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History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c78: Chapter LV.

History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c78

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Contents

Chapter LV.

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INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE MARATHAS.

§ 1. Ramchandra Nilkantha, the Regent of the West, 1689-1697.

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When Rajaram, the newly crowned king of the Marathas, fled away to the Madras coast (July, 1689), affairs in the Maharashtra country were left to his ministers. Ramchandra Nilkantha was created Regent of the West, with the title of Hakumat Panah, and he guided the fortunes of this virtually kingless State with remarkable wisdom and tact. He checked the progress of the Mughals, organised raids into imperial territory, sent succour repeatedly to his master who was then shut up in the far-off fort of Jinji, and—what was more difficult than all these,—he succeeded in keeping peace among the intractable and mutually jealous Maratha generals, each of whom felt himself to be his own master. Letters, no doubt, passed between the king and his Regent in the West, but the route was long and often unsafe and Rajaram could not exercise any real control over Ramchandra, who enjoyed full initiative and supreme authority in the homeland during the nine years of the king's absence.

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Rajaram, in addition to being plunged into debauchery in the Karnatak, was naturally weak-minded. His position made him powerless. He was a king without an army or treasury of his own, or subjects under his undisputed rule. Cooped up in a fort, he had to be all things to all men, and could not say No to anybody, nor enforce discipline among his servants. Any Maratha captain who could get together a thousand or even five hundred men of his own, could dictate the terms of his obedience to his nominal king.

§ 2. Rajaram's policy and doings at Jinji.

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Rajaram was, therefore, profuse in his gifts of titles and unconquered lands.* "All the Maratha *sardars* went to the king at Jinji, and he gave them titles, army commands, and grants for the different districts where they were to go, loot the country, and impose the *chauth*. They were to go there, take shelter in the woods, and establish their rule by acting like *Paligars*, avoiding battles.........and employing the men of their contingents in work,...... so that the kingdom would increase......All his ministers and captains [thus] began to prosper and became happy." [Chitnis, ii. 35.]

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Rajaram's political impotence is best illustrated by his duplication of offices and titles at a time when his kingdom was shrinking to nothing. He could not afford to disoblige any of his proud and selfish chiefs. If we can accept Chitnis's statements, public offices like the *Amatya*-ship, the chief command etc., changed hands very frequently during his short reign: a man was appointed to a high post one year, and next year some one else, more powerful or more influential, cajoled or coerced the king into giving him that very post, and the first incumbent was reinstated a year or two later! To provide posts for all his most influential servants, the normal council of eight ministers was expanded by adding two more men,—the *Hakumat Panah* and the *Pratinidhi*. Another office of ministerial rank was the *Rajajna*, which though created by Shambhuji rose to first-rate importance in Rajaram's government.

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∗ Streams of people from Maharashtra flocked to Jinji to get offices, titles and lands or to renew the title-deeds of their ancestral property or rights as hereditary village officers,—as is illustrated in the contemporary documents printed by Rajwade.

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At Jinji Rajaram created Prahlad Niraji his *Pratinidhi* (king's proxy), who eclipsed the nominal prime-minister or *Peshwa* Nilkantha Moreshwar Pingle. We have a parallel to this in the action of Bahadur Shah I., the weak successor of Aurangzib, who could not help appointing Munim Khan as his *wazir* (prime-minister) and at the same time felt bound to oblige his foremost noble, Asad Khan, by giving him an equally high position as *wakil* (or king's proxy),—with the result of friction between the two. The office of *Senapati* (commander-in-chief) was changed five times in Rajaram's short reign of eleven years; and, in addition, five officers at one time enjoyed titles varying in terminology but all meaning "leader of the army"* and all being entitled to the rank banner and other paraphernalia of the *Senapati* [Chitnis, ii. 40-41.]

§ 3. Maratha system of guerilla warfare.

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But this decentralisation of authority was exactly suited to the situation in Maharashtra. The Maratha captains, each acting on his own account, carried on a guerilla warfare (as described in Chitnis, ii. 43-45) and caused the greatest loss and disturbance to the Mughal territories. The imperialists did not know what point to defend, nor where to find a vital enemy position for their attack. The extremely mobile Maratha bands covered long distances and delivered attacks at the most unexpected quarters; and such roving bands were countless. The result was universal unrest throughout the Deccan. "In addition to the (regular) divisions under the three generals (totally 60 to 70 thousand cavalry), and the king's own contingent of 10,000,—there were roving bands of 15 to 20 thousand, who fought their way to Maharashtra, levied *chauth* from the provinces, drove out the imperial outposts, and strengthened their own strategic points (*nake jaga*) and forts.

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∗ The titles of *Senapati*, *Sena-sahib-subah*, *Sar-i-lashkar*, *Sena-dhurandhar*, and "with honour equal to the *Senapati*." It would be incorrect to call four of these divisional commanders, as they were declared to be equal to the *Senapati* (c-in-c) and in no way subordinate to him.

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Fortifying out-of-the-way places, they remained encamped in the shelter of woods and cut off Mughal detachments." [Chitnis, ii. 43.]

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At this stage the Marathas avoided pitched battles—except when they had to relieve a fort, nor did they stay long within easy reach of the Mughal armies. Their encampments during the rainy months were in obscure and inaccessible places. Their bands did not hold together all the year round but dispersed to their several homes after the campaigning season of six months (October to April) was over.

§ 4. Mutual jealousies of the Maratha ministers and generals : factions formed.

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Ramchandra's task was no easy one. For one thing, many of his best forts and most of his fertile country were in Aurangzib's hands. He had, besides, to control generals who were inclined to pay him little obedience though Rajaram had publicly proclaimed that the *Hakumat Panah's* orders were not to be upset even by the king. [Chit., 40.] The distribution of territory for plunder made by Ramchandra among his generals was not always respected by them, and hence they frequently came to blows among themselves over the booty or the fields of their raids.

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There was mutual jealousy among the ministers left in Maharashtra as well as at the Court of Jinji. Parashuram Trimbak formed a faction of his own and drew Santaji Ghorpare into it. The natural consequence was that Dhana Singh Jadav was backed by Ramchandra. Santa's insubordination proved unbearable; he would not obey the Regent of the West, nor co-operate in any national enterprise (like the relief of Panhala in 1693) planned by him, preferring to conquer an independent estate for himself. Ramchandra had, therefore, to secure the king's consent to Santa's dismissal and even refused for a month together to grant him an interview [Chit. 34.] Then another minister Shankaraji Malhar took Santa under his wing, formed a plan of co-operation and division of spoils with him and sent him to Madras with an earnest request to serve the king more faithfully than he had done in the West. [Zedhe S.] Another refractory and selfish general of great power was Nima Sindhia, but he rose to prominence after the death of Rajaram.

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Ramchandra struggled against these difficulties as best he could, and on the whole he succeeded fairly well. As the acute observer Bhimsen remarks about the year 1697, "Among the Marathas not much union was seen. Every one called himself a sardar and set out to raid and plunder [for himself] (Dilkasha, ii. 122a).

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The rivalry between Santa Ghorpare and Dhana Jadav precipitated a civil war in 1696, as we have seen [Ch. 52, § 8 and 9.] Three battles were fought between them, Dhana being supported by the king's authority. The first encounter was a mere demonstration, in the second Santa was victorious, and in the last one Dhana. The murder of Santa (June 1697) created a blood-feud between his son Ranuji and his brother Baharji (surnamed *Hindu Rao*) on the one hand and Dhana's party on the other, which took long to heal. But this internal discord among the Marathas gave the Mughals only a brief respite.

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Ramchandra cleverly provided shelters for the families of the Maratha combatants in South Konkan and the Portuguese territory of Daman, which had not yet been penetrated by Mughal armies, and also in the Berad country and the north-western corner of Mysore, which the Emperor was not yet free to invade. Many Marathas also lived unknown for years in the Mughal cities, even at Aurangabad, with the secret sympathy of local residents (many of whom were kin to them).

§ 5. Tara Bai rules as queen-mother ; her character and policy.

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A change took place at the Maratha headquarters when Rajaram returned home in March 1698. Nominally the king assumed the supreme authority, but in fact Ramchandra still continued to guide the operations and issue the orders. This state of things, however, lasted for only two years. When Rajaram died, on 2nd March 1700, and then his natural son Karna after a three weeks' reign, Tara Bai crowned her own (legitimate) son Shivaji, a boy under ten years, and ruled with the help of Parashuram Trimbak.

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Thus a second regency ensued in the Maratha kingdom; but it was of a different kind from the earlier regency of 1689-1697. There was no longer a grown-up king or regular Court, as a final authority and source of reference, even in distant Jinji. The new king was a minor, a mere child; nor was his right undisputed among his subjects, as his half-brother Shambhuji II was set up as his rival for the throne. The supreme guiding force in Maharashtra now was not any minister but the dowager queen Tara Bai Mohité. Her administrative genius and strength of character saved the nation in the awful crisis that threatened it in consequence of Rajaram's death, the disputed succession to his throne, and Aurangzib's unbroken victories from 1699 to 1701. Already in her husband's lifetime she had displayed masculine energy and intelligence, and begun to draw the threads of the administration into her own hands. The hostile Muslim historian Khafi Khan is constrained to call her wise, enterprising, expert in administration, and popular with the army. The entire Mughal camp had exulted on first hearing the news of Rajaram's death, "as if the roots of the Maratha disturbance had been thereby cut away. Alas! they knew not God's will. Under Tara Bai's guidance,* Maratha activity began to increase daily." [K. K. ii. 469.] "She took into her own hands the control of all affairs,—such as the appointment and change of generals, cultivation of the country and planning raids into Mughal territory. She made such arrangements for sending troops to ravage the six subahs of the Deccan, nay even up to Sironj and Mandesor in Malwa,—and winning the hearts of her officers, that all the efforts of Aurangzib against the Marathas down to the end of his reign failed." [Ibid, 516.]

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∗ We have seen in Ch. 52 how she was at first diffident and had proposed terms of submission to Aurangzib.

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Immediately after the death of Rajaram, Parashuram Trimbak, out of jealousy for the other ministers then in Satara, came out of his own fort of Parli and offered to join the Mughals. But he did not definitely enter their service, nor did the Emperor fully trust him. Tara Bai won this supremely able officer over to her interest by creating him Pratinidhi. She also appointed Shankara Narayan Gandekar as Sachiv, after removing Shankara Malhar Nargundkar from that post. "Ramchandra continued as Amatya and, seemingly the supreme head of the administration, but Parashuram enjoyed the queen-mother's favour most." [Chit. ii. 71.]

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§ 6. Internal dissensions in the Maratha State.

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But it was only after a hard struggle that Tara Bai's supremacy was established. "Some of the generals obeyed her, some did not. Rajas Bai [the junior wife of Rajaram and the mother of Shambhuji II.] began to quarrel with Tara Bai and form her own faction." [*Ibid*, 72.] There was a third party among the Maratha leaders, who wanted to secure national unity by placing Shahu on the throne, as he represented the elder branch of Shivaji's descendants.

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These dynastic quarrels were complicated by the cross-currents of personal rivalry among the Maratha generals*. Dhana Jadav, as we have seen, had defeated Santa Ghorepare in 1697, and thus driven Santa's son Ranuji and brother Baharji into armed opposition to him. Late in December 1700 the two factions fought a battle ten or twelve miles from Islampuri, both sides losing heavily in this fratricidal contest. Krishna Malhar sided with Dhana, and the Ghorpares were defeated and fled towards Ahirwari. Three weeks later (16 Jan. 1701) we hear of Ranuji staying at Jagjivani and forming plans for avenging his defeat on Dhana. [*Ahirwari*, 13 m. s. of Sholapur. *Jagjivani* 24 m. n. of Bijapur.]

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On 11th Sep. 1701 it was reported to the Emperor that another battle had been fought between Dhana (with Dado Malhar) and Hanumant Nimbalkar (his former ally) near Fachuni (? Jejuri or Chincholi) on the left side of the Nira, in which Hanumant was taken prisoner. [*Akh.*]

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Some time later Dhana visited Ranuji near Firuzabad (20 m. s. of Kulbarga) to make up their quarrel and form an alliance for the future. [*Dil.* 130b.] In September 1701, Ranuiji and Baharji made an offer to join the Mughal service, and Dhana a similar proposal in July 1703, but all these overtures were insincere and solely prompted by the temporary pressure of rivals at home. Nothing resulted from them. The internal discords of the Marathas in 1707 will be described in Ch. LVII.

§ 7. Shahu's captive life, 1689-1707.

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Shahu, the eldest son of Shambhuji, had become a prisoner of the Mughals at the age of nine, when Raigarh surrendered in October 1689, and was kept under strict watch, though kindly treated, close to the Emperor's tent and within the circle of the red canvas screen (*gulal-bar*) of the imperial quarters.∗ With him were his mother Yesu Bai and his half-brothers Madan Singh and Madhu Singh.

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∗ "The Emperor ordered that suitable tents should be pitched within the *gulal-bar* for Shambhuji's mother and other relatives, and they should be made to alight there with all respect and privacy. Close to the camp of the wazir, the camp of the *Rani's bazar* was located, for her servants and dependents to live in. Annual pensions were settled on them all, according to their position. Shahu was given the *mansab* of 7-hazari (*zat* and *sawar*) and the title of Rajah . . . and with his younger brothers . . . made to live with his grandmother and mother." [*M. A.* 332.]

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At the capture of Jinji (Jan. 1698), four wives, three sons, and two daughters of Rajaram were taken, and they were brought to the Emperor's camp and lodged near Shahu [*M.A.* 391, 407.] On the 10th September of this year, Shahu's half-brother Madhu Singh died. [Akh.]

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In 1700 Shahu had a severe attack of illness, which seems to have left his body and mind shattered for the rest of his life. The Court newsletter gives the following account of it:—

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Rajah Shahu came to the audience on 26th August and made his bow. The Emperor after looking at him remarked that his colour had turned entirely yellow, and asked the reason for it. Hafiz Ambar (eunuch) replied that the rajah did not eat any cooked dal, bread or rice, but only sweets (pakwān), on the ground that Hindus must not eat cooked food in prison, and he regarded himself as a prisoner. The Emperor replied, "Tell the rajah to visit Hamid-ud-din, who will talk to him."*

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As difficulties thickened around Aurangzib and the Deccan tangle seemed insoluble, he began to form plans for settling the contest with the Maratha generals through Shahu. First, on 9th May 1703, he sent Hamid-ud-din Khan to urge Shahu to become a Muslim,† as the heirs to some other Hindu thrones had already been tempted to do in this reign. [*Akh.*] But Shahu refused to apostatize. Next, the Emperor tried to create a division among the Marathas by releasing Shahu. The terms of his release were to be settled by treaty with the leading Maratha generals, through the mediation of Prince Kam Bakhsh. For approaching the national leaders and winning them over, Raibhan, the son of Vyankoji Bhonsle of Tanjore, was taken into the Emperor's service, created a 6-hazari, and sent to visit Shahu (10th July 1703.)

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∗ [Akh. Brief mention in M.A. 433; Chitnis 69 simply records his fever.] This dyspepsia, leading to fever and jaundice, seems to have troubled him long, as we read of his having taken the bath of recovery on the 4th June preceding. [Akh.]

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† Rajaram's wife's brothers Khande Rao and Jagannath, when prisoners of war under Aurangzib, were induced to

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On 27th November Shahu was removed from the *gulal-bar* or enclosure of the Emperor's residence and sent to lodge near Kam Bakhsh's tents. Here some of the Maratha generals were expected to come and see him.* But the move failed. As Bhimsen bluntly puts it ;—"The prince repeatedly sent his men to Dhana. But, as the Marathas had not been vanquished, and the entire Deccan had come into their possession like a deliciously cooked pudding, why should they make peace?......The envoys of the prince returned in disappointment. Rajah Shahu was again placed under surveillance in the *gulal-bar*." Further details of these negotiations are

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become Muhammadans with the names of Abdur Rahim and A. Rahman, in return for their liberation. [*Akh.* 27 May, 22 July 1700.]

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∗ *Akh.*, *M.A.* 473, *Dil.* 145 *b*, 147 *a*. "Aurangzib tries to sow dissension among the Marathas by releasing Shahu, granting him the *chauth* [of the Deccan], and leaving Kam Bakhsh as governor of Bijapur, Golkonda and the two Karnataks, and himself retiring to Delhi." [*Storia*, iii. 499.]

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given by Khafi Khan (ii. 520) ;—Dhana Jadav proposed terms of peace on behalf of all the authoritative Maratha generals, viz. that the Emperor should issue *farmans* reassuring all the chief officers of Tara Bai and calling them. On their arrival, Kam Bakhsh with Rajah Shahu should meet them ten miles in advance of the imperial camp ; the Maratha chiefs would first wait on Shahu and would then be presented to the Emperor by the prince. The Emperor ordered 80 such *farmans* to be written, but in the end he distrusted the tricky Marathas and declined the proposal. Sultan Husain (Kam Bakhsh's officer and intermediary in these negotiations) had to fight his way back through the Marathas to the imperial camp.

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On 29th Nov. 1703, it having been settled to marry Shahu to the daughter of Bahadurji (the son of Rustam Rao), the latter was ordered to bring the girl from his estate to Court for the ceremony. [*Akh.* 29 Nov. 1703 ; *M.A.* 482.] In January 1704, two captive daughters of Rajaram were married to Shamshir Beg (grandson of Aghar Khan) and Rajah Neknam of Deogarh (a Muslim Gond), and a daughter of Shambhuji to Md. Muhi-ud-din (the son of Sikandar Adil Shah.)*

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∗ *M.A.* 480, 482; *Akh.* 24th and 25th Jan. 1704. On 5th Feb. 1704, a report reached the Emperor's camp that a boy slave had administered poison to the son of Rajaram and that son's mother, as well as to five maidservants, and that the maidservants were dead already and the prince and his mother were dying. [*Akh.*]

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Aurangzib felt himself utterly helpless. In the last year of his life (1706) he decided to make another attempt at peace with the Marathas. Shahu was transferred from his own camp to that of Nusrat Jang (25 Jan.) Raibhan, too, was posted under him in the hope of his being able to persuade the Maratha generals to make terms with the Emperor as the price of the release of Shahu. Nusrat Jang wrote conciliatory letters to the Maratha generals and invited them to come and join Rajah Shahu. But it was to no effect. A civil war had indeed broken out among the Marathas, Rajas Bai trying to seize Tara Bai and thwarting all her plans; but the Emperor's hope of taking advantage of it and creating a further division by bringing Shahu into it, failed. [Dil. ii. 154b-155a, M.A. 511.] It was only after Aurangzib's death that Prince Azam, then marching towards Agra, connived at the escape of Shahu to the Deccan. [Dil. ii. 163a.]

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§ 8. Notable Maratha chiefs on Aurangzib's side.

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It is not true that all the leading Maratha families were on the national side during the struggle with Aurangzib. Many of them served the Mughal Government, and for various reasons.

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The noble house of Jadav Rao of Sindhkhed, in which the great Shivaji's mother had been born, entered the Mughal army early in Shah Jahan's reign (1630), after the murder of Lakhji Jadav Rao,* and they remained on the imperial side for several generations. But in Aurangzib’s time, this family, though enjoying its wealth and honours, did not hold any high command or position of importance." This was probably due to the usual intellectual and moral decay which seizes old aristocracies. The Mughal official records do not mention any member of the family of Chandra Rao Moré (of Javli), though some of them had joined the Emperor’s party in 1665, as we learn from Jai Singh’s letters. They seem to have returned to the national cause or sunk into obscurity.†

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† The despatches of Muizz-ud-din written by Madhuram mention a Moré as opposing the Mughals at the siege of Panhala in 1693. Vyankat, son of Chandra Rao (Moré?), the Mughal qiladar of Shah-bandar, was captured by the Marathas in Nov. 1694, and in consequence dismissed by the Emperor from the rank of a hazari. [Akh.]

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Kanhoji Shirké and his sons, to whose family Rajaram’s mother belonged, had been persecuted by Shambhuji and had fled for refuge to the Mughal Emperor, who gave them high posts. The Shirkés as well as Nagoji Mané (the thanadar of Mhasvad and a Mughal partisan from 1694) remained consistently loyal and rendered long and meritorious service to the Mughals. In 1705, Kanhoji for his gallant exertions at Wagingera was promoted to the second class of the Mughal peerage, as a commander of six thousand. [*Akh.*]

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∗ Lakhji had deserted Malik Ambar for the Mughal side in 1620 and received a high mansab. Later, about 1630, he came back to his old master the Ahmadnagar king, by whom he was put to death at an audience. [Abd. Hamid, I.A. 308—310.]

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Three other devoted servants of the Emperor were Avji Adhal (thanadar of Khanapur) who was made captive by the Marathas on 23rd Jan. 1700, Ramchandra (thanadar of Khatau) who died fighting at his post on 18th August 1700, and Baharji Pandhré, whom we find in Mughal service as early as June 1694, and who was sometimes thanadar of Kashigaon. Baharji's brother Tukoji was promoted to be a commander of 1500 in July 1694 [*Akh.*]

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Another Maratha chief in Mughal pay was Satvaji Daflé, who had a more chequered career. This family* were the zamindars of Athni (west of Bijapur city) and barons under the Adil Shahi kings. On the fall of that monarchy they took service with the Mughal conqueror.

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Satva's son, Baji Chavan Daflé, gave up his life most heroically in leading the storming party at the siege of Satara (13th April 1700).† But Satva himself had deserted the Mughals before 1695 and continued to raid the imperial territory for many years after [M. A. 406 and Akh.] Towards the end of 1699 he offered his submission, but on his way to the Mughal camp he was captured by Rajaram's men and taken to Satara [Akh. 15 Nov. 1699.] He continued his hostile activities for two years more, and came over to the Emperor as late as 30th August 1701, when he was presented to Aurangzib with his wrists bound together with a handkerchief like a captive. Imperial dignity having been thus satisfied, he was immediately released, created a 5-hazari, and given the jagir of Jath in reward of his late son's gallantry. In November he was employed to win the other Maratha sardars over to the imperial side. [Akh. 1 Nov. 1701.] Aurangzib always distrusted Satvaji Daflé as being in secret concert with the enemy; but he was too important a chief to be dismissed, and is very frequently mentioned in the Court bulletins. Satva died at Islampuri in July 1706. [M. A. 516.]

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∗ Now represented by the Chief of Jath, one of the sardars of the Bombay Presidency. Another seat of the Dafles is Daflapur, in the Bijapur district. Aurangzib's qaul-namah, sent through Lutfullah Khan, forgiving Nagoji Mane's past offences and rewarding him for having stopped the flight of Santa, is given in Sanads and Letters, p. 85, with the incorrect date 1699.

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† Described in chapter 54, § 4.

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Amrit Rao Nimbalkar* at first sought and obtained service under the Mughals,—probably after the fall of Shambhuji. But in 1693 he deserted to the national side and served under Santa for some time [Akh. 23 and 24 Oct., 21 Nov. 1693.] A news-letter of 24 Sep. 1695 speaks of his leaving Santa and coming over to the Mughals. But he was soon afterwards back to Rajaram at Jinji, as we learn that he fell near Kanchi in May 1696 in the vanguard of Dhana Jadav's army in a battle with Santa. [Z. S.]

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∗ Hanumant Nimbalkar was one of the most persistent and active raiders of Mughal territory, and second only to Santa and Dhana in this respect. He died about March 1705. [Dil. ii. 152a.]

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Achalji, called in the Persian histories a *khesh* (son-in-law) of Shivaji, joined Aurangzib in Feb. 1686 and was created a 5-hazari. We find him still in service in March 1694. [M. A. 271 ; *Akh.* 13 March 1694.] Madhaji Narayan, who is described as the son of Shivaji's uncle, came over to the Mughal side with his son and nephews in Nov. 1694, and received his first appointment as a 2-hazari on 6th Jan. 1695. We find him as the Mughal thanadar of Budh-Panchgaon in 1704.*

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A very late accession to the Mughal banners was Raibhan, a son of Vyankoji the Rajah of Tanjore, and therefore a nephew of Shivaji. He was induced by a 6-hazari mansab to join the Emperor's side (19 June 1703), and was at first employed as negotiator for making a peace with the Maratha generals by releasing Shahu. Though the attempt failed, Raibhan continued to serve the Emperor for the rest of his reign, and in 1706 tried again, under Nusrat Jang's orders, to make terms with the Maratha national leaders, using Shahu as the pawn in the Mughal hands. [*Dil.* 145b, 154b; *Akh.*]

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∗ *M. A.* 480; *Akh.* 24 June, 11 Nov. (interviews) 1694, 6 Jan. 8 June, 1695. On 2 Nov. 1701 the Emperor received at Court as new adherents the sons of a "Mahdāji, brother-in-law of Santa" (namely, Bajaji and Maloji) and the sons of Mādhuji (viz., Jagdev, Kuldev and Firanguji.) Here Santa may also be read as *Shambha*. [*Akh.*]

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Among the other adherents of the Mughals were Kanhoji (son of that Khandoji Khopde who had been beheaded by Shivaji in 1659) and whose paternal estate of Utroli had been seized by that king, [*Z. S., Akh.* 5 Jan. 1701],—Rao Jagdev (or Jagdalé of Masur thana, *Akh.* 11 May 1695),—Manaji (son of Naro Raghav, *Akh.* Dec. 1694),—and Subhanji, the ex-commandant of Satara and his son (1700). The Maratha *bakhar* of Chitnis speaks of the family of Pisal being on the Mughal side, and one branch of it turning Muslim, but they evidently occupied a low rank, as the Persian records do not mention their names.*

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Several thousands of Mavlés, or Maratha hill infantry, served under Aurangzib, having at their head a *chaudhuri* or *darogha* to control them. But on the whole the presence of hired Maratha auxiliaries on the Mughal side had merely the effect of keeping them out of mischief, and did not add much to the strength of the imperial army. For one thing, their equipment and armament were far inferior to those of the regular Mughal troops, [*Dil.* ii. 146b, quoted in Ch. L. § 4] Then, they fought half-heartedly for their pay-master, and not in a true spirit of devotion. Thirdly, these Deccani captains were so often flitting in and out of the Emperor's service that no operation could be planned or carried out in reliance on them.

v5.c78.s6.34

∗ Much minute information on the old Maratha families can be found in Rajwade, vols. xv and following and in *Kaifiyats, Yadis* &c. (in Marathi.)

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