Mughal Conquest of Golconda

Timeline

1. 1687Golconda Fort · TelanganaAurangzeb left the Bijapur front on January 14 and completed the encirclement of Golconda Fort on the 28th. Ghaziuddin Khan and others had already occupied the city of Hyderabad, and Sultan Abul Hasan withdrew to the hilltop fortress. The besiegers assembled roughly 50,000 infantry and 50,000 cavalry along with heavy artillery, including giant cannons such as the 'Azhdaha-i-Paikar.'
2. 1687Golconda Fort · TelanganaThe defenders used firearms and rockets to suppress the trench-diggers. Mughal mining charges backfired twice, once killing over a thousand attacking soldiers. Famine in the Coromandel region caused food shortages, and the monsoon floods and epidemic undermined morale. Mu'azzam was placed under house arrest for secretly negotiating peace. In July Aurangzeb announced the territory would become a province of 'jihad,' and Azam took over the front upon arrival.
3. 1687Golconda Fort · TelanganaOn the night of September 21, the Golconda noble Sarandaz Khan opened a side gate for the Mughals; Ruhullah Khan and others were the first to storm in, and the main gates were immediately thrown open. Azam led his troops through what was later called the 'Victory Gate.' Abul Hasan was captured, the Qutb Shahi dynasty fell, and the treasury was carried north. Only the Marathas remained in the Deccan in full resistance to the Mughals, and Aurangzeb himself never returned north to Delhi afterward.