Shivaji and His Times c11.s2.70

c11.s2.70

Unlike his father, the new Rustam-i-Zaman did not cultivate the friendship of the Marathas. In August 1674 he seized a rich merchant, subject of Shiva, living at Narsa (16 miles from Phonda) and the Maratha king prepared for retaliation. In October Rustam was summoned by Khawas Khan, the new wazir, to Bijapur; and, as he feared that his post would be given to another, he extorted forced loans from all the rich men of Karwar and its neighbourhood that he could lay hands on, before he went away. (F. R. Surat 88, Karwar to Surat, 2nd September and 27th October, 1674.) In the last week of August, Annaji Datto passed through Kudal with 3,000 soldiers intending to "surprise the fortress Phonda, but Mamet Khan who was there armed himself, so that the aforesaid pandit accomplished nothing." (Dutch Rec., Vol. 34, No. 841.)