New History of the Marathas v1.c19.s1.12

v1.c19.s1.12

plain certain matters, to execute certain measures and occasionally reprimanding him for dereliction of duty. In 1702 when the Emperor invested Sinhagad, Balaji Vishvanath, writing on behalf of the Senapati Dhanāji Jadhav, sent an insistent request to his co-worker Ambāji Trimbak Purandare for a supply of gun-powder which was urgently needed for the defence of that fort against Tarbiat Khan the Artillery officer of Aurangzeb. To rise to the position of a Sarsubahdar in 1696 Balaji must have served in the lower grades of the Rajah’s service for a long time before. But his antecedents are altogether unknown. We know that after capturing the fort of Sinhagad in April 1703, the Emperor cantoned at Poona during the monsoon months of that year, when it is presumed, the question of Shāhu’s conversion and release seriously agitated Aurangzeb’s mind. He issued orders that on a certain day Shāhu should be converted to the Muslim faith, a measure which dreadfully distressed Shāhu and his mother. They gave up eating food, began to starve themselves and begged the Begam Saheb to intervene in their favour and plead with the Emperor to cancel his order for his conversion.