Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/187

CHAP. VIII.] lah's men were wounded and slain....The enemy issued on three sides, and from sunset to dawn fired their muskets incessantly from loop-holes opened in the fort-walls, so as to give no opportunity to Aurangzib's workmen [to make progress.]"

In fact the Persian artillery was as excellent as the Mughal was inefficient. The Indian gunners were bad marksmen and their fire produced no effect on the fort-walls. Some of Aurangzib's men were so ignorant that they overcharged two of his big guns with powder, causing them to burst. Five large pieces of cannon now remained, which were insufficient to breach the wall in two places. In fact so notoriously bad were the Indians in handling artillery that the main reliance of their kings was on European gunners, who are praised in contemporary histories as masters of their craft, and were attracted to the Imperial service by high pay and large rewards, though they used to desert as soon as they could get a chance. In the third siege, Dara Shukoh took a body of them with him to Qandahar.

There were other difficulties, too. Within a