New History of the Marathas v1.c17: Chapter XIII
New History of the Marathas v1.c17
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Chapter XIII
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1670 Feb. 24 | Birth of Rājārām. 1680 April | Rājārām enthroned as Chhatrapati. ,, June 18 | Sambhājī gets possession of Raigad. ,, July 20 | Sambhājī confines Rājārām & becomes Chhatrapati. ,, August 23 | Sambhājī issues his Dānapatra. ,, Octr. | Death of Moropant Pingle : his son made Peshwa. ,, Novr. | Sambhājī opens campaign against the Mughals. 1681 Jan. 16 | Sambhājī crowned. ,, ,, | Prince Akbar proclaims himself Emperor. ,, April | Prince Akbar is defeated near Ajmere & flees. ,, May 9 | Prince Akbar crosses the Narmadā for the south. ,, ,, 20 | Prince Akbar informs Sambhājī of his plans. ,, June 1 | Prince Akbar arrives at Pali (Padshahpur). ,, ,, | Azam Shah in pursuit of Akbar. ,, August | Attempt to poison Sambhājī. ,, Septr. 8 | Aurangzeb leaves Ajmir for the Deccan. ,, Octr. | Annājī Datto put to death by Sambhājī : also Bālājī Avji, Soyra Bai, & others. ,, Novr. 13 | Aurangzeb arrives at Burhanpur. ,, ,, ,, . | Sambhājī visits Akbar at Pāli. ,, Dec. | The Siddi of Janjirā attacks Maratha territory. 1682 early months | Fierce fighting at Janjira between the Siddi and Dādji Raghunath. ,, March 22 | Aurangzeb reaches Aurangabad. ,, April | Akbar despatches Shiab-uddin Khan to Nasik against Sambhājī.
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1682 May 22 Sambhājī writes letters to Rāmsinh planning the deposition of Aurangzeb.
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,, Dec. British envoys meet Sambhājī at Raigad.
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1683 Sambhājī attacks the Portuguese at Chaul & Goa.
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,, Feb. Akbar collects troops.
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,, Autumn Aurangzeb disheartened : holds conferences with his commanders.
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,, Octr. Sambhājī victorious against the Portuguese.
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,, Novr. Sambhājī retires from Goa.
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1684 Feb. Akbar & Kavi Kalash concert measures against Aurangzeb.
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1684 July 27 Azam Shah's envoy meets Kavi Kalash.
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,, August 20 Akbar rejects his brother's offer of peace.
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,, Dec. Akbar and Kavi Kalash meet for consultation.
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1685 Jan. Sambhājī devastates Berar, Khandesh and Broach.
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,, March 27 Aurangzeb invests Bijapur.
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1686 Sept. 12 Aurangzeb reduces Bijapur.
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1687 Jan. 28 Aurangzeb invests Golkonda.
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,, Feb. Akbar left for Persia and Durgādās for Rājputana.
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,, Oct. Battle of Wāī : Hambir Rao Mohite killed.
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,, ,, 1 Aurangzeb captures Golkonda.
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1688 Jan. Akbar reaches Ispahan in Iran.
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,, Ending months Kavi Kalash fights the Shirkes and escapes to Vishālgad.
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1689 Jan. Sambhājī and Kalash leave Vishalgad & halt at Sangameshwar.
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,, Feb. 1 Sambhājī and Kalash captured.
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1689 March 11 Sambhājī and Kalash put to death.
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1696 Durgādās with Akbar's daughter meets Aurangzeb at Brahmapuri.
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1704 Death of Akbar in Iran.
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SAMBHAJI THE VIOLENT
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1. Accession.
2. Akbar's flight to Sambhaji.
3. Aurangzeb descends into the Deccan.
4. Bloody beginning of Sambhaji's reign.
5. Grand projects.
6. Aurangzeb's discomfiture.
7. The Portuguese cowed by Sambhaji.
8. Sad end of Akbar.
9. The chivalrous Durgadas.
10. Sambhaji captured.
11. Tragic death.
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1. Accession.—The great Shivaji had passed away without naming his successor. He left two sons behind : the elder Sambhājī, then twenty-two years old, though brave and intrepid, had misbehaved himself and was, therefore, not trusted by his father, but was kept confined in the fort of Panhālā. The younger Rājārām, then just ten years old, having been born on 24 February 1670, was at the end of the mourning period for his father, placed on the throne at Raigad, by his mother Soyarā Bai, a woman of vain ambition but wanting in statecraft. She was supported in her course by Shivaji's confidential secretary Bālāji Āvji, who wrote letters in his own hand to the Killedar of Panhālā, explaining the step that was taken, and calling upon him to keep a strict watch on Sambhājī. But the news of Shivaji's death could not be long concealed from Sambhājī, who killed the Killedar, took possession of Panhālā and prepared for a march on Raigad. Senapati Hambir Rao Mohite, who was near Karhād not far from Panhālā, and who had received no intimation of Soyara Bai's plans, went over to Sambhājī. In the mean time two of Shivaji's prominent ministers, Moropant Pingle and Ānnāji Datto, who had supported Soyarā Bai's plans, became confused by the alarming news of Sambhājī's proceedings, as they were moving towards Panhālā under orders to keep him from doing mischief. Sambhājī managed to capture and confine them both at Panhālā under a rigorous watch. Determined to put down Soyarā Bai and her supporters, Sambhājī marched on Raigad with a force of twenty thousand men and meeting with no resistance, got possession of the capital on 18 June and formally ascended the throne on 20 July, after putting Rājārām and Soyarā Bai in close confinement. In gratitude for this easy success, he immediately made a formal grant to his family goddess Bhavānī of ten thousand gold Hons a year.¹ Matters thus appeared to move smoothly. Moropant Pingle died in October, and Sambhājī appointed his son Nilopant to the Peshwāship. The formal ceremony of coronation was performed on 10 January 1681, Magh Shudh 7. The disturbed atmosphere of Mahārāshtra soon assumed its normal peaceful tenor.
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¹ This is an unpublished Sanskrit document bearing the clear date of 23 August 1680 and signed by Sambhājī and his ministers. It gives many useful details of his own and his ancestors’ lives.
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2. Akbar’s flight to Sambhaji.—The wanton war which the Emperor Aurangzeb started against the princes of Rājputānā in 1679, and which Shivaji had denounced in a vigorous open letter of remonstrance, now brought serious consequences to Sambhājī in a curious manner. Aurangzeb’s son Akbar, who had been conducting the operations under his father’s supervision, vainly struggled against the powerful Rajput combination. Of the several sons of Aurangzeb this Shahzada Akbar was the most dearly loved one; because by reason of his having lost his mother in infancy, he was personally brought up by the father with tender care and affection. He grew to be the most clever and competent of his brothers and was frequently employed by his father in state affairs requiring firm and delicate handling. When Aurangzeb wanted to suppress the Rāthod rising, he entrusted the command of his armies to Akbar and gave him personal instructions how to conduct the operations. The war proved disastrous, spread like a contagion, and united the states of Rājputānā in a common desperate opposition. Akbar spent a year vainly struggling against heavy odds, and suffering terrible losses in the wild and rugged country in which the operations had to be conducted. He, therefore, entered into peace talks with the Rajputs, and proposed to his father that the war should be closed on honourable terms which the Rajputs were ready to accept. He held private consultations with the valiant Rāthod leader Durgā- dās, who made pathetic appeals to Akbar’s generosity in the following terms.
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“Why is the Emperor so unkind to us? We are his loyal servants and shall continue so if we are left in peace and in subordinate alliance to the Emperor, following the policy of the great Akbar. But if relentless war is inflicted upon us, we shall never yield so long as the last drop of Rajput blood remains in our veins.” Akbar saw the position clearly and advised his father to conclude the war. But Aurangzeb was not going to be guided by such sober policy. He scolded Akbar in severe terms. Akbar took the rebuke to heart, and impelled by Durgādās and his valiant bands, he openly revolted against his father and proclaimed himself emperor, just about the time that Sambhājī was celebrating his own coronation at Raigad, early in January 1681. Aurangzeb thus came to face a dangerous situation. He was at Ajmere watching the course of events. As the Rajputs headed by Akbar marched upon him, so delicate became Aurangzeb’s position, that he was at his wits’ end how to extricate himself from the fate which he had once imposed on his own father. Space does not allow a full recitation of the ruse which the ingenious Emperor employed to save himself from falling a prisoner into his son’s hands. He succeeded in inflicting a defeat upon his enemies with the result, that both Akbar and Durgādās had to flee for their lives to the south, and take shelter with king Sambhājī, finding their escape blocked in other directions. They eluded the pursuing armies and crossed the Narmada on 9th May, whence Akbar wrote the following letters to Sambhājī two days after.
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“Since his coming to the throne, my father the Emperor Aurangzeb has formed the deliberate resolution of putting down the Hindus. This is the sole cause of his war against the Rajputs. While in the eyes of God all men are His equal children and deserve impartial protection from their ruler, I became convinced that by such extreme measures, my father would lose his hold on the country and decided to oppose him in this disastrous move. I am, therefore, coming to you as a friend, as your kingdom is out of the Emperor’s reach. The valiant Durgādās Rāthod accompanies me. Please do not entertain any false suspicions about my intentions. If by the grace of God I succeed in my endeavour to depose my father. I shall remain only the nominal master and shall let you exercise all the power. We shall fully cooperate in putting down the Emperor. More when we meet in person.”
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Again on 20 May Akbar wrote, “most probably my letter has not reached you, otherwise you would have sent me a reply. It is proper you should not fail in sending letters to me. What more except the desire of meeting you?” Later on similar letters were addressed to Sambhājī by Akbar’s Diwan.²
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² House of Shivaji, by Sir J. Sarkar, p. 180.
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Akbar himself quickly followed this letter and journeying through Khandesh and Baglan via Nasik and Trimbak into north Konkan, arrived on 1st June at Pāli near Nāgothnā, 25 miles north of Raigad. Here Sambhājī’s men met and accommodated him. This village Pāli on account of the Shahzada’s residence, came thenceforward to be named Pādshāhpur. Immediately on his arrival at this place, the western monsoon made its usual appearance, adding in no small degree to the discomforts of a small hut thatched with hay, with mud walls plastered in cowdung and covered with white cloth. Here the Mughal Prince had now to live, a youth who had been brought up in the splendid palaces of Delhi, where even the carpeted marble floor was never too soft for his feet. Sambhājī at once sent Hiroji Farzand and Netaji Pālkar to wait upon the Prince with a present of a pearl necklace, an aigrette and 1000 mohurs. They provided him accommodation and rations only of the barest kind. Netāji Pālkar, the only elderly person who had knowledge of the imperial life and manners of the north, was posted to remain with Akbar, charged with the duty of looking after his comforts. Hiroji returned to Raigad to report to the king upon the event.
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The contact of these two strange figures, Sambhājī and Akbar, could not under the circumstances be expected to be helpful to either, although at heart they both ardently wished to support each other in their common endeavour to put down the Emperor. But how was Sambhājī to put implicit faith in the professions of a dearly loved son of his father’s bitterest enemy? Might he not be a spy specially employed to put the valiant Maratha prince off his guard, and thereby encompass the ruin of the newly established Maratha raj, now that the great Shivaji was no more? Sambhaji’s own domestic situation, already difficult and depressing enough, was not calculated to inspire trust in others, much less in a princely guest of Akbar’s type. Sambhaji had no friend or confidant to advise or guide him in matters of state. He well knew he was disliked by everybody ever since his father’s days, and could expect obedience only at the point of the sword. On the other hand, Akbar’s advent into Maharashtra particularly at an inhospitable season, without previous notice or expectation, was too much for poor Sambhaji to afford either comfort or convenience to his worthy guest. Possibly they did not know even each other’s language wherein they could freely express their sentiments. Sambhaji’s minister Kavi Kalash was the only common medium. The four rainy months were utterly wasted in preliminary talks. When they ended, Sambhaji and Akbar had their first formal meeting on 13th November 1681.
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Whatever the real cause of the final breach between these two young princes might have been, they both tried their utmost to support each other sincerely through six long years, from June 1681 to February 1687. It is unfortunate that their efforts were not crowned with success.
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3. Aurangzeb descends into the Deccan.—Aurangzeb had long dreamt of completing the task of subjugating the whole Indian continent which his worthy ancestors had vainly tried to accomplish; and now that Shivaji was dead, the conquest of the south appeared to him comparatively easy; and when at Ajmere he learnt in June 1681 that Akbar had fled to Sambhaji for shelter, he realised the gravity of his situation and immediately despatched his second son Azam Shah in pursuit, himself following him in September after completing measures of security for his northern Empire. He was accompanied by most of his tried commanders, his sons and grandsons with all the best provision he could make in equipment and finances. Aurangzeb reached Burhanpur on 13 November 1681, and advancing further south took up his residence at Aurangabad on 22 March 1682.
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Hiroji Farzand and other thoughtful persons who visited Akbar and Durgadas at Pali, now realized, here was a splendid opportunity for Sambhājī to complete his father's task of releasing his homeland from the Mughal grasp and organize a spirited resistance to Aurangzeb's aggression. But these officers were sadly disappointed in Sambhājī that he possessed neither the character, nor the capacity required for a task of such immense magnitude and for leading the nation to victory in its hour of trial. Shivaji was an adept in grasping every opportunity that came in his way, but not so Sambhājī, whose impatient and suspicious temperament smelt treason and disloyalty in all his captains and helpmates. The Emperor learnt every detail about the activities of both Sambhājī and Akbar through a net-work of spies and took full advantage of it. He offered inducements to Sambhājī's followers and sowed sedition among them. Sambhājī at the same time came to be involved in dissensions in his own family and government at Raigad, thus weakening his position in an immense measure.
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4. Bloody beginning of Sambhaji's reign.—In order to understand Sambhājī's present situation the reports sent by the English and the French merchants prove extremely valuable; and a few points are here extracted from this source. Sambhājī made a good start after having got possession of Raigad without much effort. A report of 20 August 1680 says, “Sambhājī Rajah intends to give Bahadur Khan, the Mughal Subhedar, battle in the open field and has sent him word as such.” 10 November 1680. “We are alarmed of Maratha forces being abroad. A party of horse and foot is reported to be marching towards Surat, another against Burhanpur and a third to keep Bahadur Khan in play.”³
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³ *House of Shivaji*, by Sir Jadunath, pp. 179-214, gives fresh material on Sambhājī.
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November 1680. “Although the officers of the Karnatak had recognized Sambhājī Rajah as their sovereign, they nevertheless were in fear on receiving the news that the new king had caused to be arrested and put in fetters many Brahmins among the principal officers of the late Shivaji, among others Janārdan Pandit. No good is predicted of the government of Sambhājī from his having arrested officers of such importance and experience. The Killedar of Jinji and other chief officers have received orders from Sambhājī Raja to arrest Raghunāth Pandit. But the affair has not yet been pushed forward.”
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21 June 1681. “Sultan Akbar is at Pāli. He is a white man of middle stature of about 25 years of age. He is lodged in a large house covered with straw. It is lined with white Calico and spread with ordinary carpets. He sits open, with but one man of note Durgādās, a Rajput in great esteem with his master. He has about five hundred horse and but fifty camels. Sambhājī Raja’s men keep guard. Four or five days ago came to him from Sambhājī Rajah a person of great esteem, Hiroji Farzand with a letter and presents.”
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16 July 1681. “Akbar’s force increases daily. He hath now 1500 horse and five or six thousand more at Trimbak. Sambhājī is daily expected to wait on him and conduct him to Burhanpur. From thence they intend to march for Delhi.”
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30 August 1681. “Sambhājī hath been in great danger of his life. He had like to have been dispatched by poison put into a dish of fish. But a boy privy to it prevented his eating it. It was given to one of his servants and a dog. Both died in a few hours. Those that conspired against him were Ānāji Pandit, Kesho Pandit, Pralhād Pandit etc.; all are laden with iron.”
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8 September 1681. “The conspirators against Sambhājī, Ānāji Pandit, Rāmrāja’s mother and Hiraji Farzand would have brought Sultan Akbar in, but he would not. He immediately gave Sambhājī notice of it by a messenger.”
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12 October 1681. “Sambhājī is not at Rairi. For plotting against his life he has put to death Ānāji Pandit, Hiraji Farzand, Bālāji Prabhu, Somāji Datto and five more, bound and put under elephant’s feet. Twenty more are to suffer death. The Raja will march to Burhanpur with Akbar in a few days.”
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27 October 1681. “Rāmrāja’s mother is dead, by report, poisoned by Sambhājī’s contrivance.”
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This explains Sambhājī’s situation. Having discovered a plot against his own life, he at once arrested and put to death all those whom he suspected to be involved in the affair, including his step-mother Soyarā Bai. She belonged to the Shirke family, and so Sambhājī’s wrath fell upon the Shirkes, as supporters of the lady; several of them were mercilessly slaughtered. These atrocities occurred during the three months from August to October 1681. As Sambhājī was occupied in the investigation of the plot, he could not meet the Shahzada immediately on his arrival. The harsh punishments which he inflicted upon the offenders, alienated most of his servants. The atmosphere about him became charged with suspicion and hatred for him, and practically continued so till his end. His fury against all those who were rightly or wrongly supposed to be implicated in the plot against him, continued to inflame him throughout his reign. Mānāji More, Gangādhar Pant, Vāsudev Pant, Rāoji Somnāth, Pralhād Nirāji and some others were subjected to hardships and confinement at different times.
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As Sambhājī grew extremely distrustful of his father’s faithful servants, he had none about him to whom he could entrust his affairs. He, therefore, selected an utter foreigner to be his adviser, the famous Kavi Kalash, a Brahman of Kanauj, who had long been a family priest of the Bhosles at Prayag and whose acquaintance Sambhājī had probably made as early as 1666 on his return journey from Agra after escaping from his confinement. Kavi Kalash is a title meaning the prince of poets. He was certainly a versatile scholar and a poet of a high order, who wrote works in Sanskrit and Hindi and received the popular appellation of Kaviji or Kabji. He must have arrived in the Deccan on the occasion of Shivaji’s coronation if not earlier, and had been employed to teach Sanskrit and the Puranas to Sambhājī. Some of the pieces composed by him are extant. His name Kavi-Kalash came to be corrupted into Kalusha, now a household word in Mahārāshtra meaning an instigator of strife. An old chronicle says that one Keshav Bhat Kabji, a north India Brahman versed in magic and incantation, possessed Sambhājī’s mind. This Keshav Bhat must be the same as this Kalusha. He had a sweet persuasive tongue. His mastery of Hindusthāni and foreign breeding probably formed the chief recommendation in the eyes of Sambhājī to secure his confidence in a moment of exasperation and distrust. Recent research proves that Sambhājī was fond of the tantric rites, i.e. effecting results through certain magical processes, so common in that age.
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Lacking the towering self-confidence and resourcefulness of his father, Sambhaji searched in vain for overcoming his tremendous difficulties, both domestic and foreign, and clutched at such vain remedies, to which usually a weak and distracted mind is so prone and which certainly proved his ultimate ruin. We have no means of ascertaining how far Kalusha was responsible for introducing Sambhaji into the vices and drug habits, with which report credits him. An excitable temperament like Sambhaji's hardly needs extraneous causes to foster such evil propensities in him. Kalusha's official title was Chhandogamatya, i.e. the minister of Vedic learning.
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The motto on Sambhaji's own seal and that adopted by Kalusha are characteristic of their mental attitude and views on life. The ostentatious vein of those seals is obvious.*
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Popular tradition in Maharashtra charges Kalusha with having been the Emperor's spy, slyly trying to bring about Sambhaji's ruin. There is absolutely no proof to support such as allegation. Sambhaji nominally continued his father's council of eight ministers, but practically entrusted all matters of administration to his favourite Kalusha, for whom he created an additional post of Chhandogamatya.
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5. Grand projects.—Sanskrit poems have been discovered whose authorship doubtless goes to Sambhaji, showing that he was well tutored in old Sanskrit learning under the direction of his father. The Sanskrit *dana-patra* alluded to before, bears his own Sanskrit endorsement. He writes in it that he had it prepared on his own initiative. And now Sanskrit letters have been discovered in the archieves of Jaipur, written to Rajah Ram Sinh of Amber, both by Sambhājī and Kavi Kalash, enfolding a grand project of dethroning the Emperor Aurangzeb in co-operation with Akbar and Durgādās. These letters were sent by Sambhājī with his special agent Pratāp-Sinh, who was authorised to arrange the details personally. Sambhājī offered to lead a large and well equipped army through Gujarat into north India and called upon Rām Sinh to join them with an equal quota of his own Rajput troops for a combined dash upon Delhi and its capture for Akbar, thus taking advantage of the Emperor's absence in the south. “ We cannot ”, says Sambhājī, “ endure any longer the persecution that this wicked Emperor is inflicting upon the Hindu race and religion, and are prepared to sacrifice everything, our treasure, our land, our forts and even our lives, in an attempt to put him down. With this resolve we have for these two years entertained at our court our honoured guests Akbar and Durgādās, and have waged a ceaseless strife upon Aurangzeb. We have put to death many a brave captain of his, captured several, released some, either after exacting heavy ransoms or out of compassion. Many effected their escape by offering bribes. The moment has now arrived when the Emperor himself can be captured and made prisoner, so that we can carry out our religious functions without molestation. If you muster courage and co-operate with us, what is there to prevent success crowning our endeavours? You well remember how your own son the young Krishna Sinh was treacherously put to death by the Emperor. You are only to follow in the footsteps of your father, the revered Mirza Raja Jai Sinh, who helped Aurangzeb in acquiring for him the throne of Delhi as against his elder brother Dara Shukoh.”
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∗ श्रीशंभो: शिवराजस्य मुद्रा द्यौरिव राजते । यदंकसेविनो लेखा वर्तते कस्य नोपरि ॥ " This seal of Sambhaji, born of Shivaji, shines like the sky. What cannot his favourites overcome ? "* The seal of Kalusha runs thus :— विधिरार्थमनीषाणामवधोर्नयवर्त्मनां शेवधि: सर्व सिद्दीनां मुद्रा कलुशहस्तगा । " This seal, stamped by the hand of Kalusha, satisfies the desires of the needy, offers opportunities for the righteous and forms the source of all successful projects. Quite a number of papers with this seal have been discovered, which in addition contain pompous phrases applied to Kalusha, conveying both a religious import and an adeptness in political state-craft such as " आज्ञापत्र धर्माभिमान, कर्मकांडपरायण, दैवतैकनिष्ठाग्राहिताभिमान, सत्यसंध, समस्त- राजकार्यधुरंधर, विश्वासनिधि, कविकलाश, छंदोगामात्य. "
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The date wanting in this Sanskrit letter of Sambhājī can fortunately be supplied from a similar letter addressed to the same Rām Sinh of Jaipur on 22 May 1682 by Akbar. It says, “ Aurangzeb’s treatment of the Hindus has become manifest and is known to you. As for instance, in the affair of Kumar Kishan Sinh, though it happened owing to his youthfulness, yet it too was a sign of bigotry on the part of Alamgir which he displays to that community in every way. Therefore, out of my regard for the hereditary servants of our house, who have generation after generation been treated with kindness by our august dynasty, I exalt and cherish you by conferring on you the title of Mirza Raja and the *mansab* and cash reward of your father and on your son Bishun Sinh that *mansab* which you held when you were a Kumar.
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“Hope for the daily increasing favours of my Imperial Majesty and be ready with your ears alert for the news of my coming. When I march with my victorious army towards Hindustān, you should join my followers and exert yourself greatly in my Imperial service, which will be the cause of your being favoured at court and honoured. The usual jewels and robes of honour are not being sent to you on account of the insecurity of the roads.” ⁴
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⁴ House of Shivaji—p. 184, by Sir Jadunath. For the Sanskrit letter see P. V. Kane Commemoration Volume.
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These two Sanskrit and Persian letters singularly and independently corroborate each other. The grand project of the two young enthusiasts, one styling himself the Emperor and the other a Chhatrapati, had nothing inherently weak in it. Only it required a genius like that of Shivaji to execute it. Durgādās and Akbar were capable men and with the dashing valour of Sambhājī added, there was in it every promise of success. Writes Sir Jadunath : “For more than a year after his arrival in the Deccan, the Emperor accomplished nothing notable in spite of his immense resources. In truth he was at this time passing through a domestic and mental crisis which has been entirely concealed by the Persian Court-historians. The unexpected rebellion of Akbar, whom he loved most among all his sons, as he in one of his letters calls upon God to witness, had totally shaken his faith in his family, and he did not know whom to trust or where he would be safe. Hence his policy for some time after his arrival in the Deccan, was hesitating, suspicious, watchful and seemingly capricious or self-contradictory.” ⁵
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⁵ Hist. of Aurangzib, IV, p. 304.
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Aurangzeb knowing that Sambhājī and his own rebel son would specially work their way to the north through northern Konkan and Gujarat, despatched Shihab-ud-din Khan with Dalpat Bundella to take possession of some of the Maratha key forts near Nasik, and thus block the path of the rebels in that direction. In April 1682 Shihab-ud-din laid siege to the fort of Ramsej seven miles north of Nasik. The Maratha killedar so gallantly defended the fort, that the Mughals failed to make any effect upon it, and learning that Rupāji Bhosle and Mānāji Moré were fast coming upon them with a relieving force, the Khan retired from Ramsej after suffering heavy losses. Dalpat Bundella was wounded with a stone. At this dismal failure Aurangzeb felt so heavily grieved that he threw off his pagri and swore never to put it on again till he had driven the enemy out of his country.
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6. Aurangzeb's discomfiture.—The season of 1682 and 83 indeed offered a good chance for a sudden attack either upon the Emperor's head-quarters, as Akbar was persistently suggesting, or for a dash through Gujarat into Rajputana. Why such a move was not made we have no means of knowing. But during that first year of Aurangzeb's invasion, his position was certainly very precarious, and he got so frightened that during the autumn of 1683 he called to his presence all his army leaders for a personal consultation to determine upon the right plan for a speedy victory. The Emperor was very uneasy even suspecting the loyalty of his eldest surviving son Shah Alam, who was reported to be in collusion with Akbar. He felt imminent danger to his own life in this land of that ‘satan’ Shivaji and his ‘devilish’ comrades. Every Mughal soldier always stood in fear of a sudden premeditated Marāthā attack upon their main camp, resulting in terrible havoc to life and property. At the above mentioned conference with his generals, the Emperor gathered that they were all afraid to face the Marāthās. He then called upon his eldest son to lead an expedition against Sambhāji. The son replied, “I can do so only if you recall Amir Khan from Afghanistan and appoint him my deputy.” But the removal of that man from the north-western frontier meant the loss of that part of his Empire. A realistic picture of the Emperor's sore predicament is well revealed in the contemporary writings of the European merchants. A Surat letter reports on 19th June, 1783 “the Mughal is grown very crazy and his mind continually alters. In all likelihood he will not live much longer. Sultan Akbar hath the good will of most”. “The king is extraordinarily peevish and uneasy because of Sultan Akbar. Sultan Azam, Begam Jahanzeb Banu and Dilir Khan are degraded for suspicion of being kind to Akbar.” The Emperor felt a suspicion against Prince Azam. He summoned the Prince and Dilir Khan to his presence. They delayed coming. Dilir fell under the Emperor’s punishment.”⁶ He took poison to avoid the Emperor’s wrath. Dilir Khan had been the most trusted of Aurangzeb’s generals and had served him faithfully in the Deccan for over twenty years. That such a faithful servant should have to commit suicide, shows how perverse the Emperor had then grown.
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⁶ Vide Sarkar’s Aurangzeb, Vol. IV, pp. 305-307.
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After a full inquiry into the condition of affairs in the different theatres of the war and receiving correct reports from the various commanders and officers, Aurangzeb arranged a fresh plan of campaign against Sambhājī’s dominions and assigned definite duties to each general. The task of simultaneously attacking Sambhājī and the Portuguese, as the latter were reported to be harbouring Akbar, was assigned to Shah Alam, Aurangzeb’s eldest son, and was carried out by him, at first with some success. But Shah Alam suffered such dreadful privations in that expedition that the Emperor for the present gave up his attempt against Akbar and Sambhaji, and directed his attention to the subjugation of Bijapur and Golkonda, the two Muslim States from whom Sambhājī received occasional support and who, being both Shias in their faith, had long been objects of particular execration to the fanatic Emperor. He moved his armies to the south early in 1685, invested Bijapur on 27 March and captured it after a heroic resistance on 12 September 1686. Similarly Golkonda was invested on 28 January 1687 and it surrendered to him on 1st October of that year. So during these three years his main attention had been withdrawn from the Maratha country. Abul Hasan Tanashah the king of Golkonda was kept in confinement at Daulatabad.
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7. The Portuguese cowed by Sambhaji.—Here we must go back a little and trace Sambhājī’s occupations on the west coast. After the first outburst of his vindictive fury, things settled down at Raigad and he moved out to attend to the Siddi of Janjirā and the Portuguese of Chaul, these neighbours of Sambhājī having been called upon by the Emperor to join in his war against the Marāthā king. The Siddi was the Emperor’s admiral and now being egged on to attack Sambhājī, he furiously raided Maratha territory right up to the foot of Raigad towards the end of 1681. Sambhājī at once accepted the challenge and launched his whole naval force of 150 fighting ships and some five thousand select sailors against Janjira and invested the place both by land asd sea. Dādji Raghunāth Prabhu Mahadkar, Sambhājī’s intrepid general⁷ created terrible havoc against the Siddi in the early months of 1682, when Siddi Kasam defended his position with great heroism. But just at this moment the Emperor arrived in the Deccan and Sambhājī was compelled to raise the siege of Janjira in order to meet the fearful attacks that were directed against him by the Mughal forces in several other directions.
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⁷ Dādji Raghunāth Prabhu Mahadkar is the same person who subjugated Savitri Bai Thanedarin of Belvadi, in Dec. 1677. He also distinguished himself in a war with the Siddi of Janjira in 1682. Nilakanth Trimbak Prabhu Mahadkar, the Peshwa of Sambhājī Raja of Kolhapur in 1727, belonged to the same family.
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The Portuguese were called upon by the Emperor to wage war against Sambhājī. They dared not remain friends with the Marāthās in the presence of the Mughal might, now directed particularly against Sambhājī’s dominions in the Konkan, as it was here that both Sambhājī and Akbar made their inimical moves against the Emperor. Aurangzeb employed his sons and grand-sons and his best generals to secure the forts and passes in north Konkan and capture both his rebel son and the Marāthā king by all possible means. The British trading establishments at Surat and Bombay, the Dutch factory at Vengurla, the Portuguese strong-holds on the west coast were all cowed into abject submission, thus making Sambhājī’s situation all the more precarious. Although thus hemmed in by enemies all round, Sambhājī continued to resist boldly and conduct a heroic war, so that he for a time kept at bay the bravest generals of Aurangzeb and even threatened his very bases at Ahmednagar and Aurangabad.
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The British at Bombay were called upon both by the Emperor and Rajah Sambhaji to join in, but cleverly managed not to come into scrape with either by sending their envoys to both in order to preserve their neutrality.
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During 1683 Sambhaji personally attacked the Portuguese at Chaul and Goa. The Portuguese Governor Tavora felt consternation at being placed between the Mughal ‘monster’ and the Maratha ‘devil’, and was reduced to such straits that he found his situation hopeless. This situation is eloquently explained by the Italian Manucci then present at Goa. The heroic fight before Phonda between Sambhaji and the Portuguese during the months of October and November of 1683 and the former’s capture of that stronghold, practically annihilated the Governor’s hopes of defending Goa. He in his extremity opened the grave of their great protector, St. Xavier, held a congregation in that holy presence of priests and populace and offered prayers in an all night vigil for the rescue of his nation’s fortunes. The Saint did indeed work a miracle. As Goa was on the point of surrendering, Sambhaji suddenly retired having received news of a Mughal army threatening his rear, led by Shah Alam the Emperor’s eldest son, who came upon Sambhaji’s track under pressure from his father. The Maratha king had to beat a hurried retreat in order to save his life and forces from capture. This happened towards the end of November 1683. Goa was thus miraculously saved and the incident marked the decline of the Maratha king’s fortunes. The Sawant of Wadi in the immediate neighbourhood of Goa, was also incited by the Emperor to oppose Sambhaji and was severely threatened to be put out of existence if he declined.
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These momentous events indeed form an exciting chapter of Maratha history. Sufficient details are available in the Portuguese and Persian languages as regards the constant friction that continued between Sambhaji and Shahzada Akbar and which ultimately disconcerted their plans of a combined stand against the Emperor. The resources of Aurangzeb proved too much for the poor efforts of these two fiery youths. How could the small poor territory of Konkan stand against the might of the magnificent Mughal Empire controlling the vast Indian continent? That they did hold out even for some years and strike terror into Aurangzeb’s heart, is in itself an achievement worthy of great credit. Again and again did Akbar urge upon Sambhājī’s attention the advisability of making a sudden sweep upon the Emperor’s central camp and effecting a complete rout of his powerful armies. But such a daring project required a genius like that of Shivaji to execute it. Sambhājī, brave as a lion personally, lacked the patient calculating forethought and vigilance essential for the success of such an extensive and large scale undertaking.
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8. Sad end of Akbar.—Absence of recorded evidence prevents one from knowing, how Sambhājī and his ally Akbar were occupied during the three years that the Emperor was engaged in the conquest of Bijapur and Golkonda, and why they did not utilize the opportunity to their own advantage. It seems the two had severe disagreement on several points connected with the conduct of their operations. Akbar probably felt after his close experience during the few years that he was in Mahārāshtra, that Sambhājī, far from possessing any of his father’s great qualities, was decidedly incompetent to handle the grave situation that had arisen for them, or make a proper use of the opportunities that came in their way. Akbar indeed felt the net being tightened closely round him by his father and was terribly frightened for his life, as there was every likelihood of his being discovered and captured by the numerous agents roaming about the land. His sister Zinat-un-Nisa Begam who looked after her father’s household, was trying her best to bring about a reconciliation between them. But Akbar well knew what his fate would be if he went back to his father. He became convinced that if he had to save his life, it was no use wasting his time with Sambhājī. The princes of Rajputana repeatedly urged him to come over to their shelter, so that they could together rise against the Emperor and take possession of Delhi. But Akbar’s resources were very poor; he had no money, nor men; Sambhājī himself being hard up, could render no help to him. Besides, his way to Rājputānā was securely blocked both through Gujarat and Khandesh.
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Sambhājī’s vicious and intemperate habits must also have disgusted the Shahzada, so that a severe estrangement came about between them. Akbar was fed up with the miserable life of a wandering fugitive in an inhospitable land, with no brighter prospect. For three years in succession rumours of Sambhājī and Akbar going to start on a raid on Surat, struck terror into the hearts of the people of Gujarat. Kalusha and Akbar kept constantly moving between Kolhāpur, Rājapur, Vengurla and Sangameshwar, as these places repeatedly occur in the letters of those days. Some disaffected servants and commanders of Aurangzeb continued to help Akbar secretly. A few glimpses of Akbar's life are available in Sir Jadunath's House of Shivaji. On 17 February 1683, the following news reached the Emperor through his spies. “The ‘rebel’ (Akbar) had newly enlisted 2000 horse and two thousand foot. Their salary is paid by the ‘wretch’ (Sambhājī). The ‘rebel’ made a Hindu dancing girl Muslim and kept her in his harem and gave her the pearl necklace and other things presented to him (by the Maratha king). When the news of it reached to (the) ‘wretch,’ he sent to the ‘rebel’ to say, “I had offered the necklace and other things for your royal use.” The ‘rebel’ replied, “I am an Emperor's son and shall do as I like.” Thereupon the ‘wretch’ sent him a message to send back the troops he had under him. Thus the ‘rebel’ finding himself helpless, set fire to his house, assumed the guise of a faqir and started for Goa. Then the ‘wretch’ wrote to the Portuguese not to let the ‘rebel’ enter their territory. For this reason they kept him out. So the ‘rebel’ has turned back and taken his abode at the place where he formerly used to remain.”
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Akbar to Kavi Kalash, 20 Feb. 1684. “Immediately on receipt of this, set out to see me. God forbid, that through delay the affair should take a different turn. Know the matter to be urgent.” Again on 27 July 1684. “Received your letter. As for the envoy of Muhammad Azam, who has arrived there, I do not know why he has come and what agreement you have made with him. You can make peace if you consider it expedient for yourself. I am not myself much inclined towards peace. Do not remain careless relying on peace. You know best what is for your future benefit.” Akbar writes to Kavi Kalash on 20 August 1684. “The question of peace is entirely at the discretion of the Raja and yourself. As for the peace with the ‘Feringis’ in which you have dragged me as an intermediary, I do not know how the affair has been concluded. Inform me what agreement has been made with the envoy of Muhammad Azam. What is the state of the Bijapur business?"
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November 1684. "Received your two letters. You have fixed 30 November as the date of your interview with us. But these are the days of Ashura (ten holy days of Muharram). Inform me after fixing the 11th or 12th of the month for your interview. On that day my standards will march out of Sakharpen and arrive at Malkāpur. You ought to come there on that date and see me. Thereafter you may go to Kolhapur." In December 1684, Akbar writes, "it is very good you have come. I too have come to Malkāpur. It is proper that the interview and the business should be quickly concluded. What more except longing to see you?"
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On 18 January 1685 Akbar writes to Sambhājī. "Cream of grand Rajahs, chief of august princes, devoted follower, Chhatrapati Rajah Sambhājī. Know that the facts about the defeat of the Mughals and the firm stand made by Kavi Kalash have reached me. Kavi Kalash is a very good and faithful servant of yours. God forbid that he be ruined through jealousy. You ought to do everything to protect him. It is certain that the Mughals have gone away and that you have marched towards Khelnā. If you so wish, I will also go and join you in the campaign."
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This correspondence shows that Sambhājī and Akbar were deliberating upon some grand plan. At the beginning of 1685 Sambhājī did actually invade Broach and carried away a good deal of plunder from Gujarat, cutting up the Emperor's troops that came to oppose him on his return journey near Nasik. But this solitary transaction did not materially affect Akbar's prospects. Ultimately in sheer desperation he managed to engage a British cargo vessel on which he embarked at Rājāpur in February 1687 and sailing *via* Vengurla to Muskat, reached Ispahan in Iran in January 1688 after nearly a year's journey. Here he remained for the rest of his life, a wanderer from home and a constant threat to his father's northern possessions. *Fortunately for Aurangzeb Akbar's prolonged stay in Persia proved as ineffective to his ambition as his six years' residence in Mahārāshtra.* Manucci quotes a long and instructive letters⁸ addressed by Akbar to his father a little while before his death in 1704. He died in November of that year, a broken-hearted but spirited soul experiencing the cursed lot of a Mughal prince. Letters often passed between the father and the son and even communication through personal agents was long kept up between them, with eloquent promises of pardon and earnest request for return from the Emperor. But up to the very last Akbar turned a deaf ear to all such entreaties conveyed by his father, sister or friends.
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⁸ Storia-do-mogor, Volume IV, pp. 171-177.
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9. The Chivalrous Durgadas.—It is necessary here to complete the story of Durgādās also, as it materially affects Aurangzeb’s plans and measures. After saying good-bye to Akbar at Rājāpur in February 1687, Durgādās returned to Jodhpur and continued throughout his long life steadfastly to organize the Rajput clans in order to wrest Marwar back from the Emperor’s control. Akbar’s son Buland Akhtar and his daughter Safiat-un-Nisa were in his charge and were brought up by him in Marwar with great care and solicitude for their comfort and breeding. Durgādās employed a Muslim theologian to instruct them in their own faith. When Aurangzeb learned of Akbar’s flight to Iran, he sent his own trusted agent Ishwardas Nagar⁹ to Durgādās and effected a reconciliation with him. Durgādās with Akbar’s daughter, then over 16 years of age, came to visit the Emperor at Brahmapuri in 1696. The following memorable dialogue between the grand-father and the grand-daughter is preserved in history :—
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⁹ This Ishwardas has written a full history of Aurangzeb’s life in Maharashtra which forms a valuable source of information for that period.
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Aurangzeb : As you have passed all your life among non-Muslims, you must be altogether ignorant of our faith. So you must at once start the study of the Koran.
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Safiat : You are wrong, grand-papa. The revered Durgādās not only provided for all my physical comforts, but also employed a Muslim lady to teach me religion. I know all the Koran by heart.
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Aurangzeb : Oh, how good of Durgādās. How do you think I should reward him for all his services?
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Safiat : Ask Ishwardas about it and he will tell you."
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The Emperor then conferred a small jagir upon Durgādās and the latter returned to Jodhpur. Akbar's son Buland Akhtar was still in Rājputānā, whom Durgādās kept like a pawn in his hand to serve as a threat in case the Emperor did any wrong to the interests of the Jodhpur raj. Ajit Sinh, the posthumous son of Jashvant Sinh had now come of age and claimed his father's patrimony, but was not yet recognized by the Emperor. Durgādās informed the Emperor that he would deliver Buland Akhtar, provided Ajit Sinh was restored to his father's dominions. This was agreed to and the Emperor was able to recover his grandson only after he had carried out the promises made to Durgādās. In 1689 Ajit Sinh was given a mansab in the imperial army with several Parganas as his jagir. Durgādās on getting letters-patent and being put in actual possession of the lands assigned to him, came to Aurangzeb with Buland Akhtar via Ahmadabad and Surat. Ajit Sinh later grew up to be one of the strong Rajput potentates wielding power and influence in the post-Aurangzeb regime of Mughal decadence. But it was the genius of Durgādās which organized the Rajput opposition that Aurangzeb had to face, no less in intensity than his Maratha enemies. Durgādās died long after Aurangzeb's death and received signal honours from his successors. Durgādās is called the "flower of Rajput chivalry." Rajput mothers pray to God for sons as brave as Durgādās.¹⁰
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¹⁰ ए माता पूत एसा जिन जैसा दुर्गादास. A long and interesting account is given by Sarkar, Aurangzeb, Vol. III and Volume V, pp. 284-292 to which the curious reader is referred.
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10. Sambhaji captured.—The Emperor employed Shihab-Uddin Firoz-Jang and his son, Chinkilich Khan, the future Nizam-ul-mulk Asaf Jah I, to harass Sambhājī's possessions in north Konkan and Baglan. They succeeded in winning over several prominent followers of Sambhājī. He retaliated with equal vigour. In the beginning of 1685 Sambhājī's troops devastated Mughal lands from Aurangabad to Burhanpur and carried away enormous booty which was sold in special marts and openly advertised in advance. At least seventeen large cities are mentioned as having been completely sacked in these inroads of Sambhājī. While the Emperor was engaged in his war against Bijapur and Golkonda, Sambhājī took up his residence at Panhālā in order to be able to keep an eye upon the former's movements.
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The conquest of the two remaining Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan at once increased the Emperor's prestige and resources. He obtained enormous hoards of money, bodies of trained troops and stocks of arms and provisions that had been long accumulated in those two capitals. Aurangzeb could employ all these against the declining fortunes of Sambhājī, who had exhausted all his father's treasure and added little new income during his seven years of mis-government and war. When he was deserted by Akbar, he had no comrade left to share his misfortunes. Aurangzeb retired from Bijapur and encamped at Akluj¹¹ on the Bhīma near Pandharpur, in order to concentrate all his power and energy against the hapless Sambhājī. One of the Bijapur generals named Sharza Khan, a clever and watchful man conversant with the terrain of the Maratha country, invaded the Satara district. Sambhājī's Senapati Hambir Rao Mohite came to oppose him. An action was fought between them near Wai towards the end of 1687, in which Hambir Rao lost his life on the battle-field. He was the last of Sambhājī's supporters and his loss sealed the Raja's fate. A kind of encircling movement was started against him in all directions. Sambhājī was deserted by most of his followers and came to be surrounded by swarms of Mughal parties, occupying the difficult passes and stopping communication between Panhālā and Raigad, where Sambhājī was known to be moving.
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¹¹ About 50 miles above Brahmapuri.
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The hilly regions below the Sahyadri range between Kolhāpur and Satara were long held by the Shirkes, who had become Sambhājī's mortal enemies and had out of revenge deserted to the Emperor. They now played their game, watched Sambhājī's movements and communicated them to the Mughal officers. For about a year after Hambir Rao's death, Sambhājī and Kavi Kalash struggled on as best they could. In November 1688 Kavi Kalash had a severe brush against the Shirkes and being hotly pursued, saved his life by taking shelter on the fort of Vishālgad. When Sambhājī heard this news at Raigad, he at once attacked and put down the Shirkes near Sangameshwar and joined Kalash at Vishālgad. But their situation soon became critical, on account of most of their followers being seduced. The Shirkes reported the secret movements of Sambhājī and Kavi Kalash to the Emperor’s agents. One Shaikh Nizam, a former officer of Golkonda who was posted at Kolhāpur with instructions to pounce upon Sambhājī at a moment’s notice, obtained news of Sambhājī’s movements. During January 1689 Sambhājī and Kalusha organized their party and started from Vishālgad to proceed to Raigad by the Ambā Ghat. Shaikh Nizam receiving information that Sambhājī and Kavi Kalash were halting at Sangameshwar, suddenly fell upon them on 1st February 1689, and apprehended them with a few of their followers after a light skirmish in which some of Sambhājī’s men lost their lives and a few escaped to Raigad. Why Sambhājī and Kalusha tarried at Sangameshwar it is difficult to say. They had nimble horses, perhaps better than those of their pursuers and could have easily escaped to Raigad even after the arrival of their captors. Māloji Ghorpade whose father Shivaji had killed but who faithfully served Sambhājī to the last, sacrificed his own life trying to save that of his master. Shaikh Nizam seated Sambhājī on his own elephant and the other captives were accommodated on horses and camels. All immediately afterwards moved back from Sangameshwar towards the Emperor’s camp by the Ambā Ghāt.
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