CHAPTER XXV. OF THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR AURUNGZEBE (continued), 1680 TO 1698. Jinjeera attacked. Rajah Rám succeeds, but SIVAJEE'S death was kept secret for a while, when a plot was formed to imprison Sumbhajee, and place Rajah Rám, his halfbrother, by Soyéra Bye, the second wife of Sivajee, on the throne, which was for a time successful. Rajah Rám was is deposed by actually invested in May 1680; but in June Sumbhajee Sumbhajee. gained possession of the capital, Rajgurh, and received the submission of all the State authorities. He now commenced a series of barbarous executions. Among the first was that of Soyéra Bye, who suffered a cruel and lingering death; and the savage temper displayed by the new sovereign gave but little hope of a peaceful reign. After some desultory affairs with the Seedees of Jinjeera, who had defied his father, Sumbhajee's attention was occupied by the arrival of the Prince Akbur, who sought refuge with him, against his father the emperor; and by a new conspiracy in favour of Rajah Rám, the detection of which was followed by other executions. Against these proceedings, and the destruction of several Brahmin officers of high rank, his Péshwah, or chief minister, Moro Pingley, protested; and at the suggestion of an unworthy favourite, Kuloosha, a northern Brahmin, was imprisoned. Henceforward Kuloosha's influence became paramount, and the source of much eventual mischief and misery. In 1682, the attack upon Jinjeera was renewed; the place was besieged, but without effect; and Sumbhajee's fleet was defeated by the Seedees in the harbour of Bombay. His movements and threats against the English produced much uneasiness in Bombay; but his operations were confined to attacks the Portu- on the Portuguese, over whom he obtained considerable advantages, especially on one occasion, in which he behaved with distinguished bravery. Propositions for peace ensued from the viceroy of Goa, but the demands of Sumbhajee were so exorbitant, that they were rejected. These operations were, however, brought to a close by the arrival of the emperor Vienna. in the Deccan, in 1683. War with guese. Siege of Aurungzebe's policy is sufficiently intelligible from his subsePolicy of the quent operations. He believed that if Sumbhajee emperor. could be first checked, or driven from his strongholds, the conquest of Beejapoor and Golcondah was only a question of Its failure. time; and he considered, with reason, that neither kingdom would move in defence of a common predatory enemy. When, His therefore, he reached Boorhanpoor, he detached Prince campaign. Azim to reduce the Mahratta forts in the northern range of mountains, and Prince Muázzim to invade the Koncan. Both failed in their object. Sumbhajee well knew the impossibility of anything being effected by the Moghul cavalry in the Koncan, or against the northern line of forts; and after losing most of his horses and many men in the Koncan, the Prince Muázzim ascended the Ghauts at the close of the hot season, and encamped in the open country, near Meerich, on the Krishna. The Prince Azim, on the other hand, being equally unsuccessful, marched into the Deccan, and having taken Sholapoor, would have advanced upon Beejapoor; but, being opposed by a superior force, was obliged to retreat. The emperor, with Position of a powerful reserve, took up a position at Ahmed- the emperor. nugger, prepared to support either or both his sons, as might be necessary. Sumbhajee did not attempt to meet the regular armies of the Moghuls in the open field; but, relying Sumbhajee's upon the predatory system of warfare organised by his measures. father, he now despatched a force under Humbeer Rao, which rapidly traversed the provinces in the Moghul rear, plundered Boorhanpoor and Khandésh, and threatened Berar. Khan Jehán, who had been stationed at Aurungabad, moved in pursuit; but was unable to bring the Mahrattas to action. As soon The Moghuls as the season permitted, the army of the Prince Muázzim renew the was put in motion against the districts which had been taken from Beejapoor by Sivajee, and Dharwar, with several other forts, was captured; but his army had already suffered so terribly from sickness and privation, that it was unable to resist a small army from Beejapoor, and the wreck of the whole finally retreated to Ahmednugger, covered by a Moghul force, specially dispatched by the emperor for the purpose. campaign. They retreat. The emperor Beejapoor. Meanwhile the emperor, with the flower of his army, composed of men of all the northern nations of the empire, a magnificent train of artillery, and the most gorgeous invades camp-equipage that had ever been seen in the Deccan, advanced southwards from Ahmednugger, and having formed a junction with his son Azim, proceeded in person to invest Beejapoor. Sumbhajee having meanwhile made a treaty with Golcondah, now attacked Guzerat, and plundered its cities without check; but these proceedings do not appear to have altered the emperor's plans in any degree, except that instead of deferring operations against Golcondah, he resented the treaty with Sumbhajee, which had come to his knowledge, and sent an army against it, under Khan Jehán, continuing his march to Beejapoor. There was no army at the The garrison capitulates. disposal of the Beejapoor State to contend with the Moghuls in the field, or to check the investment of the city; batteries were erected by them near the south-west angle of the outer fortifications, and a practicable breach was soon effected. The garrison fought bravely, and the defence of the citadel might have been protracted; but, falling League of short of provisions, the city capitulated on October 15, Augsburg. 1686, when the emperor was carried in triumph through the breach, and conducted into the citadel, where the The King of young king, Sikunder Adil Shah, and the officers of State mournfully submitted themselves to him, amid the emperor. the wailings of their people. Sikunder Adil Shah was at once transferred to the Moghul camp as a prisoner, and lived for three years afterwards, when he died suddenly, as quently dies. was believed of poison, administered by the emperor's orders, owing to some popular demonstration on his behalf. Thus closed the illustrious dynasty of the Adil Shahy kings, which had reigned, for the most part in great splendour and prosperity, for 197 years. Beejapoor submits to And subse The emperor would probably have turned his arms at once against Golcondah, but was prevented by a convention made by the Prince Muázzim. When Khan Jehan was detached against that State, he had been met by the Golcondah army under Ibrahim Khan, and being unable to oppose it, intrenched himself and wrote urgently for reinforcements. The Prince Muázzim was, therefore, dispatched to his assistance; but had Ibrahim Khan been faithful to his State, Khan Jehán's army might have been destroyed before the prince's arrival. Instead of this, he kept aloof, and allowed the united forces to proceed to Hyderabad ununder Prince molested, where he joined the Moghuls with the greater part of his troops. The king, Aboo Hussun Kootub Shah, shut himself up in the fort of Golcondah, and Hyderabad was left open to plunder. His minister, Mahdhana Punt, was killed in a popular tumult, and having now obtained by neither army nor adviser, the king accepted such terms as he could obtain. These were the payment of two millions sterling in money and jewels, and Sooltan Muázzim was left to collect the tribute. The Moghuls Muazzim reach Golcondah. Terms the king. The city is besieged. End of the Adil Shahy dynasty. Prince Muszzim's convention with Golcondah. respite. By this treaty, however, Golcondah obtained only a very brief In 1687, the emperor proceeded to Goolburgah, to pay his devotions at the tomb of Syed Geesoo Duráz, a celebrated Deccan saint, detailing at the same time a heavy force of cavalry to the south of Golcondah, to cut off any succour from that quarter. From Soliman emperor of the Turks. The emperor declares war against Golcondah. Muazzim's Golcondah treachery. Goolburgah he despatched a formal declaration of war against the king, the principal articles of which were accusations of perpetual profligacy, the employment of a Brahmin minister, and alliance with an infidel'-Sumbhajee. The provisions of Sooltan Muázzim's treaty of the previous year were Prince altogether ignored, and the unprovoked attack sought treaty to be rendered justifiable by the detestable hypocrisy ignored. and religious bigotry under which Aurungzebe endeavoured to cover and justify the worst events of his life. While he was proceeding to Golcondah, his emissaries were corrupting the troops and officers of the State; but the king taken by bravely defended the fort for seven months, and lost it at last by treachery. Aboo Hussun had been a popular monarch. A minstrel himself, his ballads and amatory Character of poems have survived him, and the regret at his deposition was deeply and universally felt by his subjects. But for treachery within, Golcondah would have been more defensible than Beejapoor; but its reduction could not have been long delayed. Golcondah fell in September 1687, hardly The king a year after Beejapoor, and the king was sent a prisoner imprisoned to the fort of Dowlatabad, where he resided till his death, and where, as in the Deccan generally, many anecdotes of him, as the good and brave King Tanah Shah, are still current. The Kootub Shahy dynasty had lasted from 1512 to The Kootub 1687, or 175 years, and left more memorials of its Shahy greatness in works of public utility than any other of ends. the Deccan kingdoms. the king. for life. dynasty The subjuga Deccan Although the emperor had destroyed two great monarchies within a year, he had by no means obtained possession of the country. The people had been attached to their ton of the respective dynasties, and were not disposed to welcome commences. foreign conquerors. The subjugation of the Deccan and Carnatic had therefore to commence. For a short period, all appeared stunned by the emperor's unscrupulous proceedings and rapid successes; but gradually on every side rebellions sprang up, headed by disbanded officers and troops, and encouraged by local Hindoo authorities; while the attempt to collect the poll-tax only caused greater exasperation. And while the country, even to the most southern possessions of Golcondah, including Sumbhajee's estates in Tanjore, was held by large forces, the details of these large provinces were, in many places, unaffected by the change, and were occupied by a lawless population. If, during this period, Sumbhajee had continued in the field, he might have saved Beejapoor or Golcondah, or both. Sumbhajee's But he was entirely inactive; he had wasted his father's inaction. king England. succeeded by treasures, and given himself up to perpetual debauchery and profligacy; and his people, who could not understand his want of enterprise, attributed his condition to the effects of spells cast upon him by his favourite Kuloosha. While in this condition, and residing at the town of Sungméshwur, he was surprised by Ikhlas Khan, an active Moghul officer, and taken direct to the emperor, then at Tolapoor, near Beejapoor. Mounted upon camels, and attended by jeering crowds of the Moghul soldiery, he and his favourite Kuloosha were led through the imperial camp, and confined. Sumbhajee was promised his life by the emperor if he would become a Mahomedan; but spurning the offer by a message as brutal and violent as it was indecent, he was executed with barbarous torture, in William and company with his friend. This event occurred in August and queen of 1689. Sumbhajee had left one son, Sivajee, six years of age, who, with his mother, were at Rajgurh. He was Sumbhajee is recognised as successor, and his uncle, Rajah Rám, his son. declared regent; but shortly afterwards, Rajgurh was besieged by the Moghuls, and upon its capture, in 1690, though Rajah Rám escaped, the young rajah and his mother were made prisoners and dispatched to the emperor's The capture of other forts followed, and such was then the weakness and poverty of the Mahratta State, that it was unable to make any effort to check the Moghuls. Under these circumstances, Rajah Rám strengthened every retainable fort as much as possible, and committing the charge of local affairs to the best men he could select, proceeded in disguise with a few followers to Ginjee, in the southern province of Tanjore, and there publicly established his court. The emperor no sooner heard of this proceeding, than he dispatched Zoolficar Khan, in 1691, with an army for its reduction; but Ginjee was one of the strongest forts in Southern India, and defied his efforts. He applied for reinforcements, but the emperor was in no condition to grant any; his large army was split up into small portions, and for these the localities in which they were stationed found The Beydur ample occupation. In particular, the Naik of WakinNäik of gérah, a Beydur chieftain of the Beejapoor kingdom, Wakingérah rebels. defied the Moghuls, and an army under the Prince Kámbuksh was sent against him, in 1692. His fort, Wakingérah, was in reality an insignificant place; but the Beydurs defended it valiantly, and the prince was obliged to He is captured and taken to the emperor. And is execated. He is taken prisoner. camp. Weakness of the Mahrattas. Rajah Rám proceeds to Ginjee. Which is besieged ineffectually. An attack upon it repulsed. retreat with heavy loss. Meanwhile Rajah Rám was not idle. Dispatching Suntajee Gorepuray and Dunnajee Jadow, two of the companions of his |