CHAP. VII. finished and sent to the port of Vingorla in Mahratta territory. The Portuguese of Goa then declared war against the Mahrattas. Portuguese disasters. Moghul treachery. Two-faced policy. The war was most disastrous to the Portuguese. They were beguiled into attacking one of the Mahratta fortresses near the shore. They were surprised by Sambhaji, and nearly all cut to pieces. The Viceroy was severely wounded, but escaped with his life, accompanied by a remnant of his army. At that moment a Mahratta fleet threatened Goa. Every man in Goa flew to arms. The women crowded to the tomb of St. Francis Xavier. Monks and missionaries appeared with swords and muskets. A battalion of Christian fathers opened a fire upon the Mahratta fleet and drove away the enemy. In this manner Goa was saved. Meanwhile Aurangzeb had grown sick of the Mahrattas. He left his eldest son, Shah Alam, to carry on the war against the Konkan, and went away to make war on Bíjápur. It soon transpired that Shah Alam had been ordered to capture Goa. A Moghul squadron tried to force an entrance to the Goa river, but was repulsed by the fire of the Portuguese fortress. Shah Alam complained of the breach of treaty. Manouchi was sent to explain matters. Manouchi had formerly been physician to Shah Alam. He discovered that Aurangzeb meant treachery, but that Shah Alam was reluctant to attack the Portuguese. At last the Moghul squadron disappeared. Manouchi was rewarded for his services to the Portuguese by being made a Knight of the Order of St. James. game. Shah Alam was at this time playing a double zeb; but in reality he ran counter to those orders. CHAP. VII. Aurangzeb wanted him to surprise Goa and crush the Mahrattas. Shah Alam, on the other hand, was resolved to be friends with the Portuguese and Mahrattas, as they might help him in the event of Aurangzeb's death and a fratricidal war. Shah Alam was only anxious to arrest Akbar. He laid siege to Vingorla, but Akbar got away to Persia; and then Shah Alam came to a secret understanding with Sambhaji. Shah Alam was allowed to return through the Konkan without being attacked by the Mahrattas. The remaining years of the reign of Aurangzeb Sham wars. were passed in sham wars and wearisome intrigues. It would be waste of time to tell the tedious details. A general review will suffice for the purposes of history. Shah Alam was sent to make war on Golkonda; Golkonda. but his father, Aurangzeb, was already suspicious of his good faith, and was still more alarmed by his conduct of the war in Golkonda. Shah Alam made a show of war to satisfy his father, and a show of friendship to win the support of the Sultan. At last he made peace with the Sultan; left him in possession of his kingdom, and promised that the Moghuls should never molest him again. Aurangzeb was disgusted at the peace; he wanted the diamond mines. of Golkonda; but he concealed his wrath for a while, and feigned to acquiesce in the treaty. Shah Alam tried the same game in Bíjápur. He Bijapur. supplied the Sultan with money and provisions whilst besieging him in his fortress of Bíjápur. He proposed making a similar treaty, but Aurangzeb refused to sanction the terms. The Sultan of Bíjápur was dethroned. He was promised his life, but soon disap CHAP. VII. Intrigues of Sultanas. Intrigues of Aurangzeb's three sons. Imprisonment of Shah Alam, Treacherous capture of Golkonda, peared from the scene. It was said he had been poisoned by Aurangzeb. The intrigues of the sons of Aurangzeb derive some interest from the different religions of their mothers. Shah Alam, as already seen, had a Rajput mother, and courted the support of Hindús. Azam Shah had a Muhammadan mother, and courted the support of Mussulmans. Kám Bákhsh, the youngest, had a Christian mother, the beloved Udipurí;" he built his hopes on the influence of his mother with Aurangzeb. Each of the three sons was pulling his father a different way. Shah Alam wanted Aurangzeb to return to Delhi and disband his Muhammadan army. Azam Shah wanted Aurangzeb to remain in camp, for he could rely on the support of the Muhammadan army. Udipurí tried to persuade Aurangzeb to conquer Golkonda, in order to make her son, Kám Bákhsh, Sultan of Bíjápur and Golkonda. Aurangzeb yielded to the prayers of his favourite Sultana; but when he announced that he was going to make war on Golkonda, Shah Alam exclaimed against it as a breach of treaty. Aurangzeb accused Shah Alam of disloyalty, but suddenly feigned to be reconciled. He gave out that he was going to Delhi to spend his old age in peace. He sent to Delhi all the generals and troops that were well affected towards Shah Alam. He then arrested Shah Alam and made him a close prisoner. Aurangzeb took Golkonda by deception after his old treacherous fashion. He gave out that he was going on 75 The name of Kám Bákhsh was known to our forefathers as Cawn Bux. It was known to the Greeks as Cambyses. pilgrimage to the shrines at Kulbarga, and then sud- CHAP. VII denly fell upon Golkonda. The Sultan was taken by surprise, but managed to find refuge in the fortress of Golkonda; his generals, however, had been already corrupted, and agreed to admit the Moghuls at midnight. There was a show of mining a bastion and blowing down two curtains, but the Moghul army did not even mount the walls. At midnight a Moghul force was admitted into the citadel. The doors of the seraglio were forced open amidst the screaming of women, and blazing of torches. The Sultan was dragged from his hiding-place and carried off a prisoner. He was beaten and tortured to make him give up his secret hoards. Nothing further is known of him. It was said that he had been dethroned by treachery and silenced for ever by poison. The remainder of the reign of Aurangzeb was spent in partial conquests in Southern India, and in vain efforts to capture Mahratta fortresses in the Western Dekhan. The conquests in Southern India are only interesting from their association with the English settlement at Madras. Zulfikar Khan, the first Nawab of the Moghul conquests in the south, confirmed the English in all their rights and privileges at Madras. His successor, Dáúd Khan, besieged Fort St. George for several weeks, and was then bribed to retire.76 wars.' victim. The last wars of Aurangzeb against the Mabrattas of Sam'haji a the Konkan might prove equally interesting by their association with the English at Bombay. But nothing is known of the early Bombay records; and little is known of the wars against the Mahrattas beyond the 76 Early Records of British India. London: Trübner & Co. 1878. CHAP. VII. fact that they were a tissue of intrigues and shams." Aurangzeb captured Sambhaji by corrupting one of his ministers. He put the Mahratta to a barbarous death, and caused his remains to be eaten by hunting-dogs. He carried off a little son of Sambhaji, who was afterwards known as Sahu or Shao. But still the Mahrattas continued to harass him. Sambhaji was succeeded on the Mahratta throne by a younger brother, named Ram Raja. Meanwhile, Aurangzeb often suffered disasters, which he was careful to conceal. It was said that he bribed Ram Raja to suffer him to capture unimportant fortresses, in order to impress the people of India with his victories. It will suffice to say that the last years of Aurangzeb were wasted in desultory and useless wars. Death of Aurangzeb. Character and policy. Aurangzeb grew jealous of his second son, Azam Shah.78 Accordingly he liberated his eldest son, Shah Alam, as a counterpoise. He sent his three sons to remote provinces, to prevent them from making war on each other whilst he was alive. He divided the empire between them, to prevent them from making war after his death. But his hopes were vain. He died in 1707. Within a few weeks after his death Hindustan was convulsed by a fratricidal war. Aurangzeb was the last of the Moghuls who played a real part in history. He was the last who had a policy. He exhausted the resources of the empire upon one design;-the dethronement of the Hindú 77 The Records of Surat and Bombay were investigated some years ago by the Rev. Philip Anderson, and the results are shown in a work entitled "The English in Western India." But Mr. Anderson confined his attention to the internal affairs of the English settlements, and his volume throws no light upon Mahratta history. 78 Manouchi says that Azam Shah was invading Southern India and plundering the pagodas. This is probable, but vague. |