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Shivaji and His Times c10: Chapter IX. The Coronation of Shivaji and After, 1674—1676

Shivaji and His Times c10

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Contents

Chapter IX. The Coronation of Shivaji and After, 1674—1676

§1. Why Shivaji wanted to be crowned

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Shivaji and his ministers had long felt the practical disadvantages of his not being a crowned king.* True, he had conquered many lands and gathered much wealth: he had a strong army and navy and exercised powers of life and death over men, like an independent sovereign. But theoretically his position was that of a subject; to the Mughal Emperor he was a mere zamindar; to Adil Shah he was the rebellious son of a vassal jagirdar. He could not claim equality of political status with any king.

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Then, again, so long as he was a mere private subject, he could not, with all his real power, claim the loyalty and devotion of the people over whom he ruled. His promises could not have the sanctity and continuity of the public engagements of the head of a State. He could sign no treaty, grant no land with legal validity and an assurance of permanence. The territories conquered by his sword could not become his lawful property, however undisturbed his possession over them might be in practice. The people living under his sway or serving under his banners, could not renounce their allegiance to the former sovereign of the land, nor be sure that they were exempt from the charge of treason for their obedience to him. The permanence of his political creation required that it should be validated as the act of a sovereign.

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∗ This chapter is mainly based upon the detailed reports of the English ambassador Henry Oxinden (both Letters and Memorial or Narrative), the English interpreter Narayan Shenvi, and the Dutch merchant Abraham Le Feber (of Vingurla), preserved in Factory Records, Surat, Vols. 88 and 3, and Dutch Records, Vol. xxxiv. No. 841, of the India Office, London. These have been supplemented by Sabhasad (82-84). The Persian MS. Tarikh-i-Shivaji, 39a, confirms the contemporary European records in some particulars in a surprising manner. The Bombay Gazetteer (xi. 369) has pointed out that the Chitnis bakhar imputes to Shivaji's coronation in 1674 the ceremonies which marked the Peshwa's coronation of a century later!

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It is also clear that the rise of the Bhonslés created much jealousy among the other Maratha families which had once been their equals in social status. These men consoled themselves by refusing to adhere to Shivaji as his servants, bragged of their being loyal subjects of Aurangzib or of Adil Shah, and sneered at Shivaji as an upstart rebel and usurper. It was necessary to rectify his position in their eyes. A formal coronation alone could show them that he was a king and therefore their superior, and enable him to treat on equal terms with the rulers of Bijapur and Golkonda.

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The higher minds of Maharashtra, too, had begun to look up to Shivaji as the champion of Hinduism, and wished to see the Hindu race elevated to full stature of its political growth by the formal assertion of his position as an independent king. They longed for the Hindu swaraj, and that implied a Hindu chhatrapati. (Sabh. 82.)

§2. Shivaji recognized by Gaga Bhatta as a Kshatriya

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But there was one curious hindrance to the realization of this ideal. According to the ancient Hindu scriptures, only a member of the Kshatriya caste can be legally crowned as king and claim the homage of Hindu subjects. The Bhonslés were popularly known to be neither Kshatriyas nor of any other twice-born caste, but mere tillers of the soil, as Shivaji's great-grandfather was still remembered to have been. How could an upstart sprung from such a *Shudra* (plebeian) stock aspire to the rights and honours due to a Kshatriya? The Brahmans of all parts of India would attend and bless the coronation of Shivaji, only if he could be authoritatively declared a Kshatriya.

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It was, therefore, necessary first to secure the support of a pandit, whose reputation for scholarship would silence all opposition to the views he might propound. Such a man was found in Vishweshwar, nicknamed Gaga Bhatta, of Benares, the greatest Sanskrit theologian and controversialist then alive, a master of the four Vedas, the six philosophies, and all the scriptures of the Hindus, and popularly known as the Brahma-deva and Vyas of the age. After holding out for some time, he became compliant, accepted the Bhonslé pedigree as fabricated by the clever secretary Balaji Avji and other agents of Shiva, and declared that that Rajah was a Kshatriya of the purest breed, descended in unbroken line from the Maharanas of Udaipur, the sole representatives of the solar line of the mythical hero-god Ramchandra. His audacious but courtierly ethnological theory was rewarded with a huge fee, and he was entreated to visit Maharashtra and officiate as high priest at the coronation of Shiva. He agreed, and on his arrival was welcomed like a crowned head, Shiva and all his officers advancing many miles from Satara to receive him on the way.

§3. Preparations for coronation

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The preparations took many months. There was no unbroken tradition about the exact ceremonies and paraphernalia required at the coronation of an independent Hindu sovereign. The Sanskrit epics and political treatises were ransacked by a syndicate of pandits to find out the orthodox ancient precedents on these points, and agents were sent to learn the modern practice of the Rajahs of Udaipur and Jaipur.

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Invitations had been sent to learned Brahmans of every part of India; the report of the coming ceremony had attracted others. Eleven thousand Brahmans, making 50,000 souls with their wives and children, were assembled at Raigarh and fed with sweets for four months at the Rajah's expense. The greatest forethought and organizing power must have been shown by Shiva in providing for the comfort of the numerous guests—Brahmans, nobles, local magnates of the realm, agents of other States, foreign merchants and visitors, and poor cousins, who flocked to the ceremony. Nothing went amiss in catering to this crowd of nearly a hundred thousand men, women and children.

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The daily religious ceremonies and consultations with the Brahmans left Shiva no time to attend to other business, as the English envoy, Henry Oxinden, found to his chagrin. Shiva began by bowing to his guru Ramdas Swami and his mother Jija Bai and receiving their blessings. The unhappy discarded first wife of Shahji, now verging on eighty, had forgotten her husband's neglect in the love and devotion of her son, and rejoiced to see, before she closed her eyes, that he had reached the summit of human greatness as the crowned king of the land of his birth, an irresistible conqueror, and a strong defender of the religion which was the solace of her life. Like a queen-mother of the same country born 15 centuries earlier, Gautami, the mother of the Andhra king Shri Satakarni, she gloried in the glory of her victorious and orthodox son. A kind Providence seemed to have prolonged her life just long enough to enable her to witness the scene of his coronation, for she died twelve days after it.

§4. Puja and purification by Shiva

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Then he set out on a round of worship at the most famous shrines of the land. Chiplun was visited early in May, 1674, and after adoring Parashuram in the great temple there, he returned to Raigarh on the 12th. Four days afterwards he again issued forth to worship the Bhavani goddess he had installed at Pratapgarh, as the ancient Bhavani of Tuljapur was beyond his reach. To this image he presented an umbrella of pure gold, weighing one and a quarter maunds, (worth about Rs. 56,000) and many other costly gifts.

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Returning to Raigarh in the afternoon of the 21st, he plunged into devotion there. Under the guidance of his family priest, Balam Bhatta, (the son of Prabhakar Bhatta Upadhyay), he adored Mahadev, Bhavani and other local deities for many days in succession.

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But one great defect had to be removed before his coronation could take place. He had to be publicly purified and "made a Kshatriya." On 28th May he performed penance for his ancestors' and his own sin of omission in not having observed the Kshatriya rites so long, and was invested by Gaga Bhatta with the sacred thread, the distinctive badge of the twice-born castes like the "pure" Kshatriyas of Northern India. The next step was to teach him the mantra (sacred verses) and initiate him into the rules of the Kshatriya caste. Shivaji very logically demanded that all the Vedic verses appropriate to the initiation and coronation of a true Hindu king should be chanted in his hearing, because the Kshatriyas being one of the holy "twice-born" castes, he as an admitted Kshatriya was entitled to use the Vedic mantras equally with the Brahmans. At this there was a mutiny among the assembled Brahmans, who asserted that there was no true Kshatriya in the modern age* and that the Brahmans were the only twice-born caste now surviving! Even Gaga Bhatta was cowed by the general opposition and evidently dropped the Vedic chant and initiated the Rajah only in a modified form of the life of the twice-born, instead of putting him on a par with the Brahmans in this respect. (T. S. 39a; Dutch Records.) This purification and its sequel, the investiture with the sacred thread, were performed with "great ceremony"; a vast amount of money was distributed among the Brahmans, Gaga Bhatta alone getting 7,000 hun and the crowd of ordinary Brahmans 17,000 hun.

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Next day, Shiva made atonement for the sins, deliberate or accidental, committed in his own life. He was separately weighed against each of the seven metals, —gold, silver, copper, zinc, tin, lead and iron,—as well as very fine linen, camphor, salt, nails (sic), nutmegs, and other spices, butter, sugar, fruits and all sorts of eatables (betel-leaves and country wine being among them.) All these metals and other articles to the weight of his body, together with a *lakh* of *hun* more, were given away to the assembled Brahmans after the coronation.

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∗ Exactly the same kind of trouble has been given by the Brahmans of the present generation to Shivaji's descendant, the Maharajah of Kolhapur. The following significant passage in T. S. (39a) suggests that Shivaji at one time thought of punishing the jealous intolerant Brahmans by removing them from lucrative secular duties like the command of armies and vice-royalties of provinces and confining them to their scriptural functions of fasting and praying. "The Maharajah learning [of the refusal of the Brahmans to teach him the Vedic mantras], said, 'The Brahmans are reverend men.. It is not proper to appoint them royal servants. They ought not to perform any work except worshipping God.' So he removed all the Brahmans from their posts and appointed Prabhu Kayasthas in their places. Moro Pant interceded for the Brahmans."

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But even this failed to satisfy their greed. Two of the learned Brahmans pointed out that Shiva, in the course of his raids, had burnt cities "involving the death of Brahmans, cows, women and children." He could be cleansed of this sin,—for a price. It was not necessary for him to pay compensation to the surviving relatives of the men and women who had perished in his sack of Surat or Karinja. It would be enough if he put money into the pockets of the Brahmans of Konkan and Desh. The price demanded for this 'pardon' was only Rs. 8,000, and Shiva could not have refused to pay this trifle. (Dutch Records, Vol. 34, No. 841.)

§5. Scene of Shivaji's Coronation

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All his disqualifications having been thus removed with gold, the actual coronation was now begun. The 5th of June was the eve of the grand ceremony. That day had to be spent in self-restraint and mortification of the flesh, like the night of vigil preceding knighthood in the age of chivalry. Shivaji bathed in water brought from the holy Ganges, and gave Gaga Bhatta 5,000 *hun* and the other great Brahmans a hundred gold-pieces each. The day was probably spent in fasting.

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Next day (6th June, 1674) came the coronation itself. Rising very early in the morning, Shivaji prepared himself by bathing amidst ceremonies intended to avert evil, worshipped his household gods, and adored the feet of his family priest, Gaga Bhatta, and other eminent Brahmans, who all received gifts of ornaments and cloth.

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The essential parts of a Hindu king's coronation are washing him (*abhishek*) and holding the royal umbrella over his head (*chhatra-dharan.*) Clad in a pure white robe, wearing garlands of flowers, scented essence, and gold ornaments, Shiva walked to the place appointed for the bath. Here he sat down on a gold-plated stool, two feet square and two feet high. The queen-consort, Soyra Bai, occupied a seat on his left with the hem of her robe knotted up with his, in sign of her being his equal partner in this world and the next (*saha-dharmini*), as the Hindu sacred law lays down. The heir-apparent Shambhuji sat down close behind. Then the eight ministers of his cabinet (*ashta-pradhan*), who stood ready at the eight points of the horizon with gold jugs full of the water of the Ganges and other holy rivers, emptied them over the heads of the king queen and crown-prince, amidst the chanting of hymns and the joyous music of the band. Sixteen pure-robed Brahman wives each with five lamps laid on a gold tray, waved the lights round his head to scare away evil influences.

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Then Shivaji changed his dress for a robe of royal scarlet, richly embroidered with gold, put on sparkling gems and gold ornaments, a necklace, a garland of flowers, and a turban adorned with strings and tassels of pearls, worshipped his sword shield bow and arrows, and again bowed to his elders and Brahmans. Then, at the auspicious moment selected by the astrologers, he entered the throne-room.

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The hall of coronation was decorated with the 32 emblematic figures prescribed by Hindu usage and various auspicious plants. Overhead an awning of cloth of gold was spread, with strings of pearls hanging down in festoons. The floor was covered with velvet. In the centre was placed a "magnificent throne," constructed after months of continuous labour in a style worthy of a great king. Even if we reject Sabhasad’s statement that it contained 32 maunds of gold (worth 14 lakhs of Rupees), we must accept the English observer’s report that it was “rich and stately.” The base was evidently coated with gold plate, and so also were the eight pillars standing at the eight angles, which were further richly embellished with gems and diamonds. They supported a canopy of the richest gold embroidery from which strings of pearls were suspended in tassels and festoons, interspersed with dazzling gems. The coverings of the royal seat were a grotesque combination of ancient Hindu asceticism and modern Mughal luxury: tiger skin below and velvet on the top!

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On the two sides of the throne, various emblems of royalty and government were hung from gilded lance-heads. On the right hand stood two large fish-heads of gold with very big teeth, and on the left several horses’ tails (the insignia of royalty among the Turks) and a pair of gold scales, evenly balanced (the emblem of justice), on a very costly lance-head. All these were copied from the Mughal Court. At the palace gate were placed on either hand pitchers full of water covered with bunches of fresh green leaves, and also two young elephants and two beautiful horses, with gold bridles and rich trappings. These latter were auspicious tokens according to Hindu ideas.

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As Shivaji mounted the throne, small lotuses of gold set with jewels, and various other flowers made of gold and silver were showered among the assembled throng. Sixteen Brahman married women again performed the auspicious waving of lamps round the newly enthroned monarch. The Brahmans lifted up their voices, chanting holy verses and blessing the king, who bowed to them in return. The crowd set up deafening shouts of "Victory, victory unto Shiva-raj!" All the instruments began to play and the musicians to sing at once. By previous arrangement the artillery of every fort in the kingdom fired salvoes of all their guns exactly at this time. The arch-pontiff Gaga Bhatta advanced to the throne, held the royal sun-shade of cloth of gold fringed with pearls over his head, and hailed him as *Shiva Chhatrapati*, or Shiva the paramount sovereign!

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The Brahmans stepped forward and poured their blessings on his head. The Rajah gave away vast sums of money and gifts of every kind to them and to the assembled beggars and general public. "He performed the sixteen varieties of great alms-giving (*maha-dan*) prescribed in the sacred books of the Hindus. Then the ministers advanced to the throne and made their obeisance, and received from his hands robes of honour, letters of appointment, and large gifts of money, horses, elephants, jewels, cloth, and arms. Sanskrit titles were ordered to be used in future to designate their offices, and the Persian titles hitherto current were abolished." (Sabh.)

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The crown-prince Shambhuji, the high-priest Gaga Bhatta, and the prime-minister Moro Trimbak Pingle, were seated on an eminence a little lower than the throne. The other ministers stood in two rows on the right and left of the throne. All other courtiers and visitors stood according to their ranks at proper places in a respectful attitude.

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By this time it was eight o'clock in the morning. The English ambassador, Henry Oxinden, was now presented by Niraji Pant. He bowed from a distance, and his interpreter Narayan Shenvi held up a diamond ring as an offering from the English to the Rajah. Shivaji took notice of the strangers and ordered them to come to the foot of the throne, invested them with robes of honour, and then sent them back.

§6. Street procession at Raigarh

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When the presentations were over, the Rajah descended from his throne, mounted his best horse, decked with gorgeous trappings, and rode to the palace-yard. There he mounted the finest elephant in his stable, dressed out most splendidly for the occasion, and then rode through the streets of the capital in full military procession, girt round by his ministers and generals, with the two royal banners, *Jari-pataka* and *Bhagwe-jhanda*, borne aloft on two elephants walking in the van, while the generals and regiments of troops followed with their respective flags, artillery and band. The citizens had decorated their houses and roads in a manner worthy of the occasion. The housewives waved lighted lamps round him and showered fried rice, flowers, holy grass, &c., on his head. After visiting the various temples on Raigarh hill and offering adoration with presents at each of them, he returned to the palace.

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On the 7th began a general distribution of gifts to all the assembled envoys and Brahmans and of alms to the beggars, which lasted twelve days, during which the people were also fed at the king's expense. The more distinguished pandits and sannyasis were not included in this alms-giving, as these men got only 3 to 5 Rupees and the women and children a Rupee or two each.

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A day or two after the coronation the monsoon burst, the rains set in with violence, and the weather continued wet for some time, to the intense discomfort of the assembled crowd. On the 8th, Shivaji took a fourth wife without any state or ceremony. Shortly before this he had married* two others. (Letter of Oxinden, 27 May; Oxinden's Memorial under date 8 June.)

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After the coronation was over, Jija Bai died on 18th June, in the fulness of years and happiness, leaving to her son her personal property worth 25 *lakhs* of *hun*, "some say more." When the period of mourning for her was over, Shivaji sat on the throne a second time, to celebrate his purification after her funeral. (Dutch Records.)

§7. Cost of the Coronation

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The total cost of the coronation, including the sums distributed in gifts and alms, is put down by Sabhasad at the incredible figure of one *krore* and 42 *lakhs* of *hun*. The Dutch merchant Abraham Le Feber, writing from Vingurla only four months after the event, quotes the popular report that "this ceremony and distribution of largess cost 150,000 pagodas." He evidently means the money spent in the 12 days' general alms-giving from the 7th to the 18th, and not the special gifts to the ministers and other officers, Brahmans and priests. But even when all these are taken into account, together with the price of the throne and ornaments made for the occasion and the cost of feeding the assemblage, the total expenditure cannot be put higher than 10 *lakhs* of *hun* or fifty *lakhs* of Rupees.

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∗ *Jedhe S.* says that the marriage was celebrated with [Vedic] mantras, on 30th May, i.e., one day after Shivaji was invested with the sacred thread, and we shall not be wrong in supposing that Shivaji made these late marriages in order to assert publicly his right as a 'twice-born' to hear Vedic mantras]

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§8. Loot of Bahadur Khan's camp and extensive contest with the Mughals.

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The coronation exhausted Shivaji's treasury and he was in need of money to pay his troops. It was, therefore, necessary for him to be out on raid immediately afterwards. (F. R. Surat, 88, Niccolls to Surat, 14 Oct., 1674.)

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His first movement was against Bahadur Khan. As early as May 1674 it was the talk of the Maratha Court that Dilir Khan, whom they feared most, having been recalled by the Emperor, the Mughal forces in the Deccan were commanded by Bahadur Khan alone, whom they despised and whose "quarters they intended to beat up after the rains." The blow was struck much sooner, in the very height of the monsoons. Towards the middle of July, a body of 2,000 Maratha light cavalry, made a false demonstration and lured Bahadur Khan some 50 miles away from his cantonments at Pedgaon, while a second force, 7,000 strong, swooped down by another route on his defenceless camp, carried away a krore of Rupees in booty and 200 fine horses collected for presentation to the Emperor, and burnt all his tents. (F. R. Surat 88, Oxinden to Surat, 21 May; Vol. 87, Surat to Bombay, 1 Aug., 1674.)

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The state of war with Bijapur continued, though languidly. A general of that State, probably Rustam-i-Zaman II., lay with his army on the Ghats near Kolhapur (July), ready to descend into Konkan and wrest Rajapur from the Marathas. In August, September and October Maratha bands spread northwards into the Koli country, giving repeated alarms to the port of Surat. But a body of three to four thousand Bhils of Ramnagar held the jungles and passes through that State and opposed the Marathas, who vainly offered them a bribe of one lakh of Rupees for a safe passage (middle of October 1674.)* Shortly afterwards the baffled Maratha army, after provisioning their forts in that region, marched away to join Shiva near Aurangabad, and Surat again breathed freely. They had found an easier prey in another quarter. Late in October, a large army commanded by Shivaji in person advanced into the Deccan plateau, skirted Bahadur Khan's camp, which was "hotly alarmed," looted several towns near Aurangabad, and then burst into Baglana and Khandesh, where they continued for more than a month (Nov. to middle of Dec.) Among other places they pillaged and burnt Dharangaon (10 m. north of Erandol) and its English factory. Qutb-ud-din Khan Kheshgi bravely opposed the raiders, but his small force was routed with the loss of 3 to 4 hundred men, and he fled to Aurangabad for refuge. (F. R. Surat 87, Surat to Bomb. 28 Oct., 1664; Vol. 107, Bomb. to Surat 2 Nov., 1674; Dungom to Surat, 10 Dec.; O. C. 4062.)

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It was probably on his return from this raid that Shiva encamped near Junnar, but a shot from a 22 feet narrow-bore gun on the walls of Shivner killed a Rajah of his army and caused the prompt retreat of the Marathas.†

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At the end of January 1675, a band of 3,000 Maratha cavalry under Dattaji roved in the Kolhapur district. The town of Kolhapur saved itself by paying 1,500 hun, and Shongaon (near Gargoti, about 30 miles south of Kolhapur) 500 hun. In the middle of February, a Mughal force crossed the Ghats, fell on the town of Kalian, burnt the houses (including those of many Khojas) and then quickly retired, after which the Marathas re-occupied the place. (F. R. Surat 88, Rajapur to Surat, 6 Feb.; Vol. 107, Bomb. to Surat, 27 Feb., 1675.)

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∗ F. R. Surat, 3, Consult. 6 Aug.; Vol. 87, Surat to Bomb. 6 Aug. and 22 Oct., 1674; O. C. 4062. † Fryer (i. 338) says that it happened "some four months before" the 22nd of May, 1675, and that the shot was hurled 2 kos off!

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§9. Shivaji's false negotiations with Bahadur Khan, 1675.

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Shivaji next opened delusive peace negotiations with Bahadur Khan, who eagerly swallowed the bait, as he was weary of the war and at his wits' end how to guard all parts of his viceroyalty against such a mobile and elusive enemy. For nearly three months (March-May) Shiva kept the Mughals in play, by feeding false hopes of a peace.* His real motives were to gain respite from Mughal attacks in order to provision his forts, to get money out of Adil Shah by the threat of an alliance with the Mughals for the invasion of Bijapur, and to secure his northern frontier during the siege of Phonda.

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It was proposed that Shivaji would cede 17 of his forts to Aurangzib and send his son Shambhuji with a contingent to serve under the Mughal subahdar, while the Emperor would create Shambhuji a commander of 6 thousand horse, and grant Shiva all the country on the right bank of the Bhima. The negotiations were deliberately spun out. Shiva "demurred to sending his son to the Mughal general until he had better security for his safety." Bahadur Khan reported the terms to the Emperor, who sent in reply a *farman* accepting them and pardoning Shiva's past misdeeds. Then the viceroy sent messengers to Shivaji to receive the *farman* and deliver the forts. But, by this time (July 1675), Phonda had been captured. Shivaji now threw off the mask and dismissed the Mughal envoys with taunts, saying, "What pressure have you succeeded in putting on me that I should seek peace with you? Go hence quickly, or you will be disgraced."

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∗ False overtures of peace with the Mughals in 1675: F. R. Surat 107, Bomb. to Surat, 27 Feb. 1675; O. C. 4077; Vol. 88, Surat to Bomb. 15 June and 17 July, also Letter from J. Child, 7 August; Dil. 134-135; B. S. 401-2; M. A. 142: (7 July, 1675.)

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Bahadur Khan, ashamed at being thus outwitted and anxious to cover his foolish credulity and diplomatic defeat by some striking success, hurriedly made an agreement with the Bijapuri wazir Khawas Khan (October) for a joint war on Shiva. (B. S. 445.) Aurangzib approved of the idea, and is said to have offered to give up one year's tribute from Bijapur if that State heartily co-operated with his viceroy in a concerted attack on Shiva from two sides. But the overthrow of Khawas Khan and the usurpation of the regency by Bahlol Khan (11th Nov.) spoiled this plan, and soon afterwards the Mughals were drawn into the whirlpool of faction-fights at the Adil-Shahi Court.

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Meantime, while the Mughal viceroy was being lulled into inactivity by these peace overtures, and Shiva was hastening to the siege of Phonda, he captured Kolhapur (March) but failed to take Raibagh. A little later another division of his army ranged far eastwards, plundering Bijapur and Golkonda territories, especially Yadagiri and two towns near Haidarabad, "bringing away a great deal of riches besides many rich persons" held to ransom. At the same time his men robbed Cuncolim and Veroda* in the Portuguese territory (middle of April.) The other Maratha activities in the latter half of this year will be described in the chapter on South Konkan and Kanara.

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§10. War with the Mughals renewed. Union with Bijapur.

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In November, Bahadur Khan, on being sharply censured by Aurangzib, marched to Kalian, and pressed Shiva hard in North Konkan. In January next (1676), a Maratha band spread near Aurangabad, but Bahadur with light equipment and no tent, made a rapid march from Pedgaon, defeated the rovers near Lasur, 28 miles from the capital, and drove them back towards Junnar. (O. C. 4139; Dil. 140.)

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At this time Shiva was taken seriously ill, and passed the next three months on the sick-bed at Satara. His perfect recovery was announced at the end of March. The Marathas looted Athni, 43 m. west of Bijapur, in April. The civil war that had broken out between the Deccani and Afghan parties at Bijapur, was Shivaji's opportunity. Early in May we hear of his having sent out "4,000 horse that ranges up and down, plunders and robs without any hindrance or danger." (F. R. Surat, Vol. 89, Rajapur to Surat, 11 Jan. and 9 May 1676; O. C. 4202.)

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In May, his prime-minister Moro Trimbak drove the Rajah of Ramnagar out of his country and took Pindol† and Painecah within three days' march of Surat.

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∗ F. R. Surat 88, Rajapur to Surat 1 April, Karwar to Surat 22 April, 1675.

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† Pindval, 11 m. s. e. of Dharampur, in the Dharampur State, south of Surat. Painecah is probably either Panva, 5 m. w. of Pindval, or Panaj, 9 m. n. of Dharampur. (Ind. At., 24 N. E.)

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But the monsoons being at hand, he left 4,000 men to garrison the district and retired with the rest of his army to Raigarh at the end of the month. (F. R. 89, Surat to Bomb., 27 May and 1 June 1676.)

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On 31st May Bahadur Khan opened a vigorous and long campaign against Bijapur, where the Afghan faction had seized the Government. The consequence was to drive the new regent Bahlol Khan into the arms of Shiva, and in July we have the report of a peace between the two having been concluded through the mediation of the Golkonda minister Madanna. The terms of this treaty were that the Adil-Shahi Government would pay Shiva 3 lakhs of Rupees down as a contribution and one lakh of *hun* annually as subsidy for protection against the Mughals, and confirm him in the possession of the country bounded on the east by the Krishna, including the Kolhapur district. But the union was shortlived, as no policy could be durable in a State ravaged by civil war and subject to almost daily changes of authority. Shivaji hardly minded the rupture of this subsidiary alliance; his gaze was fixed elsewhere; and in January next (1677), he set out on the greatest expedition of his life, the invasion of the Eastern Karnatak. (B. S. 450-470; F. R. Surat 89, Rajapur to Surat, 24 July 1676.)

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