History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c63.s20.2

v4.c63.s20.2

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.*