In the year 1667, Aurengzebe appointed his son Mali°. med Mauzum to the government of the Decan ; and 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 man ner, that the bands of Sevajee made excursions through them, even to the gates of Bejapore. Aurengzebe, inform ed of this, wrote in a threatening 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, sur prised when Mahomed applied to him for assistance against his father ; but Sevajee's suspicions were raised; he dread ed a collusion between the father and son ; and this he endeavoured to ascertain by his spies, both in the camp of Mahomed and at Delhi. He could, however, learn or con jecture nothing ; still he resolved to continue suspicious and guarded, till at last Mahomed was convinced that it was impossible to overreach Sevajee. From this plan, though unsuccessful, Aurengzebe however reaped one ad vantage; 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 rebellion.
About this period, the intrigues of the Persians had in cited several of the Patan tribes of Cabul to rebel against Aurengzehe ; but being deprived of the assistance they ex pected by the death of the saltily of Persia, they were left to the mercy of Aurengzehe, who punished them with vin dictive 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 Rajahpoor to Damatin; besides which, he had several detached fortresses of great strength to the i eastward. With the exception of Chaul, he was in pos session of the sea coast front 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 Au rungabod, Aurengzebees generals fixed their station at Jenneah-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 attacked and reduced Surat. 'I his insult 'limas ed the indignation of the emperor ; but as he could not spare more troops from near Ins own person, he was oblig ed to dispatch them into the Decan even from the province of Mahar. lie also resolved to make a descent on the shores of the Concan, and thus compel Sevajce to attend solely to the defence t.f his out dominions. Against the
fleet which was In be employed in the transport of these i troops, the lahratta chief sent one of his generals, n the hopes of being able to dt stroy it in the but this expedition proved unsuccessful. The plans A ureng zebe, however, did not restrain Sevajee ; by his prudence and enterprise, he gradually enlarged his territories, and more firmly established his power.
In the mean time, the rebellion of the Patans or Cabul had become the mast solicitous concern of the empire. One entire army, commanded by the Alogul's governor of Peshawer, which had crossed the 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 Amengzebe. It has already been men tioned, that the emperor's brother Sujah took refuge with the rajah of Arracan, by whom he was murdered. It hap. pened that a Pawn soldier, who had served in the army of Sujah, bore such a resemblance to him in countenance and figure that they might easily have mistaken for each other. This man had also acquired the manners and de portment, as well as some minute particulars of the life of Sujah, in a surprising degree. This adventurer the Patans produced as the lawful king of Ilindostan, and all the tribes were summoned to march with him to Delhi. As they could bring I 50100 men into the field, and were brave and active, and retained an hereditary aversion to the Mogul authority, this intelligence alarmed Aurengzebe, and schemes of distant conquest were laid aside for the pro tection 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 appears that the rebellion was soon quelled, and the Patans, though not completely subdued, were com pelled to retire to their mountains, and the emperor return ed to his capital in July 1676.
Towards the Decan, and the designs of Sevajce, 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 Sevajee; and he probably thought, that he would waste his force unprofitably at such a distance, against so strong a country. But he was mis taken in this idea ; for Savojee was not only able to main tain his conquests, he also. by the prudent and economical mode in which he conducted his wars, drew front that con quest the means of other invasions. Visiapore now became as much exposed to his attacks from the Carnatic on one side, as from the Concan on the other ; and the rich coun tries to the south of the Coleroon lay at his mercy.