New History of the Marathas v1.c10.65

v1.c10.65

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.