He had nearly disconcerted the whole enterprise. There was an awful pause. None of the Mawabees attempted to mount. Sevajee began to grow impatient. Shaking the rope, and finding there was no weight upon it, he slid down to ascertain the cause. This was soon explained, but no one would venture to ascend. The Mahratta, unappalled by the general refusal, approached the man who had fallen, and instantly ordered him to mount. He refused, and Sevajee, without a moment’s hesitation, plunged his creese into the rebel’s heart. He now gave the same order to a second. Terrified at the fate of his companion, the Mawabee grasped the rope, and Sevajee followed close after, to prevent him from quitting his hold. With much difficulty they reached the top, when the undaunted Mahratta descended and forced another of his followers to go before him. This he repeated until more than a dozen men had gained the parapet. Taking courage from the success of their companions, the rest attempted the ascent one after another, until the whole were safely raised to the battlement.
Sevajee was the first to leap over the wall. A sentinel, alarmed at the noise, hastily approached; the Mahratta chief seized him by the cumberbund and the trousers, and swinging him over the parapet, cast him into the empty void beneath. He uttered a shrill shriek as he fell, which seemed to rise to the very heavens, like a sudden peal from the grave, so quick and piercing as to vibrate to the brain with a painful intensity. In a few moments the whole garrison were in arms, and the struggle commenced. They had, however, the double disadvantage of contending against superior numbers and the shock of sudden surprise; nevertheless, they resisted with the fury of madmen. They demanded no quarter, and none was given.
The whole garrison was cut off to a man, and the morning dawned upon a scene of carnage never to be forgotten. Not a single Mogul survived to tell the melancholy story of defeat, and the Mahratta chief took possession of Singurh amid the shouts of a sanguinary triumph. The bodies of the slain were flung over the battlements to be devoured by birds and beasts of prey, their bones to whiten in the mountain wilds, under the scorching beams of a tropical sun, far from the home of their fathers, of their wives and little ones, and where the solemn rites of sepulture were denied to their remains.
By degrees, Sevajee obliged the imperial troops to evacuate the mountains; and after a while they were recalled to Delhi by Aurungzebe, who was exceedingly mortified at being thus perpetually baffled by a mountain chieftain, whose principle of government was a mere system of predatory warfare, in which he extended his political influence and his territory by any measure, however inconsonant to the general practices of military conduct. Sevajee now began to be conscious of his power, and determined therefore to seek more advantageous conquests. His career was attempted to be checked by Shaista Chan, an omrah high in the confidence of Aurungzebe. This general advanced with a formidable army against the Mahratta, and carried on his operations for some time with great success. Sevajee was unable to meet the Moguls in the field, and therefore had recourse to that mode of predatory and irruptive warfare which had hitherto been attended with such success. The Mogul, however, somewhat altered his tactics in order to contravene those of his enemy, and with such advantage that he reduced Sevajee to considerable embarrassment. Finding that the imperial troops were daily obtaining a stronger footing in his dominions, having taken several of his forts, the Mahratta determined to have recourse to one of those bold and daring exploits for which his whole military career has been so celebrated, and which had invariably been attended with signal success.
Shaista Chan, having made himself master of Poonah, the capital of Sevajee’s dominions, situated upon the banks of a considerable river, on the level country, about fifty miles from the Ghauts, occupied the palace of the Mahratta chief. The town was at this time little better than a village, surrounded by a low mud wall, and easily accessible from every quarter. Shaista, not imagining that the bold adventurer, who was only secure among the hills, would venture to attack him in the open country, was rather remiss in placing guards round the town to anticipate any sudden assault. Taking advantage of this remissness, Sevajee selected a small band of resolute soldiers, advanced towards Poonah, and concealed himself in the neighbourhood. Having heard that a Mogul chief, jealous of Shaista Chan’s influence with the Emperor, had secretly expressed strong sentiments of disaffection, he found means to tamper with him, and seduced him at length to favour his enterprise.
The residence of the imperial general was a large loose building composed entirely of mud. Having been admitted into the town about midnight, and the guards previously removed through the management of the treacherous Omrah, Sevajee and his followers, armed with pickaxes, attacked the frail wall, and soon forced an entrance into the cook-room. Raising a shout of exultation they rushed into the interior of the house, brandishing their naked swords. At the head of them appeared their chief, encouraging them to the work of slaughter. Shaista, hearing the clamour, started from his bed; but not having time to arm himself, was obliged to make his escape through a window. In effecting this, however, he was severely wounded by the Mahratta chief, who severed one of the fingers from his right hand, and likewise slew his son. The Mogul general, overcome by this disaster, and dreading the further jealousy of his own officers, solicited his recall. He shortly after quitted the Deccan, and the army being placed under an inactive commander, all military operations against the Mahrattas were for a time suspended, and Sevajee soon recovered what he had lately lost.
CHAPTER V.
Aurungzebe, exasperated beyond all bounds at being thus perpetually foiled by a petty chieftain, determined at once to stop the further progress of his arms. He therefore sent against him Mirza Rajah, a gallant Rajpoot, accustomed to make war in a mountainous country. Sevajee at length found himself opposed to a man whom he was unable to resist. As the Mogul army more than five times outnumbered his own, he was obliged to retreat to his mountain fastnesses, whither he was pursued by the victorious Mirza. All his fortresses shortly fell into the enemy’s hands, and he was driven to extremity. At length, the fort in which he had placed all his treasure was invested.
It resisted for many weeks; but one morning, when the magazine was open to supply the garrison with powder, a paper kite, to which a blind match had been previously attached, was raised over the battlements and dropped into the combustible repository. A tremendous explosion succeeded, and the fortress became an easy capture. Finding that he had no chance of being able to recover it, he resigned himself to his destiny, and upon receiving a solemn pledge from Mirza Rajah that he should meet at Delhi with a safe and honourable reception, he disbanded his army, and delivered himself up to the victorious Rajpoot.
On his arrival at Delhi, the Mahratta chief was ordered into the Emperor’s presence, and commanded by the usher to make the usual prostration; but he refused to obey, and casting towards Aurungzebe a look of indignant scorn, expressed contempt for his person.