foot furniture for such kind of persons as ourselves, why does he not send two slippers instead of one? Therefore do you speedily go back, and bring here another slipper!' While he thus spoke they answered with all the vivacity of anger. On which the king became excessively incensed and had them all beaten and driven away. In consequence, on going outside the fort they assembled all their troops and began to make war. The king on hearing this intelligence, sent outside the fort five thousand cavalry and a great force of infantry which fell upon the Padshah's troops and cut them up piecemeal. As they could not make a successful stand, they ran away, and reported these occurrences to the Padshah. He, thinking on the matter, considered that if he were for the future to send such a message, the disgrace done to it now, by the daring of one, would be imitated by others: he was therefore induced by this high bearing of Raja-Runga-Kistna-MuttuVirapa-Naicker, thenceforwards to cease the sending of the Farmana to the different rulers of countries."

The foregoing account is from a Hindoo source, and there is nothing in any of the Mahomedan histories which in any way confirms it. It is probably exaggerated, especially as regards the numbers of the Mahomedan army who were put to flight. It shows, however, that previous to the incident, which occurred before the end of the seventeenth century, the custom of sending the slipper had been for some years in force, since the Trichinopoly Sirdars were acquainted with it, and that the Emperor's over-rule was recognized; for as the first impulse of the Sirdars was to show respect to the slipper, it is clear that for some time previously the Emperor's rule extended and was recognized as far south as Trichinopoly. In the account of the transactions of the latter years of Aurungzebe's reign, translated by Scott from the narrative of a Bondela officer, we are told that in 1693 Zulficcar Khan, the Emperor's great general, of whom we shall hear more

later on, marched sixty coss from Gingee into the territories of Trichinopoly and Tanjore and collected considerable contributions from the Zemindars. The slipper embassy was probably subsequent to this expedition and it was only five or six years later, when Aurungzebe's whole attention was taken up with the Mahrattas, that so flagrant an insult could have been committed. Without therefore relying on the exact accuracy of the incident as here given, it proves that soon after the fall of Golconda the Emperor's armies over-ran the whole of the territories of that State and of Bijapur and exercised a certain amount of control over the hitherto independent Pandia kingdom of Trichinopoly.

But we must now return to the affairs of the Deccan proper. The Emperor with the main body of his army marched from Hyderabad through Gulburga to Bijapur. A number of the Deccanee nobles and generals came in and submitted and were rewarded with munsabs and military charges. Amongst others was Sheikh Nizam Hyderabadee, who was honoured with the title of Khan Humman and despatched on an expedition against Sumbajee, that "vile dog' who for so long had defied the great Emperor with impunity. Sumbajee had at this period almost entirely withdrawn himself from the field. His armies were despatched in various directions on marauding expeditions, and he himself remained shut up in the fort of Sungumeshwar, where he imagined himself safe amongst his native hills. Khan Humman, however, was able to take him by surprise, and making a rapid march from Kolapur arrived at the gates of the fort and succeeded in entering before they could be closed. Sumbajee himself was intoxicated, and though most of his followers succeeded in making their escape, twenty-four of his principal chiefs defended him with bravery. They were, however, all taken prisoners; and Sumbajee together with his prime minister Kuloosha were brought before the Emperor.

It is said that Aurungzebe intended to spare him, so as to induce him to restore the forts which were still in his possession, and with this object in view offered him his life if he would become a Mussulman. "Tell the Emperor," said Sumbajee, "that if he will give me his daughter I will become a Mahomedan," and concluded his reply by an invective on the prophet.* Exasperated by this insult the Emperor ordered him to be executed, which was done in a most barbarous manner. A red hot iron was drawn across his eyes, his tongue was cut out, his skin flayed from his body, and his head cut off. (August 1689.) (August 1689.) The news of this barbarous murder of the son of the great Sivajee only served to exasperate the Mahratta nation still more against the Moguls, and the war was therefore carried on on both sides with even more bitterness than before.

Aurungzebe's Prime Minister at this time was Assud Khan, and his son Yeatikad Khan was despatched with a large force to invade the Concan. He was fortunate enough to obtain possession of Yessoo Bhai, Sumbajee's widow, and her son Sivajee, who had been declared as his father's successor, with his uncle Rajah Ram as regent. These two prisoners were taken to the Emperor's camp, where they were kindly received, and the boy, being only six years of age, was adopted by Aurungzebe's daughter. He seems to have been taken notice of by the Emperor, who called him Sahoo or Shao, and by this name he was always afterwards known. Yeatikad Khan was highly honoured for this capture, and the title of Zulficcar Khan was bestowed upon him, under which name he henceforward played a conspicuous part.

Rajah Ram, with a large force, then set off for the strong fort of Gingee, which is situated in the present district of South Arcot, about 50 miles inland from Pondicherry. The remains of the fort show that it must at one time have been *Grant Duff, Vol. I. p. 306.

of considerable strength. It is built on a small circular range of rocky hills which are isolated in the plain. A wall connects the whole of this range, and strong forts are built at the mouth of each entrance or valley. The ground thus enclosed contains several square miles, and is capable of growing grain required for the garrison. There are also large reservoirs which are fed not only by springs but by water-courses from the hill sides, so that the place was capable of maintaining a lengthened siege without any relief from outside. This fort formed the stronghold of the Mahrattas in the south of India, and the outpost of their possessions in Tanjore. The siege of this important place lasted for very nearly ten years from 1689 until 1698, but there seems to be no doubt that operations were purposely delayed owing to intrigues amongst the generals. The Bondela officer, from whose journal Scott has compiled his history of this portion of Aurungzebe's reign, says that the total ruin of the Mahratta power might have been effected with ease many years before but the Amras delayed on purpose, and secretly assisted each other to draw out the war to a never-ending length for their own advantage, also dreading that when the Emperor should have finally reduced the Deccan, he would carry his arms to Candahar and Balkh, which expeditions were disagreeable to the nobility, who did not wish to encounter the hardships of the north.* During the greater part of the siege of Gingee, Zulficcar Khan was in chief command, though for a portion of the time he was superseded by Prince Kaum Buksh, Aurungzebe's favourite son. Soon after the Prince's arrival rumours began to circulate that the Emperor was ill and was not likely to recover. In the event of the throne becoming vacant it was necessary for the success of any aspirant that he should be at headquarters in order to assert his claim. Accordingly the Prince began

*It is alleged that documents exist which show that Aurungzebe's secret intention was ultimately to found a great Empire in Central Asia.

to make secret overtures to the Mahrattas and on this coming to the ears of Zulficcar Khan he promptly had the Prince arrested and confined in his own tent. This was an act of masterfulness that Kaum Buksh never forgave, and he never let an opportunity pass of showing the dislike he felt for the general, a dislike which seems to have been cordially and implacably returned. Nevertheless the siege of Gingee had to be raised, for the imperial army was so reduced by sickness and want of provisions that it had to withdraw into quarters. Zulficcar Khan and the Prince were summoned to the Emperor's camp, and although Aurungzebe openly accepted his son's explanation and blamed the general, as a matter of fact he kept the Prince for some time in honourable confinement and employed his lieutenant on active service. Zulficcar Khan was a brave and ambitous general. When he really meant fighting he invariably beat the Mahrattas, but it is said that he secretly intended to establish himself in the Carnatic with the object, when the opportunity came, of making himself independent. If this is true, it was unfortunate for him that he relinquished the idea, for though after Aurungzebe's death Zulficcar Khan enjoyed for a few years the power and the wealth of a king-maker at Delhi, his career ended at last. with murder and spoliation, whereas another, following out his original ambition, actually achieved independence and became the founder of a royal line that still rules in the Deccan.

The date of this incident was 1696, and from this time Aurungzebe seems to have adopted a fresh policy in his campaign against the Mahrattas. A new force was despatched into the Carnatic to besiege Gingee, and the Deccan army was divided into two portions. The one, a flying column, was sent under Zulficcar Khan to beat up the Mahrattas wherever they could be found, whilst with the main body. the Emperor himself sat down to besiege the hill forts one after the other, Chin Koolich Khan, a name destined to become famous in the Deccan, was left as Governor of Bijapur.