Shivaji and His Times c10.s7: §7. Cost of the Coronation
Shivaji and His Times c10.s7
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§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.)