A History of the Mahrattas v1.c16: Chapter IX
A History of the Mahrattas v1.c16
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Chapter IX
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A.D. 1676.—The Emperor Aurungzebe, hitherto occupied in establishing his authority, regulating affairs, or suppressing revolt in the north, had never lost sight of his early and favourite scheme of annexing the whole Deccan to the empire; but whilst his own presence was required in other parts, he was too suspicious to intrust the conquest to any deputy. He was, therefore, persevering in a systematic plan, calculated, as he conceived, to weaken and undermine the powers in that quarter so effectually that, when he could spare sufficient leisure, he might with an overwhelming force sweep all before him, and find a country rather to settle than to subdue.
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Khan Jehan Buhadur was not an officer competent to the task of reducing the Deccan; but even if he had been, the army under his command was quite insufficient for such a purpose. The weakness of the Moghuls, defeated as large detachments of them were by the Mahrattas on more than one occasion, seemed likely to afford encouragement for a confederacy of the other powers against them; but in the divided state of affairs both at Beejapoor and Golcondah, principally maintained by his intrigues, Aurungzebe probably viewed it in a contrary light, as being less likely to rouse combination. His ambassadors were employed to create dissensions, not only by exciting jealousy between the Mahomedan courts, but by bribing every man in power and stirring up factions in the internal governments.
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Although Sivajee’s daring robberies and incursions excited the utmost indignation, he was still contemptible as a power in the eyes of Aurungzebe; and whilst so considered, his ravages, directed against Beejapoor or Golcondah, were favourable to the Emperor’s plan. In this view, we may in some measure account for the conduct of Khan Jehan, who for a long time enjoyed as much of Aurungzebe’s confidence as any of his officers, although it must have been well known to the Emperor that Sivajee frequently purchased his connivance or forbearance; for the fact was notorious in the European settlements.
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With regard to Beejapoor and Golcondah, although the exertions of Abdool Khureem had obtained a temporary peace, he himself, as head of the faction which had destroyed Khowaus Khan, had nothing to hope from the Moghuls. His interests were completely those of the state; and had it not been for his connection with Dilere Khan, and the other Afghans of the Moghul army, it was far more natural for him to have become the ally of Sivajee than of Aurungzebe. The Moghul faction in Beejapoor were the regent’s enemies; and the Emperor, preserving the forms which the pacification required, sent there as his envoy Mullik Berkhordar, a native of Kashmeer, on whose address he placed reliance, to draw over the nobility not yet of his party and to perplex the regent by every apparent civility and every mischievous intrigue.
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At Golcondah the Moghul influence had long preponderated; the death, however, of Abdool Kootub Shah in 1672 had not been attended with the advantages which Aurungzebe may have anticipated. The nearest heir, Abou Hussein, the son-in-law and successor of the late king, notorious for dissipated habits in his youth, was, on ascending the throne, completely reclaimed. Although a weak prince, he on some occasions asserted the dignity of his high place; but he was under the influence of two brothers, Mahdhuna Punt and Akhana Punt; who, although reckoned men of ability, particularly the former, had all that disposition to refinement in intrigue which constitutes a principal defect in Bramin statesmen. Aurungzebe’s measures partake precisely of that character; and the result proves not only the insignificance of the deepest cunning, but how much a homely maxim might serve as a lesson for kings. The Emperor did not contemplate the whole effects of his system; and the treachery and corruption, encouraged or tolerated at this period, were a principal cause of irretrievable confusion in the latter part of his reign.
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But without further anticipation, such, in regard to the different powers, is a general view of the state of the Deccan when Sivajee undertook his expedition into the Carnatic. It was first suggested by Rugonath Narrain Hunwuntay, whom we have already mentioned, as the successor of his father, Naroo Punt, in the management of Shahjee's Jagheer in the Carnatic. Rugonath Narrain was a man of superior abilities, but after the death of his patron he disgusted Venkajee by his overbearing conduct; and on the other hand, the young man's interference in the direction of his own affairs gave the minister great offence. Their mutual interests, however, suppressed their growing hatred for a long time; but after eleven or twelve years, Rugonath Narrain left the Carnatic, and proceeded to the court of Abou Hussein at Golcondah, where he formed an acquaintance with Mahdhuna Punt and contrived to gain his confidence; but whether he took these steps, foreseeing the scheme to which he afterwards applied them, is uncertain. He came, however, to join Sivajee, by whom, as an old and distinguished servant of his father, and a brother of the Somunt Purdhan, he was received with great respect; and Ramchundur Punt, being the youngest of the ministers, Sivajee displaced him to make room for Rugonath Punt Hunwuntay, on whom he conferred the office of Amat Purdhan. The discussion of Sivajee's claim to share, according to Hindoo law, in half the possessions of Shahjee, and the possibility of making this a cloak for more extensive acquisitions in the south, was a constant subject of consultation during the rains, when Sivajee lay ill at Satara.¹
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¹ Mahratta MSS. [The idea of recovering the fief which had belonged to his father Shāhji, and a portion of which was still held by Vyankoji, Sivāji's brother, was, according to Ranade not the only reason for this southern expedition. Sivāji believed that he could only conquer the Mughal government by forcing them to lengthen their lines of communication, and that therefore it was essential to carve out a new kingdom as far south as possible to which he might retreat, until the Delhi armies, weakened by long distance from their base, could be successfully routed. Professor Sarkar, however, discusses the point at length and concludes that Sivāji was actuated solely by the need of replenishing his treasury. ‘It is incredible that a born strategist like Sivāji could have really intended to annex permanently a territory on the Madras coast, which was separated from his own dominions by two powerful and potentially hostile states like Bijāpur and Golkonda, and more than 700 miles distant from his capital. His aim, I believe, was merely to squeeze the country of its accumulated wealth and return home with the booty. The partition of his father's heritage was only a plea adopted to give a show of legality to this campaign of plunder.’ (Life and Times of Shivaji, Calcutta (1919),
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The period was in every respect favourable to the undertaking, as the alliance between Beejapoor and the Moghuls, and particularly the connection between the regent and Dilere Khan, was a certain means of exciting the jealous apprehensions of Mahdhuna Punt: Dilere Khan had always shown himself a determined enemy of Golcondah; and he was likewise known to entertain an equal degree of enmity towards Sivajee.
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The first object effected was an agreement with Khan Jehan, by giving him a large sum of money, part, it would appear, publicly, and a part privately. That which was publicly received was styled tribute by the Moghul; an appellation to which Sivajee reconciled himself, even at this stage of his independence, by comparing it to the oil-cake given to his milch cow.¹
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¹ Mahratta MSS.
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To secure his possessions, the frontier forts on the eastern side, which he had just completed, were well calculated to repel the inroads of Ghatgay and Nimbalkur; and in order to guard the coast against the attacks or descents of the Seedee, he left Annajee Dutto, the Punt Suchew, with strong garrisons and a large body of disposable infantry. His forts between Kallian and Ponda were very numerous; and no place could be attacked without being speedily supported from various quarters. The particular care of this tract was thus made over to the Suchew, but he was directed to assist the Peishwa, Moro Punt, to whom Sivajee delegated the chief management during his absence; this division of power, however, created an unconquerable jealousy between these ministers.
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At the close of the year 1676, Sivajee set out at the head of thirty thousand horse and forty thousand infantry towards Golcondah. Carefully abstaining from plunder, his march was conducted with the greatest regularity. Prillhad Punt, the son of the Nyadeish Purdhan, was sent forward to announce his approach, which, although known to Mahdhuna Punt, occasioned astonishment and alarm at Hyderabad. Mahdhuna Punt came out some distance to meet Sivajee, and the day after his arrival at Golcondah he had an interview with Kootub Shah, which lasted for several hours;
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many consultations followed, and Sivajee had the address to persuade the king that an alliance between them was not only necessary but natural.¹
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¹ One of the Mahratta MSS. contains a curious dissertation tending to prove Golcondah the natural ally, and Beejapoor and the Moghuls, the natural enemies of Sivajee.
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No authentic record of the particulars of the secret compact which was entered into has been preserved by the Mahrattas; but the purport seems to have been, a division of such parts of Sivajee’s conquests as had not belonged to his father, Shahjee, and a treaty offensive and defensive against the Moghuls and their allies.² With the usual burlesque advantages, which a power not consulted commonly obtains by such alliances of its neighbours, Beejapoor was to be admitted to all the benefits of this agreement, after its possessions in the Carnatic had been reduced and divided between Sivajee and Kootub Shah, on condition of dismissing Abdool Khureem from the regency and receiving the brother of Mahdhuna Punt in his stead.³ What further inducement may have been held out, or whether the ambition or avarice of Mahdhuna Punt may have been more treacherously excited, cannot be discovered; but Sivajee succeeded in obtaining a considerable supply of money; and what he most wanted, a train of artillery with its equipments. It is probable that he dispensed with all other reinforcements; and the necessity of keeping the whole of the troops of Kootub Shah for the defence of the kingdom was an opinion likely to arise of itself, without being suggested by Sivajee.
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² Mahratta MSS. Beejapoor MS.
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³ Beejapoor MSS.
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After a month spent at Hyderabad, Sivajee, having concluded his arrangements, marched due south and crossed the Kistna at the Neorootey Sungum,⁴ twenty-five miles below Kurnoul, about the month of March. Whilst his troops advanced slowly by the route of Kuddapah, Sivajee, with a body of cavalry, struck off to the eastward for the purpose of visiting the temple of Purwuttum,⁵ where he performed many penances. At last he was worked up into such a state of enthusiasm as to draw his sword for the purpose of sacrificing himself to the Deity, when it is pretended he was saved by the direct interposition of the goddess Bhowanee, by whose inspiration Sivajee, on this occasion, uttered one of his many prophecies; and whilst the Deity, through him, declared the necessity of his yet remaining to perform many great services for the Hindoo faith, she announced the splendid conquests that were to be immediately achieved in the Carnatic.¹
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⁴ [i.e. the confluence of the Kistna and Tungabhadrā, twenty-four miles north-east of Karnūl. The proper spelling of the name is Nivritti Sangam.]
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⁵ Called by the Mahrattas Sree Sheyl Mullik Arjoon. [Mallikarjūna (Mullik Arjoon) is a form of Siva or Mahādēv. The lingam of Mallikarjūna in the temple at Saila (Sheyl) in Karnūl is one of the
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¹ Mahratta MSS. ² Colonel Wilks. The Mahratta manuscripts call the pass Winkutrumunguree, but I conclude it is the same. ³ Wilks. ⁴ I here follow my own MSS. although Colonel Wilks has adopted a different account. [The Sabhāsad Bakhar (Mānkar, p. 91) states : ‘Rupulkhān and Nāsrikhān . . . who were in Chandi (Jinji) were
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After passing twelve days in this extravagant manner, Sivajee followed his army, which descended into the Carnatic Payeen Ghaut by the Damulcherry ² pass; and as he had a double object in view, he left the heavy part of his army to come on by easy stages, whilst he pushed on with the cavalry and a body of his Mawulees. He passed Madras in the first week of May,³ and arriving in the neighbourhood of Ginjee, then belonging to Beejapoor, he obtained possession of it from the sons of Amber Khan, named Roop Khan and Nazir Mohummud, according to a previous agreement through Rugonath Narrain.⁴ Ramajee Nulgay, one of his Mawulee commanders, was appointed Havildar of the place, and the same regulations as those established in his forts in Maharashtra, were now, at a distance of six hundred miles, commenced in Drawed; and Wittul Peeldeo Garoodkur, with the general care of the dependent districts, was directed, in like manner, to introduce his revenue system.
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An officer of the Beejapoor government, named Sher Khan, in charge of the district of Trinamullee, made an effort to oppose Sivajee at the head of five thousand horse; but he was quickly surrounded, made prisoner, and his horses seized, according to the custom of Mahratta victors. Suntajee, the half brother of Sivajee, had joined him before this affair, and very soon showed that he inherited a portion of the family spirit and ability.
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twelve swayāmbhu (self-generated) lingams of India. (Sellon, Annotations, &c.) See Sarkar, Life and Times of Shivaji, Calcutta (1919), pp. 382-3.]
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In the meantime, the remaining part of the army, which Sivajee had purposely left in the rear, had invested the strong fortress of Vellore. The siege was conducted by a Bramin named Neerhurry Bullal. He erected his principal batteries on two adjacent hills, which he named Saujra and Gojura; and after a siege of some duration, the detail of which is very imperfectly given in the Mahratta manuscripts, the fort surrendered¹ about the latter end of September.
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¹ In the Beejapoor MSS. of Abou Hoossein Qazee, it is asserted that Abdoollah Khan, the governor, gave it up for a bribe of 50,000 pagodas. [Sarkar (Shivaji and His Times, p. 387) states that Vellore fell in August 1678. The siege began in May 1677.]
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During the siege of Vellore, Sivajee had been endeavouring to effect his designs on Tanjore, and had induced his brother to meet him at Trivadey,² for the purpose of discussing his claim to share in their father's property. Venkajee, apprised of his designs, would in the first instance have resisted by force; but the Naik of Madura, who had agreed to assist him, was detached from the alliance by the address of Rugonath Narrain, and Venkajee adopted the alternative of visiting his brother. Sivajee received him with many professions of regard; but he could not persuade him to give up half the property. Whilst the one urged his claim, the other obstinately denied it. Sivajee at first thought of making him prisoner, and compelling him to give up the half of Tanjore, of the Jagheer districts, and of the money and jewels; but on further consideration, according to the words of his own letter, as Venkajee had come of his own accord to visit him, such a measure appeared to be ‘inconsistent with his own character as a brother and a prince’; he therefore permitted him to return to Tanjore. To keep open the door of accommodation, though at the same time he had determined to seize upon the other districts, Sivajee sent messages to Venkajee, to endeavour to prevail upon him to give up half of Tanjore, Arnee, one or two of the forts, and to make an equal division without any quarrel; promised protection, brought over to the King’s (Sivājī’s) cause and permitted to leave the place. After their departure Chandi was taken.’ Sarkar, however, quotes the letter of a contemporary Jesuit priest of Madura to show that Jinjī was taken by assault and not by treachery or agreement. He also states that the father of Rauf Khān and Nāsir Muhammad was ‘the late Bijāpur Wazīri Khān-i-Khānān (probably Khawās Khān).’ (*Life and Times of Shivaji*, Calcutta (1919), p. 385.)]
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² [Not Tiruvadi, thirteen miles west of Cuddalore, but Tirumalavadi, ten miles south of Tanjore.]
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desiring his brother to recollect that it was not mere territory he desired, of that he possessed and could bestow abundance, but his inheritance (wutun) he was bound in honour not to renounce.¹
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¹ [Sivājī's claim was scarcely justified. He wished to treat the estate as the undivided property of Shāhjī, and by applying to it the Hindu law of inheritance to obtain a half-share of it as Shāhjī's son. This view failed to recognize the fact that after Shāhjī's death the estates had been regranted in their entirety to Vyankojī by the Bījāpur government.]
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After the interview at Trivadey, Sivajee came to Vellore, which had surrendered previous to his arrival. Carnaticgurh and two other forts ² were reduced immediately after, and Vedo Bhaskur, a Bramin who had been in charge of Arnee since the time of Shahjee, brought the keys of the fort, and tendered his services to Sivajee, by whom he was confirmed in his command, and his two sons taken into the service. The Jagheer districts of Shahjee, consisting of Kolhar, Bangalore, Ouscotta, Balapoor, and Sera, were all taken possession of by Sivajee before the beginning of the ensuing year; and his horse either levied contributions under the name of chouth and surdeshmookhee, or, where refused, plundered the whole Carnatic subject to the kingdom of Beejapoor.
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² Called in the Mahratta MSS. Jugdeogurh and Maharajgurh.
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The truce which Khan Jehan Buhadur had entered into with Sivajee was not approved of by Aurungzebe; and Dilere Khan having submitted a proposal for invading Golcondah, assisted by Abdool Khureem and the troops of Beejapoor, on the plan suited to the Emperor's system of exhausting the Deccan states, Khan Jehan was recalled, and Dilere Khan ordered to carry his proposals into effect.
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The excuse for this combined attack on the part of Dilere Khan and Abdool Khureem was the alliance which Kootub Shah had entered into with Sivajee. But Mahdhuna Punt had foreseen the coming storm; the invaders were met by an overwhelming force, and were soon compelled to retreat. The troops of Beejapoor had suffered great privation; numbers deserted in consequence, and those that remained were so disorderly and clamorous for want of pay, that it was impossible to lead them against the enemy.³ To add to the general distress, Abdool Khureem was taken ill, and his life being despaired of, Dilere Khan attempted to reconcile the factions, and it was agreed that Musaood Khan, an Abyssinian, son-in-law of Seedee Johur and Jagheerdar of Adonee,¹ should eventually succeed to the regency. Abdool Khureem died in January 1678, and Musaood Khan was appointed his successor accordingly. His personal property was the principal motive for choosing Musaood Khan, especially as he promised to pay the debts of Dilere Khan, as well as the arrears due to the troops.² He also bound himself to fulfil the agreement made by Khowaus Khan, to preserve peace and order, to have no sort of communication with Sivajee, to abide by the advice of Dilere Khan on all occasions, and to send Padshah Beebee to the Moghul camp. Musaood Khan paid a part of the arrears due to the infantry; but after returning to Beejapoor he would neither pay nor retain a great portion of the cavalry. Large bodies were let loose upon the country in consequence; some were entertained by Moro Punt in Sivajee’s service, and others joined the Moghuls.³ A gloomy discontent prevailed at Beejapoor; but on the regent’s afterwards promising not to give the king’s sister to the Moghuls, he acquired considerable popularity.
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³ Scott's Deccan.
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¹ He obtained his wealth by the favour of Einayat Oolla, a rich man, and Jagheerdar of Adonee, who made him his heir.
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² Beejapoor MS.
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³ Beejapoor MSS.
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Dilere Khan, after the agreement with Musaood Khan was concluded, immediately marched towards Pairgaom; and Sivajee, on learning the state of affairs, began his march from the Carnatic. He appointed his half-brother Suntajee to the charge of Ginjee and its dependencies, and associated him with Rugonath Narrain and Humbeer Rao Senaputtee in the general management of his affairs in the Carnatic.
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As Sivajee had given up no part of his late acquisitions, the king of Golcondah probably by this time perceived that he had been duped by him; but a friendly intercourse existed after Sivajee’s return to Raigurh.
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When Sivajee’s troops arrived in the neighbourhood of Bellary, a few of his foragers were killed by some of the people belonging to the fort, which was then in possession of the widow of a Dessaye.⁴ As satisfaction was refused, the outrage furnished an excuse for attacking the place, which was invested and taken after a siege of twenty-seven days. Sivajee next besieged and took Kopaul.
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⁴ [This was Savitri Bāi, pātelni of Belvadi, thirty miles south-east of Belgaum. Sarkar (Shivaji and His Times, p. 401) gives a full account of the action.]
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Buhadur Benda surrendered fifteen days afterwards, and the neighbouring country was immediately taken possession of. Jenardin Punt Somunt, one of the Purdhans, was left to settle the new acquisition. Sivajee continued his march, but on arriving at Toorgul he halted; accounts having reached him of an attack made upon his troops in the Carnatic by his brother Venkajee, who had been repulsed with considerable loss. Upon receipt of this intelligence, Sivajee addressed a long letter¹ to his brother, in which he recapitulated everything that had occurred, represented the extreme indiscretion of a conduct which had compelled him to take possession of the districts; and now had obliged his officers to repel aggression by force of arms; that the slaughter of the vile Mahomedans, who had joined in the attack, was not to be regretted; but he ought to reflect on the sacrifice of valuable lives which it had occasioned. Sivajee, in this letter, dwells much on the necessity of union, and the propriety of peace; which last he now proposes to grant, on receiving the whole of their father's territorial possessions in the Carnatic, for which he promises, either to allow his brother an equivalent in the Panalla districts, or to obtain a grant of territory from his ally Kootub Shah in some other part of the country, equal to three lacks of pagodas annually.
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¹ The original of this and other three letters written by Sivajee to Venkajee, are in possession of the hereditary Chitnees, or Secretary, of his Highness the Raja of Satara. They were recovered by the grandfather of the present Chitnees, from a descendant of Rugonath Narrain Hunwuntay. I have had them examined, and I have compared them with the handwriting of Ballajee Aujee, Sivajee's Chitnees, and have every reason to believe them authentic.
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Venkajee, on receipt of this letter, requested an interview with Rugonath Narrain; but the latter replied that he was now in the service of His Majesty Sivajee, but should be happy to attend, upon receiving orders to that effect. This permission having been obtained, Rugonath Narrain brought about an accommodation. Venkajee agreed to pay down a considerable sum of money, to divide their father's jewels, and to share the revenue of the territory with his brother. On these conditions, Sivajee allowed him to retain Tanjore and restored the Jagheer districts.
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Whilst Sivajee remained near Toorgul, a body of horse, belonging to Ghatgay and Nimbalkur, appeared in the Panalla district, laid waste the country, and retired plundering towards Kurar. A detachment from Sivajee’s army under Neelajee Katkur overtook them at Koorlee, attacked and dispersed them; recovering much valuable property, which, as it belonged to his own subjects, Sivajee scrupulously restored.
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Jenardin Punt being threatened by a body of horse belonging to Beejapoor, Sivajee sent back a part of his troops to reinforce him, whilst he himself, attended by a small escort, reached Raigurh before the commencement of the south-west monsoon, after an absence of eighteen months.
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Humbeer Rao, on the conclusion of the agreement with Venkajee, marched towards Maharashtra with all expedition, and Jenardin Punt, apprised of his approach, concerted a combined attack on the Beejapoor troops in the Dooab¹; which completely succeeded: five hundred horses, five elephants, and the commander of the party were taken. The whole of the tract between the Toongbuddra and the Kistna was overrun, and the refractory Deshmookhs in the neighbourhood of Kopaul and Bellary, who had for some time refused all payments to the government of Beejapoor, were compelled to submit to the troops of Sivajee.² The reduced state of Beejapoor, its want of cavalry, and the swelling of the rivers from the rains, prevented Musaood Khan from making an effort to recover these valuable districts.
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¹ The tract between the Kistna and the Toongbuddra is here meant.
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² Original letter from Sivajee to Venkajee.
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During Sivajee’s absence, Moro Trimmul the Peishwa provided for the security of the territory with his usual activity and ability. The war with the Seedees, who were reinforced every season by the Moghul fleet from Surat, continued to be waged with rancorous enmity. Descents upon the Mahratta coast, actions with vessels on both sides, attempts to burn the Seedee’s fleet, and a slow but lasting cannonade on Jinjeera, was the manner in which the warfare was maintained.³ The only event which it seems requisite to particularize, was the supersession of Seedee Sumbhole by Seedee Kassim, in consequence of an order from the Emperor. The title conferred on the new chief, who is admitted by the Mahrattas to have been an excellent officer, was Yakoot Khan, the same as that of his predecessor.
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³ All these affairs have been patiently and minutely detailed by Mr. Orme, and are interesting, because connected with the early history of one of our Indian Presidencies. Bombay was frequently involved in the broils of its neighbours, and sometimes exposed to the insolence of both parties. [For a review of the position of Bombay at this date, see B.C.G., ii. 81-5 and Strachey, Keigwin’s Rebellion, pp. 18, 19. On one occasion (October 1677) Sīdī Kāsim and his followers had a free fight with Sīdī Sambhal and his men in Mazagon, then a fortified village on the east of the Island of Bombay.]
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It was probably in consequence of the truce between the Moghuls and Beejapoor, that Moro Punt was induced to entertain numbers of the discharged cavalry of Beejapoor, being apprehensive that Dilere Khan meditated hostilities on his return to Pairgaom; but Aurungzebe was displeased with the adjustment which Dilere Khan had made, and informed him that he ought to have effected a more complete arrangement by providing for the nobility, paying the arrears of the troops, and taking the government under the imperial protection; he therefore commanded him to endeavour to amend his error whilst it was yet reparable, to pay the arrears of the cavalry, and to draw over as many of the officers as he could.¹ Sultan Mauzum was again appointed to the government of the Deccan; but the command of the army in the field remained with Dilere Khan. The Afghan party in Beejapoor were easily detached; but many of those who were violently factious, although averse to the existing authority, had still a greater dislike to the Moghuls. The envoy formally demanded Padshah Beebee as the only means of averting an immediate siege. Musaood Khan refused compliance. One of the factions, headed by Syud Mukhtoom and instigated by Mullik Berkhordar, assembled in arms to enforce the request, at a time when the regent was unprepared; but a battle in the midst of the city was prevented by the king's sister, who herself repaired to the spot and declared her intention of proceeding to the Moghul camp; vainly but generously imagining that, by this sacrifice, her brother and his kingdom might be saved.² The Mahomedan inhabitants of Beejapoor, who yet remain, revert with fond garrulity to this anecdote and to many traditionary legends of their last and favourite princess.
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¹ Beejapoor MSS. and Scott's Deccan.
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² Beejapoor MSS.
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Padshah Beebee reached Dilere Khan's camp when the Moghuls were advancing to invest the city; a fit escort was furnished to conduct her to Aurangabad, but the Imperial army prosecuted its march. Musaood Khan, in this dilemma, sought assistance from Sivajee, who agreed to attack Dilere Khan, or effect a diversion in favour of the besieged.
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For this purpose Sivajee assembled a large body of cavalry at Panalla, and marched towards Beejapoor; but finding the besiegers strong, and not choosing to encounter the Patans, of whom a large portion of Dilere Khan’s army was composed, he only made a show of attacking; advanced slowly until within twenty-four miles of the camp, when he turned off to the northward, rapidly crossed the Beema, and attacked the Moghul possessions, literally with fire and sword, leaving the inhabitants houseless and the village sin ashes. Dilere Khan did not relinquish the siege, and Sivajee continued his depredations from the Beema to the Godavery. He crossed the latter river, attacked Jaulna, and, although Sultan Mauzum was at Aurungabad, plundered the town leisurely for three days, pointing out, as was his custom on such occasions, the particular houses and spots where money and valuables were secreted. Nothing escaped him, and no place was a sanctuary; the residence of the peers, or Mahomedan saints, which Sivajee had hitherto held sacred, were on this occasion pillaged.¹ The laden booty was a certain signal that Sivajee would take some route towards Raigurh, and a body of ten thousand horse having been collected, by the prince’s orders from various parts, under Runmust Khan, pursued, overtook, and attacked Sivajee near Sungumnere on his route to Putta. A part of his troops were thrown into confusion, owing principally to the impetuosity of Suntajee Ghorepuray; Seedojee Nimbalkur, an officer of distinction, was killed²; but Sivajee led a desperate charge,³ and by great personal exertion retrieved the day. The Moghul troops were broken, and he continued his route; but he had not proceeded far when he was again attacked by the Moghuls, who had been joined by a large reinforcement under Kishen Sing, one of the grandsons of Mirza Raja Jey Sing. This division cut him off from the pass to which he was marching, and Sivajee’s army was unable to contend with such an accumulated force. But the superior intelligence of one of his Jasooses,⁴ or guides, saved Sivajee in this emergency.
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¹ Sivajee’s death is said to have happened in consequence. Khafee Khan, who has adopted the story, is seldom so injudicious.
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² Mahratta MSS.
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³ This part of the account is confirmed by Sivajee’s letters to his brother, where he says, ‘it was a time proper to disregard life.’
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⁴ Jasoos literally means, and is, professionally, a spy, but they are employed in all Deccan armies as guides, messengers, and letter
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He conducted him across the hills by a pass unknown to the Moghuls, by which he gained several hours' march in advance, and safely reached Putta.¹ The Moghul troops returned to Aurungabad, and Sivajee judged the opportunity favourable for possessing himself of the whole of the forts near Putta, twenty-seven in number; for which purpose he ordered a body of infantry to join Moro Punt from the Concan, in order to reduce as many of them as possible; and a large detachment of cavalry was likewise placed at the Peishwa's disposal.
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¹ Mahratta MSS. Sivajee himself takes no notice of this flight, but, by the mere name of Wisramgurh, or the place of rest, which he then gave the fort, there is circumstantial evidence of his having been hard pressed, when repose was so necessary.
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Sivajee remained at Putta until he received an express from Musaood Khan, entreating him to return southward and make an effort to relieve the city: 'that Dilere Khan had run his approaches close to the walls, and that nothing but prompt exertion could save them.'² Sivajee again set off for Beejapoor, when news reached him that his son Sumbhajee had fled and joined Dilere Khan. He directed his army to pursue their route under Humbeer Rao, whilst he himself retired to Panalla to devise means of bringing back Sumbhajee.
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² Original letter from Sivajee, who quotes the words of Musaood Khan.
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The conduct of his eldest son had for some time been a source of grief and vexation to Sivajee; and in consequence of Sumbhajee's attempting to violate the person of the wife of a Bramin, his father for a time confined him in Panalla, and placed a strict watch over him after he was released. Sumbhajee, impatient under this control, took advantage of his father's absence and deserted to Dilere Khan,³ by whom he was received with great distinction.⁴
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³ Mahratta MSS.
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⁴ Scott's Deccan.
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Dilere Khan sent accounts of this event to the Emperor, and
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carriers. [The *jāsūs* on this occasion is said to have been Bāhirjī Nāyak. (*Sabhāsad Bakhar* (Mānkar), 96.) See previous reference to him on page 178. It is possible that Bāhirjī was a Rāmosī, the members of that tribe being expert trackers and spies. During the rule of the Pēshwā, about 1740, a certain Rāmosī, Bāhirjī Nāyak of Mālsiras, Sholāpur District, was selected with four other Rāmosī Nāyaks to act as watchman of Poona city, which was suffering at the time from an epidemic of robberies. (*Mackintosh's Account of the Ramoossies*, Bombay (1833), p. 58.)]
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proposed, as the Mahrattas were becoming so very powerful, to set up Sumbhajee at the head of a party, in opposition to his father, in order to divide their interests and facilitate the capture of the forts. But this scheme, although it appeared to Dilere Khan similar to what was then carried on against Beejapoor and Golcondah, was disapproved by the Emperor, as it would ultimately conduce to strengthen predatory power; and it is remarkable that this reason, than which none could be more just at that period, should be recorded by a Mahratta biographer of Sivajee.¹ Although it rests on no other authority we cannot but remark that had such an opinion guided Aurungzebe’s measures at an earlier period, and the view been a little more extended, so as to have preserved the other Mahomedan states from becoming first a prey and then an accession of strength to the Mahrattas, the policy of this Emperor might have met its meed of praise, with far more justice than we can discover in those eulogies which have been frequently bestowed upon it.
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¹ Kistnajee Anund Subhasud. [See Editor's footnote, pp. 94-5, supra.]
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But before sufficient time had elapsed to obtain a reply from court, Dilere Khan, intent on his own scheme, took measures for carrying it into effect. He sent a detachment of his army from before Beejapoor, accompanied by Sumbhajee as Raja of the Mahrattas, to lay siege to Bhopaulgurh, the extreme outpost of Sivajee’s possessions to the eastward, which was taken.
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Humbeer Rao, detached by Sivajee towards Beejapoor, fell in with eight or nine thousand cavalry under Runmust Khan, the same officer lately sent by Sultan Mauzum against Sivajee; and he again sustained a severe defeat.
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Moro Punt took Ahoont and Nahawagurh, both forts of great strength, dispersed his army all over Candeish, which was plundered and laid waste. Humbeer Rao hovered about the camp of Dilere Khan; whilst the besieged, encouraged by Musaood Khan, continued a most resolute defence. Dilere Khan pressed the siege, but personal exertion could not avail when all supplies were cut off. He at last was compelled to abandon all hope of reducing the place; and at the end of the rains attacked the open country, plundered Hutnee,² crossed the Kistna as soon as fordable, divided the troops, and was laying waste the Carnatic, when Jenardin Punt with six thousand horse attacked the party commanded by Dilere Khan in person, completely defeated him, intercepted his parties, cut several of them to pieces, and compelled him to retreat.
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² [i.e. Athnī, about seventy miles north-east of Belgaum. It is the Huttany of Fryer; the Atteny of Mandelslo (Harris, Voyages, ii. 29); the Atteny of Ogilby (Atlas, v. 247). See Fryer, New Account, &c., ed. Crooke, 1912, ii. 68.]
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By this time orders had arrived from the Emperor recalling Sultan Mauzum, disapproving of Dilere Khan’s measures, and reinstating Khan Jehan in command of the army, and in the government of the Deccan. Sumbhajee was ordered to be sent prisoner to Delhi; but Dilere Khan, who had permitted Sivajee’s emissaries to have access to him, now connived at his escape; and, although Sivajee was reconciled to him, he confined him in the fort of Panalla until he should give proofs of amendment.
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A.D. 1680.—Sivajee, as the price of his alliance with Beejapoor, required the cession of the tract around Kopaul and Bellary; also the cession of all claims to sovereignty on the conquered territory in Drawed, the principality of Tanjore, and the Jagheer districts of Shahjee. These conditions being complied with, Sivajee went to the neighbourhood of the city of Beejapoor, where he had an interview and a secret consultation with Musaood Khan.
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The supremacy granted to Sivajee was considered by Venkajee as a death-blow to his independence; he was already not only subjected to the interference of Rugonath Punt, but Sivajee, on pretence of assisting him with fit agents, took a large share of the management into his own hands. Venkajee, impatient of control, appears to have been so greatly mortified, that he resigned himself to melancholy, neglected his affairs, omitted even the usual care of his person, and the observances enjoined by his religion; he became careless and abstracted from all worldly affairs, and assumed the conduct rather of a devotee than of an active chief, such as he had hitherto shown himself. On this occasion Sivajee addressed a letter to him full of energy and good sense. This letter was amongst the last¹ that Sivajee ever dictated; he
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¹ As the letter alluded to is neither very long nor prolix, which precludes the insertion of the others, a translation is subjoined as nearly literal as can be understood.
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‘Sivajee to Venkajee.’
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After compliments. ‘Many days have elapsed without my receiving any letter from you; and in consequence I am not in comfort. Ragoo Punt has now written, that you, having placed melancholy and gloom before yourself, do not take care of your person, or in any way attend to yourself as formerly; nor do you keep up any great was taken ill at Raigurh, occasioned by painful swelling in his knee-joint, which became gradually worse, and at last threw him into a high fever, which, on the seventh day from its commencement, terminated his existence on the 5th day of April,¹ 1680, in the 53d year of his age.
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¹ [V. A. Smith (O.H.I., p. 430) writes: ‘April 5 is the date according to Grant Duff and Orme. Fryer gives June 1 (iii. 167, with Crooke’s note). Mānkar (p. 111) states the Hindu equivalent date as Sunday, Chait 15, 1602 Saka, in the Rudra year. But, according to chronological tables, April 5, 1680, was Monday.’ Kincaid and Parasnis give April 3, 1680, but mention no authority for differing from Grant Duff and Orme. Clément, the French agent at Rājāpur in a letter of April 29, 1680, preserved in the National Archives at Paris, states that Sivājī had died twelve days previously, i.e. April 17, 1680 (N.S.) (Crooke on p. 167 of Fryer’s Travels (Hakluyt)). ‘His
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days or religious festivals. Your troops are inactive, and you have no mind to enjoy yourself on state affairs. You have become a Byragee, and think of nothing but to sit in some place accounted holy, and let time wear away. In this manner, much has been written to me, and such an account of you has given me great concern. I am surprised, when I reflect, that you have our father's example before you—how did he encounter and surmount all difficulties, perform great actions, escape all dangers by his spirit and resolution, and acquire a renown which he maintained to the last?—All he did is well known to you. You enjoyed his society, you had every opportunity of profiting by his wisdom and ability. Even I myself, as circumstances enabled me, have protected myself; and you also know, and have seen, how I have established a kingdom. Is it then for you, in the very midst of opportunity, to renounce all worldly affairs and turn Byragee—to give up your affairs to persons who will devour your estate—to ruin your property, and injure your bodily health? What kind of wisdom is this, and what will it end in? I am to you as your head and protection; from me you have nothing to dread. Give up therefore all this, and do not become a Byragee. Throw off despondency, spend your days properly; attend to fasts, feasts, and customary usages, and attend to your personal comforts. Look to the employment of your people, the discipline of your army, and turn your attention to affairs of moment. Make your men do their duty; apply their services properly in your quarter, and gain fame and renown. What a comfort and happiness it will be to me to hear the praise and fame of my younger brother. Rugonath Pundit is near you, he is no stranger to you, consult him on what is most advisable to be done, and he will consider you in the same light as myself. I have placed every confidence in him—do you the same; hold together for your mutual support, and you will acquire celebrity and fame. Above all things be not slothful; do not allow opportunity to slip past without receiving some returns from your army. This is the time for performing great actions. Old age is the season for turning Byragee. Arouse! bestir yourself. Let me see what you can do. Why should I write more, you are wise.'
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Such was the end of Sivajee. We have passed over some details in his warfare with the Seedees, which may require retrospective notice, and have been drawn forward by a chain of more important events, until we have reached that point where we naturally pause, to look back on the life of any human being who has just ceased to be. Sivajee was certainly a most extraor-dinary person; and however justly many of his acts may be censured, his claim to high rank in the page of history must be admitted. To form an estimate of his character, let us consider him assembling and conducting a band of half-naked Mawulees through the wild tracts where he first established himself, unmindful of obstruction from the elements, turning the most inclement seasons to advantage, and inspiring the minds of such followers with undaunted enthusiasm. Let us also observe the singular plans of policy he commenced, and which we must admit to have been altogether novel and most fit for acquiring power at such a period. Let us examine his internal regulations, the great progress he made in arranging every department in the midst of almost perpetual warfare, and his successful stratagems for escaping or extricating himself from difficulty; and whether planning the capture of a fort or the conquest of a distant country; heading an attack, or conducting a retreat; regulating the discipline to be observed amongst a hundred horse, or laying down arrangements for governing a country; we view his talents with admiration, and his genius with wonder. For a popular leader his frugality was a remarkable feature in his character; and the
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(Sivājī’s) countrymen,’ writes Smith, ‘believed that his passing was marked by the simultaneous appearance of a comet and a lunar rainbow, as well as by an earthquake; but, as a matter of fact, Newton’s comet, the one referred to, was not visible in India until November.’ Professor J. Sarkar writes that he died of fever and dysentery, and that there were rumours current in Mahārāshtra of his wife, Soyara Bāi, having poisoned him. These stories are untrue. (Shivaji and His Times, Calcutta (1919), pp. 429, 430.)
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Waring (A History of the Mahrattas, 1810, p. 215, App.) states that the Mahratta MSS., which he consulted, suggested poison, and that one MS. expressly charged ‘Toorya Bhy’ (i.e. Soyara Bāi) with murder. Professor Sarkar’s view is correct. The fact of Sivājī’s death was concealed for a time. See Fryer’s New Account, &c., ed. Crooke (Hakluyt), iii. 167 n.
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The cenotaph of Sivājī at Raigadh is ‘a plain structure of no architectural value,’ but steps have been taken to preserve it. (Prog. Rep. A.S.W.I., 1911-12, p. 7.)]
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richest plunder never made him deviate from the rules he had laid down for its appropriation.
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Sivajee was patient and deliberate in his plans, ardent, resolute, and persevering in their execution; but, even in viewing the favourable side, duplicity and meanness are so much intermixed with his schemes, and so conspicuous in his actions, that the offensive parts of a worse character might be passed over with less disgust. Superstition, cruelty, and treachery are not only justly alleged against him, but he always preferred deceit to open force when both were in his power. But to sum up all, let us contrast his craft, pliancy, and humility with his boldness, firmness, and ambition; his power of inspiring enthusiasm while he showed the coolest attention to his own interests; the dash of a partisan adventurer, with the order and economy of a statesman; and, lastly, the wisdom of his plans which raised the despised Hindoos to sovereignty, and brought about their own accomplishment, when the hand that had framed them was low in the dust.
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Sivajee’s admirers among his own nation speak of him as an incarnation of the Deity, setting an example of wisdom, fortitude, and piety. Mahrattas, in general, consider that necessity justifies a murder, and that political assassination is often wise and proper. They admit that Sivajee authorized the death of Chunder Rao, the Raja of Jowlee; but few of them acknowledge that Afzool Khan was murdered. The vulgar opinion is that the Khan was the aggressor; and the event is spoken of rather as a commendable exploit than a detestable and treacherous assassination.
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From what can be learned of Sivajee in domestic life, his manners were remarkably pleasing and his address winning; he was apparently frank, but seldom familiar; passionate in his disposition, but kind to his dependants and relations. He was a man of small stature and of an active rather than strong make; his countenance was handsome and intelligent; he had very long arms in proportion to his size, which is reckoned a beauty among Mahrattas.¹
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¹ Mahratta MSS., and tradition among his descendants, and the descendants of his ministers and domestics. In the Ali Namu, Nusserut satirizes the big feet and long arms of the Mahrattas. There is no likeness of Sivajee preserved either at Kolapoor or Satara; and none of the Europeans who saw him have recorded any description of his person. His body was burnt at Raigurh, where there was a tomb erected over the collected ashes. There is a building in the fort of Malwan, which is considered as his
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The sword ¹ which he constantly used, and which he named after cenotaph. The origin of this building, however, is as old as the fort when first erected by Sivajee, who placed Poojarees or persons to observe certain forms of worship, during which, ‘the sea should not encroach on the walls, nor should an enemy prevail.’ Sumbhajee made some additions to this establishment; and Raja Ram, after the fall of Raigurh made it the cenotaph, or rather the place of commemoration of Sivajee. The Bramins in charge still enjoy the advantages of the original endowment, and have made several additions with a view of imposing on the credulity of the vulgar, who repair with offerings to the shrine. They have an effigy, and the real sword of Sivajee, whose body, by their account, lies buried there.
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[The only supposed portrait of Sivājī in existence is that which appears in Orme’s Fragments. This is reproduced in O.H.I., p. 426, and appears as a frontispiece to Mānkar’s translation of Krishnājī Anant Sabhāsad’s life of Sivājī. Whether this portrait is authentic cannot be determined. The picture of Sivājī which appears at p. 13 of D. B. Parasnis’s Mahābleshwar and the frontispiece of Kincaid and Parasnis’s A History of the Maratha People, both seem to be modern and unauthentic productions. Escaliot, who was resident in the English factory at Surat when Sivājī attacked the town, speaks of Sivājī being ‘of meane stature, lower somewhat than I am erect, and of an excellent proportion . . . and when ever hee speakes seemes to smile a quicke and peercing eye, and whiter than any of his people.’ (V. A. Smith in Times Lit. Supp., May 15, 1919.) When I visited Shivnēr in 1904 I saw two pictures of Sivājī in the shrine of Shivabāi. They are probably still there; but their authenticity is doubtful.]
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¹ Sivajee’s sword is an excellent Genoa blade of the first water. Its whole history is recorded by the hereditary historian of the family. [Inquiry has failed to establish the present whereabouts of the sword Bhavānī. Rao Bahādur D. B. Parasnis writes that the sword now (1920) preserved and exhibited at Sātāra is 3 feet 9 inches in length in the blade, and 8 inches long in the handle, and bears a Marāthī inscription, ‘Shrīmant Sarkār Rājmandal Rājā Shāhu Kadim Avval,’ which shows that it is the weapon of Shāhu, not that of Sivājī. He further adds that ‘it is generally believed in Sātāra that the original Bhavānī was taken to Kolhāpur by Tārābāī, wife of Rājārām, Sivājī’s younger son, and was there preserved for many years In 1875 this sword was presented by Rāo Bahādur Mādhav Rāo Barve, Diwān of Kolhapur, to H.M. the late King Edward during his visit to India as Prince of Wales. It was conveyed to England and was exhibited in 1878 in the British Indian section of the Universal Exhibition at Paris, a description of it being given by Sir George Birdwood at p. 68 of the handbook to that section.’ A search has been made in the British and South Kensington Museums, and in the collections of arms preserved at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and Sandringham; but the sword cannot be traced. Moreover, General Sir Dighton Probyn writes: ‘I was in attendance on King Edward during His Majesty’s Indian tour in 1875-6, and would certainly have remembered had the celebrated sword in question been given to His Majesty. I think you may take it that the sword is still in India.’ It is difficult to reconcile this evidence with that supplied from India, and the fact the goddess Bhowanee, is still preserved by the Raja of Satara with the utmost veneration, and has all the honours of an idol paid to it.
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