New History of the Marathas v1.c18.58

v1.c18.58

Zulfiqar and Asad Khan in utter despair of opposing the Marathas or even of saving themselves and the Emperor’s son Prince Kam Baksh under their care in the siege camp before Jinji, paid a large sum to Rājārām and his minister and were thus permitted to withdraw to Wandiwash without serious opposition. This lame conclusion of their wonderful victories caused a rupture between the Maratha generals and Rājārām. Martin writes “The commanders who had come to Jinji from Mahārāshtra in December 1692, were extremely irritated that Rāmrajā without their participation, by the advice of his minister alone, had made a treaty with the Mughals. They bore a particular grudge against Rājārām’s minister whom they accused of having received a large sum for allowing the Mughals to escape safely, when the Marathas could have held them all at their discretion, i.e., Kam Baksh, the Wazir Asad Khan and Zulfiqar Khan along with a large number of persons of rank who were in the army. The Maratha commanders represented that they could have extracted large sums as their ransom, besides being able to secure an advantageous treaty with the Emperor himself by restoring to him men of such importance. Santāji Ghorpade was so incensed by this conduct of Rājārām that he withdrew his troops to some leagues from Jinji. It was believed that Rājārām had acted in gratitude. He well knew that Zulfiqar could have easily taken Jinji. This mutual accommodation between Rājārām and Zulfiqar Khan was the result of a secret understanding, which they had formed in view of the expected death of the Emperor and the inevitable war of succession among his sons, so that Asad Khan and Zulfiqar planned to establish themselves as independent sovereigns in the southern peninsula with the kingdom of Golkonda as their share and the kingdom of Bijapur as the share of Rājārām.” “ Rājārām managed to appease Santāji by paying him a visit and also presents. Such squabbles throw a lurid light on the confused and mismanaged operations of the Mughal-Maratha war extending over the vast regions of Mahārāshtra and the Karnatak. For a time Santāji became the master of the situation and reaped the utmost advantage.