History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c60.s1: § 1. Shivaji besieged in Panhala.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c60.s1
- Language
- English
§ 1. Shivaji besieged in Panhala.
v4.c60.s1.1
Among the administrative changes made by Aurangzib at his second coronation (July, 1659) was the posting of Shaista Khan to the viceroyalty of the Deccan, in the place of Prince Muazzam. Chief among the tasks entrusted to him was the suppression of Shivaji. And in discharging this duty he was fortunate enough to secure the hearty co-operation of Bijapur, which forced the Maratha chief to divide his army into two and therefore to be defeated in both the theatres of war.
v4.c60.s1.2
Early in 1660, Ali Adil Shah II. was thinking of avenging Afzal by leading an army against Shivaji in his own person. But just then Siddi Jauhar, an Abyssinian slave who had usurped the fief of Karnul and defied the royal authority, wrote to Bijapur offering to make his submission if his position was recognized. The Sultan agreed, gave Jauhar the title of Salabat Khan, and sent him with an army to put down Shiva. Jauhar easily swept away the Maratha resistance in the open, and drove Shivaji into Panhala (2nd March, 1660), which he closely invested with a force of 15,000 men.
v4.c60.s1.3
The siege dragged on for over six months; all the paths of ingress and egress were closed to the garrison. Shivaji found himself in a fatal trap. So, he wrote a secret letter to Jauhar, deceitfully begging his protection and offering to make an alliance with him. Next day Shivaji with only two or three followers visited Jauhar at midnight, and was received in darbar. After oaths of co-operation had been taken on both sides, Shivaji returned quickly to the fort, and the pretended siege was continued.
v4.c60.s1.4
But Fazl Khan attacked the Marathas with relentless vigour and by seizing a neighbouring hillock threatened to make Panhala untenable. So, one dark night (13th July) Shivaji slipped out of the fort with half his forces, and made his escape to Vishalgarh, 27 miles to the west. The men he had left in Panhala held it till 22nd September next, when, learning that the Sultan himself was coming to take the fort, they gave it up to the Bijapuris.
v4.c60.s1.5
A month after Shivaji had been forced to quit Panhala in the extreme south of his dominions, his arms met with another disaster in the extreme north. On 15th August, his fort of Chakan, 18 miles north of Puna, was captured by the Mughals. To explain how it happened, we shall trace the course of the war in that quarter from its commencement.