History of Aurangzib/Volume 1/Chapter 10

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Chapter IX
History of Aurangzib, Vol. I
by Jadunath Sarkar
Chapter XI
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4575922History of Aurangzib, Vol. IJadunath Sarkar

​

CHAPTER X.

Invasion of Golkonda, 1656.

Golkonda was a very fertile and carefully irrigated country, with a large industrious population. The Golkonda: wealth of the kingdom.capital, Haidarabad, was at this time the centre of the diamond trade, not of Asia alone, but of the whole world. Numbers of foreign traders assembled here and transacted business. The kingdom was famous for several industries. The steel works of Nirmal and Indur (two villages north of the city) supplied the raw materials for the world-famed Damascus blades, and the local out-turn of swords, lances and daggers was distributed in large quantities over all parts of India. The skilled cloth-weavers of Masulipatam were sought after for the Imperial factories of Burhanpur and Delhi, and the chintz woven there had a continental celebrity. The carpet industry of Ellore, conducted entirely by Muhammadans, was ​ famous for centuries. To its smiling cornfields, tanks teeming with fish, and flourishing handicrafts, must be added the diamond and gold mines which made the name of Golkonda known even in far-off Europe. The kingdom also possessed in Masulipatam the best anchorage in the Bay of Bengal and the only place on the East Coast whence ships sailed for Pegu, Siam, Bengal, Cochin China, the Manillas, and even Mecca and Madagascar. The forests of the kingdom sheltered large herds of highly prized elephants, which added to the wealth of the king. Tobacco and the palm flourished exceedingly, and the excise on tobacco and toddy juice yielded a large revenue.[1]

Friction with the Imperial Government. Since his return to the Deccan in 1653, Aurangzib had frequent cause to quarrel with the king of Golkonda. The annual tribute of two lakhs of hun was always in arrears, and frequent dunning on the part of the Mughal viceroy only met with excuses and petitions for delay. The Emperor asked the Sultan to pay half his tribute in cash and the other half in elephants, of which he had a vast stable. But even this was not done. At ​ last Aurangzib demanded the alienation of a certain part of Golkonda territory, the revenue of which would be collected by Imperial officers and set apart for the payment of the tribute.[2]

Next, the exchange value of the hun rose from Rs. 4 in 1636 to Rs. 4½ and finally in 1654 to Rs. 5 each. Qutb Shah had been paying his tribute at the old rate of eight lakhs of rupees a year. The Mughals now demanded that the difference due to exchange for all the past years should be paid at once. A new burden of 20 lakhs of rupees was thus thrown on the shoulders of the Sultan who had been tottering under the load of the normal tribute.[3]

Then he was rebuked for not having taken his over-lord's sanction before conquering the Karnatak. But he was told that the offence could be atoned for by paying a large sum as present to the Emperor! When Aurangzib's agent, Muhammad Mumin, was sent ostensibly to protect Sri Ranga, the Rajah of Karnatak, Qutb Shah was warned not to hinder him, with a clear hint that the proposed intervention could be bought off![4] Lastly there was the affair of Mir Jumla which precipitated war, and of which a detailed account will be now given.

​ The treaties of 1636 has divided the old Ahmadnagar territory between the Emperor of Delhi and the Sultan of Bijapur, made Golkonda a protected tributary State, and clearly marked out the boundary between the Empire and the two Deccani monarchies.[5] Barred in the north by the strong arm of the Mughals, these two States began to give employment to their troops and a free vent to their ambition by engaging in a career of conquest in other directions.The Karnatak conquered by Bijapur and Golkonda. Bijapur took possession of the Nizam Shahi Konkan, which had been ceded to it by the treaty with the Emperor, and even attacked the Portuguese possessions north of Goa with some success. Golkonda was cut off by foreign territory from the west. But it was in the eastern side of Southern India that both the Sultans found free scope for expansion. The whole of the Karnatak, from the river Krishna to Tanjore beyond the Kaveri, was covered with a number of petty Hindu principalities, the jarring fragments of the ruined empire of Vijaynagar. These now rapidly fell a prey to Muslim arms. The Golkonda troops advanced conquering to the Bay of Bengal, and occupied the country from the Chilka lake to the Penner river. ​ Their raiding bands penetrated as far north as Khurda, the seat of the faineant Rajah of Orissa. The Gajapati Rajah of Ganjam was ousted by the Golkonda Sultan in 1571. Chicacole became the seat of a Qutb Shahi faujdar some time before 1641, when a handsome mosque was built there by Shir Muhammad Khan, the first faujdar. In 1652 a Rajput officer of Golkonda seized Vizagapatam and extending his conquest formed a petty Rajahship.[6]

Bijapur advanced conquering southwards and then turned east till it occupied the coast between Jinji and Tanjore. Hemmed in the north and south by the conquests of the two Sultans, as between the two jaws of a monster, lay the kingdom of Chandragiri, the last remnant of the Vijaynagar empire, with its territory contracted to the region from Nellore to Pondicherry on the east and the Mysore frontier on the west. On the death of Rama Raja, the minister and virtual ruler of Vijaynagar, on the fatal field of Talikota (1564), and the subsequent sack of the capital by the Muslims, his brother had removed the seat of government to Pennakonda ​ (1567). This brother's son transferred the capital to Chandragiri (about 1600). At this time the throne of Chandragiri was occupied by Sri Ranga, who gave the site of Madras city to the English in 1639, and whom the Muhammadan historians style Sri Ranga Ráyal, zamindar of Karnatak.[7] There was now a race between the Golkonda and Bijapur kings for the absorption of his kingdom; the two jaws began rapidly to close from the north and the south upon the doomed Karnatak. In this work of conquest a most conspicuous part was played by Mir Jumla, the wazir of Golkonda.

Muhammad Said, known to history as Mir Jumla,[8] was a Syed of Ardstan in Persia, and Mir Jumla, prime minister of Golkonda, the son of an oil-merchant of Isfahan. Leaving his native country in youth, he like other Shiah adventurers, sought his fortune at the Courts of the Deccani Sultans who belonged to his sect, (1630). As a diamond merchant he ​ rose to great wealth by his shrewdness and business capacity. His wonderful talents gained him the favour of Abdullah Qutb Shah, who made him his prime minister. Mir Jumla's industry, rapid despatch of business, administrative capacity, military genius, and inborn power of leadership ensured his success in all that he undertook. Great alike in civil government and in war, he soon became the virtual ruler of Golkonda: nothing could reach the Sultan without first securing his approval. Sent by his master to the Karnatak, he soon effected a complete transformation his vast conquests and wealth, there. Hitherto Kambam,[9] on the N. E. side of the Cuddapah district, had been the limit of Golkonda advance in that direction. All the attempts of the Sultans had failed to conquer the uplands of the Karnatak, where the Rajah of Chandragiri still held sway. Mir Jumla strengthened himself by securing a number of European gunners and cannon-founders, raised his army to a high state of discipline and efficiency, and soon wrested the Cuddapah district. His crowning feat was the capture of the rock fortress of Gandikota, hitherto deemed impregnable. ​Sidhout,[10] east of Cuddapah, was also conquered, and his captains penetrated as far as Chandragiri and Tirupati in the North Arcot district. By looting the rich old temples of the South and hunting out buried treasure, Mir Jumla amassed a vast fortune. The huge Hindu idols of copper were brought away in numbers, to be melted and cast into cannon! By diligently working the diamond mines which he farmed from his sovereign or discovered by his own exertions, he multiplied his wealth, till he came to be known as the richest private man in the South and the owner of twenty maunds of diamonds. On entering Shah Jahan's service he made presents worth 15 lakhs of rupees to the Emperor, besides what he gave to Aurangzib and his eldest son. By his conquests he raised his jagir in the Karnatak into a kingdom 300 miles long and 50 miles broad, yielding a revenue of 40 lakhs a year, and possessing several diamond mines. At his own cost and under his absolute command he maintained an army of 5,000 well-mounted and well-equipped cavalry, besides the 4,000 troops of the Golkonda king's service, whose captains he had won over. His foot numbered 20,000 strong. An excellent park of ​ artillery and a large number of trained elephants completed his war equipage. Thus he had made himself fully independent of his master and the virtual king of the Karnatak. In short, it has been well said by one historian that though Mir Jumla's rank was that of a noble, he possessed the power wealth and grandeur of a ruling prince.[11]

Mir Jumla's growing power and wealth roused the alarm of his master. Envious courtiers were not wanting to whisper to the Sultan of Golkonda that the absent wazir's armed strength was a menace to his own security, and that the servant's wealth overshadowed the grandeur of the master's Court. Qutb Shah, too, Qutb Shah in jealousy tries to ruin Mir Jumla, naturally wished to have a share of his wazir's gains. In the conquest of the Karnatak the two had acted as partners; Mir Jumla had supplied the brain and leadership, while the Sultan had lent him the necessary men and money and the protection of his name, in the first stage at all events. They now quarrelled about the profits. Qutb Shah tried to treat Mir ​ Jumla as a mere servant and to escheat to the State what he had acquired in its service. Mir Jumla, on the other hand, knowing how weak and worthless his master was, regarded the conquest as entirely his own work and his gains as the fruits of his own exclusive toil. After having tasted regal independence in the Karnatak he was loth to return to the life of a courtier. But he could not long disobey the summons of his master. So, he once went back to Golkonda. The Sultan conspired with other courtiers to seize and blind him, but Mir Jumla learnt of the plot before it was matured, and cleverly managed to escape to the Karnatak, vowing never to visit Golkonda again. The Sultan kept calling him back with increasing persistence, but it only served to confirm Mir Jumla's suspicion. At last the mask was thrown away, and Qutb Shah openly undertook to crush his disobedient servant.[12]

Mir Jumla now looked around for protection. He offered to enter the service who intrigues with Bijapur and Persia, of the Sultan of Bijapur, and to hold the Karnatak of him, and as an earnest presented him with some lockets (paduk) richly set with diamonds and gems, which he had extorted from the Rajah of ​ Chandragiri.[13] Adil Shah was overjoyed at the prospect of acquiring such a precious servant, the ablest man in the Deccan since Malik Ambar's time. But Bijapur was only one of the many strings to Mir Jumla's bow. He was also intriguing with the Shah of Persia[14] and asking for an asylum with him. What he evidently wanted to secure was a safe retreat to Persia with all his wealth, if matters came to the worst and he found the Karnatak no longer tenable against a combination of his foes. Nearer home he ably turned enemies into friends. The despoiled Rajah of Chandragiri was conciliated and assured that he would not be further molested, if he stood by Mir Jumla.[15] Years ago Bijapur and Golkonda had almost come to blows about the and strengthens his position in the Karnatak. partition of the Karnatak. The Muslim conquerors advancing from the north and the south of the province had met near the northern frontier of the South Arcot district and each had wished to push the other back.[16] But Mir Jumla now made a peaceful settlement: by mutual consent ​ a line drawn east to west some distance north of Jinji became the boundary between Adil Shahi Karnatak and Qutb Shahi Karnatak. In addition to this, Mir Jumla made friends with Ikhlas Khan,[17] the Abyssinian governor of Bijapuri Karnatak, who probably wished to imitate his disloyal example and make his viceroyalty an independent State. The Golkonda generals and troops posted in the Karnatak were already bound by close ties of self-interest and favours to Mir Jumla's side. The Sultan had no instrument with which he could punish his refractory servant.

Mir Jumla had also begun to coquet with the Mughal power. Indeed, in this case the first solicitation had come from the other side. Aurangzib, secretly nursing his passionate ambition of conquering the rich State of Golkonda, was eager to secure such an able helper and counsellor as the prime minister of that kingdom. Through Aurangzib's secret correspondence for the winning Mir Jumla over. the Mughal envoy at Golkonda the Prince opened a secret correspondence with Mir Jumla, promising him not only protection for his family and property against his wrathful master, but also boundless favours from the Emperor, if he ​ joined the Mughal service. He also sent an agent, Muhammad Mumin, directly to the prime minister in the Karnatak. But the prudent wazir dallied with the offer and waited to see what turn his affairs would take. So, he sent a secret petition for appointment under the Emperor, in order to ascertain what terms he might expect from that quarter.[18]

These intrigues with three different Courts could not be kept secret. Qutb Shah, hearing of them, tried to conciliate his too-powerful officer. To his friendly overtures Mir Jumla replied that after two years he would either attend on his master or resign his post and leave India.[19] All this time Aurangzib kept up a busy but secret correspondence with him, and messengers kept running from one to the other. In his excess of eagerness the Prince even approached Muhammad Amin, the son of Mir Jumla. But Shah Jahan's hesitation in replying to the Mir's petition threw the latter into alarm and doubt about the Emperor's intentions. At last, yielding to Aurangzib's importunity, the Emperor offered to Mir Jumla his protection and favour if he came to his Court.[20] But evidently the terms were very ​ vague, and Mir Jumla was in no haste to accept them. He, however, feigned Mir Jumla's duplicity. consent, and begged a year's respite in which to collect his property from the ports, and keep his promise to Qutb Shah. So, he urged the Mughal Court to keep this agreement secret till then, for if the Deccani Sultans discovered his successful intrigue with the Emperor, they would, he feared, kill him.[21] In fact three kings were now bidding for his services, and he wished to make the most of the circumstance.

Eager as Aurangzib was to secure Mir Jumla, these delays made his heart turn sick, and he discovered Mir Jumla's duplicity. "I think," he wrote to the Emperor, "that Mir Jumla does not really wish to enter the Imperial service, as he now holds a large kingdom with many fortresses, ports, and strongholds, and has disgusted the Sultan of Bijapur by declining to enter his service. His proposal to take the Emperor's pay is only a matter of policy. He will not leave that country so long as he can dexterously avert the hostility of the two Sultans."[22]

Evidently Aurangzib's solicitations ceased, or his agent at Golkonda blundered and the secret ​ of Mir Jumla's understanding with the Emperor leaked out. The two Deccani Sultans, thoroughly angry with the double-dealer, agreed to unite their forces to crush him. It was now Mir Jumla's turn to be as eager as he had been lukewarm before in joining the Mughals. He w^rote to the Prince, "I am Shah Jahan's servant and beg to be saved by him." But Aurangzib now hung back. He w^aited for the attack on Mir Jumla to be actually delivered before sending him the "strong force to escort him" to the Imperial territory which he had promised before.[23]

Before Qutb Shah could muster either his courage or his forces for the purpose of chastising Mir Jumla, a crisis was precipitated by the conduct of Muhammad Amin, the wazirs son. This youngman, haughty and reckless at all times and known as the most audacious of courtiers even when serving a stern master like Aurangzib,[24] was acting all these years as Mir Jumla's deputy at the Court of Golkonda. His father's wealth and glory turned his head. He gave himself the airs of a prince, Mir Jumla's family imprisoned by king of Golkonda. spoke slightmgly of the Sultan, and treated him with scant courtesy in open Court. Abdullah ​Qutb Shah bore all this meekly. But at last, one day Muhammad Amin came to Court reeling with drunkenness, fell asleep on the king's own carpet, and soiled it in crop sickness. The long-suffering king could not bear this crowning act of insult. His anger boiled over, and he threw Muhammad Amin and his family into prison and attached their property (21st November, 1655.)[25]

This was the opportunity for which Aurangzib had so long been waiting. Here was a plea for invading and annexing Golkonda, whose wealth had excited his keen longing for years past, though he had had to keep that longing in check in fear of Shah Jahan's sense of justice.

The Prince immediately reported the incident to the Emperor and solicited an urgent sanction of war.[26] Meantime, on 3rd December, Shah Jahan had despatched a robe of honour and a letter-patent to Mir Jumla, appointing him a Commander of Five Shah Jahan takes Mir Jumla into his service and orders the release of his family,Thousand, and his son a Commander of Two Thousand release of his troopers in the Mughal service, together with a letter to Qutb Shah bidding him not to hinder them in coming to ​the Imperial Court, nor to detain any part of their property.[27] These letters reached Aurangzib on 18th December, and he at once sent the Emperor's letter on to Golkonda, commanding the king to release the family of Mir Jumla immediately and to send them with all their belongings to the Imperial Court in company with the bearer of the letter. If Qutb Shah delayed or disobeyed the order, Aurangzib threatened to send an army under his son against him.[28] In the meantime, anticipating the Emperor's sanction, he mobilised his troops on the Golkonda frontier for a campaign. Hadidad Khan was ordered to hasten his return from Deogarh and to move directly on Qandahar (a fort midway between Aurangabad and Golkonda), while Aurangzib's eldest son, Muhammad Sultan, was sent (26th Dec.) with the Van of his father's army to Nander to wait for Hadidad Khan.[29]

While the storm was thus brewing against him, Qutb Shah seems to have been seized with infatuation. He either ignored or underrated his danger, and his anger was still unallayed. Both Aurangzib's warning of 18th December and ​Shah Jahan's letter of the third announcing the Imperial protection of Mir Jumla and Muhammad Amin, were disregarded by him.

On hearing (24th December) of Muhammad Amin's captivity, Shah Jahan wrote a letter to Qutb Shah to release Mir Jumla's family. He felt sure that his letter alone would effect the purpose. But "in order to gratify Aurangzib," threatening war in case of refusal. he rather reluctantly sanctioned (29th Dec.) the invasion of Golkonda, in case Muhammad Amin was still detained.[30] Both these letters reached Aurangzib on 7th January, 1656.[31] He now employed finesse to ruin Golkonda. Without giving Qutb Shah time to receive and follow Shah Jahan's letter of 24th December, which explicitly ordered the release of the captives, he declared that the king's refusal to set them free in spite of the Emperor's letter of 3rd December amounted to that flat disobedience of Imperial orders which had been laid down as a necessary condition for the invasion of Golkonda.

At once Aurangzib ordered Prince Muhammad Sultan, (who had reached Nander on 7th January), to cross the frontier. The young ​Prince started (10th January) and made a dash on Haidarabad with his cavalry. Aurangzib waited at Daulatabad with the main army for a fortnight, because there was some fear of Bijapur coming to the aid of Golkonda in answer to the earnest appeals of Qutb Shah. Indeed, the Bijapur Aurangzib invades Golkonda. army under Afzal Khan had been massed on the Mughal frontier. But Adil Shah held back in fear; the danger blew over, and so, on 20th January Aurangzib himself started and quickly marched to join his son. Shivaji had caused some disturbance on the Mughal frontier near Junnar[32] But as yet he could be safely neglected. Moreover, his aim was not so much to cause a diversion in favour of Golkonda as to profit by the absence of the Mughal troops.

Meantime, after Muhammad Sultan had entered his territory, Abdullah got Shah Jahan's stern letter of 24th December and at once sent Muhammad Amin with his family and servants to that Prince, together with a humble letter of submission to the Emperor. But Aurangzib had so contrived it that his submission should come too ​late to save him. Muhammad Amin waited on Raid on Haidarabad: Qutb Shah flees to Golkonda Fort. the Prince, 24 miles from Haidarabad (probably on 21st Jan.), but the Prince refused to stop hostilities and pressed on to the capital on the plea that Abdullah had not yet restored the property of the captives. Qutb Shah's last hope was gone; the Mughal cavalry had arrived so fast that he had been taken completely by surprise. Confronted with utter ruin, he sent off to the stronghold of Golkonda his children and such valuable property as could be easily removed, and in the night of 22nd January himself fled from Haidarabad to that fort,—leaving the defence of the capital to three officers and some 17,000 soldiers.[33]

This flight saved his life because Aurangzib's secret instructions to M. Sultan breathed deadly hostility:

"Qutb-ul-mulk is a coward and will probably offer no resistance. Surround his palace with your artillery and also post a detachment to bar his flight to Golkonda. But before doing so, send a carefully chosen messenger to him, saying, 'I had so long been expecting that you would meet me and hospitably ask me to stay with you. But as you have not done so, I have myself come to you.' Immediately on delivering this message, attack him impetuously and, if you can manage it, lighten his neck of the burden of his head. The best means of achieving this plan are cleverness, promptitude, and lightness of hand."[34]

​On 23rd January the invaders arrived at the Husain Sagar tank, two miles north of Haidarabad. Confusion reigned in the counsels of Golkonda. The king had never before ruled his servants, and now he was more helpless than a child and more unnerved than a woman. His officers acted without concert, having no common leader and no definite plan of action. While one minister waited on M. Sultan with a casket of gems as a peace-offering, others made a demonstration against the Mughal army, but were soon driven back with loss. Next day the young Prince entered Haidarabad. Mughals enter Haidarabad. A strong party was posted in the city under Muhammad Beg to prevent plunder and violence, to reassure the citizens, and to man the city walls. As the palace and most of the houses were built of wood, strict orders were given to guard watchfully against fire; for, some years before this, the screen of the king's Hall had been accidentally set ablaze by a candle, and the fire had spread to the roof and thence to the neighbouring houses, and smouldered for fully a month.[35]

These arrangements were made none too soon. Haidarabad was one of the richest cities of India. Besides being the capital of a flourishing monar​chy, it was the centre of the diamond trade of the world and the seat of many fine arts. A vast concourse of nobles, officers, traders, and artisans filled the city and its extensive suburb (named Aurangabad)[36] across the Musa river. From the night of the 22nd to the noon of the 24th, plunder Plunder of the city. raged in the city unchecked. The king had left behind him all his costly carpets, Chinaware, furniture, &c., besides elephants and horses. Muhammad Sultan inspected the royal property, closed the doors of the palace, and placed a guard over it. The looting of Haidarabad was the talk of all India in that age. As Aurangzib's equerry, Aqil Khan Razi, wrote in his history, "Most of the stores and property of Qutb-ul-mulk, such as precious books and other costly things beyond computation, were plundered by Prince M. Sultan . . . . Much of Qutb-ul-mulk's property,—among the rareties of the age,—was confiscated by Aurangzib. But so rich was the king and so vast his wealth that, in spite of these several acts of looting, so much treasure was left behind at Aurangzib's retreat that nobody could suppose that the treasury and palace had been looted." Another historian, Bhimsen, records that the Mughal army gathered much booty in the city, ​and a vast amount in cash and kind was seized in the king's palace.[37]

Abdullah Qutb Shah continued to send almost daily envoys to the Prince offering submission and costly presents in the hope of making peace. He restored Mir Jumla's property. But the Prince could settle nothing in his father's absence. Abdullah had, therefore, no help but to solicit aid from Bijapur and to put Golkonda in a state of defence in the meantime.

Aurangzib arrived on the scene on 6th February with the bulk of his army. With the Aurangzib besieges Golkonda. vigour and promptitude that marked all his actions, he first made a reconnaissance of the fort and its environs, before retiring to his tent to refresh himself after the fatigue of a fortnight's forced march. A large Golkonda force, about 15,000 strong, appeared in the plain and fired at the Mughals from a distance. The fort-guns co-operated with them. Evidently the position of the Imperial army was made untenable, for Aurangzib had to drive his elephant forward and order a general advance of his troops for repelling the enemy. But the struggle was long and severe, and the losses heavy. The fight raged till evening, when the enemy retired, ​some going back to the fort, others into the jungle outside it.

Next day the siege[38] of Golkonda began. The west side was unoccupied, but Mughal officers entrenched on the other three sides. A regular siege was impossible, as Aurangzib had made a quick march with light artillery, while the fort had guns of large calibre. Moreover, Shaista Khan, Shah Nawaz Khan, and other officers in command of reinforcements had not yet arrived, nor had the big guns ordered from the fort of Ausa.[39] Aurangzib, therefore, contented himself with holding the city and surrounding the fort, to prevent the escape of the king, while he waited for reinforcements and Shah Jahan's fresh commands. His first expectation of murdering Qutb Shah and capturing his kingdom by a sudden coup had failed, and he had to resort to slower methods for which he was not prepared. The leaguer of Golkonda lasted from 7th February to 30th March, and was conducted very languidly, because, with the materials at his disposal, he could do no injury to such an impregnable fortress. Sometimes the siege-trenches were attacked by ​sorties of the defenders. Battles took place with the Golkonda troops hovering round, on 11th and 12th February in the environs of the fort, and on 13th March at a place 20 miles from it. The Deccanis, as usual, retired after some exchange of fire, being unable or unwilling to stand the charge of the dreaded dreaded Mughal cavalry. Their mode of warfare was Parthian, and their aim to wear out the enemy and cut off his supplies.

These skirmishes were varied by the almost daily arrival of presents and offers of peace from the beleaguered king to the invader's camp! But Aurangzib steadily refused to make terms. He covets the rich kingdom, He coveted the whole kingdom and nothing less. The fertility of Golkonda, the world-wide fame of its diamond mines, the wealth of its kings, the skill of its artisans, had roused his keenest greed. Soon after crossing the frontier, even before he had seen "the rich populous and flourishing city of Haidarabad," he had written to his father, "What shall I write about the beauty of this country—its abundance of water and population, its good air, and its extensive cultivation,—which I saw on the way? At every stage after crossing the frontier I met with many large tanks, springs of sweet water, run​ning streams, inhabited villages with large patches of cultivated land attached to them. Not a piece of land without tillage. Such a money-yielding country, unmatched by the Imperial dominions, has fallen into this wretch's hands!"[40] And again, "Golkonda is a spacious kingdom, well-cultivated, rich in mines of diamond, crystal, &c." He plied his father with all sorts of arguments to secure his consent to and urges Shah Jahan to annex it. its annexation: Qutb-ul-mulk was a godless wretch, ungrateful for Imperial favours, sunk in vices unworthy of a king, a violator of the purity of his subjects' homes, an oppressor against whom the people were invoking the Heavens, a heretic who had perverted all his subjects from the pure Sunni faith, and lastly an ally and financial supporter of the king of Persia.[41] Not to punish such a heretical ruler would be a failure of duty on the part of an orthodox Islamic emperor! To miss this opportunity of crushing such an enemy would he highly impolitic. "I hope your Majesty will order annexation."[42]

​Aurangzib even begged Shah Jahan not to answer Qutb-ul-mulk's submissive letter, nor to listen to the intercessions of Dara and others on his behalf,—because it would result in a great sacrifice of expected gain! When Mir Jumla's son would reach the Court, he would tell the Emperor all about the wealth and weakness of the Golkonda king, and suggest the means of squeezing the utmost out of him. In short, as he wrote, the Emperor "should make the most of this splendid opportunity."[43]

But these grotesquely mixed appeals to orthodoxy and cupidity, humanity and ambition, were wasted on Shah Jahan. The Emperor was loth to ruin a brother king for merely trying to bring his disloyal wazir under discipline. Dara, who had been bribed and implored by the Golkonda envoy at Delhi,—to the intense disgust and anger Shah Jahan orders peace in return for an indemnity. of Aurangzib,[44]—pleaded hard for Qutb-ul-mulk, and secured peace for him on the payment of an indemnity. The Emperor's letter accepting this settlement reached Aurangzib on 24th February.[45] But meantime his position at Golkonda had greatly improved. The ​siege had been pressed closer; many Golkonda officers were deserting to the Mughals daily; and Abdullah was begging for permission to send his mother to Aurangzib to ask his pardon, to promise the payment of the arrears of tribute and a large indemnity, and to propose the marriage of his second daughter with Aurangzib's eldest son. So, Aurangzib suppressed the Emperor's letter of pardon to Qutb-ul-mulk (dated 8th February), lest it should embolden the latter and make him abate his terms. Shah Jahan, on being informed, approved of this device for extortion![46]

After long entreaties and through the mediation Negotiation for terms of peace. of of Shaista Khan and Muhammad Sultan, the Queen-Mother of Golkonda was allowed to visit Aurangzib's tent and personally entreat him to spare her son. Aurangzib agreed to restore his kingdom on the payment of one krore of rupees[47] as indemnity and arrears of tribute, and the marriage of his daughter with the Mughal Prince. But evidently Qutb-ul-mulk objected ​to the amount as too large, and there was delay in making the final settlement. In this interval no formal truce was concluded, and a shot from the fort-guns killed Mir Asadullah Bukhari, the son of the Paymaster of Aurangzib's forces.[48] Mir Jumla, whose arrival had been eagerly looked forward to and impatiently hurried by Aurangzib, now reached Haidarabad and waited on the Prince on 20th March, a day chosen by the astrologers as lucky for a first visit.[49]

In the meantime, Abdullah's agent at the Court of Delhi had bought the intercession of Dara Shukoh and of the Princess Imperial Jahanara. Through them he unfolded to the Emperor the true story of Aurangzib's manoeuvring,—how Abdullah had been tricked and almost slain by treachery, how he had not been given a fair chance of carrying out the Emperor's orders, how the Imperial farmans had been withheld from him, how Shah Jahan's kind intentions towards the suppliant ruler had been thwarted, and how an entirely false version of the whole affair had been given in the despatches of Aurangzib. At this Shah Jahan, angry at Aurangzib's trickery, Shah Jahan's righteous indignation boiled over. He wrote a sharp letter of censure to Aurangzib, with orders to raise the ​siege and quit Golkonda territory at once. To add to the Prince's disgrace, the contents of this letter were not kept secret, but became the talk of the whole camp.[50]

So, on 30th March, in obedience to the Emperor's peremptory orders, Aurangzib raised the siege and withdrew from the environs of Golkonda. Four days afterwards Muhammad Sultan was married by proxy to the Golkonda princess, and on 10th April she was brought away from forcibly ends the war. the fort to her husband's camp. In the presence of Aurangzib's agents Abdullah Qutb Shah swore on the Quran to obey the Emperor in future, and gave them a written undertaking to the same effect under his own hand and seal. On 13th April, Aurangzib sent to Abdullah the Emperor's letter of pardon, dress of honour, and a formal agreement written by Shah Jahan himself and stamped with the impression of his palm dipped in vermilion, promising to protect Qutb Shah. At the entreaty of the Queen-Mother of Golkonda and the ladies of Aurangzib's harem, ten lakhs of rupees were remitted from the instalment of 25 lakhs of indemnity promised for that year.[51] Two months later Shah Jahan ​made a further reduction of 20 lakhs, being the Muhgal gains by the treaty. accumulated difference in the exchange-value of two lakhs of hun since 1636.[52] But the king of Golkonda, besides paying the tribute, had to cede the district of Ramgir (modern Manikdrug and Chinoor.)[53] The Mughal army set out on its retreat on 21st April. Marching due north from Haidarabad to Indur (now the chief town of a district of the same name in the Nizam's Dominions), Aurangzib turned westwards to Qandahar (a fort in the Nander district), and thence reached Aurangabad on 17th May. A detachment of 3,000 was left on the frontier, to pass the rainy season there and enforce the payment of the promised tribute. The officers who had joined the expedition from other provinces now returned to their own posts.[54]

​

Mir Jumla had come to Aurangzib's camp at Golkonda on 20th March more as a prince than as a noble. Six thousand cavalry, 15,000 infantry, 150 elephants, and a very good train of artillery accompanied him.[55] The presents he made to Aurangzib and his sons were worth several lakhs. Summoned immediately to the Imperial Court, he arrived at Delhi on 7th July and presented the Emperor with articles worth 15 lakhs, including a big diamond weighing 216 ratis. He was at once created a Commander of Six Thousand and appointed Prime Minister in the place of Sadullah Khan lately deceased.[56]

Aurangzib had returned from the siege of Aurangzib's wrangles with Shah Jahan about the Golkonda booty, Golkonda with his greed of territory unsated and his heart sore against his father. The expedition renewed his wrangles with the Emperor. An exaggerated account of the looting of Haidarabad had reached Delhi. It was also represented to Shah Jahan, probably by the Golkonda envoy, that Aurangzib and his sons had taken costly ​presents from Qutb Shah, without mentioning the fact in his despatches or setting their price off from the tribute due. Against this charge Aurangzib indignantly protested that the presents he had received were few and too poor to deserve mention to the Emperor.[57] Further, he complained that Shah Jahan had not kept his promise as to sharing the Golkonda indemnity with him, so that the Viceroy of the Deccan was poorer than before as the result of the war. As a financial speculation, the raid on Haidarabad had proved a failure to Aurangzib. For the last six months his soldiers' pay had been in arrears and he had besides borrowed large sums to equip his force for the war. "At the outset of this expedition, His Majesty had written to me that out of Qutb-ul-mulk's indemnity the jewels and elephants should belong to the Government, and the cash to me. . . . But now the entire Golkonda and financial loss as the result of the war. indemnity has been taken by the Emperor and placed in Daulatabad treasury. How can I repay my debt for the war and the arrears of my army, about 20 lakhs of rupees?"[58] The presents received from Golkonda had, he said, been exaggerated into "chest-loads of jewels" by malicious ​reporters at the Imperial Court. The elephants offered by Abdullah were unsound and of low price, and the diamonds dark and full of flaws. So Aurangzib had, as he explained, at first refused to accept them, and at last taken them at the entreaty of the Qutb Shahi agent and on the distinct understanding that the Imperial tribute should not suffer a deduction to the amount of their price. There was no element of concealment in the transaction; the presents had been received openly and shown to Mir Jumla and other nobles, Aurangzib had even intended that after returning to his headquarters he would send to the Emperor all the presents received by him, with other gems purchased with the indemnity, and more than 100 elephants in one grand collection. But before he could carry out this purpose, which would have necessarily taken time,—nay more, even before his return from Golkonda, the Emperor had ordered him to send all the presents and indemnity of Qutb Shah to Court at once. Such indecent haste implied that he feared lest Aurangzib should retain any thing or that any portion of it would disappear! "Why," the Prince asked indignantly, "should I grudge to give up a few jewels to His Majesty, when my life itself is at his service?" In disgust he sent all that he and his son had received to ​the Emperor with a request either to keep them or return them to Qutb Shah. Aurangzib would have nothing to do with them.[59]

Peace had been made with Golkonda, but one subject of discord remained open. Qutb Shah wanted to keep the Karnatak, and with justice it had been won by his servant and formed part of his kingdom. But Aurangzib objected, saying that it was Mir Jumla's personal Quarrel with Golkonda about the Karnatak remains open. jagir and referred the matter to the Emperor.[60] He coveted that rich and large province, and had secured the cession of Ramgir (between the Painganga and the Godavari) to bring the Mughal province of Telingana closer to the Northern Karnatak, and to secure a route for the passing of his armies from the one to the other without having to traverse a wide area of Golkonda territory.[61]

Qutb Shah intrigued hard to retain the rich province; his agent at Delhi interceded with ​Dara; he promised a fresh offering of 15 lakhs as the price of the Karnatak being left to him.[62] But Aurangzib counter-intrigued through Mir Jumla; he appealed to the Emperor's cupidity by pointing out the immense richness of the Karnatak,—its diamond mines, its fertile valleys, its hoards of buried treasure of old Hindu dynasties. It was, as he wrote, "equal to the kingdom of Golkonda itself in wealth and extent." Mir Jumla, too, spoke from personal knowledge more fully about the vast resources and wealth of the province.[63] At last he prevailed; the Emperor decided to hold the Karnatak in his own hands as Mir Jumla's jagir, and Qutb Shah was ordered to recall his officers from that province.[64] Mughal armies under Shah Beg Khan, Qazi Muhammad Hashim and Krishna Rao, entered the Karnatak, but the Golkonda officers (especially Abdul Jabbar) were loth to yield the rich prey. They lingered there and threw every difficulty in the path of the ​Mughals in occupying and settling the country. They even incited Sri Ranga Rayal and other zamindars to recover their lost possessions. During the next two years we frequently read of Aurangzib rebuking Qutb Shah for this disloyalty and double-dealing.[65]

Qutb Shah took advantage of the confusion caused by the Bijapur War and Shah Jahan's illness, to keep hold of some forts and districts of the Karnatak in opposition to Mir Jumla's agents. Aurangzib had to threaten him severely, "The Karnatak belongs to Mir Jumla, and is a part of the empire. Banish from your mind all thought of keeping it. You donot listen to me yet! . . . Why are you trying in vain to keep it? Recall your officers and troops from the province, or . . . I shall send Mir Jumla with a vast army to chastise you and annex your kingdom."[66] During the War of Succession, Qutb-ul-mulk made further progress and wrested Gandikota and Sidhout from Mir Jumla's men.[67] It was only after he had firmly seated himself on the throne of Delhi that Aurangzib could enforce the complete surrender of the Karnatak.

​Sri Ranga Rayal, the last nominal king of the Vijaynagar line, saw his dominions slipping out of his grasp as the Bijapuris advanced conquering the Karnatak from the south and the Golkonda generals from the north. He lost Jinji to the former and Chandragiri to the latter, and was practically driven out of both the Arcot districts. As early as 1653 he had sent an agent named Old Rajah of the Karnatak seeks Mughal protection. Rama Rao to Aurangzib, to seek the Imperial protection against the Deccani Sultans. But the Viceroy of the Deccan did not interfere, possibly because the Karnatak was too far off, and matters were not yet ripe for putting pressure on Golkonda. In the course of the next two years the Rajah was driven to extremities. In a short time he would be utterly dispossessed of his lands. He sent another confidential agent, a Brahman named Srinivas, to Aurangzib, desperately crying for the protection of his dominions on any terms: he would deliver 2½ krores of rupees, two hundred elephants, and all his hoarded jewels, to the Emperor, he would promise an annual tribute, he would agree to his kingdom being annexed to the empire and then given back to him as a mere jagir. Nay more, "if Shah Jahan's grace should be reluctant to fall on him on account of his being a misbe​liever,"[68] the Rajah promised to turn Muslim with all his relatives and dependents! Only he must be saved from the two Deccani Sultans; his territory should no longer be seized by them.[69]

The action taken on this petition throws a lurid light on the character of Mughal rule in India. Aurangzib proposed to send an officer of his to the Karnatak to enquire into the Rajah's capacity to keep his profuse promises. Shah Jahan disallowed the deputation, but ordered Aurangzib's plan of securing a share of the Karnatak booty from Bijapur and Golkonda by pretending to protect the Rajah. Aurangzib, "after frightening the two Sultans of the Deccan, to get from them a good sum" as the price of refusing protection to Sri Ranga. That is, the lion agreed to look on with indifference, if only the two wolves gave him a big slice of their prey. Hearing of ​these negotiations with the Mughal viceroy, the Bijapuri generals pressed their attack, captured the fort of Vellore, "the best in the Karnatak," and tried to seize the Rajah's elephants. The helpless Sri Ranga importuned the Mughals for help before all was over with him. But Aurangzib played with the miserable suppliant as an angler does with a fish. Outwardly he appointed one of his officers, Muhammad Mumin, to go to the Karnatak, but wrote to Shah Jahan, "My real object in doing so is to secure a handsome present from Bijapur at this opportunity." Both the Deccani Sultans, he exultingly adds, "are alarmed at the appointment of Muhammad Mumin. We shall use this posting as a screw to get out of them what they looted from the Karnatak and kept concealed. Please do not write to the Bijapur king before this business (of exacting a present) is brought to completion." He had already instructed his envoy at Bijapur to give the Sultan to understand that if he offered a satisfactory present to the Emperor, Muhammad Mumin would be recalled, and Imperial help refused to the Rajah of the Karnatak.[70]

Sri Ranga Rayal was thus left to his fate. Crushed between Bijapur and Golkonda, he lost ​his all and clung only to some petty estates which were too poor to tempt Muslim cupidity Fate of the last Rajah of the Karnatak. or too difficult of access to his aggressors. We hear of him again in 1657 and 1658 as trying to recover some of his former lands,[71] when Aurangzib's attention was diverted from the Karnatak by the invasion of Bijapur and the War of Succession. His last appearance on the stage of history was about 1661, when he lent the prestige of his name to his vassal, the chief of Bednur, in a fruitless fruitless invasion of Mysore.[72]

Aurangzib's treatment of the Rajah of the Karnatak and his cynical avowal of his utterly sordid motives throughout the transaction, has a deep political significance. To the historian whose eyes are not dazzled by the Peacock Throne, the Taj Mahal, and other examples of outward glitter, this episode (with many others of the same kind) proves that the Mughal empire was only a thinly veiled system of brigandage. If explains why the Indian princes, no less than the Indian people, so readily accepted England's suzerainty.

​

APPENDIX I.

Did Aurangzib capture Haidarabad by treachery?

Aqil Khan Razi (12 & 13) tells the following story of Aurangzib having falsely thrown Qutb-ul-mulk off his guard just before the raid on his capital, "Aurangzib wrote to Qutb-ul-mulk, 'As my son Sultan Muhammad is going to Bengal [to marry Shuja's daughter], he wishes to march there by way of Orissa. I hope you will give him assistance and let him pass through your territory.' That simpleton at once consented, and made preparations for showing hospitality to the Prince. . . . When the Prince, with military equipment and war material, arrived near Haidarabad, the king's eyes were opened, and he fled for refuge to the fort of Golkonda." Bernier (p. 20) and Manucci (Storia, i. 234) but not Tavernier, tell a similar tale. But the authentic records quoted in this chapter disprove the story. Qutb-ul-mulk could have been under no misapprehension as to Muhammad Sultan's hostile intentions after receiving Aurangzib's letter of 18th December, (Adab, 57a); and the fact of his releasing Muhammad Amin some days before Sultan reached Haidarabad shows that he knew why the Prince was coming.

Aurangzib, as his instructions to his son clearly prove, wished the young Prince to murder the Golkonda king during an interview, in the manner described in this chapter. Therein lay his treachery.

  1. ↑ This description is based on Tavernier, i. 150—158, 175, 274, Gribble's History of the Deccan, i. 269, Imperial Gazetteer, xii. 23. Adab-i-Alamgiri, 55b, 50a, 46b, 37a, 54b.
  2. ↑ Adab, 54a & b, 56b.
  3. ↑ Adab, 56a, Waris, 113a.
  4. ↑ Adab, 54b-55b, 44a & b.
  5. ↑ Chapter III.
  6. ↑ Imperial Gazetteer, XII. 23 (Rajmahendri captured, 1572), X. 217 (Chicacole), XII. 145, XXIV. 339. Sewell's Sketch of Dynasties, 48 & 69, (the Palnad country and the country about Kurnool and Nellore were seized and Kondavidu secured by bribery in 1580).
  7. ↑ Sewell in Sketch of Dynasties, (110—112) calls him Sri Ranga III, and in A Forgotten Empire, (233-234) Sri Ranga VI. Adab 33b. S. Krishna-swami Aiyangar's Ancient India, 296.
  8. ↑ This account of Mir Jumla is based on Tavernier, i. 170, 259, 273, 284—293 295, Bernier, 16-19. Gribble, i. 269—271, Masir-ul-umara, iii. 530—555 (life of Mir Jumla). For his character see Talish's Fathiyya-i-ibriyya (Conquest of Assam).
  9. ↑ 15' 34 N. 79' 12E.
  10. ↑ Sidhout is nine miles due east and Gandikota 42 miles N. W. of Cuddapah town. Both are situated on the Penner river.
  11. ↑ At Haidarabad a tank, a garden, and a mansion bear his name. Some distance outside the city a village (pettah) was founded and named after him. "He has left many memorials of himself in Telingana where he lived long." (M. U., iii. 555) Waris, 102a, 111a and b, 114a, 118a, Adab, 39a, 116a. Tavernier, i. 170n, Bernier, 17.
  12. ↑ Adab, 30a, 36b, 72b, Tavernier, i. 165.
  13. ↑ Adab, 195b & 196a, Waris, 119a & b.
  14. ↑ Rugat-i-Shah Abbas Sani, 154—156, gives the reply of the Persian king to Mir Jumla's offer to enter his service.
  15. ↑ Adab, 36b, 39a.
  16. ↑ Adab, 27b.
  17. ↑ Adab, 39a, 36b.
  18. ↑ Adab, 30a, 31b, 34b), 36b, 72b; Waris, 102b.
  19. ↑ Adab, 34b, 44a.
  20. ↑ Adab, 35a & b, 36a.
  21. ↑ Adab, 38a & b.
  22. ↑ Adab, 39a'.
  23. ↑ Adab, 40a, 36b.
  24. ↑ Masir-ul-umara, iii. 620, Anecdotes of Aurangzib, § 51.
  25. ↑ M. U. iii. 531. Tavemier, i. 166. Adab, 45a.
  26. ↑ Waris, 109a.
  27. ↑ Waris, 102b.
  28. ↑ Adab, 56b & 57a, 45a, 77a. Waris, 109b.
  29. ↑ Adab, 45a & b. Waris 109b.
  30. ↑ Waris, 109b.
  31. ↑ Adab, 46a.
  32. ↑ Adab, 46a and b, 47a, 49a and b.
  33. ↑ Waris, 109b, Adab, 49a, 80b.
  34. ↑ Adab, 187b.
  35. ↑ Waris, 109b & 110a. Adab, 49a & b.
  36. ↑ Tavernier, i. 152.
  37. ↑ Waris, 110a, Adab, 50a, Aqil Khan, 13, Dilkasha, 16.
  38. ↑ For the history of the siege, Waris, 110a-112b, Adab, 81a. Tavernier, i. 166-169.
  39. ↑ Shaista Khan arrived on 21st Feb., and two big guns from Ausa on 1st March, 1656. (Waris, 111a & b.)
  40. ↑ Adab, 50a.
  41. ↑ We have two letters from the Persian king to Qutb-ul-mulk, of a later date than this year, in Ruqat-i-Shah Abbas Sani, 19-23 and 89-93.
  42. ↑ Adab, 46b, 50b.
  43. ↑ Adab, 46b, 49b.
  44. ↑ Adab, 59a, 69b.
  45. ↑ Waris, 111b.
  46. ↑ Waris, 111b. Aurangzib wrote to Mir Jumla (early in March) "Qutb-ul-mulk is now craving pardon, sending his son-in-law Mir Ahmad to me, and proposing that his mother would wait on me and that his daughter would be married to my son. But I wish to send him to the wilderness of destruction." Adab, 81a
  47. ↑ The amount demanded was 1¼ krores (Adab, 138b) but subsequently 25 lakhs were abated.
  48. ↑ Waris, 111b and 112a, Tavernier, i. 167.
  49. ↑ Adab, 81b, Waris, 112a.
  50. ↑ Adab, 59a, 69b, 85a. Storia, i. 235.
  51. ↑ Adab, 58a, 57b, 69b. Waris, 112a and b.
  52. ↑ Waris, 113a.
  53. ↑ He also gave a written promise making Muhammad Sultan his heir. Aurangzib kept it secret; but Shah Jahan afterwards learnt of it. (Adab, 191b), Tavernier, i. 169.
  54. ↑ Waris, 112b & 113a. The route followed by Aurangzib in his retreat was:—21 April, left environs of Golkonda—22 & 23 Apr., halted at Mir Jumla's Pettah—24 Apr., reached Pettah of Qutb-ul-mulk's grandmother (probably Begampett, 17°.38 N. 78° 17 E.) and halted 25-27 Apr.,—30 April, reached the village of Indalwái on the Imperial frontier (evidently Jadalwai, 15 m. s. e. s. of Indur), where a force of 3,000 troopers was left under Shah Beg,—2 May reached Indur, 18°40 N. 78° 10E.—5 May, reached Qandahar, 17°.55 N. 77°15 E.—6—8 May, Aurangzib made a digression to Udgir, while the army pursued its course under M. Sultan,—9 May, Aurangzib rejoined the army on the bank of the Dudhna river,—17 May, reached Aurangabad.
  55. ↑ Waris, 112a. Adab, 116a.
  56. ↑ Waris, 112b, 114a, 118a.
  57. ↑ Adab, 84b, 85a, 107a & b, 192b.
  58. ↑ Adab, 84b, 190a & b.
  59. ↑ Adab, 84b-85b, 192b, Aurangzib's letters to Shah Jahan stop suddenly during the siege of Golkonda. The last was written shortly after 9th Feb. 1656. In future he corresponds with his father through the wazir. Was this the result of strained feelings? I think this explanation improbable. He, however confesses (in a letter to Mir Jumla, written in July, 1656) that he has plenty of reasons to be mortified and angry. (Adab, 193b).
  60. ↑ Adab, 58 a & b.
  61. ↑ Adab, 159b (inference).
  62. ↑ Adab, 59a, 61a.
  63. ↑ Adab, 46b, 59a.
  64. ↑ Adab, 59b, 60a, 87a. As Aurangzib wrote with unconscious cynicism to Abdullah, "I had urged you to present all your costly jewels and precious things to the Emperor in order to gain his entire favour. But you did not follow my advice. Mir Jumla, on the other hand, on reaching the Court gave him valuable gems and so carried his point. You cannot now recall the lost opportunity!" (Adab-i-Alamgiri 61a).
  65. ↑ Adab, 90a, 196a, 61b, 62b, 63b, 69a, 87b, 161a.
  66. ↑ Adab, 67a, 89a.
  67. ↑ Adab, 67a.
  68. ↑ Shah Jahan was a bigot. His early hatred of Christians had been noticed by Sir Thomas Roe (Kerr, ix. 262). After his accession he grew averse to giving high posts to Rajputs. (Adab, 29a). The demolition of Hindu temples and desecration of idols mark his reign only to a less extent than his son's. He refused to release Rajah Indradyumna of Dhamdhera (Malwa) from prison for a ransom of Rs. 50,000, and insisted on his turning Muslim as the price of his liberation, though Aurangzib himself pleaded for the abatement of this last condition lest it should hinder his taking possession of his estate and collecting the promised tribute. (Adab, 99b, 37a, M. U. ii. 265 et seq.). In Kashmir Shah Jahan forcibly suppressed the old custom of marriage between Hindus and Muhammadans. (Abdul Hamid, I. B. 57.)
  69. ↑ Adab, 33b, 34b.
  70. ↑ Adab, 44a & b, 34b, 54b-55b.
  71. ↑ Adab, 63a, 90a (not definite).
  72. ↑ S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar's Ancient India, 297, Sewell, 54.
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