New History of the Marathas v1.c6.78

v1.c6.78

But the fall of Daulatabad did not prove the end of the Nizamshahi State. At this critical moment Shahji stepped in boldly to maintain its existence. For him indeed it was a dangerous enterprise, to reconstruct an all but extinguished state and carry on a war unaided against the Emperor’s might. Within only three months of the fall of Daulatabad Shahji selected Pemgiri or Bhimgad, a strong inaccessible fort of Ahmadnagar as the capital of the Nizamshahi State, placed there a young Nizamshahi prince on the throne (September 1633) and in his name carried on the administration as before. In this adventure Shahji managed to enlist the sympathies of the Adil Shah and his minister Murar Jagdev, who personally came to his help with fresh and well equipped armies. That a small Jagirdar like Shahji should dare to throw down an open challenge to Shah Jahan and invite his wrath upon his head, shows how self-confident and resourceful Shahji must have been. He quickly collected men and money and made preparations for a stubborn fight. Murar Jagdev joined him from Bijapur as is evidenced by the incident of Shahji contriving to weigh an elephant for a propitiatory rite which Murar Jagdev performed at the junction of the Bhima and the Indrayani on the occasion of a solar eclipse on 23 September 1633, when this Brahmin Vazir of Bijapur distributed in charity articles equal in weight to that of the elephant. In memory of this occurrence the village Nagargaon was renamed Tulapur (the town of weighing), a name which it still bears.