Shivaji and His Times c13.s9: §10. Capture of Jinji and siege of Vellore
Shivaji and His Times c13.s9
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§10. Capture of Jinji and siege of Vellore
c13.s9.1
Leaving the sacred hill in the first week of April, Shivaji overtook his army at Anantpur and hastened southwards, evidently by way of Nandiyal and Kadapa, to Tirupati. From the last-named place he descended into the plains of the east coast, and passed through Kalahastri to Peddapolam (about seven miles west of Madras), in the first week of May. After some days' halt at Peddapolam, he turned to the south-west, sending an advanced detachment of 5,000 cavalry through Conje-veram (9th May) to Jinji. The commander of this force paid a visit to Nasir Muhammad Khan within the fort and persuaded him to give up Jinji in return for a cash sum on account and a jagir yielding half a lakh of Rupees a year,* (about 13th May.) On hearing of this success, Shivaji himself hastened to the fort and took possession of it for himself, instead of handing it over to the Golkonda agents as he had promised.
c13.s9.2
Shivaji placed the fort of Jinji in charge of a Mavle captain named Rayaji Nalgé, and the surrounding district under Vital Pildev Atré Garadkar as governor, assisted by a sabnis and a caretaker of buildings. The military and revenue administration of Maharashtra was transferred here without any change. [Malkaré, 80.] He "constructed new ramparts round Jinji, dug ditches, raised towers and bastions, and carried out all these works with a perfection of which European skill would not have been ashamed." [Andre Freire, S. J., in Mission du Madure, iii. 271.]
c13.s9.3
From Jinji, Shivaji turned back northwards to Vellore, where he arrived about 23rd May. This fort was held for Bijapur by a brave Abyssinian officer named Abdullah Khan, who put up an obstinate defence. Vellore is one of the strongest fortresses in Southern India. A deep wet ditch, swarming with crocodiles, surrounds it. The outer ramparts are wide enough for two carts to be driven abreast. Four concentric lines of circumvallation protect it. [Sabh. 91.] Shivaji had, therefore, to begin a regular siege, for which he was not properly equipped. Occupying two neighbouring hillocks, which he named Sajira and Gojira, he mounted batteries there and opened the attack. The fort defied the Marathas for fourteen months.* Leaving Narahari Rudra (sabnis), with 2,000 horse and 5,000 Mavle infantry, to conduct the protracted siege, Shivaji himself marched southwards (about 20th June) to fight Sher Khan Lodi.
c13.s9.4
∗ *Madras F. R.; Martin. By this treaty Nasir Muhammad was granted a jagir in the dependencies of Golkonda. But when Shivaji kept hold of Jinji, the Golkonda officers naturally refused to put Nasir Muhammad in possession of the promised lands. "Poor Nasir was tossed about and received not more than a fraction of what had been promised him. Beggared of his former grandeur, he felt so disappointed that he died shortly afterwards."