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14 on the duty, and executed it in a manner suitable to his wily nature.

Without any further manifestation of hostility, he sent out a chosen force, under pretence of escorting his son, Sooltan Mahommed, to Bengal, for the purpose of celebrating his nuptials with the daughter of his own brother, prince Soojah, who was viceroy of that province. The road from Aurungabad to Bengal made a circuit by Masulipatam, so as to avoid the forests of Gondwana, and thus naturally brought the prince within a short distance of Hyderabad, the capital of Golconda. Abdoolla Shah was preparing an entertainment for his reception, when he suddenly advanced as an enemy, and took the king so completely by surprise, that he had only time to fly to the hill fort of Golconda, six or eight miles from the city; while Hyderabad fell into the hands of the Moguls, and was plundered and half burned before the troops could be brought into order.

Aurungzebe had, before this, found a pretence for assembling an army on the nearest point of his province, and being joined by fresh troops from Malwa, he had ample means of sending on reinforcements to Golconda. Meer Jumla also in time drew near, and was ready to turn his master's arms against himself. Abdoolla Shah, on his first flight to the hill fort, had released Mahommed Ameen, and given up the sequestrated property; and he did all in his power to negotiate a reasonable accommodation; while at the same time he spared no effort to procure aid from Beejapoor: no aid came, and the Moguls were inexorable; and after several attempts to raise the siege by force, he was at last under the necessity of accepting the severe terms imposed on him. Those terms were:—To agree to give his daughter