Shivaji and His Times c11.s2.39

c11.s2.39

On 12th March 1665, the Surat Council write: "The subjects [of Adil Shah] unanimously cry out against him for suffering Shivaji to forage to and fro, burning and robbing his country without any opposition, wherefore it is certainly concluded by all that he shares with the said rebel in all his rapines, so that the whole country is in a confused condition, merchants flying from one place to another to preserve themselves, so that all trade is lost...The rebel Shivaji hath committed many notorious and great robberies since that of Surat, and hath possessed himself of the most considerable ports belonging to Deccan [*i.e.*, Bijapur] to the number of eight or nine, from whence he sets out two or three or more trading vessels yearly from every port to Persia, Basra, Mocha, etc."