New History of the Marathas v1.c8.38

v1.c8.38

This new post of Dādāji as manager of the Poona jagir was by no means a bed of roses. Murar Jagdev during the late war had devastated Poona and the surrounding country constituting Shahji's jagir. These Dādāji had to restore. Poona was then a Kasba town, *i.e.* a large village with a standing market of its own. In this market-place Dādāji built a commodious house for Shivaji, known as the Rangmahāl or the Lal-Mahal and procured for him costly clothes, jewelry and equipment, so that people might look upon him as their legitimate master and pay him due respect. The jagir extended from Junnar in the north to Wai in the south and included Chakan, Supa, Baramati and Indapur as the principal Talukas, the names of which are current to the present day. It was to be ruled from Sinhagad, a secure place centrally situated, the northern-most boundary of the jagir touching the forts of Shivner and Trimbak, which Shahji had been compelled to yield according to the terms of Shah Jahan's agreement. Shivapur at the foot of Kondhana was named after the young master where new extensive gardens and mango groves were laid out by Dādāji. The Shivapur mangoes are to this day considered a rarity in the Poona market. Jija Bai later founded a new town at the foot of fort Rajgad, and named it Shivpattan.