New History of the Marathas v1.c14.6

v1.c14.6

As his path in the north was securely blocked by the Mughals Shivaji decided during 1676 to expand his power in the south and prepared for an expedition at a convenient moment by arranging the preliminaries. He was already secure in the possession of the west coast and only the east coast regions offered an outlet. Vellore, Jinji, Tanjore, were rich places and could, he considered, be easily assimilated in his Hindu Empire. He found a ready pretext for such a venture through the astute Golkonda minister Mādannā.