patent to Bijapur, and all hope of getting Parenda or the promised indemnity would be gone.
And at the same time his other enemies in the
South would raise their heads: Golkonda would
recover the reluctantly ceded and eagerly coveted
province of Karnatak; Shivaji would raid the
Junnar and Ahmadnagar districts. In short, the
fruits of the last two years' warfare in the South
would be totally lost to him.
The whole The policy he followed. history of Aurangzib's changing anxieties and hopes, plans and devices, and the variations of his policy with every fresh development during this eventful period, is clearly and fully unfolded in his numerous confidential letters to Mir Jumla preserved in the Adab-i-Alamgiri.[1] Briefly put, his first plan was to realise the terms of the Bijapur treaty as quickly as possible and then, secure about the Deccan, to embark on the struggle for the throne. The success of this plan, depended on the Bijapuris promptly keeping their promises, before the secret of Shah Jahan's helpless illness leaked out. The letters tell the story of how the hope of a speedy settlement with Bijapur daily grew fainter
- ↑ Adab, 92a—95a (Aurangzib to Mir Jumla), 197a—206a (Qabil Khan, by order of Aurangzib, to Mir Jumla), 1786 (Qabil Khan to Aurangzib).