A History of the Mahrattas v1.c16.7

v1.c16.7

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),