New History of the Marathas v1.c10.64

v1.c10.64

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