The Siege of Golconda 1687

The Qutb Shahi Dynasty of Golconda

The Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda had been established in 1518 by Quli Qutb Shah, a governor of the Bahmani sultanate, and it had ruled over the rich agricultural lands of the eastern Deccan and the extensive diamond mines of the Golconda region for nearly two centuries. By the late seventeenth century the Qutb Shahi sultanate was one of the most prosperous of the Deccan states, and its capital, the fort of Golconda near the modern city of Hyderabad, was commercial centres of the eastern Deccan. The Qutb Shahi court was a major centre of Urdu and Persian literature, and the dynasty had earned a reputation for the patronage of learning and the arts that was equal to that of any of its neighbours.

The ruler of Golconda at the time of the siege was Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, who had succeeded to the throne in 1672. Abul Hasan, also known as Tana Shah, was an able and determined ruler who had maintained the independence of his kingdom against the mounting Mughal pressure of the previous decade. He had been an ally of the Marathas against the Mughals, and he had given refuge to the Maratha prince Shivaji during his visit to the Deccan in 1676. The refusal of Abul Hasan to submit to Mughal suzerainty, combined with his support of the Marathas and his toleration of the European trading factories on the coast, persuaded Aurangzeb that the conquest of Golconda was an essential preliminary to the pacification of the Deccan.

The Outbreak of the Mughal Campaign

The Mughal campaign against Golconda was opened in January 1686, when a substantial Mughal army under the command of Prince Muazzam, the eldest son of Aurangzeb, invaded the Qutb Shahi territory from the north. The Mughal force was subsequently reinforced by additional contingents under the principal officers of the empire, and the overall command was eventually assumed by the emperor’s principal general, Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jang. The Mughal army included a substantial siege train, and the principal Mughal objective was the fort of Golconda, the strongest fortress in the eastern Deccan.

The first siege of Golconda, opened in the spring of 1686, was raised after a few weeks when the Mughal army was recalled to cooperate with the operations against the neighbouring sultanate of Bijapur. The second siege, opened in the following year, was a more deliberate affair, and the Mughal army returned to Golconda in the autumn of 1686 with a substantial force and a powerful siege train.

The Military Operations

The principal military operations at the siege of Golconda were the deployment of the imperial artillery and the construction of siege works. The Mughal army established a series of batteries on the hills surrounding the fort, and the bombardment of the fort continued for several months. The garrison of the fort, commanded by the Qutb Shahi general, made a spirited defence, and the initial Mughal assaults were repulsed with substantial loss. The Qutb Shah had a number of heavy cannon in the fort, and these were used effectively against the Mughal batteries.

The principal Mughal assault, delivered in the autumn of 1686, was repulsed with substantial Mughal losses, and the siege was continued through the winter of that year. The arrival of additional Mughal forces in the spring of 1687, combined with the failure of attempts to relieve the fort from outside, eventually persuaded the garrison to negotiate. The terms of the surrender were relatively generous: the Qutb Shah was permitted to retire to a substantial jagir in the Deccan, and the surviving members of the garrison were permitted to march out with the honours of war.

The Role of the European Traders

The European trading factories on the coast of the eastern Deccan, particularly the English factory at Masulipatnam and the French factory at nearby, played a substantial role in the events leading up to the siege. The English and the French had both been granted trading concessions by the Qutb Shahi rulers, and the factories were an important source of revenue for the sultanate. The English in particular had become involved in the internal politics of the sultanate, and the English factory at Masulipatnam had become a refuge for Qutb Shahi officials who had fallen out of favour with the sultan.

The Final Assault and the Death of Abul Hasan

The final assault on the fort was delivered in the autumn of 1687, after a bombardment of several weeks by the Mughal heavy artillery. The garrison, by this time reduced to a fraction of its original strength, was unable to resist, and the Qutb Shah was compelled to surrender. Abul Hasan Qutb Shah was treated with marked respect by the Mughal authorities, and he was eventually permitted to retire to a substantial jagir near the city of Daulatabad, where he died in 1699. The fort of Golconda was incorporated into the Mughal imperial establishment, and a substantial Mughal garrison was installed in the citadel.

The Integration of Golconda into the Mughal Empire

The incorporation of Golconda into the Mughal Empire was a major event in the history of the dynasty. The Qutb Shahi territories, which included some of the richest agricultural lands of the eastern Deccan and the famous diamond mines of the Golconda region, were organised as a new Mughal province, and the administration of the province was entrusted to a series of high-ranking Mughal officers. The Mughal governors of the new province were responsible for the suppression of the Maratha resistance in the eastern Deccan, and the long war with the Marathas, examined in detail on the rise of the Maratha power page, was a major drain on the imperial treasury.

Sources

• Jadunath Sarkar, History of Aurangzib, vol. IV (1919), pp. 280–315.