52 HISTORY OF AURANGZIB. [CHAP. III. But this position and these strongholds became the cause of their ruin when the Mughals con- quered Guzerat and Khandesh and wanted to join hands across Baglana. An independent prince and master of mountain fastnesses could not be left in possession of the main route be- tween these two provinces of the empire. The great Akbar had invaded the district, but after a seven years' fruitless siege* he had compound- ed with the Rajah, Pratap Shah, by ceding to him several villages as the price of protection to all merchants passing through his land. Bairam Shah was now seated on the throne of Pratap. Aurangzib sent an army of 7000 men under Mulher besieged. Maloji, a Deccani officer in the Imperial service, and Muhammad Tahir Khurasani (afterwards Wazir Khan) to besiege the capital Mulher. This fort covers the spacious top of a low hill close to the Mosam river, 9 miles north-east of Saler. As is the case with all Deccani forts, it shelters a walled village lower down the hill side, called the Bari or in the language of further south the Pettah. Here lived the Rajah and his family. On 16th January,
- Imp. Gaz. vi. 191. I can find no support of this statement
in Abul Fazl or Badauni. † M. U. iii. 937, 522. Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
