INDIA. 



so 



M..IT ,r 

 on htm 



ploy that knowledge of human nature which he i 

 eminently possessed ; he knew that the Mahratta chief 

 waa actuated by the most unbounded ambition, and 

 this passion he ho|H>d to manage in such a manner as 

 to bring about his destruction. 



In the year 1667, Aurengzebe appointed his son Ma- 

 homed Mauium to the government of the Decan ; and 

 A. D. 1MT. the prince marched from Delhi with a numerous and 

 chosen army. As soon as he reached the Mahratta 

 country, he caused his troops to spread along the foot 

 of the hills, to the north and south of Jenneah-gur, in 

 such a careless manner, that the bands of Sevajee made 

 excursions through them, even to the gates of Beja- 

 porc. Aurengzebe, informed of this, wrote in a threat- 

 ening and displeased tone to his son ; who, in his turn, 

 openly expressed displeasure . at his father. At last 

 there seemed to be no doubt that the son had revolted. 

 In the mean time the Mahratta chief had, through his 

 spies, fully informed himself of the state of things in 

 the Mogul camp ; he was not, therefore, surprised when 

 Mahomed applied to him for assistance against his fa- 

 ther ; but Sevajee's suspicions were raised ; he dreaded 

 a collusion between the father and son ; and this he en- 

 deavoured to ascertain by his spies, both in the camp 

 of Mahomed and at Delhi. He could, however, learn 

 or conjecture nothing ; still he resolved to continue sus- 

 picious and guarded, till at last Mahomed was convin- 

 ced that it was impossible to overreach Sevajee. From 

 this plan, though unsuccessful, Aurengzebe however 

 reaped one advantage; for it had fixed such general 

 distrust on his son, as was likely to prevent him from 

 gaining any support in any future intention of real re- 

 bellion. 



About this period, the intrigues of the Persians had 

 incited several of the Patan tribes of Cabul to rebel 

 against Aurengzebe ; but being deprived of the assist- 

 ance they expected by the death of the sophy of Persia, 

 they were left to the mercy of Aurengzebe, who punish- 

 ed them with vindictive severity. It was in the Decan, 

 however, that the emperor's schemes were carried on to 

 the greatest extent, and with the most zeal ; and there 

 they were still opposed in the most formidable manner 

 by the Mahratta chieftain. Sevajee was at this time in 

 possession of all the ridge that stretches from Rajah- 

 poor to Damaun ; besides which, he had several detach- 

 ed fortresses of great strength to the eastward. With 

 the exception of Chaul, he was in possession of the sea 

 const from the river of Rajahpoor to the river Pener, 

 which flows into the harbour of Bombay. As it was 

 evident that he meant to attack either Surat or Aurun- 

 gabod, Aurengzebe's generals fixed their station at Jen- 

 neah-gur, which was the most proper point to watch 

 his movements in either direction. Sevajee, however, 

 eluded their vigilance, and at the end of the year 1669 

 he suddenly attacked and reduced Surat. This insult 

 increased the indignation of the emperor; but as he 

 could not spare more troops from near his own person, 

 he was obliged to dispatch them into the Decan even 

 from the province of Dahar. He also resolved to make 

 a descent on the shores of the Concan, and thus com- 

 pel Sevajee to attend solely to the defence of his own 

 dominions. Against the fleet which was to be employ- 

 ed in the transport of these troops, the Mahratta chief 

 lent one of his generals, in the hopes of being able to 

 destroy it in the harbour ; but this expedition proved 

 unsuccessful. The plans of Aurengzebe, however, did 

 not restrain Sevajee ; by his prudence and enterprise, 

 he gradually enlarged his territories, and more firmly 

 established hit power. 



PtUn tribes 

 scroll. 



8nt taken. 

 *. D. 1669. 



In the mean time, the rebellion of the Patans of Ca- 

 bul had become the most soydtous concern of the em- 

 pire. One entire army, commanded by the Mogul's 

 governor of Peshawer, which had crossed tfte Indus, was 

 destroyed by them. Encouraged by this success, they 

 became more daring, and formed a plan which might 

 have proved fatal to the power of Aurengzebe. It has 

 already been mentioned, that the emperor's brother Su- 

 jah took refuge with the rajah of Arracnn, by whom 

 he was murdered. It happened that a Patan soldier, 

 who had served in the army of Sujah, bore such a re- 

 semblance to him in countenance and figure that they 

 might easily have been mistaken for each other. This 

 man had also acquired the manners and deportment, as 

 well as some minute particulars of the life of Sujah, in a 

 surprising degree. This adventurer the Patans produ- 

 ced as the lawful king of Hindostan, and all the tribes 

 were summoned to march with him to Delhi. As they 

 could bring 150,000 men into the field, and were brave 

 and active, and retained an hereditary aversion to the 

 Mogul authority, this intelligence alarmed Aurengzebe, 

 ai d schemes of distant conquest were laid aside for the 

 protection of his throne. As he was not a man either 

 disposed or obliged to be dilatory in his movements, 

 he immediately displayed the standard of the empire, 

 marched from Delhi in April 1674, and crossed the 

 Indus at the end of the year. The particulars of this 

 expedition are not clearly or fully detailed ; but it ap- 

 pears that the rebellion was soon quelled, and the Pa- 

 tans, though not completely subdued, were compelled 

 to retire to their mountains, and the emperor returned 

 to his capital in July 1676. 



Towards the Decan, and the designs of Sevajee, he 

 again directed his anxious attention. The Mahratta 

 chief was still carrying on his conquests, and had even 

 penetrated into the Carnatic. While Aurengzebe was 

 engaged in warfare with the Patans, he was obliged to 

 pass unnoticed, and unrepressed the schemes of Seva- 

 jee ; and he probably thought, that he would waste his 

 force unprofitably at such a distance, against so strong 

 a country. But he was mistaken in this idea ; for Seva- 

 jee was not only able to maintain his conquests, he 

 also, by the prudent and economical mode in which he 

 conducted his wars, drew from that conquest the means 

 of other invasions. Visiapore now became as much ex- 

 posed to his attacks from the Carnatic on one skle, as 

 from the Concan on the other ; and the rich countries 

 to the south of the Coleroon lay at his mercy. 



Aurengzebe intended to have put himself at the head 

 of his armies in the Decan, having found that his ge- 

 nerals were not equal to the Mahratta chieftain either 

 in talents or skill; but his persecution of the Hindoos 

 had stirred up the Rajpoot tribes in Ajmeer, and he 

 deemed it necessary, in the first place, to reduce them. 

 Accordingly, he advanced towards their country in the 

 year 1678. On the approach of his arm}', they aban- 

 doned the plain, and secured their herds, and their wo- 

 men and children, in the vallies within the mountains. 

 Aurengzebe, insensible of the dangers he was about to 

 encounter, and ignorant both of the nature of the coun- 

 try, and of the resources and army of the rajahs, pushed 

 on in the most imprudent manner, till at length the di- 

 vision, which he himself commanded, was unexpected- 

 ly stopped by insuperable defences and precipices in 

 front ; while the rajahs, in the course of one night, 

 closed the passes in his rear, by felling the overhanging 

 trees, and from their stations above prevented all en- 

 deavours of his troops to remove the obstacle. The fa- 

 vourite wife of the emperor, who had accompanied him 



H istory. 



Aurengzebe 

 obliged to 

 defend his 

 empire a- 

 gainst the 

 Patans ; 



Marches a- 

 gainstthem. 

 A.D. 167*. 



Affairs of 

 the Decan 

 and the 

 Mahrattas. 



Rajpoots 



revolt. 



A. D. 1673. 



