Page:Aurangzíb and the Decay of the Mughal Empire.djvu/38

32 treachery to the old master by distinguished services to the new, not only in war, but in such works of peace as the well-known canal at Delhi, which still bears his name. Towards the close of 1648 the Persians besieged the city, and Aurangzíb and the great minister, Sa'd-Allah 'Allámí, accompanied by Rája Jai Singh and his Rájputs, were sent to relieve it. The Mughal army numbered 60,000 horse and 10,000 infantry and artillery. Before they reached Kábul, however, Kandahár had fallen; and measures were accordingly taken for a siege. In May, 1649, the Mughals opened their batteries, and mines and countermines, sallies and assaults, went on with great vigour for four months. The army, however, had come for a pitched battle, not for a siege, and there were no heavy guns. By September little progress had been made, and the winter was coming on. Aurangzíb had experienced one winter retreat in the mountains, and he would not risk a second. The army retired to Kábul.

In the spring of 1652, another attempt was made to recover Kandahár, and Aurangzíb was again sent with Sa'd-Allah, at the head of an army 'like the waves of the sea,' with a siege-train, including eight heavy and twenty light guns, and 3000 camels carrying ammunition. But the frontiers were strong and vigorously defended; the besiegers' guns were badly served, and two of them burst; the enemy's sallies and steady fire drove back the engineers; and after two months and eight days the siege was again abandoned.