Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/337

 Chap. IV.] REIGN OF AURUNGZEBE. .'^03

assisted his enemies, made wai' on the Portuguese, and was with difficulty ad. i687.

I

restrained from attacking the EnfjlLsh also.

A more formidable enemy than either immediatel}'^ appeared, and gave him warhetween

, the Mogiil.s

full employment. In the Deccan, the character of the new Mahratta sovereign mui Mai. had soon become manifest; and the strict discipline which Sevajee had main- tained rapidly disappeared through the idleness and debauchery of his son. He had left vast treasures, but these were soon squandered, and the attempt to replace them by increasing the land revenue spread general disaffection. Aurungzebe, perfectly informed as to the change which had taken place, had no sooner (fuelled the insuiTection of the Rajpoots than he began his march southwards with the avowed purpose of making a final conquest of the Deccan. His army was so numerous and well equip})ed that he never contemplated the possibility of failure, and therefore disdained to strengthen himself by forming any alliance with Bejapoor and Golconda. This overweening confidence wa.s his first great fault; another, which looks like infatuation, was the announce- ment of his determination rigidly to exact the jezia. Even his military talents appear to have forsaken him, for he began the campaign without any properly concerted plan. While making a long halt at Boorhanpoor, on the Taptee, he sent off two large detachments — one imder Prince Azim to reduce some hill- forts of the Ghauts, and the other vmder Prince Moazzim to overrun the Concan and penetrate to the south of the Mahratta country. Azim was partially suc- cessful, though more by bribery than pi'owess. Moazzim threaded his way through the thickets of the Deccan without being opposed ; and yet, when he PeriionB

,.|... 1% ., /^i-i/>- !•• position of

arrived m the vicmity of Goa, it was only to find himself in a worse condition the former, than if he had sustained a signal defeat. Almost all his horses and cattle had y)erished under the hardships of the march and the want of forage, and even the men were beginning to suffer from scarcity. Sambajee, in the meantime, was not idle. While he occupied the passes through the Ghauts, his cruisers were scouring the sea, and capturing the Mogul vessels which were endeavour- ing to land provisions on the coasts. With the greatest difficulty Moazzim reached the country above the Ghauts with an army almost disorganized, and spent the rainy season near Meeruj, where his ranks were again dreadfully thinned by an epidemic.

When the campaign was resumed, Aurungzebe advanced in person to Aunmgzcbe Ahmednuggur, while Azim and Moazzim were ordered to enter Bejapoor from Deccan. opposite directions. Sambajee immediately saw his advantage, and, avssembling a body of horse in the north of the Concan, placed himself suddenly in Aurung- zebe's rear, sacked and burned the city of Boorhanpoor, and was again back in the Concan, leaving the whole country in a blaze. In Bejapoor the campaign was equally disastrous, neither of the roj-al princes possessing sufficient strength to make head against the forces oppo.sed to them ; and, though both received reinforcements, no advantage whatever was gained, except the capture of Sliola-