History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c63.s20: § 20. Shivaji’s alliance with Golkonda and conquest of the Karnatak.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c63.s20
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§ 20. Shivaji’s alliance with Golkonda and conquest of the Karnatak.
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Qutb Shah having agreed to receive him, Shivaji started from Raigarh at the beginning of January 1677, and advanced due east by regular marches, at the head of 50,000 armed men, arriving at Haidarabad early in February. Abul Hasan, being very favourably impressed by Shivaji’s personal charm, character and ability, and the strength and discipline of his army, bade his wazir grant him whatever he wanted. After some discussion a secret compact was made regarding the coming campaign. The Sultan was to pay Shivaji a subsidy of 3,000 hun a day, or four and a half lakhs of Rupees a month, and send an army of 5,000 men in charge of one of his generals (*sar-i-lashkar*), Mirza Muhammad Amin, to co-operate in the conquest of the Karnatak. A train of artillery with material was also supplied by Qutb Shah, and probably a large sum of money as advance payment of the promised subsidy. In return for this aid, Shivaji promised his ally such parts of his conquests in the Karnatak as had not belonged to his father Shahji. The defensive alliance against the Mughals was strengthened anew with solemn oaths taken by Shivaji in the presence of Qutb Shah, while the latter promised to pay his annual tribute of one lakh of hun regularly and to keep a Maratha ambassador at his Court.
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The territory annexed by Shivaji in the Karnatak in the course of 1677 and 1678 was estimated to yield 20 lakhs of hun a year and included a hundred forts, taken or built by him. In August 1678, the Madras factors write, "Shivaji by his deputies has a full and quiet possession of all these countries about those two strong castles of Jinji and Vellore, which are worth 22 lakhs of pardoes or 550 thousand pounds sterling per annum, at five shillings the pardoe, in which he has a considerable force of men and horse, 72 strong hills and 14 forts [in the plain],—being 60 leagues long and 40 broad." (*Diary and Consult.* 1678-79, pp. 105-106.) But gold, and not land, was his chief object. The whole of the Karnatak was "peeled to the bones" by his system of organized plunder and exaction.*
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∗ "With a success as happy as Cæsar's in Spain, he came, saw and overcame, and reported so vast a treasure in gold, diamonds, emeralds, rubies and wrought coral that have strengthened his arms with very able sinews to prosecute his further victorious designs." (H Gary to Co, dated Bombay, 16 Jan, 1678 OC 4314) Pardoe = chakram a gold coin worth Rs 2 1.
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§ 21. Shivaji's return from the Karnatak.
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After his marvellous success in the invasion of the Karnatak, Shivaji left the Madras plains (early in November, 1677) and entered the Mysore plateau, conquering its eastern and central parts. From Sera in the heart of the Mysore kingdom (December, 1677), he marched to Kopal, 125 miles north, the fort of which he took, then turned 35 miles westwards to Gadag, and 24 miles south of the latter to Lakshmishwar in the Dharwar district, (capturing the forts at both these places). Bankapur, 20 miles s. w. of Lakshmishwar, was besieged unsuccessfully, about the middle of January, 1678. From this place Shivaji retraced his steps northwards, and arrived in the Belgaum district.
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Soon afterwards he had a very great disappointment,—the greatest in his life, which we describe in the words of the Rajapur factors in their letter dated 3rd April. "Jamshid Khan, since the death of his master the Nawab [Bahlol Khan, on 23rd Dec., 1677], found himself incapable of longer holding out, agrees with Shivaji to deliver up [the fort of Bijapur and the person of Sikandar Adil Shah] for 600,000 pagodas. Siddi Masaud, having intelligence of this, feigns a sickness, at last death, and causes a handol publicly to be sent away with part of the army to Adoni, the residue (of his troops)
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about 4,000 sent to Jamshid, pretending that since the leader was dead, if he would entertain them they would serve him. He presently accepts their service and receives them into the Fort, who within two days seized his person, caused the gates to be opened and received the Siddi in alive."
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The news of the transfer of the Adil-Shahi capital to Siddi Masaud (21st February) reached Shivaji at Turgal, and he swerved aside to the west and returned to his own stronghold of Panhala in the first week of April, 1678.
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§ 22. Maratha activity in 1677—'78.
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During this period (January, 1677—March, 1678), the army left at home under Moro Trimbak in Desh and Annaji Datto in Konkan, naturally confined itself to the defence of the realm, without venturing on any distant expedition. In November 1677, however, Dattaji taking advantage of the crushing repulse of Dilir and Bahlol by the Golkonda troops (in September), roved the inland parts of Kanara and looted Hubli. Early in January, 1678, Moro Pant "plundered Trimbak, Nasik and other considerable places in the Mughal territory." Dilir Khan hastened there with the remnant of his broken army, (middle of February).
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Late in April, 1678, Shivaji's troops plundered Mungi-Pattan, on the Godavari, 30 miles south of Aurangabad. (M.A. 166.) It was probably next month that they made a second attempt to get possession of Shivner. They invested the village (of Junnar) at its foot, and at night tried to scale the fort. "Three hundred Marathas climbed the fort-walls at night by means of nooses and rope-ladders. But Abdul Aziz Khan was an expert qiladar. Though he had sent away his sons and followers to reinforce the faujdar Yahiya Khan in the village, he personally with a few men slew all the infantry of Shivaji who had entered the fort. Next morning he hunted out the few who had concealed themselves in the hill [side] below the fort and among rocks and holes, and released them with presents, sending a message to Shivaji to the effect, 'So long as I am qiladar, you will never take this fort.'"
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§ 23. The Mughals, Bijapur, and Shivaji, 1678.
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A rupture now took place between Shivaji and Qutb Shah, and the diplomatic system so patiently built up by Madanna Pandit fell to the ground. Qutb Shah's indignation had been rising as he found himself made a mere cat's paw of Shivaji in the Karnatak adventure. He had borne all the expenses of the expedition and supplied artillery and an auxiliary force for it. But not one of the conquered forts was given to him, not one pice of his contribution was repaid out of the fabulous booty carried away by Shivaji from that land of gold. And now the Maratha plot to capture Bijapur by treachery destroyed the last trace of patience in the Golkonda king, especially as he had been playing for some years past the flattering role of a chivalrous friend and protector of the boy Adil Shah. So, Abul Hasan arranged for a peace between the new Bijapuri regent, Siddi Masaud, and his rivals (especially Sharza Khan), helped him with money to pacify the unpaid mutinous soldiery, and bound him to wage war against Shivaji and "confine him to Konkan." The Adil-Shahi nobles prepared to open the campaign in October next, with about 25,000 cavalry and numerous infantry. But Dilir Khan spoiled the whole plan.
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Dilir Khan had exacted heavy and humiliating concessions from Siddi Masaud when he made peace with him at Kulbarga (Nov. 1677). The odium of that treaty fell on the new regent, and all the disorders in the State and all the sufferings of the people were laid at his door. Distracted by domestic factions, daily insulted and threatened by the Afghan soldiers, and hopeless of preventing "Shiva's boundless violence and encroachments" with the resources of the ruined, divided and bankrupt State, Siddi Masaud wrote to Shivaji, "We are neighbours. We eat the same salt. You are as deeply concerned in [the welfare of] this State as I am. The enemy [i.e., Mughals] are day and night trying to ruin it. We two ought to unite and expel the foreigner."
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At the news of these negotiations, Dilir Khan grew angry and set himself to conquer Bijapur. Only respect for treaties had kept him from doing so before; but Masaud's breach of faith absolved him from the obligation to spare Adil Shah. And he now received a most unexpected accession of strength. Shivaji's eldest son Shambhuji was the curse of his old age. This youth of twenty-one was violent, capricious, unsteady, thoughtless and notoriously depraved in his morals. For his outrage on a married Brahman woman he had been confined in Panhala fort, but escaped with his wife Yesu Bai and a few comrades to join Dilir Khan (13 Dec. 1678). Shivaji sent a force in pursuit but was too In this danger Siddi Masaud immediately asked for help from Shivaji, as agreed upon. The Rajah sent six to seven thousand well-armed cavalry to guard Bijapur. Masaud could not fully trust his ally. Then Shivaji threw off the mask. He began to plunder and devastate Adil-Shahi territory again. Masaud now made peace with Dilir Khan.
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A Mughal force was invited to Bijapur, royally welcomed, and sent off with a Bijapuri army under Venkatadri Murari (the confidant of the regent) and other officers, against the Marathas. They reached Tikota (13 miles w. of Bijapur), when spies brought the report that Shivaji himself had arrived at Selgur (55 miles w. of Bijapur and the same distance east of Panhala) with 7 to 8 thousand men and wanted to make a night-attack on the Mughal or the Bijapuri army, whichever would advance first. But a new quarrel between Masaud and Sharza Khan paralysed the power of Bijapur.
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§ 24. Dilir captures Bhupalgarh.
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Dilir Khan *next marched to the fort of Bhupalgarh,* (20 miles n. w. of Jath and 45 miles s. w. of Pandharpur) situated among the Majra hills, which Shivaji had built as a storehouse of his property and the refuge of the families of his subjects in the neighbourhood during his wars with the Mughals. By great labour the imperialists dragged some guns to the top of a neighbouring height during the night and next morning began to batter the walls and towers. The assault was launched about 9 A.M. and the Mughals fought with vigour till noon, when they captured the fort, after heavy slaughter on both sides. Vast quantities of grain and other property and large numbers of people were captured by the victors. Seven hundred survivors of the garrison were deprived of one hand and then set free; the other captives were evidently sold into slavery.
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∗ Bhupalgarh described in Bom. Gaz. xix. 455-456 (ten miles s. e. of Khanapur in the Satara district; the modern name of the village is Banur).
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Before this Shivaji had sent 16,000 horse to relieve the fort. They arrived too late, but hovered on the four sides of the Mughals. Suddenly they learnt that Iraj Khan and Bajaji Rao [Nimbalkar] were bringing provisions from Parenda to the besieging army, and then they immediately hastened to intercept the convoy. But Dilir Khan detached Ikhlas Khan with 1,500 cavalry to the aid of Iraj Khan. Twelve miles from Bhupalgarh he overtook the Marathas. Ikhlas Khan's small force was enveloped and he took refuge in a walled village and repelled the Maratha assault with his back to the wall, doing great havoc among the enemy with his artillery, and slaying nearly one thousand of Shivaji's men. Then large reinforcements arrived from Dilir Khan, at whose approach the Marathas fled. Dilir then went back to Bhupalgarh, burnt everything that he could not carry off, dismantled its fortifications, and returned to Dhulkhed.
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The fugitive Marathas, however, scored a success. Near Karkamb (30 miles south of Parenda), they fell in with Iraj Khan, looted all his grain and the property of his troops, and forced him to flee with a few men into a small fort hard by, where he was afterwards relieved by his kinsman, Mir Muhammad Khan, the qiladar of Parenda.
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The fall of Bhupalgarh took place on 2nd April, 1679. Then followed a period of puzzling intrigue and counter-intrigue between the Mughal viceroy and the Bijapur nobility, and also quarrels between Masaud and Sharza Khan, Masaud and Dilir, and Masaud and his favourite Venkatadri. About the middle of this year Shivaji sent to Aurangzib a well-reasoned and spirited letter of protest against the jaziya, which was drafted by Nila Prabhu in eloquent Persian. (Hist. of Aurangzib, iii, Ch. 34 Appendix.)
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§ 25. Dilir invades Bijapur. Shivaji aids Adil Shah.
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On 18th August, Dilir crossed the Bhima at Dhulkhed, 40 m. due north of Bijapur, and opened a new campaign against Masaud. That helpless regent begged aid from Shivaji, sending to him an envoy named Hindu Rao charged with this piteous appeal: "The condition of this royalty is not hidden from you. There is no army, money, or ally for defending the fort and no provision at all. The enemy is strong and ever bent on war. You are a hereditary servant, elevated by this Court. And, therefore, you will feel for this house more than others can. We cannot defend the kingdom and its forts without your aid. Be true to your salt; turn towards us. Command what you consider proper, and it shall be done by us."
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Shivaji undertook the defence of Bijapur, as we have seen in Ch. 42. Shambhuji, who had fled from Dilir, reached Panhala about the 4th of December.
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§ 26. Last campaign of Shivaji.
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We shall now trace the history of Shivaji's movements from 4th November, 1679, when he marched out of Selgur (55 m. w. of Bijapur.) The Maratha cavalry, 18,000 strong, rapidly moved northwards in two parallel divisions under Shivaji and Anand Rao, and poured like a flood through the districts of Mughal Deccan, plundering and burning all the places in their track and taking an immense booty in cash and kind. In the middle of the month, Jalna, a populous trading town, 40 miles east of Aurangabad, was captured and plundered.
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Here the godly saint, Sayyid Jan Muhammad, had his hermitage in a garden in the suburbs. As Shivaji in his raids always spared the holy men and holy places of all religions, most of the wealthy men of Jalna had taken refuge in this hermitage with their money and jewels. The raiders, finding very little booty in the town and learning of the concealment of the wealth in the saint's abode, entered it and robbed the refugees, wounding many of them. The holy man appealed to them to desist, but they only abused and threatened him for his pains. (K. K. ii. 271; Dil. 165; T. S. 39a.) Then the man of God, "who had marvellous efficacy of prayer," cursed Shivaji, and popular belief ascribed the Rajah's death five months afterwards to these curses.
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Retribution visited the Maratha army very much sooner. Jalna, both town and suburb, was thoroughly plundered and devastated for four days. Then as the Marathas, loaded with booty consisting of "countless gold, silver, jewels, cloths, horses elephants and camels," were retreating, an enterprising Mughal officer, Ranmast Khan,* attacked their rear-guard. Shidhoji Nimbalkar with 5,000 men held him in check for three days, but was at last slain with many of his men. In the meantime, very large reinforcements were hastening up to the Mughals from Aurangabad, close at hand, under Kesari Singh and Sardar Khan. When these came to a halt six miles from the fighters, Kesari Singh sent a secret message to Shivaji as a brother Hindu, to run away at once before the Mughals could complete their circle and cut him off. Shivaji trusted to his chief spy, Bahirji, under whose skilful guidance the Maratha army escaped by an obscure path after three days and nights of anxious and ceaseless marching. But they had to sacrifice much of their booty, besides losing 4,000 horsemen killed and Hambir Rao wounded.
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∗ Ranmast Khan, brother of Khizr Khan Pani, received a robe of honour from the Emperor on 18th September, 1682, and was created Bahadur Khan in August next (M. A. 222, 235.) T. S. speaks of him
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From this disastrous expedition, Shivaji returned to Patta-garh* (about 22nd November) and rested his exhausted and stricken army for some days, and then, at the beginning of December, went to Raigarh,
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as thanahdar or qiladar of Jalna at this time. We afterwards meet him as thanahdar of Akluj (Dil.)
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∗ Patta, 20 m. s. of Nasik and the same distance east of Thal Ghat (Ind. Atlas, Old sheet 38), 19.42 N. 73.54 E. The fort was renamed Vishram-garh or the Castle of Rest. Bombay writes (29 Nov.) that he "fled here with 500 horse, having lost the greatest part of his army near Bijapur, where Dilir Khan wholly routed him, and took 2,000 horses besides prisoners." [F. R. Surat 108.] Here the place of battle and the Mughal general are incorrectly named.
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As Dilir Khan was advancing westwards from Bijapur (middle of November) and seemed intent on laying siege to Panhala, and the presence of Shambhuji in the enemy's camp threatened a civil war in the Maratha State, Shivaji tried to convert Panhala into an impregnable refuge by removing to it the guns of many of his other forts, besides 40 pieces bought from the French.
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Towards the close of November, a fresh Maratha army of 12,000 men assembled near Rajapur in South Konkan. They fired the town (26th) and set out (on the 28th) for Burhanpur, but abandoned the idea and turned off towards Malkapur, where Shivaji himself was reported to have arranged to meet them with 20,000 more cavalry. Evidently, he did not do so, and the Maratha division that raided Khandesh, in the last week of November, "burning and plundering Dharangaon, Chopra, and many other considerable towns adjacent," was led by one of his generals.
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The recent rebellion of Shambhuji had revealed the serious danger that threatened the newly founded Maratha kingdom. The character of his eldest son filled Shivaji with the gloomiest anticipations of the future. A profligate, capricious and cruel youth, devoid of every spark of honour, patriotism or religious fervour, could not be left sole master of Maharashtra. And yet, the only alternative to Shambhuji was Rajaram, a boy of ten, whose accession would have meant a regency. But there was such mutual jealousy and discord among the old ministers of the State, especially between Moro Trimbak, the premier, and Annaji Datto, the viceroy of the West, that a council of regency would have broken up in civil war and the ruin of the State as surely as the Puna council of ministers did a century later. A division of the kingdom between the two princes was proposed, Shambhuji taking Maharashtra and Rajaram the Karnat country beyond the Tungabhadra; but the plan was not given effect to.
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Shivaji tried hard to conciliate and reason with Shambhuji. He appealed to all the nobler instincts of the prince as well as to his self-interest, read him many a lecture, showed him his treasury, revenue returns, list of forts and muster-rolls of troops and horses, and urged him to be worthy of such a splendid heritage and to be true to all the high hopes which his own reign had raised in the Hindu world. But a born judge of character like Shivaji must have soon perceived that his sermons were falling on deaf cars, and hence his last days were clouded by despair.
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On 23rd March, 1680, the Rajah was seized with fever and blood dysentery. The illness continued for twelve days. Gradually all hopes of recovery faded away, and then, after giving solemn charges and wise counsels to his nobles and officers, and consoling the weeping assemblage with assurances of the spirit's immortality in spite of the perishableness of the body, the maker of the Maratha nation performed the last rites of his religion and then fell into a trance, which imperceptibly passed into death. It was the noon of Sunday, 4th April, 1680, the full moon of the month of Chaitra.
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He had not yet completed the 53rd year of his age.
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§ 28. Extent of Shivaji's kingdom.
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At the time of his death Shivaji's kingdom included all the country (except the Portuguese possessions) stretching from Ramnagar (modern Dharampur State in the Surat Agency) in the north, to Karwar or the Gangavati river in the Bombay district of Kanara, in the south. The eastern boundary embraced Baglana in the north, then ran southwards along an irregular shifting line through the middle of the Nasik and Puna districts, and encircled the whole of the Satara and much of the Kolhapur districts. A recent but permanent acquisition was the western Karnatak or the Kanarese-speaking country extending from Belgaum to the bank of the Tungabhadra opposite the Bellary district of the Madras Presidency.
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Shivaji's latest annexation was the country extending from the Tungabhadra opposite Kopal to Vellore and Jinji, i.e., the northern, central and eastern parts of the present kingdom of Mysore and portions of the Madras districts of Bellary, Chittur and Arcot. His two years' possession of them before his death was too short to enable him to consolidate his gains here, and this province was really held by an army of occupation and remained unsettled in 1680; only the forts garrisoned by him and as much of the surrounding lands as they could command, acknowledged Maratha rule.
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Besides these places there was one region where the contest for mastery was still undecided at the time of his death. This was the Western Kanara highlands, including the south Dharwar district and the principalities of Sunda and Bednur.
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Outside these settled or half-settled parts of his kingdom, there was a wide and very fluctuating belt of land subject to his power but not owning his sovereignty. It consisted of the adjacent parts of the Mughal empire (Mughlai in Marathi), which formed the happy hunting-ground of his horsemen. In these he levied blackmail (*khandani*, i.e., ransom, in Marathi), as regularly as his army could repeat its annual visit to them. The money paid was popularly called *chauth*, because it amounted to one-fourth of the standard assessment of the land-revenue of a place. The payment of the *chauth* merely saved a place from the unwelcome presence of the Maratha soldiers and civil underlings, but did not impose on Shivaji any corresponding obligation to guard the district from foreign invasion or internal disorder.
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His revenue is put by his courtier Sabhasad (p. 102) at the round figure of one *krore* of *hun*, while the *chauth* when collected in full brought in another 80 *lakhs*.
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§ 29. *The Maratha army and chauth.*
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It was Shivaji's settled policy to use his army to draw supplies from foreign dominions every year. "The troops were to go into cantonments in the home territory during the rainy season (June—September). Grain, fodder and medicines were kept in stock for the horses, and the huts of the troopers were kept thatched with grass. On the day of Dasahara (early in October) the army should set out from the camp for the country selected by the Rajah. At the time of their departure a list was made of all the property that every man, high or low, of the army carried with himself. The troops were to subsist in foreign parts for eight months and also levy contributions. No woman, female slave or dancing-girl was to be allowed to accompany the army. A soldier keeping any of these was to be beheaded. No woman or child was to be taken captive, but men only. Brahmans were not to be molested, nor taken as hostages for ransom. No soldier should misconduct himself [during a campaign].”
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“Eight months were to be passed in such expeditions abroad. On their return to their own frontier in Baishakh (April) the whole army was to be searched, the property found was to be compared with the old list, and the excess was to be deducted from their salary. Any one secreting any booty was liable to punishment on detection by the general.”
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Shivaji justified his spoliation of his neighbours by saying, as he did to the Mughal governor of Surat (1672), “Your Emperor has forced me to keep an army for the defence of my people and country. That army must be paid by his subjects.” Such a plea might have been true at the beginning of his career and in relation to Mughal territory only, but cannot explain his raids into Bijapur and Golkonda, Kanara and Tanjore. It fails altogether as a defence of the foreign policy of the Peshwas.
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§ 30. Shivaji's character and influence on history.
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But whatever might be the moral quality of the means he employed, his success was a dazzling reality. This jagirdar's son proved himself the irrepressible opponent of the Mughal empire and all its resources. This fact deeply impressed the minds of his contemporaries in India and abroad. Aurangzib was in despair as to how he could subdue Shivaji. A significant statement is made in a news-letter of his Court in 1670 that the Emperor read a despatch from the Deccan, reporting some raids of Shivaji, and then "remained silent." In the inner council of the Court he often anxiously asked whom he should next send against Shivaji, seeing that nearly all his great generals had failed in the Deccan, and Mahabat Khan irreverently replied with a sneer at Abdul Wahhab's influence over the Emperor, "No general is necessary. A decree from the Chief Qazi will be sufficient to extinguish Shiva!" The young Persian king, Shah Abbas II., sent a letter taunting Aurangzib, "You call yourself a Padishah, but cannot subdue a mere zamindar like Shiva. I am going to India with an army to teach you your business."
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To the Hindu world in that age of renewed persecution, Shivaji appeared as the star of a new hope, the protector of the ritualistic paint-mark (tilak) on the forehead of Hindus, and the saviour of Brahmans. (Bhushan's poems.) His Court and his son's became the rallying-point of the opposition to Aurangzib. The two rivals were both supermen, but contrasts in character.
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Shivaji's private life was marked by a high standard of morality. He was a devoted son, a loving father and an attentive husband, though he did not rise above the ideas and usage of his age, which allowed a plurality of wives and the keeping of concubines even among the priestly caste, not to speak of warriors and kings. Intensely religious from his very boyhood, by instinct and training alike, he remained throughout life abstemious, free from vice, respectful to holy men, and passionately fond of hearing scripture readings and sacred stories and songs. But religion remained with him an ever fresh fountain of right conduct and generosity; it did not obsess his mind nor harden him into a bigot. The sincerity of his faith is proved by his impartial respect for the holy men of all sects (Muslim as much as Hindu) and toleration of all creeds. His chivalry to women and strict enforcement of morality in his camp was a wonder in that age and has extorted the admiration of hostile critics like Khafi Khan.
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He had the born leader's personal magnetism and threw a spell over all who knew him, drawing the best elements of the country to his side and winning the most devoted service from his officers, while his dazzling victories and ever ready smile made him the idol of his soldiery. His royal gift of judging character was one of the main causes of his success, as his selection of generals and governors, diplomatists and secretaries was never at fault, and his administration, both civil and military, was a great improvement on the past. How well he deserved to be king is proved by his equal treatment and justice to all men within his realm, his protection and endowment of all religions, his care for the peasantry, and his remarkable forethought in making all arrangements and planning distant campaigns.
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His army organization was a model of efficiency; everything was provided beforehand and kept in its proper place under a proper care-taker; an excellent spy system supplied him in advance with the most minute information about the theatre of his intended campaign; divisions of his army were combined or dispersed at will over long distances without failure; the enemy's pursuit or obstruction was successfully met and yet the booty was rapidly and safely conveyed home without any loss. His inborn military genius is proved by his instinctively adopting that system of warfare which was most suited to the racial character of his soldiers, the nature of the country, the weapons of the age, and the internal condition of his enemies. His light cavalry, stiffened with swift-footed infantry, was irresistible in the age of Aurangzib.