Page:Historic Landmarks of the Deccan.djvu/196

 emperor of Delhi, and by this surrender became incorporated in them. He also agreed to insert the emperor's name in the inscription on his silver coinage, thus proclaiming himself, according to oriental custom, a vassal of Delhi. Mir Jumla entered the service of Aurangzib, and the Mughal troops were withdrawn from Golconda. Meanwhile Aurangzib bided his time. He had, as he thought, secured the reversion of Golconda, but he meant to have Delhi and Bijapur to boot. He must have seen by this time that Delhi should be his first objective, and the prompt obedience which he rendered to his father's order was, in all likelihood, merely a blind. Two years later he ascended the throne, having incarcerated or exiled his brothers and imprisoned his father. Circumstances prevented him from attending to the affairs of Golconda for many years after his accession, but the great object of his reign was to stamp out the independence of the two kingdoms yet remaining in the south and to establish an empire from Kabul to Cape Comorin.

The turn of Bijapur came first, and in 1686 Sultan Sikandar Adil Shah was besieged in his capital by the emperor. In the meantime Abdullah Qutb Shah had died, and had been succeeded by his son-in-law Abul Hasan. This king, presaging what his fate would be if the independence of Bijapur were destroyed, gave his neighbour what help he could afford. But it was all to no purpose — Bijapur fell and Sikandar Adil Shah was taken captive.

The siege of Bijapur interfered very little with Aurangzib's plans for the conquest of Golconda, and he had already, in 1684, before marching against Bijapur, commenced operations in the eastern kingdom. Troops were sent, first under Khan-i-Jahan Kukaltash, and then under prince Muhammad Mu'azzam, the emperor's second son, to wrest from Abul Hasan, the king of Golconda, some tracts of Telingana which he claimed as part of his dominions. An envoy, Mirza Muhammad, was also sent by Aurangzib to Abul Hasan, ostensibly for the purpose of demanding from him two large diamonds, the price of which, the emperor promised, should be taken into account in calculating the tribute due from Golconda, but really for the purpose of reporting upon Abul Hasan's administration, and, according to private instructions received from the emperor himself, with the object of goading the unfortunate king, by insolence, into some overt act or declaration of hostility against the