History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c75.s10: § 14. Death of Rajaram.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c75.s10
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§ 14. Death of Rajaram.
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On 2nd March 1700, Rajaram died at Singhgarh, of a fever which was most probably caused by the hardships of his raid and the vehement pursuit by the Mughals. His family was then in the fort of Vishalgarh. His favourite natural son Karna was immediately afterwards crowned as king by his ministers, with the help of Dhana Jadav, but died of small-pox in three weeks. Then, his legitimate son by his wife Tara Bai was placed on the throne as Shivaji III, with the support of Ramchandra, 'the Regent of the West.'*
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∗ This date of Rajaram's death is given by *Akhbarat*. The death of his immediate successor, of small-pox, on 24th March, is mentioned in *Akhbarat* (1st and 4th April), M.A. 420, and *Dilkasha*, ii. 130a, but the Maratha records are
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§ 15. Tara Bai, widow of Rajaram.
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An internecine quarrel now broke out in the Maratha Court between Rajaram's surviving widows, Tara Bai and Rajas Bai (the mothers of Shivaji III. and Shambhuji II. respectively) each standing up for her own son, and supported by a faction among the officers and generals. But the ability and energy of Tara Bai, the elder wife, gave her the supreme power in the State in that hour of extreme confusion and danger.*
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Immediately after learning of her husband's death, Tara Bai offered submission to the Emperor through Ruhullah Khan, asking for a 7-hazari mansab and the deshmukhi rights over the Deccan for Rajaram's legitimate son, and proposing to supply a contingent of 5,000 men for service under the imperial viceroy of the Deccan, and to cede seven forts, including Panhala, Satara, Chandan-Wandan, and Parli. The Maratha king was to be exempted from
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entirely silent about the event. Karna is named by Dil. as this king for three weeks, while the other two Persian sources simply call him 'Shivaji',—which title was also assumed by his legitimate half-brother and successor, the son of Tara Bai. The latter Shivaji did not die in three weeks.
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∗ A false rumour reached the Mughals about this time. On 11 March—"A desai of the country below the Ghats then serving under Ramchandra, on being ordered to go to Parli, refused to march unless the arrears of salary due to him and his men were paid. Hot words followed between them, and at last the desai stabbed Ramchandra to death with his dagger."
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personal attendance on the Emperor, as the great Shivaji had been and the Maharana of Udaipur always was. [Akh. 12th March 1700.]
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Aurangzib refused this offer, and demanded all the forts of the enemy. We read of another fruitless overture for peace, in the *Akhbarat*. Towards the end of May, Ramchandra's agent Ramaji Pandit and Parashuram's agent Ambaji visited Prince Azam and begged him to intercede with the Emperor for sparing Rajaram's young son in return for the surrender of the Maratha forts. These overtures seem to have been insincere; the Emperor suspected the envoys of spying, and after keeping them under arrest for some months, released them on furnishing security. (22nd Dec. 1700.)