[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [Mughals (1526–1857)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal) › [Later Mughals (1707–1857)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later) › [Muntakhab al-lubāb](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab) › [Muntakhabu-l Lubab, of Khafi Khan (Elliot & Dowson, extracts)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot) › 35 # Muntakhab al-lubab 35: Beginning of the troubles with Sivaji. Muntakhabu-l Lubáb, of Kháfí Khán (Elliot & Dowson, extracts) 35 - **Language:** English ### Beginning of the troubles with Sivaji. ### [35.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.35.1) \[vol. ii. p. 110.\] I now relate what I have heard from trusty men of the Dakhin and of the Mahratta race about the origin and race of the reprobate Sivaji. His ancestors owe their origin to the line of the Ranas of Chitor. In the tribe of the Rajputs, and among all Hindus, it is the settled opinion, that to have a son by a woman of a different caste, or to beget one upon a slave-girl (kaniz), is wrong and censurable. But if in youth, when the passions are strong, a man should have a son by a strange woman, he should take him into his house and have him brought up among his confidential handmaids and slaves. But nothing descends to such a son on the death (of the father). Even if the mother of the child is of a better stock than the father, she cannot marry him unless she be of the same tribe. If, through love, a man consorts with such a woman, and has a son, the child is looked upon with great disdain, he is brought up as a bastard, and can only marry with one like himself. If a woman of the merchant caste goes into the house of a man of lower caste than herself, or the daughter of a Brahman consorts with a Khatri, every child that is born is looked upon as a slave (kaniz o ghulam). It is said that one of the ancestors of Sivaji, from whom he received the name of Bhoslah, dwelt in the country of the Rana. He formed a connexion with a woman of inferior caste, and, according to the custom of his tribe, he took the woman to himself without marriage. She bore him a son. ### [35.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.35.2) Reflecting upon this disgrace to himself and tribe, he kept the child concealed in the hills in that position of life which he had determined for him. There he secretly brought him up. He was very devoted to the woman; so that, although his father and mother wished him to marry a woman of his own tribe, he would not consent. When the cup of his affection ran over, and the fact of this maintenance of his child was the common talk of friends and strangers, he secretly took the boy from the place where he had concealed him, and carried him off along with his mother to the Dakhin. Although he falsely gave out that his son was by a woman of his own tribe, no Rajput of pure race would allow of any matrimonial connexion with the boy. So he was obliged to marry the lad to a girl of the Mahratta tribe, which also claims to belong to an obscure class of Rajputs. From this good stock, in the seventh or eighth generation, was born Sahu Bhoslah. The origin of the name Bhoslah, according to the commonly-received opinion, is from the Hinduwi word "ghoslah" meaning "place," or a very small and narrow place; and as that man was brought left without a ruler, boldly and wickedly stepped in and seized it, with the possessions of some other jagirdars. This was the beginning of that system of violence which he and his descendants have spread over the rest of the Kokan and all the territory of the Dakhin. ### [35.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.35.3) Whenever he heard of a prosperous town, or of a district inhabited by thriving cultivators, he plundered it and took possession of it. Before the jagirdars in those troublous times could appeal to Bijapur, he had sent in his own account of the matter, with presents and offerings, charging the jagirdars or proprietors with some offence which he had felt called upon to punish, and offering to pay some advanced amount for the lands on their being attached to his own jagir, or to pay their revenues direct to the Government. He communicated these matters to the officials at Bijapur, who in those disturbed times took little heed of what any one did. So when the jagirdar's complaint arrived, he obtained no redress, because no one took any notice of it. The country of the Dakhin was never free from commotions and outbreaks, and so the officials, the raiyats, and the soldiery, under the influence of surrounding circumstances, were greedy, stupid, and frivolous; thus they applied the axe to their feet with their own hands, and threw their wealth and property to the winds. The greed of the officials increased, especially in those days when the authority of the rulers was interrupted, or their attention diverted. In accordance with the wishes of this disturber, the reins of authority over that country fell into his hands, and he at length became the most notorious of all the rebels. ### [35.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.35.4) He assembled a large force of Mahratta robbers and plunderers, and set about reducing fortresses. The first fort he reduced was that of Chandan. After that he got possession of some other fortresses which were short of supplies, or were in charge of weak and inexperienced commandants. Evil days fell upon the kingdom of Bijapur in the time of Sikandar 'Ali 'Adil Khan the Second, whose legitimacy was questioned, and who ruled when a minor as the locum tenens of his father. The operations of Aurangzeb against that country when he was a prince in the reign of his father, brought great evil upon the country, and other troubles also arose. Sivaji day by day increased in strength, and reduced all the forts of the country, so that in course of time he became a man of power and means. He had drawn together a large force, and attacked the Kings of Hind and of Bijapur, and, protected by mountains and jungles full of trees, he ravaged and plundered in all directions far and wide. The inaccessible forts of Rajgarh and Chakna were his abodes, and he had secured several islands in the sea by means of a fleet which he had formed. He built several forts also in those parts, so that altogether he had forty forts, all of which were well supplied with provisions and munitions of war. Boldly raising his standard of rebellion, he became the most noted rebel of the Dakhin. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.35](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.35) · Pramāṇa