The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c7.s8.142

c7.s8.142

In Section III. mention has been made of the raids of Sháhji Bhonsla in the Konkan and of Shiváji his famous son. It was in 1648, when he was little more than twenty, that Shiváji extended his operations to the Konkan.¹ He at first avoided those parts which were in the possession of the Moghals, but as the whole of the Konkan south of Kalyán was at this time subject to Bijápur there was abundant room for his energy. And he began operations in that part which having until a few years before belonged to Ahmadnagar and having then for some years been overrun by his father² was probably held less firmly than the rest of the Bijápur possessions. At the very beginning he appears to have surprised Ráiri, which was afterwards his capital under the name of Ráygad, and after plundering other towns he got possession of Kalyán, and immediately began to arrange for the revenue management of the province as if he meant to keep it. The first forts in the Konkan which he built were Birvádi and Lingána, both near Ráygad. He seems to have kept possession of what he had gained by playing off the Moghals against Bijápur, and he lived for four or five years in comparative quiet, spending much of his time at Mahád. In 1656 he built the fort of Pratápgad and thus by gaining command of the pass leading from the Dakhan to Mahád he secured to himself the means of safely retreating to the Konkan whenever he might find the Dakhan