Page:Aurangzíb and the Decay of the Mughal Empire.djvu/166

160 his raids almost to the gates of the 'Throne-City,' Aurangábád, which was now the metropolis of the Mughal power in the Deccan. Aurangzíb's uncle, Sháyista Khán, then Viceroy of the Deccan, was ordered to put a stop to those disturbances, and accordingly proceeded, in 1660, to occupy the Maráthá country. He found that the task of putting down the robbers was not so easy as it looked, even with the best troops in India at his back. Every fort had to be reduced by siege, and the defence was heroic. A typical instance may be read in Kháfí Khán's description of the attack on the stronghold of Chákna, one of Sivají's chief forts: –

'Then the royal armies marched to the fort of Chákna, and after examining its bastions and walls, they opened trenches, erected batteries, threw up intrenchments round their own position, and began to drive mines under the fort. Thus having invested the place, they used their best efforts to reduce it. The rains in that country last nearly five months, so that people cannot put their heads out of their houses. The heavy masses of clouds change day into night, so that lamps are often needed, for without them one man cannot see another man of a party. But for all the muskets were rendered useless, the powder spoilt, and the bows bereft of their strings, the siege was vigorously pressed, and the walls of the fortress were breached by the fire of the guns. The garrison were hard pressed and troubled, but on dark nights they sallied forth into the trenches and fought with surprising boldness. Sometimes the forces of the freebooter on the outside combined with those inside in making a simultaneous attack in broad daylight, and placed the trenches in great danger. After the siege had lasted fifty or