Page:Aurangzíb and the Decay of the Mughal Empire.djvu/187

Rh six miles of ramparts went on heartily. A close blockade was established, and at last after more than a year's labour the besieged were starved out, and the keys of Bíjápúr were delivered to the Emperor in November, 1686. The old capital of the 'Ádil Sháhs, once full of splendid palaces, became the home of the owl and jackal. It stands yet, a melancholy silent ruin. Its beautiful mosques still raise their minarets above the stone walls, which are even now so inviolate that one might fancy one gazed upon a living city. Within, all is solitude and desolation. The 'Visiapur' which astounded so many travellers by its wealth and magnificence, was trampled under the foot of the Puritan Emperor, and fell to rise no more.

Golkonda soon felt the loss of her protecting sister. In spite of the treaty concluded in 1685, Aurangzíb resolved to make an end of the Kutb Sháh dynasty. His sole justification seems to be that the King had failed to pay the stipulated tribute; but instead of plainly setting forth this ground of complaint, he acted with a dissimulation which was as unnecessary as it was unworthy. Under cover of a pilgrimage to a holy shrine, he marched to Kulbarga, half-way to Golkonda. His agent at Haidarábád was instructed meanwhile to extort the tribute from the King. Abu-l-Hasan collected all the jewels he could lay hands on, and deposited them in baskets at the Mughal Legation by way of security for his debt. Then news came that the Emperor had left Kulbarga and was marching on the capital. His hostile inten-