we read of reprisals in the second
half of the reign by certain Rajput and Maratha chiefs, who de-
molished converted mosques in retaliation or stopped the chanting
of the call to prayer in their locality. In some places the jizya
collector was expelled after plucking his beard out.
The first extensive outbreak of Hindu reaction against this policy
of persecution took place among the sturdy Jat peasantry of the
Muttra district, where the local commandant 'Abdun-Nabi was a
bigoted oppressor. In 1669 the Jats rose under a leader named Gokla
of Tilpat, killed 'Abdun-Nabi, and after keeping the whole region in
turmoil for a year, were suppressed only after a bloody contest with
a strong imperial force under Hasan 'Ali Khan. In 1672 came the
Satnami rising, which, by disturbing the Narnaul district close to
Delhi and interrupting the grain supply of the capital, produced a
much greater sensation than its importance justified. These people,
popularly called Mundiyas or "shavelings" from their practice of
shaving off all the hair, even the eyebrows, from their faces, were a
unitarian sect forming a close brotherhood among themselves, honest,
industrious and earnest like the Puritans. A petty wrangle between
a Satnami peasant and a foot-soldier of the local collector at once
swelled into a mass-conflict through the soldier's violence and the
solidarity of the Satnamis. The quarrel soon took on the colour of a


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241
AURANGZIB (1658-1681)
holy war against the destroyer of Hinduism. An old prophetess
appeared among the sectaries and promised them invulnerability
through her spells. The movement spread like wildfire. The local
officers sent out troops in small parties, which were successively
defeated, and the victories only raised the confidence of the rebels
and confirmed the tale of their magical powers. Narnaul was looted
and a rebel administration set up in the district around it. The alarm
even reached Delhi. Superstitious terror of the Satnamis' magical
power demoralised the imperial troops. At last Aurangzib was
roused. He sent a large army under Ra'dandaz Khan with artillery
and a detachment of the imperial guards. The emperor, who had
the reputation of a saint working miracles ('Alamgir, zinda pir), wrote
out prayers and magical figures with his own hand and ordered these
papers to be sewed on to the banners of his army in order to coun-
teract the enemy's spells! After a most obstinate battle, two thousand
of the Satnamis fell on the field, many more were slain in the pursuit,
and the country was pacified.
The Sikh sect which Baba Nanak (1469-1538) had founded at the
beginning of the sixteenth century was entirely transformed from a
religious body into a military brotherhood in the course of the
seventeenth century. Though Aurangzib's policy and action com-
pleted this change, it had begun earlier than his reign and was in
fact latent in the racial character of the main element of the Sikh
population, namely the Jats. Nanak had merely aimed at spiritual
liberation by means of humility, prayer, self-restraint, searching of
the heart and fixed gaze on the one God-"the True, the Immortal,
the Self-existent, the Invisible, the Pure" (alakh niranjan). He
rejected idols and incarnations as abominations and denounced set
prayers and dead ritual. In fact, he made a surprising approach to
the basic principles of Islam, though he denounced the Muslims of
his age as base perverts and his modern followers are bitterly anta-
gonistic to that sect. Nanak's successors in the leadership of the
sect-or rather the largest branch of it-were called Gurus, and the
line ended with the tenth Guru, Govind Singh (d. 1708).
The early Gurus won the reverence of the Mughul emperors by
their saintly peaceful lives. But their successors aspired to a temporal
domination for themselves and made military discipline take the
place of moral self-reform and spiritual growth. Under Arjan, the
fifth Guru (1581-1606), the number of Sikh converts greatly increased,
and with them the Guru's wealth. He organised a permanent source
of income : his agents were stationed in every city from Kabul to
Dacca where there was a Sikh to collect the tithes and offerings of
the faithful and transmit this spiritual tribute to the central treasury
at Amritsar. The Guru lived like a king and was girt round by a
body of courtiers called masands (a Hindi corruption of the
Muhammadan title masnad-l-a'la). At the same time he completed


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GROWTH OF SIKH SECT
246
the two sacred tanks at Amritsar, built the first temple for enshrining
the Holy Book (Adi Granth)—-on the site where the Golden Temple
now stands and gave the final shape to their Scriptures by com-
piling a volume of hymns from the works of the principal Indian
saints. But in the last year of his life he made the mistake of blessing
the banners of Khusrav, the rival of Jahangir for the Mughul throne,
and even gave him money help. On the defeat of the rebel, Jahangir
fined the Guru two lakhs of rupees for his collusion with treason.
The Guru refused to pay and died under torture, which was the
usual punishment of revenue defaulters in those days (1606).
His son Har Govind (1606-45) “constantly trained himself in mar-
tial exercises and systematically turned his attention to the chase".
He increased his bodyguard to a small army. He next provoked war
with Shah Jahan by encroaching on that emperor's game preserve
and attacking the servants of the imperial hunt. The first few forces
that were sent against him were defeated by his followers, and his
fame spread far and wide, inducing many men to enlist under his
banners, as they said that no one else had power to contend with
the emperor. But finally his house and property at Amritsar were
seized and he was forced to seek refuge at Kiratpur, in the Kashmir
hills, where he died in 1645. Then followed the peaceful pontificate
of Har Rai (1645-61), a disputed succession between his sons, and
the early death of his chosen heir Har Kishan (1661-64). A wild
scene of rapacity and disorder broke out among the Sikhs; "twenty-
two men of Batala claimed the right to succeed him; these self-made
Gurus forcibly took the offerings of the Sikhs”. But after a time
Tegh Bahadur, the youngest son of Har Govind, succeeded in being
recognised as Guru by most of the Sikhs. After fighting under Ram
Singh (of Amber) in the Assam war he came back to the Punjab
and took up his residence at Anandpur.
While residing here, he was roused to action by Aurangzib's acts
of religious persecution. The emperor had ordered the temples of the
Sikhs to be destroyed and the Guru's agents (masands) to be expelled
from the cities. Tegh Bahadur encouraged the resistance of the
Hindus of Kashmir and openly defied the emperor. Seized and
taken to Delhi, he was called upon to embrace Islam, and on his
refusal was tortured for five days and then beheaded on a warrant
from the emperor (December, 1675).
Now at last an irreconcilable breach took place between the Sikhs
and Islam. Govind Singh, the tenth and last of the Gurus, was not
a man to leave his father's death unavenged. He organised the sect
into the most dangerous and implacable enemy of the Mughul
empire and of the Muslim faith. All his thoughts were directed to
turning the Sikhs into soldiers, to the exclusion of every other aim.
He constantly drilled his followers, gave them a distinctive dress and
a new oath of baptism, and began a course of open hostility to Islam.


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246
AURANGZIB (1658-1681)
!
He harangued the Hindus to rise against Muslim persecution and
severely put down the adoration of Muhammadan saints to which
Sikhs and many Hindus were addicted. As he told his mother, "I
have been considering how I may confer empire upon the Khalsa”,
as the Sikh army was called.
This change he was able to effect because most of his converts
were Jats, the best raw materials for soldiers under proper training
and leadership, naturally fearless, hardy, amenable to discipline, and
ready to march anywhere and face any danger at the prospect of
plunder. Already their religious teaching had knit the Sikhs together
by an implicit faith in their spiritual head and a sense of the closest
brotherhood. Caste distinctions among them were abolished under
orders of Govind and all restrictions about food and drink discarded.
The Sikhs felt themselves to be a chosen people, the Lord's elect,
superior to every other sect. Everything was, therefore, ready for
converting the sect into a military body obedient to the death to its
chief and ever ready to surrender the individual conscience to that
of the Guru. It was as if Cromwell's Ironsides were inspired by the
Jesuits' unquestioning submission to their Superior's decisions on
moral problems.
In the hills of the northern Punjab Govind passed most of his days,
constantly fighting with the hill-rajas from Jammu to Garhwal or
with Mughul officers and local Muslim chiefs who had entered the
hills. Large imperial forces were sent from Sirhind to co-operate
with the hill-rajas against him; but they were usually defeated. His
army went on increasing, as recruits from the Punjab plains flocked
to him for baptism; and he even enlisted Muhammadans. Anandpur,
his stronghold, was five times invested. In the last attack, after
undergoing great hardship and loss, the Guru evacuated the fort
and then entered the Punjab plains, closely pursued by the Mughuls.
At Chamkaur, with only forty followers, he was besieged in a Jat
cultivator's house; but two of his sons were slain and he fled again,
from place to place like a hunted animal, undergoing many adven-
tures and hairbreadth escapes. His two remaining sons were put
to death by the governor of Sirhind (1705). Then the baffled Guru
with a few faithful guards made his way to the Deccan by way of
Bikaner, but returned to northern India on hearing of Aurangzib's
death. In the war of succession among that emperor's sons, he took
the side of Bahadur Shah, and accompanied that monarch when he
marched to Golconda against Kam Bakhsh (1707). Here the Guru
took up his residence at Nander on the Godavari, 150 miles north-
west of Hyderabad, and here he was stabbed to death by an Afghan
follower in 1708.
With him the line of Gurus ended no doubt, but his parting
instructions to his followers had been to make the Sikhs independent
of a supreme leader and to turn them into a military democracy:
1
1
1


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MARWAR SEIZED BY AURANGZIB
247
“I shall always be present wherever five Sikhs are assembled".
Hence, isolated bands of Sikhs, each acting under an independent
sardar, continued to harass the Mughul officers and raid the Punjab
and the upper Gangetic Duab almost to the end of the eighteenth
century.
Marwar was the foremost Hindu state in Aurangzib's empire. Its
chieftain was Jasvant Singh Rathor, who enjoyed the unique rank
of Maharaja and whom the death of Jay Singh Kachhwaha in 1667
had left without a rival as the foremost Hindu peer of the Mughul
court. Jasvant's audacity in confronting Aurangzib at Dharmat and
treachery to him at Khajuha had evidently been condoned by the
emperor, who had afterwards given him high and responsible posts.
When Jasvant died (20 December, 1678) in command of the out-
post of Jamrud, Aurangzib at once seized his kingdom and placed
it under direct Mughul rule, and himself moved to Ajmer in order
to be close enough to Jodhpur to overawe Rathor national opposition.
The success of the emperor's plan for the forcible destruction of
Hinduism required that Jasvant's state should sink into a tame de-
pendency or a regular province of the empire, and Hindu resistance
to the policy of religious persecution should be deprived of a possible
head and rallying point.
The death of Jasvant while serving with his contingent and captains
in far-off Afghanistan had left his state without a head, and no
opposition was offered to the vast and well-directed imperial armies
that poured upon the land. In February, 1679, the emperor learnt
that two of Jasvant's wives had given birth to two posthumous sons,
but he was not to be moved from his policy by any claims of legitimate
succession. Marwar having been brought under control, he returned
peace of mind to Delhi (12 April), and on that very day imposed
the jizya on the Hindus after more than a century of abeyance.
A little later the throne of Marwar was sold to Indra Singh, the
servile chieftain of Nagaur and a hereditary partisan of the Mughuls,
but the Mughul administrators and generals in occupation of the coun-
try were retained there, as Indra Singh enjoyed no local support.
In June Jasyant's family and retainers with his surviving infant
Ajit Singh reached Delhi, the other son having died in childbed.
The rights of Ajit were again pleaded before Aurangzib, but he only
ordered the child to be transferred to the imperial harem with a
promise to give him a grant and investiture as raja when he came
of age. According to one contemporary account, the throne of
Jodhpur was offered to Ajit on condition of his turning Muslim, and
this we can believe from the authentic record of a similar offer made
to the captive Shahu in 1703. The loyal Rathors determined to
rescue their late chieftain's heir by sacrificing their lives. Their
leader and guiding genius was Durga Das, the son of Jasvant's minister
Askaran, whose character displayed a rare combination of the dash
in


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248
AURANGZIB (1658-1681)
and reckless valour of a Rajput warrior with the tact, diplomatic
cunning and organising power of the best Mughul ministers. But
for his twenty-five years of unflagging exertion and skilful contrivance,
Ajit Singh could not have secured his father's throne. Fighting
against terrible odds, he kept the cause of his nation triumphant,
without ever looking to his own gain.
On 25 June Aurangzib sent a strong force to seize the Ranis and
Ajit and lodge them in the state prison of Nurgarh. The Rathor plan
was to effect the escape of their prince sacrificing their lives in a
series of desperate rear-guard actions. First Raghunath Bhati with
a hundred desperate troopers made a sortie from Jasvant's beleague-
red mansion in Delhi and for a time drove back the imperialists,
while Durga Das, seizing the momentary confusion, slipped out with
the Ranis dressed in male attire and rode away directly for Marwar.
By the time Raghunath's party was killed to a man, Durga Das had
covered nine miles. When he was overtaken, Ranchhor Das Jodha
faced round and checked the pursuers with the lives of his band.
This happened thrice. In the evening the weary Mughuls abandoned
the murderous chase and Ajit was safely conveyed to Marwar and
lodged in a secure place of hiding. Aurangzib brought up a milk-
man's infant in his harem as the true Ajit, gave him the significant
name of Muhammadi Raj and proclaimed Durga Das's protégé to be
a bogus prince. At the same time Indra Singh was deposed for
manifest incapacity to rule the Rathors, and the whole of Marwar
was placed under a Mughul commandant, who was at first the
governor of Ajmer and later of Gujarat.
The emperor again went to Ajmer (5 October) and sent a strong
force under his son prince Akbar to reconquer Marwar. Its van-
guard, led by Tahavvur Khan, after a three days' fight near Pushkar,
destroyed the brave Rathors of the Mairtia clan who barred his path.
Thereafter the Rajputs always carried on a guerrilla warfare from
their lurking places in the hills and deserts, without venturing on
pitched battles. The whole country was soon occupied by the impe-
rialists, anarchy and slaughter were let loose upon the doomed state;
all the great towns in the plain were pillaged; the temples were
thrown down.
Aurangzib intended the annexation of Marwar to be a preliminary
step to the conquest of Mewar. He had already called upon the
Maharana Raj Singh to pay the poll tax for his entire state. The
Maharana and his clansmen, the Sisodias, felt that if they did not
stand by the Rathors now both these first-rate Rajput clans would
be crushed one by one and all Rajputana would lie helpless at the
emperor's feet. Moreover, Ajit Singh's mother was a niece of the
Maharana. While Raj Singh was making his war preparations,
Aurangzib struck the first blow. Seven thousand picked troops under
Hasan Ali Khan marched from Pur, rayaging Mewar and clearing
s


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INVASION OF MEWAR
249
a way for the main Mughul army. The Rajputs could make no stand
against the excellent Mughul artillery served by Europeans. Raj
Singh abandoned the low country and retired with all his subjects
to the hills. The Mughuls took possession of his capital Udaipur and
the famous fort of Chitor, demolishing all the temples there. Hasan
‘Ali entered the hills north-west of Udaipur and inflicted a defeat
on the Maharana (1 February, 1680), capturing his camp and much
property.
The emperor, deeming the power of Mewar crushed, returned
from that kingdom to Ajmer in March, while one strong army
(probably 12,000 men) under prince Akbar held the Chitor district
and another occupied Marwar. But the imperial outposts were too
far scattered to be defended easily, and nearly the whole of Rajputa
was seething with hostility. The Mughul positions in Mewar and
Marwar were isolated from each other by the intervening Aravalli
range, whose crest Raj Singh held in force and from which he could
make sudden descents and surprise Mughul divisions on the east or
the west as he pleased, while the Mughuls in transferring troops from
Chitor to Marwar had to make a long and toilsome détour.
Prince Akbar had been left in Chitor in charge of all the Mughul
posts east of the Aravalli and south of Ajmer. But his force was too
small for the effective defence of this vast region. A marked increase
of Rajput activity began with the emperor's retirement to Ajmer;
they made raids, cut off supplies and stragglers, and rendered the
Mughul outposts extremely unsafe. In terror of the enemy's prowess,
the Mughul troops refused to enter any pass, detachments shrank
from advancing far from their base, and the command of outposts
went begging. About the end of May, Akbar's camp near Chitor
was entered at night and some slaughter done in it by a Sisodia band.
The Maharana descended to the Bednor district, threatening Akbar's
communications with Ajmer, while another army under his son
Bhim Singh ranged the country, striking swift blows at weak points
and cutting off grain supplies coming from Malwa. A fortnight after
the surprise of his camp, Akbar himself was defeated with severe loss.
At these signal instances of Akbar's incapacity the emperor trans-
ferred him to Marwar, and gave the Chitor command to Prince
A'zam. The plan of war adopted now was to penetrate into the
Mewar hills in three columns : from the eastern or Chitor side by
way of the Deobari pass and Udaipur under A'zam; from the north
by way of lake Rajsamudra under Mu'azzam, and from the western
or Marwar side through the Deosuri pass under Akbar. The first
two of these generals failed to achieve their tasks.
Prince Akbar took post at Sojat in Marwar on 28 July, but could
not repress the Rathor bands that spread over the country, closing
the roads to trade and disturbing every weak post. His instructions
were to occupy Nadol, the chief town of the Godwar district, and


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250
AURANGZIB (1658-1681)
from this new base penetrate eastwards into Mewar by the Deosuri
pass and invade the Kumbhalgarh region, where the Maharana and
many Rathors had taken refuge. Akbar reached Nadol at the end
of September, but for nearly two months did nothing. At last the
emperor in wrath sent the imperial paymaster to his camp to enforce
a forward movement. It was only then that Akbar advanced to.
Deosuri and, sending his lieutenant Tahavvur Khan ahead, forced
the Jhilwara pass (2 December). The next step would have been to
push on eight miles southwards to Kumbhalgarh and drive the
Maharana out of his last refuge. But it was not done. There followed
a lull of inactivity for five weeks, during which the prince's trea-
sonable plot was fully hatched, and at last on 11 January, 1681, he
united with the Rathor and Sisodia contingents and proclaimed
himself emperor of India !
Smarting under repeated censure from his father for his failure
in war and seeing no means of defeating the Rajputs, Akbar had
early lent a ready ear to the tempting invitation of the Rajputs to
seize the Delhi throne with their help. Tahavvur Khan was the
intermediary of these treasonable negotiations. The Maharana Raj
Singh and Durga Das told the prince how his father's bigoted attempt
to “root the Rajputs out” was threatening the stability of the Mughul
empire, and urged him to seize the throne and restore the wise
policy of his forefathers if he wished to save his heritage from
destruction. They promised to back him with the armed strength
of the two greatest Rajput clans, the Sisodias and the Rathors. The
death of Raj Singh (1 November) and the succession of his son Jay
Singh interposed a month's delay in the execution of this plot. But
when Tahavvur reached Jhilwara, the negotiations were resumed
and quickly concluded. The new Maharana promised to send half
his army under his brother for the attack on Aurangzib, and 12
January, 1681, was fixed for the march on Ajmer. Two days before
that date Akbar wrote a deceptive letter to his father saying that
two Mewar princes and the Rathor leaders had come to him begging
him to secure the emperor's pardon and peace for them, to present
them to the emperor and personally to intercede with him for them,
and that with this object he was marching on Ajmer. Then Akbar
threw off his mask. Four theologians in his pay issued a decree under
their seals, declaring that Aurangzib had forfeited his throne by his
violation of the Quranic law! Akbar crowned himself emperor
(11 January, 1681) and next day started for Ajmer with his new
Mewar and Marwar allies, dragging most of the imperial officers
in his camp with him in this act of rebellion.
At this time Aurangzib at Ajmer was very slenderly protected :
his faithful sons were far away and even the imperial guard had been
detached on a distant expedition. His immediate retinue consisted
of a few thousands of unserviceable soldiers, personal attendants,


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PRINCE AKBAR'S REBELLION
251
clerks and eunuchs. He had loved Akbar above all his other sons,
and now in the bitterness of disillusionment he cried out, "I am now
defenceless. The young hero has got a splendid opportunity. Why,
then, is he delaying his attack? ” But Akbar was not the man to
seize this opportunity by a rapid dash on the imperial camp; he
began to spend his days in pleasure and took a fortnight to arrive
near Ajmer. Every day told in Aurangzib's favour. Loyal officers
from far and near strained every nerve to reach him by forced
marches, and on the day of Akbar's arrival in his neighbourhood,
prince Mu'azzam joined the emperor, doubling his strength. In the
meantime, Aurangzib, with wise audacity, had refused to shut him-
self up within the walls of Ajmer, but advanced into the open, and
taken up his position at Doraha, ten miles south of that city.
Despair and defection now reigned in the camp of Akbar. As he
came nearer, increasing numbers of Mughul officers began to escape
from his army to the imperial camp: only the 30,000 Rajputs re-
mained true to him. Arrived within three miles of Doraha (25 Jan-
uary), he halted for the night, after fixing the next morning for the
decisive battle. But during that night, Aurangzib's cunning diplomacy
secured the completest victory for him without any resort to arms.
Tahavvur Khan was the vazir and life and soul of Akbar's govern-
ment, that prince being a vain sluggard. Tahavvur's father-in-law
'Inayat Khan, then in the imperial camp, was made by Aurangzib
to write him a letter, urging him to come to the emperor, with a
promise of pardon for the past, otherwise his wives and sons, held by
Aurangzib as hostages, would be ruined. In the darkness Tahavvur
stole away alone from his tent without informing either Akbar or
Durga Das, arrived at the imperial camp about midnight, and was
killed by the emperor's attendants in a wrangle when he wanted to
enter the presence without being disarmed.
Meanwhile, Aurangzib had written a false letter to Akbar, praising
him for having so successfully carried out the emperor's stratagem
of luring all the Rajput fighters within his reach, and now instructing
him to place these Rajputs in his van in next morning's battle so
that they might be easily crushed between the imperial forces and
Akbar's own troops. As contrived by the emperor, this letter fell
into Durga Das's hands, who read it and in surprise went to Akbar's
tent for an'explanation. That prince was reported to be asleep and
his eunuchs refused to wake him. Durga Das next sent some men to
call Tahavvur, when it was discovered that the soul of the whole
enterprise had secretly gone over to the emperor some hours before.
The prince's sleep was taken to be a ruse. The intercepted letter
was believed to have been verified by these facts. The Rajputs
promptly arranged to save themselves. Three hourse before dawn they
took horse, robbed what they could of Akbar's property, and galloped
off to Mewar. Profiting by this confusion, the remaining imperial


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252
AURANGZIB (1658-1681)
troopers whom Akbar had forced to accompany him escaped towards
Aurangzib's camp. Tahavvur Khan was the connecting link between
the Rajputs and Akbar; he had been the new emperor's commander-
in-chief and prime minister in one, and his flight at once dissolved
the confederacy. In the morning Akbar awoke to find himself
deserted by all, save a faithful band of 350 horse. He hurriedly rode
away for life in the track of his Rajput allies, taking only some of
his wives and children and a little treasure with him. The rest of
his property and his deserted family-one wife, two sons and three
daughters—were seized by the emperor. Relentless punishment was
meted out to his followers, especially the four Mullas; his ally, the
princess Zib-un-Nisa, was deprived of her property and confined in
the Salimgarh fortress.
During the second night after Akbar's flight, Durga Das, having
discovered the fraud played by Aurangzib, turned back and took
the luckless prince under his protection. Rajput honour demanded
that the refugee should be defended at all cost. After evading the
pursuing Mughul columns and fleeing through Rajputana and
Khandesh, Durga Das boldly and skilfully conducted Akbar to the
court of Shambhuji, the only power in India that could defy
Aurangzib (11 June, 1681).
Akbar's rebellion, however, had the effect of saving Mewar, by
wrecking the Mughul plan of war at a time when the Maharana
was about to be completely surrounded, and it also forced Aurangzib
to transfer himself and his best troops to the Deccan to watch the
rebel and his new patron. Mewar was ravaged by war, so that the
Maharana was as eager as Aurangzib to make peace. He visited
prince A‘zam (24 June) and through his mediation was reconciled
with the emperor on the following terms:
1. The Maharana ceded to the empire the parganas of Mandal,
Pur and Bednor in lieu of the jizya demanded from his kingdom.
2. The Mughul army withdrew from Mewar, which was restored
to Jay Singh with the title of Rana and a command of 5000.
Thus Mewar regained peace and freedom, but Marwar continued
a scene of war and devastation for twenty-nine years more, which
will be described in chapter x. In the height of political unwisdom,
Aurangzib wantonly provoked rebellion among the loyal Rajputs,
while the frontier Afghans were still far from being subdued. With
the two leading Rajput clans openly hostile to him, his army lost its
finest and most loyal native recruits.
The trouble spread by contagion
from the Rathors and Sisodias to the Hara and Gaur clans, and the
lawlessness here set moving overflowed into Malwa and heartened
every opponent of the imperial government throughout India.
During the first half of Aurangzib's reign affairs in the Deccan did
not assume engrossing importance; the emperor's personal attention
was engaged elsewhere and he felt that he could safely leave the


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RELATIONS WITH STATES IN DECCAN
253
south to his viceroys, because Bijapur and Golconda were hopelessly
decadent and the full significance of the rise of the Maratha people
under Shivaji was not realised till near the close of the hero's career
(1680). Qutb Shah remained throughout a quiescent vassal, except
for armed assistance rendered to 'Adil Shah against Mughul attacks
in 1666 and 1679; but these acts of disloyalty to his suzerain were
compounded for by the payment of fines. A vigorous forward policy
was pursued by the imperialists against Bijapur only under Jay Singh
(1666), Bahadur Khan (1676-77) and Dilir Khan (1679-80). Military
operations against Shivaji were actively carried on by Shayista Khan
(1660-62), Jay Singh (1665), Mahabat Khan
(1665), Mahabat Khan (1671-72), Bahadur
Khan (1673-75), and by Dilir Khan for a short while in 1678-79,
though a state of war continued languidly between the two powers
for the entire period, except the four years of peace 1666-69.
Only a few clear successes but no decisive result was achieved by
Mughul arms in the Deccan during the first twenty-four years of the
reign, because Shah Alam, who was viceroy for nearly one-half of
this period, was a timid and unenterprising prince, and was further
thwarted by the open hostility of his chief officer, Dilir Khan; the
Hindu officers in the Mughul camp secretly fraternised with the
Maratha defender of their faith, while the Muslim generals were glad
to bribe him to let them live in peace. The annexation of the Deccan
was impossible except by a much more powerful army than any
provincial viceroy's and a chief with the relentless vigour and deter-
mination of Aurangzib.
Golconda may be left out of our account. 'Abdullah Qutb Shah
(reigned 1626-72) was throughout his life indolent and almost
imbecile, and his narrow escape from assassination by Aurangzib's
son in 1656 gave him such a fright that he "lost all mental energy
and ceased to hold the reigns of government, or even to appear outside
the walls of the fortress of Golconda" ever afterwards. All his time
was given to ingenious forms of sensuality, while his mother and after-
wards his son-in-law conducted the actual administration through-
out his reign. His successor, Abu-'l-Hasan surnamed Tana Shah, was
equally indolent and pleasure-loving, though possessed of a more
delicate and artistic taste; under him his Brahman ministers Madanna
and Akkanna freely misgoverned the realm, following the traditional
foreign policy of outward loyalty to the Mughuls with the addition
of a secret defensive alliance with Shivaji in return for a subsidy
of 500,000 rupees a year.
With Bijapur Mughul relations were more complicated. Briefly
put, the grouping of powers in the Deccan was this: the dread of
imperial aggression drove the Sultan of Golconda whole-heartedly,
and that of Bijapur distrustfully and intermittently, into the arms
of Shivaji. Bijapur's leagues with Shivaji were formed only when
Mughul invasion was an insistent fact and the situation of 'Adil Shah


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254
AURANGZIB (1658-1681)
was hopeless, and these leagues were soon dissolved by the growing
fear that the Maratha coming in as a friend would treacherously
seize 'Adil Shahi forts and lands. During Shayista Khan's campaign
against Shivaji (1660), the Bijapuris did, indeed, render useful
co-operation to the Mughuls, but such aid to the imperial power
ceased after the ministers of Bijapur had formed a secret pact with
Shivaji (about 1662) on condition of his sparing the heart of the
kingdom, i. e. the royal territories proper, while he was left free to
rob the semi-independent nobles whose grants lay in the outlying
provinces.
Aurangzib, when freed from the anxieties of the war of succession,
determined to punish 'Adil Shah for his evasion of the promises
made in the treaty of August, 1657, and his covert aid to Shivaji.
He sent Jay Singh to the Deccan early in 1665 "to punish both these
rebels”. That general's first task was to humble Shivaji, which he
effected in less than three months by his masterly campaign of
Purandar (concluded in June, 1665). In the ensuing cold weather
he set out for the invasion of Bijapur, at the head of 40,000 imperial
troops and 9000 Maratha auxiliaries under Shivaji himself and his
lieutenant Netaji Palkar. The 'Adil Shahi forts on the way fell to
him without a blow, and he had his first encounter with the Bijapur
army on 3 January, 1666, when a small detachment was cut off.
The Deccani horsemen tried to envelop the Mughuls, evading their
charges and breaking into several loose bodies which harassed the
heavy cavalry of the north by practising their familiar "cossack"
tactics. After a long contest the Mughuls, by repeated charges,
drove the enemy back, but as soon as they began their return march
the elusive Deccanis reappeared and galled them from both wings
and the rear.
After two severe battles of this kind, he forced his way to within
12 miles of Bijapur fort (7 January). But meantime the 'Adil Shahi
capital had been rendered impregnable by strengthening its garrison,
devastating the country around for 6 miles, draining all the tanks,
filling up all the wells and cutting down every tree in its environs.
At the same time a picked force under Sharza Khan and Sidi Mas'ud
made a diversion by raiding the Mughul territories in the rear of the
invaders. Jay Singh's sole chance of success lay in his taking Bijapur
by surprise, as he had bribed most of its nobles and his rapid march
was expected to give the Bijapuri forces no time to adopt measures
of defence. He had, therefore, brought with him no heavy artillery
or siege material. The hope of capturing Bijapur by a coup de main
having vanished, the baffled Mughul general decided on retreat
(15 January), which he could do only after fighting two severe
battles besides almost daily skirmishes. Netaji Palkar deserted to
'Adil Shah; Shivaji failed with heavy loss in an assault on Panhala
and Qutb Shah sent a large force to the rescue of his brother


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MUGHUL INVASION OF BIJAPUR
256
Sultan. After moving about in the Sultanpur-Dharur-Bhum-Bhir
region, constantly harassed by the enemy and often suffering heavy
losses to his detachments, without being able to effect anything
decisive, Jay Singh returned to his headquarters (Aurangabad)
on 6 December, after complete failure, incurring the severest
financial loss. The Bijapuris now retired to their own country. The
unlucky general was censured and recalled by his master and died,
broken-hearted from disgrace and disappointment, on the way at
Burhanpur (12 July, 1667).
After this war 'Ali 'Adil Shah II gave himself up to the pleasures
of the harem and the wine-cup, which prostrated him by a stroke
of paralysis. His able and experienced minister 'Abdul-Muhammad,
however, continued to carry on the administration with honesty and
success; but with the accession of Sikandar 'Adil Shah, a boy of
four (4 December, 1672), and the seizure of the post of minister by
Khavass Khan, civil war broke out between the Afghan and Deccani
cum Abyssinian factions among the nobles, and the rapid decline and
dismemberment of the kingdom began. Henceforth the history of
Bijapur became the history of its successive ministers : Khavass
Khan the Abyssinian (1672-75), Buhlul the Afghan (1675-77),
Mas'ud the Abyssinian (1678-83) and Aqa Khusrav (1684). The
Sultan remained all his life a helpless prisoner; the provincial
governors became independent of the central authority; and assassi-
nations and faction fights destroyed the nobility in the capital
itself.
Solicited by the Deccani party then out of power, the Mughul
viceroy Bahadur Khan invaded Bijapur in 1676, but met with a
crushing defeat near Indi, Islam Khan Rumi (the governor of Malwa)
being slain (23 June). But soon afterwards he cowed the minister
into allowing the Mughuls to annex certain 'Adil Shahi forts, such
as Naldrug and Gulbarga (1677). Aurangzib, being dissatisfied with
this result and suspecting Bahadur of collusion with the Deccani
powers, recalled him. His successor Dilir Khan, in alliance with
Buhlul the Afghan vazir of Bijapur, invaded Qutb Shah's territory
at Malkhed in September, 1677. Here they fought for two months,
being put to the severest distress by the cutting off of their pro-
visions, and were finally forced to make a disastrous retreat to
Gulbarga, abandoning all their baggage.
On the death of Buhlul (2 January, 1678), Sidi Mas'ud made
himself minister of Bijapur with the support of Dilir Khan, agreeing
to make himself virtually a servant of the Mughuls and to send the
Sultan's sister Shahr Banu (Padishah Bibi) to the Delhi court for
marriage with a son of Aurangzib (A'zam). These humiliating terms
made him universally unpopular. The treasury was empty, and the
unpaid soldiery broke out in lawless fury, plundering and torturing
the rich, while the minister hid himself in fear and impotence. Many


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256
AURANGZIB (1658-1681)
people began to emigrate from the doomed capital. In the provinces
the regent's authority was openly flouted.
Then Mas'ud made a secret pact with Shivaji, on hearing of which
Dilir Khan marched out to Akluj (October, 1678), threatening to
invade Bijapur. The Maratha allies who came to Mas'ud's aid
began treacherously to plunder the realm and even plotted to seize
the capital by surprise. Mas'ud then sought the protection of Dilir
Khan, who sent a relieving force to Bijapur and captured Bhupalgarh
(12 April, 1679), which was the most important Maratha stronghold
in that quarter.
But the 'Adil Shahi government was now practically dissolved,
there was utter anarchy in the country and the capital in consequence
of the feud between Mas'ud and Sharza Khan, the only defenders
of Bijapur fort were some three thousand starving men, "and even
these hankered for Mughul pay". The greed of the imperialists was
insatiable. Dilir Khan now demanded that Mas'ud should resign
his post as minister in favour of a creature of the Mughuls. On meeting
with refusal he invaded the 'Adil Shahi kingdom (September, 1679).
This campaign was a complete failure, because of Dilir Khan's
utter lack of money, the open opposition of his chief Shah Alam
(newly returned to the Deccan as viceroy) and the very prompt
and effective aid which Shivaji in person gave to Mas'ud. Dilir only
bombarded Bijapur fort fruitlessly for some days and then marched
through the country around it like a mad dog, plundering and
burning the villages, selling the harmless villagers into slavery with
fiendish cruelty, and turning rich cities like Athni and the fertile
valley of the Don and the Krishna into a desert. Finally, he invaded
the Berad country (modern Shorapur), east of Bijapur, in the fork
between the Krishna and the Bhima. Here, his attack on Gogi
(1 March, 1680) failed with heavy loss, his soldiers refused to follow
him, and he was recalled in disgrace.
The Maratha people created an independent state and became an
important element in the politics of the Mughul empire only under
Shivaji
, late in the seventeenth century. His father was Shahji
Bhonsle, who rose from the position of a small assignee under the
Sultans of Ahmadnagar to that of a kingmaker, and finally, after
his defeat by Shah Jahan (1636) and forced migration from Maha-
rashtra, became one of the leading Hindu generals of the 'Adil
Shahi government. His petty holdings in the Poona district, with
.
a rent-roll of only 40,000 huns, were given by him to his son Shivaji
(born in 1627), while his later acquisitions, in Mysore and the Arcot
district, were inherited by Vyankaji (also called Ekoji), his son by
another wife.
Shivaji and his mother were practically discarded by Shahji, with
the result that Shivaji became his own master at the age of twenty
when his guardian Dadaji Kond-dev died (1647). He gained many
forts from their hereditary owners or the local officers of Bijapur,


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EARLY CAREER OF SHIVAJI
267
sometimes by force but more often by treachery and sowing dissen-
sion; and he was able to do so the more easily because the Poona
district, having originally belonged to the fallen Nizam-Shahi dynasty,
was a recent and imperfectly subdued acquisition of Bijapur and
that monarchy at this time entered on a rapid course of decline owing
to the prolonged illness of Muhammad Adil Shah (1646-56), the
succession of minor princes and the rule of selfish regents.
This was Shivaji's opportunity. By his conquest of forts and
annexation of Javli (25 January, 1656), he more than doubled the
extent and revenue of his heritage. His first encounter with the
Mughuls was in 1657, when, taking advantage of Aurangzib's invasion
of Bijapur and the diversion of the Mughul forces to the Bidar-Kaliani
region, he raided the Ahmednagar and Junnar districts (April) and
even looted the rich city of Junnar (10 May). But Aurangzib
promptly reinforced his local officers in that region and Nasiri Khan
by forced marches surprised and routed Shivaji (14 June). The im-
perialists then ravaged the Maratha villages and guarded their own
frontier watchfully by turns. When 'Adil Shah made peace with the
Mughuls (September), Shivaji too submitted. But Aurangzib, though
pardoning him for the time being, never really trusted him and
merely deferred his punishment till after the war of succession.
Shivaji next entered the north Konkan, seized Kalyan, Bhiwandi
and Mahuli and advanced as far south as Mahad. A grand Bijapur
expedition against him led by 'Abdullah Bhatari (entitled Afzal
Khan) failed. Shivaji slew Afzal at an interview and surprised and
plundered his army (20 November, 1659). He then penetrated into
the south Konkan and the Kolhapur district. Next year, in the south
a Bijapur force under Sidi Jauhar invested Shivaji in Panhala fort
and forced him to evacuate it (23 July, 1660), and at the same time
in the north a Mughul army under Shayista Khan occupied Poona
(19 Mav) and took Chakan fort by mining after a fifty-four days'
siege (25 August). Thereafter the Mughul viceroy rested in Poona
for many months. A force sent by him into the north Konkan was
defeated, and Shivaji rapidly extended his conquests down the
coast-strip up to Kharepatan, though he lost Kalyan to the Mughuls
in May, 1661.
Some desultory fighting and fruitless chase of the Maratha light
raiders by the Mughuls occupied the next two years, and then on
15 April, 1663, Shivaji with masterly cunning and secrecy penetrated
into Shayista Khan's harem in Poona at midnight with a small band
of followers and took him so completely by surprise that the Mughul
yiceroy was wounded, one of his sons, one captain, forty attendants
an:1 six women of his harem were killed and two other sons and eight
other women were wounded, while the Marathas lost only six men
killed and forty wounded and escaped from the camp without the
least hindrance. This result was due to the connivance, or at least
the slothfulness, of Jasvant Singh, the first officer of Shayista Khan.
17


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258
AURANGZIB (1658-1681)
Next, from 16 to 20 January, 1664, Shivaji sacked the rich city of
Surat unchecked, its cowardly governor having fled away without
any attempt at resistance, though the English, Dutch and French
factories successfully defended themselves. Nearly two-thirds of the
town were destroyed by fire and the plunder exceeded ten million
rupees in value.
Aurangzib removed Shayista Khan from the viceroyalty and sent
Jay Singh of Amber to the Deccan to punish Shivaji (1665). This
raja by marvellously skilful diplomacy raised a complete ring of
enemies round Shivaji and laid siege to the fort of Purandar, in
which the families of the Maratha officers had taken shelter. In two
weeks he wrested the fortified hill of Vajragarh (Rudramal) which
commands the main terrace of Purandar, and advanced along the
connecting the two forts, while a strong flying column burnt
and sacked the villages of Maharashtra. At last, finding the fort
doomed, Shivaji personally visited Jay Singh and made with him
the treaty of Purandar (22 June) by which he ceded to the emperor
twenty-three forts (with lands yielding 400,000 huns), and retained
for himself only twelve forts (with territory worth 100,000 huns a
year), acknowledged himself a vassal of the emperor and promised
to send a contingent of 5000 horse to serve the Mughul ranks in
the Deccan. In the invasion of Bijapur that soon followed, he served
the imperial cause with complete loyalty.
Shivaji next, under the persuasion of Jay Singh, paid a visit to
Aurangzib's court at Agra (22 May, 1666). But this purely country-
bred warrior felt humiliated at being ranked as a noble commanding
5000 men and left unnoticed after his presentation. He created a scene,
accused the emperor of breach of faith, and swooned away in vexation
of spirit. At this display of unfriendly feeling, he was ordered to be
kept under police surveillance and forbidden the court. His appeals
to the emperor and his ministers for leave to return home were
fruitless, and after three months of captivity he slipped out of Agra
(29 August) with his son, deceiving his guards by lying concealed in
two large baskets of sweetmeats which were preceded and followed
by baskets of real sweets. Then, following a roundabout route, via
Muttra, Allahabad, Benares, Gaya and Telingana, he reached home
on 30 November, 1666.
For three years after this, he left the Mughul government un-
molested and even made peace with it through the mediation of
Jasvant Singh and prince Shah 'Alam. The emperor recognised his
title of Raja and made a grant to his son Shambhuji. In January,
1670, Shivaji broke with the Mughuls again, and by rapid strokes
recovered nearly all the forts ceded by him in 1665. He plundered
imperial territory in the Deccan right and left. A bitter quarrel.
between the viceroy Shah 'Alam and his lieutenant Dilir Khan made
it impossible for the imperialists to chastise or even to check the
Maratha chief, and he looted Surat a second time (13-15 October,


## p. 259 (#293) ############################################

1
FULL GROWTH OF SHIVAJI'S POWER
259
1670), carrying away large booty in cash and kind and thoroughly
ruining the trade of the greatest port of India. Then followed a
period of the most daring and far-ranging raids into Mughul pro-
vinces-Baglan, Khandesh and Berar besides Aurangabad-and the
capture of his forts in the Chandor range as well as Salher. Mughul
generals were repeatedly defeated by him in open fights, especially
at Dindori (27 October, 1670) and below Salher (February, 1671).
After the failure of Mahabat and Dilir (1671-72) against the Mara-
thas, Aurangzib sent Bahadur Khan 1 again as governor to the Deccan,
which he ruled for the next five years but without being able to
cope with Shivaji. This was the full tide of the Maratha hero's
power; he made annexations and levied blackmail (popularly called
chauth or one-fourth of the land revenue, in Marathi khandani) in
the east and west, north and south, and permanently occupied the
Koli country (Ramnagar and Jawhar) south of Surat. The death
of 'Ali `Adil Shah II (4 December, 1672) opened a wide door to
Shivaji's acquisitions at the expense of Bijapur, while the rising of
the Khyber Afghans (1674) detained the main imperial forces on
the north-western frontier. The desultory warfare carried on against
him by Mughul captains from 1672 to 1678 was barren of result.
Taking advantage of these circumstances, Shivaji crowned himself
king of kings (Chhatrapati) at Raigarh on 16 June, 1674, and spent
one year (1677) in conquering a vast realm in the Madras Carnatic
and the Mysore plateau, estimated to cover "sixty leagues by forty
and to yield 20 lakhs of huns a year, with a hundred forts".
In 1678 the new Bijapuri regent Sidi Mas'ud made a pact with
Shivaji for armed assistance in the event of a Mughul attack, and
such assistance was most effectively given during the campaign
against Bijapur opened by Dilir Khan October, 1679. Shivaji, with
a view to causing a diversion in Dilir Khan's rear, formed his men
into two parallel divisions of nine to ten thousand horsemen each,
and poured like a flood northwards from Selgur through the districts
of Mughul Deccan, burning and plundering. But between Jalna
and Aurangabad he was attacked by an enterprising officer, Ranmast
Khan, and forced to fight a rear-guard action, which detained him
for three days, while reinforcements hastened up from Aurangabad
to complete the circle round the Marathas (c. 25 November). In
the third night Shivaji, after losing 4000 men killed and abandoning
all his booty and many horses, slipped out by an obscure path under
the guidance of his head spy, and escaped to his own dominion by
incessant marching for three more days and nights. Evidently these
privations weakened his health, and on 2 April, 1680, he was seized
with fever and blood dysentery, of which he died on the 14th, at the
age of fifty-three.
1 Known as Khan Jahan from about 1674.
2 Sne chap. IX, p. 275.
3 See chap. IX, p. 276.


## p. 260 (#294) ############################################

CHAPTER
DX
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN DURING
THE REIGNS OF JAHANGIR, SHAHJAHAN
AND AURANGZIB, AND THE RISE OF
THE MARATHA POWER
To
O complete the history of Muhammadan India during the reigns
of Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzib narrated in separate chapters
it is necessary to consider briefly the relation of the southern kingdoms
with each.
At Akbar's death the shrunken kingdom of Ahmadnagar remained
nominally in the hands of Murtaza II, the representative of the
Nizam Shahs, and actually controlled by Malik Ambar the capable
African minister. The two greater kingdoms of Bijapur and Gol-
conda and the small state of Bidar remained intact, but Bidar was
annexed by Bijapur in 1620.
In September, 1609, Parviz, Jahangir's second son, who had been
appointed to the viceroyalty of Khandesh and the Deccan, left Agra
for Burhanpur; and expecting invasion Ibrahim 'Adil Shah asked
that a resident envoy from the emperor might be accredited to his
court.
Malik 'Ambar also sought alliance with Ibrahim 'Adil Shah and
obtained from him the fortress of Kandhar as a base of operations
situated at a safe distance from the frontier of the imperial province
of Ahmadnagar.
In 1610 prince Parviz, against the advice of the Khan Khanan,
attempted to invade Murtaza's territories by the eastern route, which
was little known and difficult. His supplies were cut off by Maratha
auxiliaries and he suffered a disastrous defeat. His enemies, judging
it imprudent to proceed to extremities against the emperor's son,
permitted a retreat to Burhanpur, but pursued the Mughul army
through Berar, plundering its baggage and otherwise harassing it,
while
even Ahmadnagar fell into the hands of Malik ‘Ambar's troops.
Jahangir most unjustly blamed the Khan Khanan for these disasters
and recalled him from the Deecan, but other generals had no better
success.
In 1616 Parviz, whose sloth and incompetence unfitted him for
active employment on the frontier, was transferred from the Deccan
to Allahabad and in the same year Khurram, the most active and
capable of Jahangir's sons, was appointed viceroy of Khandesh and
the Deccan. On 11 November Jahangir himself set out from Ajmer
for the Deccan in the English coach which had been presented to him
by Sir Thomas Roè.


## p. 261 (#295) ############################################

SHAH JAHAN'S CONTESTS WITH MALIK 'AMBAR 261
Khurram recovered Ahmadnagar and some other fortresses which
had passed into the hands of Malik 'Ambar, and opening negotiations
wiin Ibrahim 'Adil Shah accepted from him valuable gifts. The
prince was received with high honours on his return, promoted to
the command of 30,000 horse, and entitled Shah Jahan. What he had
in fact effected was the re-establishment of the arrangement origi-
nated by the Khan Khanan, which need never have been disturbed,
and a delusive alliance with Ibrahim 'Adil Shah which was construed
at the Mughul court into the acquisition of a new vassal. Ibrahim
himself regarded his action as an adroit bargain which for the time
averted danger both from himself and from his ally.
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda had died on 24 January,
1612, and had been succeeded by his nephew Muhammad Qutb
Shah, who had married his uncle's daughter, Hayat Bakhsh Begam.
Neither of these two monarchs concerned himself much with the
important struggle in the north-west of the Deccan otherwise than
by supporting Malik 'Ambar by pecuniary contributions. Muhammad
Quli Qutb Shah was occupied with the Carnatic, with Orissa and
Bastar, and with intrigues between the Foreigners 1 and the Deccanis,
the latter of whom gained the upper hand in the closing years of
his reign, and Muhammad Qutb Shah continued the policy of inter-
ference in Bastar, occupied himself with building and had not
sufficiently robust health to indulge in other pursuits. He died on
11 February, 1626, and was succeeded by his thirteen-year old son,
'Abdullah Qutb Shah.
In 1620 Malik 'Ambar took advantage of the emperor's absence
from the Deccan to attack imperial posts on his northern frontier.
Ahmadnagar was besieged, and though the Mughul officer in com-
mand of the Deccan claimed a victory he found it necessary, owing
to the scarcity of supplies, to withdraw his troops to Berar, followed
by the enemy, who ventured to attack him even there, but were
repulsed. The scarcity of supplies was again due to the tactics of the
Maratha auxiliaries of Malik 'Ambar, who was now in possession
of the whole kingdom of Ahmadnagar and of the southern districts
of Berar, with an army of 60,000 horse. Many of the imperial troops
deserted, and their commander had to retreat to Burhanpur and was
besieged there. Jahangir, infuriated by reports of this retirement,
sent Shah Jahan again to the Deccan with a large army, and himself
returned to Agra. Before Shah Jahan reached Ujjain a force of Malik
'Ambar's troops had advanced and plundered villages under the walls
of Mandu. The marauders fled across the Narbada before his
advanced guard but were pursued and many were slain.
Shah Jahan then compelled Malik 'Ambar to raise the siege of
Burhanpur but was obliged to halt there for nine days to refresh the
exhausted garrison.
* See vol m, pp. 403-4.


## p. 262 (#296) ############################################

262
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
Malik Ambar had now established Khirki (called later Auranga-
bad) as the capital of the Nizam Shah's kingdom. To ensure his
safety he carried Murtaza into the strong fortress of Daulatabad, only
ten miles distant. Shah Jahan marched to Khirki and "so devastated
a city which had taken twenty years in the building that it was
doubtful whether another twenty years would suffice to restore it to
its pristine splendour".
The beleaguered garrison of Ahmadnagar was relieved and Shah
Jahan reached Paithan on the Godavari, where he received emissaries
from Malik 'Ambar, who expressed contrition.
Shah Jahan now experienced a foretaste of the Maratha warfare
which brought his son to the grave. He had driven before him like
chaff before the wind an enemy who dared not withstand him in the
field; he had confined his principal antagonist within the walls of
a fortress, but his own troops were starving. By all the rules of war
he was the victor. In fact he was as helpless as his adversary, and
was obliged to come to terms, which, however, were honourable to
the empire.
Malik 'Ambar was soon relieved of the anxiety which Shah Jahan's
propinquity caused him; for early in 1622 the prince was recalled to
the capital to aid his father in meeting an attack on Qandahar by
Shah 'Abbas I of Persia, and his rebellion later in the year dissipated
for a time all apprehensions of imperial aggression in the Deccan.
When Malik 'Ambar's apprehensions had been thus removed he
marched to the frontiers of Golconda to demand payment of his
subsidy, which was two years in arrears, and having received the
sum due and a renewal of Muhammad Qutb Shah's promise to pay
it regularly in future, he attacked Bidar, expelled Ibrahim 'Adil
Shah's garrison, and plundered the town and district, the annexation
of which by Bijapur during his preoccupation with the imperial
troops he regarded as an act of bad faith. He then retired to Daulata-
bad, but in the following year returned with fifty or sixty thousand
men and besieged Bijapur.
Ibrahim 'Adil Shah had continued to act with conciliation towards
the empire and had attached a force to the Mughul garrison of
Burhanpur. He recalled these troops in his extremity to Bijapur and
begged further assistance. His appeal met with a generous response.
Burhanpur was nearly denuded of troops and the Mughul governors
of Ahmadnagar and Bir marched with many other officers to the
relief of Bijapur. Malik 'Ambar vehemently protested, claiming to
be, equally with Ibrahim, the emperor's vassal, and that the quarrel
between them related to part of the ancient territory of Ahmadnagar,
wrongfully occupied by Bijapur. His protests were unheeded, and
he raised the siege of Bijapur and retired towards his own dominions.
Meeting the army which was marching to the relief of Bijapur he
I See chap vi, p. 169.


## p. 263 (#297) ############################################

DEATH OF MALIK 'AMBAR
263
suddenly fell upon it, routed it and captured many imperial officers.
He then attacked Ahmadnagar but, discovering that a protracted
siege would be necessary, left a force to blockade it and marched
to Sholapur, the possession of which had been contested between
Bijapur and Ahmadnagar ever since the two kingdoms had been
founded. Sholapur fell and Malik 'Ambar sent a force to besiege
Burhanpur.
This was joined by the rebel Shah Jahan who, retreating before
his father's troops, arrived at Burhanpur. The strangely assorted
allies took the town and were engaged in the siege of the citadel when
the news of the approach of Sultan Parviz and the Khan Khanan,
who were pursuing the rebel, put the prince to flight and compelled
the troops to retire to Daulatabad.
In 1626 Malik 'Ambar died, in the eightieth year of his age.
Jahangir, in his memoirs, seldom mentions him without abuse, but
his secretary, Mirza Muhammad Hadi, who continued the memoirs,
thus did justice to his memory. “'Ambar, whether as a commander
or a strategist, was without an equal in the military art. He kept the
rabble of that country (the Deccan) in perfect order and to the end
of his days lived in honour. There is no record elsewhere in history of
an African slave attaining to such a position as was held by him. ”
In the same year Fath Khan, Malik 'Ambar's son, submitted at
Jalna to a Mughul commander. This accession to the imperial cause
was welcomed and rewarded, but it was short-lived. Fath Khan
invaded Berar with the troops of Murtaza Nizam Shah II and Khan
Jahan was sent by the emperor to defend Burhanpur.
Murtaza now appointed as his minister Hamid Khan, another
African, and fell completely under his influence. He served his master
well by inducing Khan Jahan to surrender, in consideration of a large
gift in money, Ahmadnagar and the southern table-land of Berar.
The treachery of "that faithless Afghan”, as his master termed him,
was partly neutralised by the refusal of the commandant to
surrender Ahmadnagar, which he held successfully against Murtaza's
troops.
Hamid Khan's wife, the daughter of a foreigner, was a woman of
great ability and unbounded energy. She obtained access to the
harem of Murtaza Nizam Shah II and soon became the recognised
means of communication between the effeminate and slothful king
and his subjects.
The death of Malik 'Ambar induced Ibrahim 'Adil Shah to avenge
aggressions, and he sent an army to invade Murtaza's kingdom. As
it approached Daulatabad the wife of Hamid Khan solicited and
obtained for herself the command of the army, by suggesting that if
she were victorious the enemy would hide his head for shame, while
if she failed he could only boast that he had defeated a woman. She
cajoled the officers and distributed largesse to the soldiers and in the


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264
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
end she drove away the army of Bijapur and captured all its elephants
and artillery.