History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c78.s6: § 7. Shahu's captive life, 1689-1707.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c78.s6
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§ 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.
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∗ Much minute information on the old Maratha families can be found in Rajwade, vols. xv and following and in *Kaifiyats, Yadis* &c. (in Marathi.)
Linked texts (1)
- Ciṭṇīs bakhar — Malhār Rāmrāv Ciṭṇīs 1810, Marathi