Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/67

CHAP. III.] his suzerain, while he stood by in loyal approval! (April, 1636.)

The king of Bijapur had not fallen so low as that. He made a stand for the

power and dignity of his ancestors. But the three Mughal armies at once entered his kingdom from three points, Bidar in the N. E., Sholapur in the W. and Indapur in the S. W. With a ruthlessness surpassing that of the French who desolated the Palatinate, the Mughal invaders everywhere destroyed all traces of cultivation, burnt down the houses, drove off the cattle, butchered the villagers, or dragged them away to be sold as slaves. With a refinement of cruelty they forced their prisoners to carry their own property for the benefit of the captors! Flourishing villages were ruined for ever, and the population thinned. But like the Dutch of a generation later, the