1664 Dec. Shivaji plunders Hubli. 1665 Jan. Shivaji captures Pondā : makes peace with the Sāwant. 1665 Jan. 19 Jay Sinh reaches Burhanpur. 1665 Feb. 8 Shivaji plunders the harbour of Basrur. 1665 Feb. Shivaji at Gokarna. 1665 Feb. Jay Sinh starts the offensive against` Shivaji. 1665 March Jay Sinh at Poona. 1665 March 30 Dilir Khan invests Purandhar. 1665 March 31 Jay Sinh encamps at Saswad. 1665 April 14 Dilir Khan captures Rudramal. 1665 April 14 Murār Bāji killed. 1665 May 20 Shivaji’s envoy Raghunath Pandit meets Jay Sinh at Saswad. 1665 June 11 Shivaji visits Jay Sinh. 1665 June 13 Shivaji meets Dilir Khan. 1665 June 14 Shivaji concludes treaty with Jay Sinh. 1665 June 15 Shivaji surrenders Sinhagad and other forts. 1665 Sept. 5 Shivaji receives Imperial *farman*. 1665 Novr. 25 Jay Sinh opens operations against Bijapur, Shivaji joins in them. 1666 Jan. 16 Shivaji’s unsuccessful effort to capture Panhāla. 1666 Jan. Netāji Pālkar quits Shivaji’s service and joins Bijapur. 1666 March 20 Netāji receives Imperial *Mansab* from Aurangzeb.

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UPS AND DOWNS

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[1661 — 1665]

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1. Kartalb Khan humbled.
2. English Factors confined.
3. Night raid on Shaista Khan.
4. Surat sacked.
5. Bijapuri activities ; Baji Ghorpade crushed.
6. Jay Sinh and Shivajî face to face.

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1. Kartalb Khan humbled.—The Afzal Khan affair taught Shivaji how to deal with outside forces. Shaista Khan was now in Poona slowly putting restraints on Shivaji's freedom and did not hazard an immediate open war. For the capture of Chākan he had to pay a heavy price in a thousand valuable lives. Shivaji after escaping from Panhālā reached Vishālgad safely and thence quickly proceeded to Rājgad for taking measures to stop the terrific onslaught of Shaista Khan, who now directed his attention towards reducing Shivaji's power in north Konkan, which supplied him with his principal resources in money and provisions. With the object therefore of capturing Kalyan, Shaista Khan equipped a large army and despatched it under a valiant and trustworthy commander named Kartalb Khan accompanied by a brave Brahman warrior lady and her full contingent ; she was the wife of the old grandee Udārām of Basim, who had rendered distinguished service to Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Aurangzeb entertained a high regard for this lady and had conferred on her the title of Rai-Bagan (the tiger-princess).

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Kartalb Khan left Poona in January 1661 and descended the western Ghats by what was known as Umbar-Khind at the foot of fort Lohgad, a little to the south of the present railway station of Lonavla, a difficult passage as the railway route itself shows by running through so many tunnels. The pass of Umbar-Khind was extremely narrow and about 8 miles in length, but more than 15 miles from the eastern plain to the western, and hardly allowed more than two men walking abreast. The path is steep and narrow and runs through a barren waterless tract with huge precipices on the two sides. Shivaji had studied the intricacies of the passage and being well informed by efficient spies, he tried to encompass the complete ruin of Kartalb’s forces. His well trained parties of infantry remained hidden in secret recesses, ready to pounce upon the enemy at the given signal. The Mughals unsuspecting any untoward trouble, leisurely descended through the narrow pass in evident glee, encumbered with baggage, guns and ammunition. As soon as the whole force had been practically entrapped in the narrow defiles, the two entrances above and below came to be suddenly closed by Shivaji’s men, so that the Mughals could neither turn back nor proceed on : and missiles of stone and bullets began to fall upon them from the adjoining rocks. Kartalb Khan found no way out, his men were dying of suffocation and thirst, so that he begged the Rai Bagan to intercede with Shivaji. The Marathā exacted a heavy fine and lo ! in a moment the path was left clear, so that the Mughals could wend their way back to Poona in utter discomfiture. Parmānand has described this episode of Umbar-Khind with graceful eloquence.¹

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¹ Sh. Bh. Chapter 29.

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As soon as Kartalb Khan was disposed of, Shivaji appointed Netāji Pālkar to look after the Mughals, and he himself rapidly moved against Rājāpur as much to wreak his vengeance upon the English factors for their wanton interference at the siege of Panhālā, as to further weaken the Bijapur power by seizing its territory of the south Konkan as well. Dābhøl, Rājāpur and Kārwār were then wealthy ports thriving on foreign trade. Rustam-i-Zaman the nominal governor did not raise a finger for his master. Shivaji probably in the early months of 1661 conducted a regular raid through the Konkan territory, plundered Nizampur, put down the chief of Palwan near Dapoli, captured Dābhol from its owner surnamed Dalvi, worshipped at the shrine of Parshurām near Chiplun, proceeded to Sangameshvar, also a rich port then, and stationing there two of his trusted officers Tānāji Mālusre and Pilāji Nilakanth, himself suddenly appeared before Rājāpur.

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Here he plundered the English factory and kept under restraint six of the East India Company’s officials. He collected a large plunder from Rājāpur and appointed his own administrators at the port, and also at Khārepātan about ten miles to the south. In the meantime receiving news that Surya Rao Surve, the Chief of Shringārpur near Sangameshvar had attacked Tānāji Mālsure and defeated him, Shivaji ran back from Rājāpur to Tānāji’s succour. This Surve like the Moray of Javli had often intrigued against Shivaji; the latter now determined to teach him a lesson. Shivaji came straight upon Shringārpur on 29 April. At his approach the Surve ran away to save his life, so that his principality stretching from Sangameshvar to Dapoli, fell into Shivaji’s hand without a contest. Shivaji built new forts in this region for its protection. They were named Prachitgad, Palgad and Mandangad. Trimbak Bhaskar was appointed to administer this newly conquered territory.

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The affairs of the Surves of Shringārpur used to be administered by another chief named Wāghoji Shirke (of Kutre) who was won over by Shivaji and gave his daughter Soyra Bai in marriage to the young hero. This was his second wife, taken no doubt for political motives in order to win the two great ancient Kshatriya families, the Surves and the Shirkes.² Thus the two powerful chiefs of south Konkan, the Shirkes of Kutre and the Surves of Shringārpur, were won over by Shivaji to his service, so that the whole west coast from Bassein to Malwan together with the inland territory stretching up to the Sahyadris came into Shivaji’s possession. The lands east of the Sahyadri range were already in his possession from Junnar to fort Rangna, so that we now get a rough idea of the way in which Shivaji steadily consolidated his possessions,

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² The Chhatrapatis received many Shirke ladies into their house and married their own daughters to Shirkes, as this table will show :—

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2. The Chhatrapatis received many Shirke ladies into their house and married their own daughters to Shirkes, as this table will show :—

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having carved them out from the Bijapuri and the Mughal dominions.

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2. English Factors confined.—It is necessary here to revert to the story of the English factors captured by Shivaji at Rājāpur. The friction between them had a previous history, without which the present scuffle cannot be properly explained. English factory records now published throw full light on the affair. When early in 1660 Shivaji’s men came upon Dābhol, that port had in it three trading vessels belonging to Afzal Khan who had been cut down by Shivaji. Muhammad Sharif the Governor of Dabhol conveyed those ships quickly to Rājāpur at the request of Fazl Khan and delivered them for safety into the custody of the English factory, lest they should fall into Shivaji’s hands. As Shivaji was at war with Bijapur, he sent his agent to Rājāpur to take possession of those ships of his enemy. The British would not give them over on the plea that Fazl Khan owed them large amounts, which they wanted to recover out of the property contained in those ships. When Shivaji arrived at Rājāpur, the Chief of the factory, Remington, for fear of being seized, ran for safety out to the sea, but Doroji succeeded in seizing the goods and detaining the second Officer Gifford (20 January 1660). At this stage Rustam-i-Zaman pleaded with Shivaji for restoring the goods and releasing Gifford. Shivaji agreed and the affair was for the moment closed.³

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Then came the siege of Panhālgad, where the Rājāpur factors came to fight against Shivaji at the call of Siddi Jauhar Salabat Khan. Remington, Mingham, Gifford, and their interpreter Velji went to Panhālgad, supplied ammunition and opened a most damaging fire against the fort. Shivaji warned them that as traders they ought to remain neutral and not take sides in an internal war, and that since they had taken part in the war against him, they would have to suffer the conse-

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3. It may be mentioned that in those days many private persons and rulers and chiefs also used to engage their capital in private trade on the sea, keeping their own ships and plying them to different lands, reaping enormous profits by such exchange of commodities. Even the Mughal Emperor and the Bahmani kings had their own ships working on the sea.

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quences. They ridiculed this threat and exhibited their own flag at Panhālā in open defiance and fired some very destructive shots making Shivaji’s position untenable. It was this wanton offence for which Shivaji was bent upon exacting full retribution.

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Such a time was not long in coming. The English grenades were fired at Panhālā in July 1660, and Shivaji appeared at Rājāpur in the following March with the double object of punishing the English traders and bringing under his sway the whole of the southern Konkan, then belonging to Bijapur. On arrival at Rājāpur he invited the factors to pay him a visit, and they too out of curiosity, as if in utter ignorance of their conduct at Panhālā, called on him, when six of them Randolph Taylor, Richard Taylor, Gifford, Ferrand, Richard Napier, and Samuel Bernard were immediately put under restraint, their goods confiscated, and they themselves were removed to different places and confined, some at fort Songad near Mahād, and some at fort Wāsotā. Shivaji stationed a competent officer, Rāoji Somnāth, to manage the affairs of Rājāpur and look after the comforts of the six factors in confinement. In a few days Rāoji Somnāth informed the factors that they would be set at liberty and amply recompensed for their losses, if they would readily help Shivaji in his projected campaign against the Siddis of Janjira, but that if they refused, they would have to pay ransom for their release. The factors flatly rejected this offer. Many Muslim and Hindu traders and bankers of Rājāpur were similarly dealt with. Shivaji urged that he was in open war against Bijapur, and whoever opposed him would have to suffer the consequences.

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Shivaji took particular care to supply the best available comforts to the factors whom he had kept in confinement. Their release was, however, long delayed owing mainly to their stiff and uncompromising attitude and partly to Shivaji’s preoccupations also. They swore and threatened, committed self-abnegation, sent highly provocative and distorted accounts to their President at Surat, whom they requested to intercede with Shivaji, pay the fine and obtain their release. But the President refused to interfere in this affair as it had originated from their own unwarranted behaviour. In a letter dated 10th March 1662, the President chides them in the following terms:—

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“How you came in prison you know very well. It was not for defending the Company’s goods : it was for going to the siege of Pannella and tossing balls with a flag that was known to be the English. [Shivaji’s action] was exactly as any other would doe, having power to revenge himself of such affronts. For merchants are not to sell their goods, when if of that nature as granadoes, to goe and shoote them off against an enemy ; for Merchants while trading in a strange country one may live quietly ; if not, medling, must looke for a requitall of their deserts. We must tell you plainly and none but what rehearsed is the cause of your imprisonment ; Mr. Revington himself having mentioned the commands of Shivaji not to sell any ; [these words] are cast in your teeth of being at Pannella castle because he would returne the injury as he hoped more to his satisfaction, if he could obtain money by this means.”

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The President confessed his inability to coerce Shivaji into obedience, and when the prisoners became convinced that they could not obtain release through any outside agency, they pleaded with Rāoji Somnāth for mercy. In the meantime Revington fell ill and obtained release for treatment. He reached Surat on 17 October 1661 and died there a year later. On 17 January 1663 Rāoji Pandit came and carried the other captives to Rājāpur where they were released, when the following message under Shivaji’s seal was read to them. “ Let us forget the past. We had on hand a war with Bijapur for which funds were needed, and so Rājāpur had to suffer. We shall not repeat the affair.” After this the English factors resumed their trade at Rājāpur. A writer in that factory informed the Surat President that “Shivaji’s raid on Rājāpur cost it in plunder the amount of 24,000 Hons, the death of two persons and the detention of the factors for two years.” The English merchants long continued to press Shivaji for reparation of the damage caused to them in the Rājāpur plunder, but he declined, being sure he had acted with perfect justice.

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3. Night raid on Shaista Khan.—It has already been mentioned that while Shivaji had a stiff war on hand against Bijapur, Shaista Khan was pressing him severely from another direction. After the retreat of Kartalb Khan in February 1661, Shaista Khan immediately sent another large army into north Konkan and wrested from Shivaji’s hands Kalyan and its adjoining districts upto Pen. The next rainy season brought in a temporary cessation of hostilities; but operations were soon resumed and Namdar Khan marched against Pen where Shivaji routed him in January 1662. During this whole year there was no large-scale open warfare, but Shaista Khan wove his coil round Shivaji and crippled him in the region round about Satara. For a time Shivaji felt completely nonplussed against the growing menace of the Mughals. Here was the Khan backed by the full resources of the Empire then at its zenith, and practically all the *swarajya* which Shivaji had so long built up had been overrun by the Mughals. The Khan occupied the very palace of Shivaji, his soldiers and spies roamed throughout the land hunting Shivaji out like a beast of prey beaten out of the jungle. For three long years now Shivaji struggled and chafed, and racked his brain severely for a solution.

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But the genius of great men shines in such darkness. Some act of stern retribution must be done to the Khan personally, if an open fight was out of the question. After long thinking and deep planning Shivaji contrived his own ingenious device. He came to stay at Sinhgad in order to make a sudden dash upon the Khan’s residence at Poona, which was his own palace, every detail of which was known to him. Shivaji sent two Brahman spies and collected whatever information could be obtained about the arrangements and disposition of the Mughal camp. He himself selected some four hundred clever and intrepid Mavlas, dressed them as Mughal soldiers and descended from Sinhgad on the afternoon of 5 April 1663, with a night of the 6th rising moon before him. Coming near the main gate of the camp in the early hours of the night they were admitted without suspicion, on declaring that they were a party of Mughal troops going in to relieve those who were already on duty. The Mughal armies were full of such new recruits. It was the month of Ramzan when the Khan and his household after breaking their day’s fast retired before midnight. The moon set. While the camp and the Khan’s quarters were enveloped in quiet and darkness with a few dim lights showing how the people were stationed and distributed at different points, Shivaji with about fifty men entered the house through a hole made in the weak kitchen-wall behind without noise. They made their way into the bed-rooms, cutting the cloth partitions through and slaughtering men and women in their beds. Shouts and cries arose and confusion overcame all. Having thus perpetrated terrible havoc, Shivaji and his party left hurriedly, some being cut down as they ran out, but most of them escaped safely back to Sinhgad. It was discovered later that the Khan himself was not among those that were killed. He escaped with the loss of his fore-fingers. One of his sons was killed along with one captain and six women. Two of his sons and eight maid-servants were wounded. Thus did Shivaji avenge himself upon Shaista Khan for having made him a homeless wanderer for three long years.⁴

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⁴ Vide Shiva-C-Sahitya 5.12.

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Jashvant Sinh was close to the main Mughal camp, but did not raise a finger to save his chief. Early next morning the Mughals set out to make a furious attack against Sinhgad, but the guns on the fort played heavily against them. To besiege the fort and force Shivaji into submission was a long affair, not considered feasible as the rains were approaching. After this dreadful experience Shaista Khan considered Poona unsafe for his residence and retired to Aurangabad for the rains. Later in the year Jashvant Sinh tried to invest Sinhgad, but gave up the attempt as hopeless. This daring execution of the Maratha hero increased his prestige. He was considered the very incarnation of Satan, from whom no place was safe and for whom no feat was impossible. The whole country talked of it with astonishment and terror as a superhuman deed. The news reached Aurangzeb on 8th May and caused bitter humiliation and sorrow to his whole Court and family, as the Empire's premier peer was thus cunningly struck down by the devilish Maratha. Aurangzeb peremptorily transferred him to Bengal. The Khan left the Deccan on 1st December 1663 for his new province. Shivaji became a noted hero who had withstood two great powers with consummate stratagem. But more was yet to come.

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4. Surat Sacked.—Shivaji was not the man to rest on his oars. His keen mind devised fresh blows at the Mughals.

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The night attack on Poona, however spectacular, did no material damage to the Emperor. During the rainy season of 1663 Shivaji's spies and agents were busy watching the northern Mughal territories between Poona and Burhanpur and picking out the weakest point for a fresh infliction, as open war had now broken out between them. He sent round a band of clever spies, obtained correct details of the Mughal dispositions far and near, and then made up his mind to strike at Surat and raise such a huge fire in the breast of the Emperor that his reputation would be for ever darkened, as the poet Bhushan puts it. The plan was kept a closely guarded secret. Nobody knew where Shivaji was going. He gave out that he was proceeding to the south, but actually moved towards the north.

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We are now in the second decade of Shivaji's career. His rising moon grew continuously to fulness, every year bringing in fresh problems, new dangers, successful escapes, and additional glories in rapid succession. His restless mind always looked out for fresh adventures. The captain of his spies, Bahirji Naik after a strenuous tour brought him news about the wealth of distant Surat, the prosperous gateway of India, a port from which thousands of Muslim pilgrims embarked for Mecca and returned every year. Most of the seaborne trade of Mughal India passed through Surat, giving it an eminence even greater than that of Imperial Delhi. There lived at this port at least twenty merchants, both Hindu and Muslim, who could be assessed by crores and at least two or three who could be counted the richest in the world. One Mulla Abdul Jafar alone owned nineteen ships laden with costly goods.

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Shivaji made up his mind. Would he succeed in an attack on such a place, at least two hundred miles away without good roads or easy means of communication? The only highway to Surat lay through Burhanpur, which Shivaji must avoid. He had already established two military camps in the vicinity of Danda Rajpuri and Pen, with a view, as he gave out, to putting down the Siddi and the Portuguese. He established another camp near Nasik, all containing select men personally picked. With proper instructions issued in advance, portions of these specially prepared troops numbering about four thousand in all, started from their stations at an auspicious moment previously selected. Shivaji himself left Nasik about 1st January 1664 and his men marched through Mahuli, Kohaj, Jawhar and Ramnagar, all the detachments uniting at Gandevi, 28 miles south of Surat on Tuesday 5th January. The news of his approach reached Surat like a flash of lightning causing extreme terror and anxiety in every breast. Many people left the town with their families for safety outside.

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Surat castle then had a fort-wall not very strong, while the town with the main populace and the business centre lay outside the walls. The Governor of the town was one Inayatulla Khan who had kept no troops for the protection of the town, although he drew cash allowance for their expense. From Gandevi Shivaji sent special agents in advance to inform the Governor and the merchants of his intended arrival and assuring them that he meant no harm to anybody, that he was at open war with the Emperor, for which he was in sore need of funds which he must obtain from those who traded under the Emperor's protection and who could pay.⁵ For years, he urged, the Emperor had driven him out of his house at Poona and appropriated all his treasure and belongings. He expected from Surat a handsome amount, about 50 lacs which could be easily subscribed by the wealthy merchants of the town. Shivaji also addressed letters of similar import to the Governor and to some particular merchants asking for contributions and warning them of the consequences of a refusal. “Tomorrow,” he said, “we shall be at Surat when you should pay me a visit and deliver the specified amount. If you fail to comply, we shall have to use severe methods of collecting money, such as plunder and arson, for which the responsibility will be yours.” The Governor sent his agent with an impertinent reply, upon which Shivaji detained the messengers and himself arrived at 11 o'clock in the morning, the next day, Wednesday 6th January camping with his followers in a garden outside the Burhanpur gate.

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⁵ The whole account is compiled from a number of sources now published and available., Factory Records, Foreign Biographies, Manucci, Dutch accounts and others.

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No one took notice of Shivaji's warning and none came out to meet him. Besides the Indian merchants in the town there were English and Dutch factories at the river wharf with their own fortified enclosures. But Shivaji had not come prepared with artillery to engage in an open warfare with the handful of foreign traders, who had plenty of goods but little of gold and silver. It is not right to argue that he was afraid of them and so did not molest them. The experience of Rājāpur was fresh in his memory. Indeed he was not in a position to fight even the Governor of Surat if he had chosen to defend the town or the fort. It was because the Governor in a panic ran to the fort for safety and left the town at the mercy of the Marathas, that the subsequent troubles occurred. Shivaji's move was an open challenge to the Emperor and a means of acquiring the sinews of the war that had been imposed on him.

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Writes Thevenot : " All the town of Surat was plundered except the monastery of the Capuchins. The plunderers did no harm to the Convent. For the first day in the evening Father Ambrose, who was Superior of it, being moved with compassion for the poor Christians living in Surat, went to the Rājā and spoke in their favour, praying him not to suffer any violence to be done to them. Shivaji had a respect for the Father, took him into his protection, and granted what he had devised in favour of the Christians."⁶

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⁶ Sen's Foreign Biographies, P. 179.

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On the day of his arrival Shivaji sent for some local merchants and employed his men to force out funds from them as far as possible by peaceful and persuasive methods. Some of the merchants were detained by him as prisoners. On Thursday 7 January the cowardly Inayat-ulla sent a young man to Shivaji with a pretended offer of peace. After a little conversation the young man approached closer to Shivaji saying that he had to communicate something in private and suddenly rushed forward to stab him with a concealed dagger that he had brought with him. A Maratha bodyguard struck off the assassin's hand, but the fellow hurled himself upon the Rājā. Shivaji's clothes were seen stained with blood. The guards wanted to start a general massacre of the townspeople and of the prisoners that had been assembled; but Shivaji sternly prohibited such a course and only cut off the hands of a few known culprits. If according to his own previous demand upon the Governor and the three principal merchants Haji Saiyad Beg, Bahirji Bohra, and Haji Kasim, they had personally come and negotiated for the amount of ransom in a reasonable mood, all the subsequent miseries could have been avoided. But the foul plot of the Governor to get Shivaji murdered, excited his spirit of revenge and then he ordered a general sack of the houses of the rich and setting fire to various localities. Throughout the 8th and the 9th of January this work of plunder and devastation continued with unabated fury; numerous houses were consumed by fire, and nearly two-thirds of the town destroyed. "The fire turned the night into day as during the day time; the smoke had turned day into night, rising so thick that it darkened the Sun like a great cloud." This description of the English chaplain is closely followed by the poet Bhusan in his poetic fastion.⁷

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⁷ Vide Verse 201 of *Shiva-raj Bhushan Kavya*.

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The Marathas broke open the doors of houses and chests and carried off as much booty as they could lay their hands on. No resistance was offered to this plunder and heaps of articles of all kinds were accumulated in front of Shivaji's camp. He made the best of his four days' run at the town but shrank from any wanton cruelty for extracting money.⁸

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⁸ See Sarkar's Shivaji and his Times p. 100.

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On Saturday the 9th of January Shivaji received news of a Mughal force coming rapidly for the rescue of the town, and next day he left the place as suddenly as he had arrived, carrying away nothing but gold and silver, pearls and diamonds, and precious ware of light weight and small size. Heaps of clothing and household articles that were collected were freely distributed to the townspeople as there was no time to open a sale for them. It is not possible to offer an accurate estimate of the value of the plunder he carried away, possibly Shivaji himself had never the time to make an exact calculation. But it must certainly have been above a crore of rupees, possibly double that amount. The plunder was carried straight to Raigad and was utilized in fortifying that capital of his future government. The giant water-fortress of Sindhudurg at Malwan was also constructed out of this plunder nearly at the same time. The Mughal forces from Khandesh arrived before Surat a week after Shivaji had left it and found that place entirely defaced.⁹

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5. Position of Bijapur, Baji Ghorpade.—About a week after Shivaji’s return to Raigad he received the sad news of his father’s sudden death near Basavapattan, south of the Tunga-Bhadrā river, on 23 January 1664 in an accident while out hunting. This incident necessitates a reference back to Shivaji’s relations with Bijapur and the part played therein by his father. In September 1660 Shivaji gave the fort of Panhālā back to Bijapur and brought about a kind of truce with that State in order to direct his attention to Shaista Khan’s aggressions. He also strengthened his hold upon Rājāpur and south Konkan, taking advantage of the struggle for power that was then going on between the young Ali Adil Shah and his mother the queen Badi-Sahiba. By the end of 1660 Ali seized the sole power and the queen marked her displeasure by going away on a pilgrimage to Mecca. She was away for a year from May 1661 to June 1662. During this interval Ali Adil Shah tried to befriend Shivaji by calling upon Shahji to act as a peace-maker. For two or three years since the affair of Afzal Khan, Shivaji had been openly at war with Bijapur as we have already seen. During this period the conduct of Shahji was not altogether free from suspicion. Outwardly he disclaimed any responsibility for his son’s conduct, but at the same time he did not as readily help the Shah in suppressing the revolt of Shivaji. How could he ? He was as human as any father and son to-day. The noble enthusiasm of the son was rewarded with success and in comparison the father was pushed into the background. After all every successful revolutionary is a rebel at the start, and he becomes a legalized monarch only after a career full of perils and adventures.

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The death of Shahji opened the third and last phase of Shivaji’s guiding star. Upon the recall of Shaista Khan, the

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9. सुरत बेसुरत ‘Surat was denuded of all its glory’ is the common description of this episode given by the Bakhars.

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Emperor sent his son Shahzada Muazzam as Governor of the Deccan with Jashvant Sinh as his lieutenant. They were both lukewarm in taking any strong measures against Shivaji, who, however, allowed himself not a moment's rest. He and Netāji Pālkar fell like vultures upon the Mughal territories between Ahmadnagar and Aurangabad. Shivaji's navy too now began to molest the pilgrim ships proceeding to Mecca from Surat. Shivaji was supposed to be some supernatural being possessed of wings which carried him anywhere, having the power to make himself invisible and roam about wherever he liked without being observed. The English factors wrote, "Report has made Shivaji an airy body and added wings. Or else it would be impossible he could be at so many places at one and the same time. He is and ever was for a running banquet plundering and burning those towns which have neither defence nor guard. The Deccan is embroiled in civil wars, Shivaji reigns victoriously and uncontrolled. He is a terror to all the kings and princes round about, daily increasing in strength. He is nimble and active, imposing strange labour upon himself and exercises his chiefest men that he flies to and fro with incredible dexterity."

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At this time (1664) Shivaji wrote a very strong letter to the officers and counsellors of the Emperor, in which he wrote, "You very well know what results have been achieved by the famous generals and able counsellors sent by the Emperor during the last three years for seizing my country and my forts. How is it you don't realize that this is an impossible task? Your officers are not ashamed of reporting entirely fictitious accounts. My home here is not like the towns of Kalyani and Bedar, which could be easily assaulted and taken. My country has lofty hill-ranges two hundred leagues in length and forty in breadth and is well protected by sixty strong forts newly built. Afzal Khan came against me and perished helplessly. Your great Amir-ul-Umra Shaista Khan laboured hard for three years and went away in disgrace after suffering a terrible disaster. It is my duty to guard my land, and I will do it. Thank God, no invader of my beloved country has yet bloomed forth."¹⁰

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¹⁰ House of Shivaji, by Sarkar, p. 98. For Bijapuri nobles see p. 55.

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It has already been mentioned that Ali Adil Shah took back the fort of Panhālā from Shivaji. Early in 1663 the Shah started on an expedition into the Karnatak and took his station at Bankāpur, determined particularly to recover the territories of south Konkan, which Shivaji had seized and bring back to obedience the Sāvant of Wādi who had gone over to Shivaji's side. The presence of Adil Shah cowed the Sāvant as well as the Dutch factors of Vingorla and the Portuguese of Goa. This move was at once opposed by Shivaji who personally arrived at Kudal in May and threatened all those who had deserted him. The Dutch and the Portuguese readily purchased his goodwill by bringing in costly presents. Shivaji established a strong garrison in Kudāl and returned to Rajgad in June.

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The Adil Shah could not bear this direct affront to his power. He concentrated his best effort upon recovering Kudāl and sent a large force under Ikhlas Khan to recover Kudal, and at the same time ordered his minister Khawas Khan to proceed with a well-equipped army from Bijapur to reinforce Ikhlas Khan. Bāji Ghorpade of Mudhol was at the same time ordered to proceed against Kudāl. Shivaji's half brother Ekoji from Tanjore also arrived on duty to oppose Shivaji and wrest Kudāl from his possession. This was indeed a formidable combination, the details of which were being constantly reported to Shivaji, as the concentration took months in being organized and executed. Shivaji was equal to the danger and boldly attacked the various confederates piecemeal. This was Adil Shah's last stroke against Shivaji.

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Adil Shah's plans came to a head during the autumn of 1664, and Shivaji struck the first blow most unexpectedly in the month of November of that year by suddenly falling upon Mudhol the seat of his cousin and inveterate enemy Bāji Ghorpade, who was a staunch adherent of Adil Shah, deadly opposed to any move like that of Shivaji towards swarajya, and who, it should be noted, had taken the leading part in the arrest of Shahji before Jinji in 1648. This last incident was rankling in Shivaji's heart.

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Shivaji's plan was to prevent Ghorpade from joining Khawas Khan in an attack upon Kudāl. Learning that Shivaji was rapidly coming upon Mudhol, Bāji Rāja left the place and boldly came out to meet him with his whole following. A sanguinary action ensued in which Bāji and several of his officers lost their lives. Shivaji then captured and plundered Mudhol and secured an amount of wealth that had been accumulated there through many prosperous years of peace. Shivaji had no time to lose, because he was anxious to dispose of his next opponent Khawas Khan, who had left Bijapur for Kudāl. Māloji Ghorpade the youngest son of Bāji was installed as the Chief of Mudhol,¹¹ and Shivaji immediately afterwards turned to the direction in which Khawas Khan was reported to be moving. The latter was suddenly attacked, about which the Dutch factors wrote, "Sivaji had gone to Khānāpur with the pick of his men to plunder it and that in doing so he had passed Khawas Khan's army within a mile without that lord's stirring.¹² The Khan got so severely wounded that he soon died and lost 200 men besides all the cash. Shivaji leisurely plundered Khānāpur, Hubli etc. and sent off the goods in due security.¹³ Shivaji himself wrote about this encounter, "Thereupon Khawas Khan marched upon me, and I on my part answered his charge vigorously. A stiff battle ensued in which the enemy was completely routed and ran back to Bijapur after losing some brave commanders under him. I then turned to punish the Sāwant for his wanton desertion of my cause, plundered my territory and captured his forts and towns. As the Portuguese sheltered him I blew their fort of Ponda with gunpowder and captured it by sheer force. They negotiated for peace and gave me some guns. Pitāmbar Shenvai came to me as an envoy of peace to treat both for the Sāwant and the Portuguese. I annexed half the territory of the Sāwant and restored the other half to him. I reminded him that he was a son of the Bhosles and ought to join me in saving our country and religion."¹⁴

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¹¹ Years afterwards Shivaji thus wrote to Maloji, "it is to be regretted that your father forgetting all the good that my father had done him, sided with Mustafa Khan in capturing him. It was your father who gave over my father as a captive into Mustafa's hands, thus causing bitter enmity for years between your house and mine resulting in bloodshed. My people killed your father in a fight but now has arrived the occasion for rectifying the past mistakes." (Shivaji Souvenir P. 146).

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¹² This report of Khawas Khan's death was false. He long served Bijapur and came to be murdered on 20 Jan. 1676.

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¹³ Dr. Balkrishna, Shivaji the Great, Vol. I, p. 533.

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¹⁴ Shivaji Souvenir p. 144.

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During this war Shivaji's half-brother Ekoji came from Bangalore to serve the Bijapur cause. But after all, his strength was too small and Shivaji did not care to notice his reprehensible conduct, till after his own coronation ten years later. These unbrotherly pin-pricks he wisely reserved for future retribution. The Adil Shah, however, rewarded Ekoji for his services.¹⁵

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¹⁵ B. I. S. M. Q. 11, p. 47.

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Shivaji had already realized the advantages of a strong navy, with the help of which the European powers so weak on land made permanent settlements on the west coast and amassed untold wealth through foreign trade. To hold them in check he created a naval base of his own in the vicinity of the Dutch and the Portuguese settlements by erecting the wonderful fort of Sindhudurg on a difficult rock near Malwan. This costly work was commenced on 25 November 1664 and its completion was possible only on account of the vast accumulations Shivaji had made by seizing the wealth of many trading towns. The country acclaimed Shivaji's exploits and felt thankful that Providence had at last sent them a redeemer.

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"War to pay for war" was Shivaji's principle of national rule, call it what you will, plunder, or robbery or in modern democratic parlance, a legalized war indemnity imposed by a victorious Government, or the Tonnage and Poundage of Hampden's days. Before the fort of Sindhudurg was ready, Shivaji built his ships in that harbour and ordered them about for asserting his power throughout the coastal regions. He personally led the first daring expedition southward. On the morning of 8th February 1665 he suddenly appeared in the harbour of Basrur as far south as the coast of Bednur, with a large group of ships totalling 85 of medium size and three men-of-war of a superior type. In one day he amassed a huge quantity of plunder from that port and returned to Karwar, devoutly worshipping on the way the Mahabaleshvar image at Shiva-Gokarn¹⁶ on the Shivaratri day, and in the midst of his rejoicing receiving the dreadful news of an attack on his dominions by Mirza Raja Jay Sinh, he hurried back by land to face the new danger. Such was the great hero's life, genius leading to success, success to wealth, that again to renewed dangers which he ultimately overcame with singular will power to reach a haven of safety. All his past year's work at Kudāl and his power over its ruler the Sāvant were entirely upset; the same Pitambar Shenvai going to Bijapur on behalf of the Sāvant, and effecting a fresh treaty with that Court for a coalition against Shivaji. The Sāvant needed one more severe lesson.

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¹⁶ Kalidas mentions this shrine of Gokarn in Ragh. VIII. 33.

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6. Jay Sinh and Shivaji face to face.—By his surprise attack on Surat Shivaji invited upon himself the full wrath of the Emperor. Aurangzeb recalled Muazzam and Jashvant Sinh and despatched a fresh expedition under Mirza Raja Jay Sinh with Dilir Khan to assist him and with full equipment to annihilate the growing power of Shivaji and to effect the final conquest of Bijapur. Jay Sinh and Dilir Khan were the ablest and most devoted of Aurangzeb's nobles and whole-heartedly undertook their mission. Jay Sinh had never known a reverse in his career. In 1617 when twelve years old he entered the Delhi Emperor's service and had since then distinguished himself in various imperial campaigns from Balkh in the north to Bijapur in the south, and from Kandahar in the west to Monghir in the east. During Shah Jahan's reign he had been rewarded practically on every annual birthday celebration for some victory gained by him. At the Emperor's Court Jay Sinh was on the same level of honour as the sons of the Emperor. He was no less adept in the art of diplomacy than in that of war, for which his coadjutor Dilir Khan was highly distinguished. In any serious danger threatening the Empire Jay Sinh alone was the Emperor's last resort. He possessed a sweet persuasive tongue, and could speak the three foreign languages Turki, Persian, and Urdu in addition to his own Rajasthani. He had now reached the age of sixty and had developed the statesman's sobriety and circumspection by long past experience. It was not, however, with a light heart that he accepted the present command, having before him the sad examples of Afzal Khan, Shaista Khan and Jashvant Sinh.

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“The task I have undertaken allows me not a moment of ease and peace,” are words found repeated in almost every letter that he now wrote to the Emperor.

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It was on 30 September 1664, the occasion of Aurangzeb’s birthday celebration, that Jay Sinh received the formal dress for this signal undertaking. In addition to Dilir Khan he took with him his son Kirat Sinh, Daud Khan Qureshi, along with several Rajput and Bundella princes. Nicholo Manucci accompanied him in charge of the artillery. Never had such a select force crossed into the Deccan before. Jay Sinh forded the Narmada on 9 January 1665, reached Burhanpur on 19th, and after spending a few days there in preparation, he arrived on 10 February, at Aurangabad and on 3rd March at Poona, which Jashvant Sinh immediately left on his return journey. At this time Shivaji, as we know, was on the Kanara coast.

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Immediately on his arrival and even before it Jay Sinh took steps to prevent any kind of help reaching Shivaji from Bijapur. Indeed it was at the behest of the Emperor that the Adil Shah had been recently waging a war against Shivaji and that even the Sāvant of Kudāl had deserted the latter’s cause. The Emperor had urged Jay Sinh to pursue Shivaji into the Konkan, a proposal which he stoutly resisted, knowing full well that those inaccessible hilly regions were most unsuited for the military operations of the army he was commanding or for any effective action against Shivaji. He, however, at once established his hold on the western uplands between Lohgad and Rajgad, and allowed no base to Shivaji in and round about Poona. He sent his envoys to the English at Bombay and the Portuguese at Goa, and invited their navies to co-operate in a war against the rebel. Jay Sinh also sent special Brahman agents to the various Poligars of the Karnatak. Afzal Khan’s son Fazl Khan and the Nayak of Bednur joined Jay Sinh with their quota of troops. Jay Sinh also tried to weaken Shivaji’s own following by offering bribes and alluring promises. At his request the Emperor invested him with full authority to order and execute anything he thought necessary in the interest of his heavy task. He had full control of the treasury without any interference from the Accounts and Audit officials. Knowing that the monsoon was due soon, Jay Sinh established his main camp near Saswad and himself took up his temporary residence in Poona. He posted one general Kutbuddin Khan at Lohgad with 7000 troops to guard the western passes.

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Jay Sinh did not rely on armed preparations only. He employed private agents to induce Shivaji to submit of his own accord and avoid an unnecessary bloody war. He intimated to Shivaji that he himself was as solicitous of the Hindu religion as Shivaji, and that if the latter would willingly offer his submission to the Emperor, his own interests would be highly promoted. That he should not feel any derogation in such a course, Jay Sinh pointed to the honour he had gained by serving the Emperor, as the premier Hindu noble of the Mughal State.

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Having safeguarded the western frontiers Jay Sinh moved from Poona to Saswad on 31st March and at once employed Dilir Khan in laying siege to the fort of Purandar. He despatched Daud Khan Qureshi to capture Rajgad, where Shivaji had his main treasure and offices. On 14 April a detached portion of Purandar known as Rudramal or Vajragad offered to submit. In the mean time Netaji Palkar, Shivaji’s commandant, tried to capture Parenda but failed. Purandar, it seemed, would not long hold out, although its valiant defender Murar Bāji gave Dilir Khan a fore-taste of what the Mughals could expect from Shivaji’s men.

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Dilir Khan arrived before Purandar on 30 March and invested it with the numerous force he had brought. He opened a heavy fire against the fort with rapid effect. Murar Bāji tried his usual guerilla tactics of starving the besiegers out and setting fire to their ammunition. But these slow and imperfect methods had no effect on the well-equipped and richly supplied Mughal troops. Murar had with him only about two thousand select Mavla troops, all fired with the same zeal as himself. When the lower fort Rudramal fell into Dilir Khan’s hands, he took up his residence at its foot known as Machi or the ridge. Thereupon the defenders took shelter in the upper fort and kept up an incessant fire with their small guns. They attacked the Mughals with such fury that once Murar himself pursued the Khan right up to his tent on the ridge where the two parties closed with each other in a deadly hand to hand combat. Many Marathas were cut down. Murar Bāji lost one arm and his shield, but would not yield. He tied his maimed arm with his scarf and kept on hacking at the enemy. As he rushed against Dilir Khan himself, he was soon overpowered and had his head severed. His followers rescued the fallen trunk and sent it to Shivaji for the final rites. Still the Mughals obtained no access to the upper fort. The spot where Murar Baji fell is called Ranatemb meaning the hillock of the fight.

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It was now the middle of April. Shivaji at Bhimgad east of Goa, had received on 14 March the first news of Jay Sinh and Dilir Khan’s arrival at Poona and their formidable attacks in all directions. He hastened back and reached the vicinity of Purandar by the middle of April, halting probably at Shirwal, where he received the headless corpse of Murar Bāji, the sight of which awakened him to the dangerous situation that faced him. After some days of hesitation and deliberation he made up his mind to submit.

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After messages had been exchanged between the two sides for some time Shivaji on 11 June 1665 accompanied by six Brahman counsellors rode in his Palki to Jay Sinh’s tent in the middle of his camp near the plain of the Narayan temple of Pur about a couple of miles from Saswad. Jay Sinh wisely took the precaution of not conducting the negotiations behind Dilir Khan’s back, as the latter acting like a spy might make an adverse report to the Emperor. On the day following Shivaji’s arrival, that is on 12th June, Jay Sinh sent Shivaji with his own agent Rai Sinh to pay a visit to Dilir Khan in his camp. Shivaji went to Dilir Khan entirely unarmed. The Khan was mollified by this marked attention from Shivaji, presented him with two horses, a sword, a jewelled dagger and clothes, and personally conducted him back to Jay Sinh. When the Khan began to tie the sword on Shivaji, the latter said, “I should like to remain entirely unarmed ; your good faith is my highest protection.” Thereafter a free and frank conversation took place between the three chiefs and the terms were settled during the four days that Shivaji stayed in the Mughal Camp. He left it on 15 June and returned to hand over the forts which he had agreed to surrender.

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We have to-day three main accounts of this important visit, first the full Persian reports made to the Emperor by Jay Sinh himself, secondly the account recorded by Manucci, who was an eye-witness on the spot, and thirdly an interesting anonymous poetic account in Persian written by some intelligent person present in the camp and recently published under the caption Shivaji’s letter to Jay Sinh. This last is an admirable piece of composition vividly depicting the atmosphere in the Mughal camp and supplying Shivaji’s side of the affair, as the first of the three items gives the official Mughal version. On the basis of these three accounts we shall summarise the story of this grand event. Shivaji’s Letter to Jay Sinh cannot be rejected as worthless simply because it was composed in the poetic vein. It deserves to be remembered that even official reports like Jay Sinh’s are often intended to whitewash actual facts. Jay Sinh could not report to the Emperor Shivaji’s actual grievances.

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Linked texts (3)

Raghuvaṃśa — Kālidāsa, Sanskrit
Parenda
Śivabhārata — Paramānanda, Sanskrit