History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c58.s3.1

v4.c58.s3.1

Briefly put, the grouping of Powers in the Deccan was thus: The dread of Mughal aggression drove the Sultan of Golkonda whole-heartedly, and that of Bijapur distrustfully and intermittently, into the arms of Shivaji. But the Bijapuri ministers could never forget that Shivaji was their rebel subject; they always looked upon him with suspicion and took precautions lest by entering as their ally he should end by making himself their master. Hence, Bijapur's leagues with Shivaji were formed only when Mughal invasion was an insistent fact and the situation of Adil Shah was desperate; and these leagues were soon dissolved by the growing fear that Shivaji was trying to enrich himself by treacherously seizing its forts and lands. Occasionally the Adil-Shahi Government made a show of joining the Mughals in the war with Shiva, but the aid thus given was insincere and of no military value (except in 1660.) Golkonda’s friendship with the Maratha king was stronger and of longer duration, though its full extent remained a secret to the Mughals. It was finally cemented by the influence of the Brahman minister Madanna Pandit and the discovery of the earnest determination of the Mughal Emperor to annex the Deccani Sultanates.