Shivaji and His Times c11.s2.73

c11.s2.73

In March 1675 he got together an army of 15,000 cavalry, 14,000 infantry and 10,000 pioneers with pick-axes, crow-bars and hatchets, etc.,* Arriving at Rajapur (22nd March), he spent three days there, ordering forty small ships to go to Vingurla with all speed and there wait for fresh commands. Next he marched to his town of Kudal, and on 8th April laid siege to Phonda, the most important Bijapuri fort near Goa. While he was prosecuting the siege, another division of his army plundered Atgiri in Adil-Shahi territory and two other large cities near Haidarabad, carrying away "a great deal of riches, besides many rich persons held to ransom."