Page:Historic Landmarks of the Deccan.djvu/211

 in the eyes of Sarbarah Khan was a hint that the emperor need not hope to reduce the place by mere persistence.

With the returned prisoners Abul Hasan sent to Aurangzib two messages, one written and the other verbal. The terms which he offered were extravagantly liberal, and gave Aurangzib the best possible opportunity of making peace with honour. Abul Hasan began by acknowledging that he was the emperor's vassal, or, in oriental phraseology, his slave. He besought forgiveness for any fault that he might have committed, and pointed out that he had already been severely punished. He then agreed to surrender the fortress on condition that he was appointed viceroy for the territories over which he and his ancestors had ruled as independent kings. He sought this favour, he said, on the ground that his people had already suffered much misery on account of the war, and he feared that an unsympathetic stranger would grievously oppress them by demanding imposts which they could not possibly pay. He desired, in short, to satisfy the emperor's demands from his own treasury, and save his people from the exactions of an imperial officer who would undoubtedly regard the conquered province as his special spoil, and would, after satisfying his master's demands, bleed the people to the utmost in order to satisfy his own. He then agreed to pay to the emperor a crore of rupees for every assault that the imperial troops had made on Golconda, and a like sum for every halt that they made within the territory of Golconda, on their return to Hindustan. He also offered to relieve the immediate needs of the besieging army with an offering of five or six hundred maunds of corn. These were terms which the emperor might well have accepted without disgrace, but with a ruthless disregard of the misery of his troops and a persistent determination to conquer what he affected to consider the pride of Abul Hasan, and to reduce Golconda by force of arms, he declined to listen to any message that might be sent. "If," he said, "Abul Hasan is, as he pretends to be, my vassal, the only course open to him is to come before me bound. Only thus can I listen to him." Henceforth there could be no question of peace, and the imperial army renewed their preparations for continuing the siege. Fifty thousand sacks, which were to be filled with earth and thrown into the ditch, were ordered from Berar. The refusal of the generous terms offered by Abul Hasan and the orders for the continu-