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Shivaji and His Times c14: Chapter XIII. His Last Years

Shivaji and His Times c14

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Chapter XIII. His Last Years

§1. Adventures during return from the Karnatak

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After his marvellous success in the invasion of the Karnatak, Shivaji left the Madras plains (early in November, 1677) and ascended the Mysore plateau, conquering its eastern and central parts.[*]

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Leaving Mysore (January, 1678) he crossed the Tungabhadra, and by way of Kopal and Gadag, reached Lakshmishwar in the Dharwar district. The desai, named Khangauda, had evacuated his fort in terror, and it was occupied by the Marathas. Bankapur, 20 miles s. w. of Lakshmishwar, was next threatened, in the middle of January, 1678. (O. C. 4314.) From this place Shivaji turned his steps northwards, and arrived near Sampgaon in the Belgaum district. At Belvadi, a small village 12 miles s. e. of Sampgaon and 30 miles s. e. of Belgaum, Savitri Bai, the widowed lady proprietor, plundered some transport bullocks of Shiva's army when passing by. Her fort was at once besieged, but she defended it most heroically for 27 days, after which it was carried by assault and she herself was captured.[†]

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∗ His route is thus given in Sabhasad, 91: Kolhar—Balapur—Kopal—Lakshmishwar—Khangauda desai chastised—Sampgaon district—Balvada desain invested, captured, and "taught a lesson"—Panhala. Kopal is north of the Tungabhadra, 22 m. west of the ruins of Vijaynagar, and 105 miles due south of Bijapur. Gadag is 35 m. west of Kopal, and Lakshmishwar, 24 m. south of Gadag.

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† T. S., 38a, thus describes her fate: "A woman named Savitri was the patelni (village headman's wife) of Belvadi. From the shelter of her fort she fought Shiva for one month. On her provisions and munitions

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This long check by a woman, before a petty mud-fort, greatly lowered Shivaji's prestige. As the English merchants of Rajapur wrote on 28th February, 1678: "He is at present besieging a fort where, by relation of their own people come from him, he has suffered more disgrace than ever he did from all power of the Mughal or the Deccans (=Bijapuris), and he who hath conquered so many kingdoms is not able to reduce this woman desai!" (F. R. Surat, 107.)

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Soon afterwards Shivaji had another and very great disappointment,—probably the greatest in his life, which we describe in the words of the Rajapur factors in their letter of 3rd April. "Jamshid Khan, since the death of his master the Nawab [Bahlol Khan, on 23rd Dec., 1677] found himself incapable of longer holding out, agrees with Shivaji to deliver up [the fort of Bijapur and the person of Sikandar Adil Shah] to him for 600,000 pagodas. Siddi Masaud, having intelligence of this, feigns a sickness, at last death, and causes a handol publicly to be sent away with part of the army to Adoni, the residue (of his troops) about 4,000 sent to Jamshid, pretending that since the leader was dead, if he would entertain them they would serve him. He presently accepts their service and receives them into the Fort, who within two days seized his person, caused the gates to be opened and received the Siddi in alive, (21st Feb., 1678.) Shivaji upon his march hearing this news returns, and

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running short, she made a sortie, demolished all the siege trenches, and dispersed and slew many of the besiegers. For one day she kept the field heroically, but at last fled vanquished, was captured and greatly dishonoured. Sakhuji Gaikwar was the doer of this evil deed. Shivaji, on hearing of his act, put out both his eyes and thus gave him his deserts. He was imprisoned in the village of Manauli."

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is expected at Panhala in a short time." (F. R. Surat, Vol. 107.)

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In an age when almost every man had his price, Shivaji cannot be blamed for trying to make gains by bribery. The fort of Bijapur was for sale, and he only made a bid for it, and took his chance with other competitors for the position of keeper of the puppet Adil Shah, even as Shahji had been the keeper of a puppet Nizam Shah. Masaud and Bahlol were not more disinterested, but certainly less efficient than he would have been as regent of Bijapur.

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The news of the delivery of the Adil-Shahi capital to Siddi Masaud (21st February) reached Shivaji on his way from Belvadi through Turgal to Bijapur, and he swerved aside to the west and returned to his own stronghold of Panhala in the first week of April, 1678.

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§2. Maratha activity in 1677.

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At this stage we may conveniently inquire into what happened in Maharashtra during Shivaji's absence from home in the Karnatak expedition (January 1677—March 1678.) An army was sent under Shambhuji to annex some Portuguese territory near Goa. He demanded 60 villages from the Portuguese on the ground that they belonged to the fort of Phonda, which was now in Shivaji's possession; but on meeting with a refusal, he made a rash assault on the Portuguese, who beat him off. Then the Marathas left the district for Daman, hoping to find less opposition there (Nov. 1677.) But no permanent gain resulted from this campaign. (Dutch Rec., Vol. 34, No. 844.) The Maratha embassy to Goa in December 1677, will be described in Chapter 14.

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During this period the armies left at home under Moro Trimbak in the Desh and under Annaji Datto in Konkan, naturally confined themselves to minor raids, without venturing on any distant expedition. The Surat district was, as usual, subjected to contribution by the Maratha forces now quartered close by at Navsari, Gandavi, and Pindval, with Trimbakji in actual command, in the absence of the Peshwa. Their officers used boldly to enter even the city of Surat, with 40 or 50 troopers at a time and publicly demand provisions and money from the governor. In November, 1677, Dattaji taking advantage of the crushing repulse of Dilir and Bahlol by the Golkonda troops (two months earlier), roved the inland parts of Kanara and looted Hubli. Early in January, 1678, Moro Pant "plundered Trimbak, Nasik and other considerable places in the Mughal territory." Dilir Khan hastened there with the remnant of his broken army, (middle of February.)*

§3. Conquest of the north bank of the Tungabhadra

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Shivaji's return home (March, 1678), revived Maratha activity. The districts that he retained in Central and Eastern Mysore as the result of his Karnatak expedition, had to be connected with his old dominions by the conquest of the southern corner of the kingdom of Bijapur, which consisted of the Kopal region north of the Tungabhadra opposite the Bellary district, as well as part of the Dharwar and Belgaum districts intervening between Kopal and Panhala. The Kopal district was held by two Afghans, Husain Khan Miana of Kukanur and his brother Qasim Khan of Kopal. They were fellowclansmen of Bahlol Khan, and on the death of that chief and the ruin of his family, the defence of this frontier was entrusted to them.

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∗ F. R. Surat 89, Surat to Bomb., 26 May; Vol. 107, Rajapur to Surat 8 Dec., 1677; Bomb. to Surat, 21 Feb. 1678.

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Husain Khan is spoken of by Sabhasad as a high and powerful noble of the rank of Bahlol Khan, a brave general renowned for his martial spirit, and the leader of 5,000 Pathan archers, lancers, musketeers, and artillerymen. In January 1677, Bahir Rao invaded the Gadag district. Husain Khan Miana opposed him near Yelburga. After a long and bloody fight, the Pathans were defeated. Husain Khan, on account of his corpulence, could not ride on horseback. The elephant on which he was trying to escape was wounded in the trunk by Nagoji Jedhe and forced to turn back. Nagoji was shot dead, but the Khan was captured with 2,000 of his horses and some elephants. Shivaji offered to set him free if he gave up the fort of Kopal, but he declined and was kept a prisoner. Early in 1678, Shivaji conquered the Gadag district. At last after two years the Peshwa Moro Pant negotiated with Qasim Khan (the commandant of Kopal) through Husain's son and induced him to give up the fort for money (3rd March 1679.) Husain was now released and entered the Maratha service for a living.∗

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∗ I have here followed Jedhe with a few points from T. S., 33a. These two works call the victor Bahir Rao, while Sabhasad and Malkaré call him Hambir Rao. (In bad MSS. Hambir may be read as Bahir, but in January 1677 Hambir Rao was on the march to Haidarabad with Shivaji.) The place of battle is put by Jedhe 'near Yelgedla', which I emend into Yelburga (30 m. n. e. of Gadag, now in the Lingasagar district), and not into Yelagi (20 m. south of Belgaum.) T. S. says that Husain Khan was the "sardar of Kukanur",—a city 15 m. north of Kopal, and that Bahir Rao fell in the battle and Husain, out of wounded honour, took poison on being set free by Shivaji (which is not historically true.) Sabhasad, 80—81, places the battle in Sampgaon. B. S. 451 merely says that Shiva imprisoned Husain Khan by deception.

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Kopal is rightly called by Sabhasad "the gate of the south," and its possession enabled the Maratha dominion to be extended to the bank of the Tungabhadra river and even across it into the Bellary and Chittaldurg districts. Many of the local chieftains, who had long defied the Bijapur Government and withheld taxes in this ill-subdued border country, were now chastised by the Marathas and reduced to obedience,—among them being the poligars of Kanakgiri (25 miles n. e. of Kopal), Harpan-halli (40 miles s. of Kopal), Raydurg, Chittaldurg, Vidyanagar (? old Vijaynagar), and Bundikot (? Gudicota, 45 miles e. of Harpan-halli.) This country was now formed into a regular province of Shivaji's kingdom and placed under Janardan Narayan Hanumante as viceroy. (Sabh.)

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Late in April 1678, Shivaji's troops plundered Mungi-Pattan, on the Godavari, 30 miles south of Aurangabad. (M. A. 166.) It was probably next month that they made a second attempt to get possession of Shivner. They invested the village (of Junnar) at its foot, and at night tried to scale the fort. "Three hundred Marathas climbed the fort-walls at night by means of nooses and rope-ladders. But Abdul Aziz Khan was an expert qiladar. Though he had sent away his sons and followers to reinforce the faujdar Yahiya Khan in the village, he personally with a few men slew all the infantry of Shiva who had entered the fort. Next morning he hunted out the few who had concealed themselves in the hill [side] below the fort and among rocks and holes, and released them with presents, sending a message to Shivaji to the effect, 'So long as I am qiladar, you will never take this fort.'" (Dil. 157.)

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§4. The Mughals, Bijapur, and Shivaji, 1678.

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A rupture now took place between Shiva and Qutb Shah, and the diplomatic system so patiently built up by Madanna Pandit fell to the ground. Qutb Shah's indignation had been rising as he found himself made a mere cat's paw by Shiva in the Karnatak adventure. He had borne all the expenses of the expedition and supplied artillery and an auxiliary force for it. But not one of the conquered forts was given to him, not one pice of his contribution was repaid out of the fabulous booty carried away by Shiva from that land of gold. And now the Maratha plot to capture Bijapur by treachery destroyed the last trace of patience in the Golkonda king, especially as he had been playing for some years past the flattering role of a chivalrous friend and protector of the boy Adil Shah. So, Abul Hasan arranged for a peace between the new Bijapuri regent, Siddi Masaud, and his rivals (especially Sharza Khan), promised him money to pacify the unpaid mutinous soldiery, and bound him to wage war against Shiva and "confine him to Konkan." The Adil-Shahi nobles prepared to open the campaign in October next, with about 25,000 cavalry and numerous infantry. But Dilir Khan spoiled the whole plan. (O. C. 4266; F. R. Surat 107, Rajapur to Surat, 3 April, 1678; G. Robinson to Surat, 31 Aug.)

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Dilir Khan had exacted heavy and humiliating concessions from Siddi Masaud when he made peace with him at Kulbarga (Nov. 1677.) The odium of that treaty fell on the new regent, and all the disorders in the State and all the sufferings of the people were laid at his door. Distracted by domestic factions, daily insulted and threatened by the Afghan soldiers, and hopeless of preventing Shiva's boundless violence and encroachments with the resources of the ruined, divided and bankrupt State, Siddi Masaud wanted to come to terms with Shivaji; but Dilir Khan forbade it, assuring him that the imperial army was ready to help him in fighting the Marathas. Masaud was, however, too bewildered by the disturbances in all parts of the country to listen to this advice. He wrote to Shiva, "We are neighbours. We eat the same salt. You are as deeply concerned in [the welfare of] this State as I am. The enemy [i.e., Mughals] are day and night trying to ruin it. We two ought to unite and expel the foreigner." [B. S. 452-470.]

§5. Shambhuji deserts to the Mughals

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At the news of these negotiations, Dilir Khan grew angry and set himself to conquer Bijapur. Only respect for treaties had kept him from doing so before; but Masaud's breach of faith absolved him from the obligation to spare Adil Shah. And he now received a most unexpected accession of strength. Shivaji's eldest son Shambhuji was the curse of his old age. This youth of twenty-one was violent, capricious, unsteady, thoughtless and notoriously depraved in his morals. For his outrage on a married Brahman woman he had been confined in Panhala fort, but escaped with his wife Yesu Bai and a few comrades to join Dilir Khan (13th Dec., 1678.) Shivaji sent a force in pursuit, but was too late. Dilir Khan, on getting Shambhuji's letter, had detached from his camp at Bahadurgarh 4,000 men under Ikhlas Khan (the commander of his vanguard) and Ghairat Khan (his nephew) to advance and escort the fugitive. They met him 8 miles south of Supa, and Dilir himself joined them at Karkamb, 12 miles further north-east. Dilir Khan was thrown into transports of joy by the desertion of Shivaji's heir to his side. "He felt as happy as if he had conquered the whole Deccan!" (B. S. 471.) "He beat his drums in ecstasy and sent a report to the Emperor. Shambhu was created a 7-hazari and a Rajah and presented with an elephant." The Khan with his valuable new ally halted at Akluj (50 miles south of Bahadurgarh) for some time to prepare for the invasion of Bijapur. [Dil. 159.]

§6. Maratha plot to seize Bijapur

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In this danger Siddi Masaud immediately asked for help from Shiva, as agreed upon. The Rajah sent six to seven thousand heavy cavalry to guard Bijapur. Masaud could not fully trust his ally, he asked the Maratha contingent to halt beside the stream of the village Itangihal (5 m. n. w. of the city), but they came nearer, encamped at Khanapura and Khusraupura, and demanded that one of the gates and one of the towers of the fort should be entrusted to them. Masaud wisely declined. Then they moved to Zuhrapura and encamped on the plain just outside the walls, thus increasing Masaud's suspicion. Soon the allies began to quarrel openly.* The Marathas were detected in trying to smuggle arms and men into the fort, by concealing the arms in sacks of grain and disguising the soldiers as drivers of the pack-oxen! Then Shiva threw off the mask. He began to plunder and devastate Adil-Shahi territory again. His men looted the suburbs of Bijapur,—Daulatpura (=Khawaspura), Khusraupura and Zuhrapura, and carried off the rich banias for ransom. Near the tomb of Shaikh Ahmad Khawas-Khani, they slew Ali Raza and wounded Siddi Yaqut. But when they reached the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah, west of the city, a shot from the fort-guns killed the Maratha commander and the men fled away. Masaud now made peace with Dilir Khan.

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∗ "It is reported that Shivaji has in person plundered Shahpur, the suburbs of Bijapur, and had liked to have got into the royal city, the conquest whereof is his sole aim, lest it should fall into the Mughal's hands, and then he knows he could not long subsist." (Bombay to Surat, 4 April 1679, in *Orme MSS.* 116.)

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A Mughal force was invited to Bijapur, royally welcomed, and sent off with a Bijapuri army under Venkatadri Murari (the confidant of the regent) and other officers, against the Marathas. They reached Tikota (13 miles w. of Bijapur), when spies brought the report that Shiva himself had arrived at Selgur (55 miles w. of Bijapur and the same distance east of Panhala) with 7 to 8 thousand men and wanted to make a night-attack on the Mughal or the Bijapuri army, whichever would advance first. But a new quarrel between Masaud and Sharza Khan now paralyzed the power of Bijapur. (B. S. 471—477.)

§7. Dilir captures Bhupalgarh

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Dilir Khan next marched to the fort of Bhupalgarh,[*] which Shivaji had built as a store-house of his property and a refuge for the families of his subjects in that neighbourhood during his wars with the Mughals. By great labour the imperialists dragged some guns to the top of a neighbouring height during the night, and next morning began to batter the walls and towers. The assault was launched about 9 A. M. and the Mughals fought with vigour till noon, when they captured the fort after heavy slaughter on both sides. Vast quantities of grain and other property and large numbers of people (who had sought refuge there from the neighbouring districts) were captured by the victors. Seven hundred survivors of the garrison were deprived of one hand and then set free; the other captives were evidently sold into slavery.

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∗ Shambhuji's desertion to the Mughals and capture of Bhupalgarh: Jedhe S.; B. S. 471, 477-478, 500-501 (best.) Dil. 159-163 (reliable.) F. R. Surat, Vol. 108, Rajapur to Surat, 16 Dec., 1679, Bombay to Surat, 1 Jan., 1680 (return.) Sabh. 93-94. Bhupalgarh, 20 m. n.w. of Jath, 45 m. s.w. of Pandharpur, and 10 m. s.e. of Khanapur in the Satara district; the modern name of the village is Banur (Atlas, 40 N. E.); described in Bom. Gaz. xix. 455-456.

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Before this Shivaji had sent 16,000 horse to relieve the fort. They arrived too late, but hovered on the four sides of the Mughals. Suddenly they learnt that Iraj Khan and Bajaji Rao [Nimbalkar] were bringing provisions from Parenda to the besieging army, and then they immediately hastened to intercept the convoy. But Dilir Khan detached Ikhlas Khan with 1,500 cavalry to the aid of Iraj Khan. Twelve miles from Bhupalgarh he overtook the Marathas. Ikhlas Khan's small force was enveloped and he took refuge in a walled village and repelled the Maratha assault with his back to the wall, doing great havoc among the enemy with his artillery, and slaying nearly one thousand of Shiva's men. Then large reinforcements arrived from Dilir Khan, at whose approach the Marathas fled. Dilir then went back to Bhupalgarh, burnt everything that he could not carry off, dismantled its fortifications, and returned to Dhulkhed. (B. S. 477—478; Dil. 160.)

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The fugitive Marathas, however, scored a success. Near Karkamb (30 miles south of Parenda), they fell in with Iraj Khan, looted all his grain and the property of his troops, and forced him to flee with a few men into a small fort hard by, where he was afterwards relieved by his kinsman, Mir Muhammad Khan, the qiladar of Parenda. (Dil. 161.)

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The fall of Bhupalgarh took place on 2nd April, 1679. Then followed a period of puzzling intrigue and counter-intrigue between the Mughal viceroy and the Bijapur nobility, and also quarrels between Masaud and Sharza Khan, Masaud and Dilir, and Masaud and his favourite Venkatadri. About the middle of this year Shivaji sent to Aurangzib a well-reasoned and spirited letter of protest against the jaziya, which was drafted by Nila Prabhu in eloquent Persian.

§8. Shivaji's letter on religious toleration

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To the Emperor Alamgir—

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"This firm and constant well-wisher Shivaji, after rendering thanks for the grace of God and the favours of the Emperor,—which are clearer than the Sun,—begs to inform your Majesty that, although this well-wisher was led by his adverse Fate to come away from your august Presence without taking leave, yet he is ever ready to perform, to the fullest extent possible and proper, everything that duty as a servant and gratitude demand of him . . . . .

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"It has recently come to my ears that, on the ground of the war with me having exhausted your wealth and emptied your treasury, your Majesty has ordered that money under the name of jaziya should be collected from the Hindus and the imperial needs supplied with it. May it please your Majesty! That architect of the fabric of empire, [Jalal-ud-din] Akbar Padishah, reigned with full power for 52 [lunar] years. He adopted the admirable policy of universal harmony (sulh-i-kul) in relation to all the various sects, such as Christians, Jews, Muslims, Dadu's followers, sky-worshippers (falakia), malakia, materialists (ansaria), atheists (daharia), Brahmans and Jain priests. The aim of his liberal heart was to cherish and protect all the people. So, he became famous under the title of *Jagat Guru*, ‘the World’s spiritual guide.’

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“Next, the Emperor Nur-ud-din Jahangir for 22 years spread his gracious shade on the head of the world and its dwellers, gave his heart to his friends and his hand to his work, and gained his desires. The Emperor Shah Jahan for 32 years cast his blessed shade on the head of the world and gathered the fruit of eternal life,—which is only a synonym for goodness and fair fame,—as the result of his happy time on earth. (*Verses*)

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He who lives with a good name gains ever-lasting weath,
Because after his death, the recital of his good deeds keeps his name alive.

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“Through the auspicious effect of this sublime disposition, wherever he [Akbar] bent the glance of his august wish, Victory and Success advanced to welcome him on the way. In his reign many kingdoms and forts were conquered [by him.] The state and power of these Emperors can be easily understood from the fact that Alamgir Padishah has failed and become distracted in the attempt to merely follow their political system. They, too, had the power of levying the *jaziya*; but they did not give place to bigotry in their hearts, as they considered all men, high and low, created by God to be [living] examples of the nature of diverse creeds and temperaments. Their kindness and benevolence endure on the pages of Time as their memorial, and so prayer and praise for these [three] pure souls will dwell for ever in the hearts and tongues of mankind, among both great and small. Prosperity is the fruit of one's intentions. Therefore, their wealth and good fortune continued to increase, as God's creatures reposed in the cradle of peace and safety [under their rule], and their undertakings succeeded.

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"But in your Majesty's reign, many of the forts and provinces have gone out of your possession, and the rest will soon do so too, because there will be no slackness on my part in ruining and devastating them. Your peasants are down-trodden; the yield of every village has declined,—in the place of one lakh [of Rupees] only one thousand, and in the place of a thousand only ten are collected, and that too with difficulty. When Poverty and Beggary have made their homes in the palaces of the Emperor and the Princes, the condition of the grandees and officers can be easily imagined. It is a reign in which the army is in a ferment, the merchants complain, the Muslims cry, the Hindus are grilled, most men lack bread at night and in the day inflame their own cheeks by slapping them [in anguish.] How can the royal spirit permit you to add the hardship of the jaziya to this grievous state of things? The infamy will quickly spread from west to east and become recorded in books of history that the Emperor of Hindusthan, coveting the beggars' bowls, takes jaziya from Brahmans and Jain monks, yogis, sannyasis, bairagis, paupers, mendicants, ruined wretches, and the famine-stricken,—that his valour is shown by attacks on the wallets of beggars,—that he dashes down to the ground the name and honour of the Timurids!

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"May it please your Majesty! If you believe in the true Divine Book and Word of God (i.e., the Quran), you will find there [that God is styled] Rabb-ul-alamin, the Lord of all men, and not *Rabb-ul-musalmin*, the Lord of the Muhammadans only. Verily, Islam and Hinduism are terms of contrast. They are [diverse pigments] used by the true Divine Painter for blending the colours and filling in the outlines [of His picture of the entire human species.] If it be a mosque, the call to prayer is chanted in remembrance of Him. If it be a temple, the bell is rung in yearning for Him only. To show bigotry for any man's own creed and practices is equivalent to altering the words of the Holy Book. To draw new lines on a picture is equivalent to finding fault with the painter.........

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"In strict justice the *jaziya* is not at all lawful. From the political point of view it can be allowable only if a beautiful woman wearing gold ornaments can pass from one province to another without fear or molestation. [But] in these days even the cities are being plundered, what shall I say of the open country? Apart from its injustice, this imposition of the *jaziya* is an innovation in India and inexpedient.

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"If you imagine piety to consist in oppressing the people and terrorizing the Hindus, you ought first to levy the *jaziya* from Rana Raj Singh, who is the head of the Hindus. Then it will not be so very difficult to collect it from me, as I am at your service. But to oppress ants and flies is far from displaying valour and spirit.

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"I wonder at the strange fidelity of your officers that they neglect to tell you of the true state of things, but cover a blazing fire with straw! May the Sun of your royalty continue to shine above the horizon of greatness!" [History of Aurangzib, iii. Ch. 34 App.]

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§9. Dilir invades Bijapur. Shivaji aids Adil Shah.

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On 18th August, 1679, Dilir crossed the Bhima at Dhulkhed, 40 m. due north of Bijapur, and opened a new campaign against Masaud. That helpless regent begged aid from Shivaji, sending to him an envoy named Hindu Rao charged with this piteous appeal: "The condition of this royalty is not hidden from you. There is no army, money, or ally for defending the fort and no provision at all. The enemy is strong and ever bent on war. You are a hereditary servant, elevated by this Court. And, therefore, you will feel for this house more than others can. We cannot defend the kingdom and its forts without your aid. Be true to your salt; turn towards us. Command what you consider proper, and it shall be done by us." (B. S. 493.)

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Shiva undertook the defence of Bijapur,* ordered 10,000 of his cavalry to reinforce Masaud, sent from his forts 2,000 ox-loads of provisions to the city, and bade his subjects send grain and other necessaries to Bijapur for sale, so that the citizens and soldiers there might not suffer from scarcity. His envoy Visaji Nilkanth brought to Masaud his cheering message, "You hold the fort. I shall go out and punish Dilir Khan as he deserves." Visaji reported to the regent that 5,000 Maratha troopers had reached Ainapur (20 m. s. e. of Miraj) and 5,000 others Bhupalgarh, waiting for his call to come, when needed.

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The Mughal general Sujan Singh took Mangalvide from Shiva's men about September (M.A. 182), and came nearer to Bijapur. Masaud conciliated Sabaji Ghatge and sent him with the army of Turgal to Indi (28 m. n. of Bijapur.) This detachment had a skirmish with Shambhuji who was out foraging; about fifteen men were slain on each side; Sabaji was wounded, but he captured 50 horses, 50 oxen, and 4 camels from the enemy. Shivaji’s envoy now reached Bijapur with Anand Rao at the head of 2,500 horse. They were welcomed by Masaud and stationed in the Nauraspura suburb. Bajaj i [Nimbalkar], now in Mughal service, laid siege to the fort of Akluj, but a Bijapuri general named Bahadur marched up from Sangula (32 m. s.) and drove him away.

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∗ Shivaji as the ally of Bijapur in 1679: B. S. 493-497, 504; Sabh. (silent.) F. R. Fort St. George, Vol. 28, p. 34, Vira Raghav from Golkonda to Madras, 14 January, 1680, (Qutb Shah deterred by Mughal envoy from sending an army to aid Bijapur, but sends money secretly to Shivaji to enlist troops for the defence.)

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But on 15th September, Dilir Khan left his camp at Dhulkhed and came very close to Bijapur, reaching Baratgi, 6 m. n. e. of the city, on 7th October. Here he halted and held palavers with Masaud’s envoys. On 30th October Shivaji arrived at Selgur, midway between Panhala and Bijapur, with 10,000 cavalry. His first detachment left Nauraspura next day to welcome him there. Shiva wanted to visit Adil Shah; Masaud permitted him to come with an escort of 500 men only. But the Peshwa Moro Trimbak dissuaded Shivaji from falling into the power of Masaud by entering the fort.

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So, on 4th November, 1679, the Maratha king divided his army into two bodies: he himself with 8 or 9 thousand troopers started by the road of Muslah and Almala, and Anand Rao with 10,000 cavalry by way of Man* and Sangula, to raid the Mughal dominions and divert Dilir from the environs of Bijapur. But Dilir Khan, to whom the capture of Bijapur seemed easy, paid no heed to the Maratha plunder and devastation of those provinces, which was a familiar annual evil, and hoped for the highest rewards from the expected conquest of the Adil-Shahi capital. So, he pressed his attack on it, without retreating. [B. S. 493—'95.]

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∗ The river Man flows a little to the south of Sangula (20 m. s. of Pandharpur.) Is Mān a copyist's error for Jāt (town)?

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§10. Dilir's ravages. Return of Shambhuji.

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But his siege of Bijapur was a failure. After vainly trying to make peace with Masaud, he left the environs of the city on 14th November and marched westwards, intending to invade the Miraj-Panhala region and create a diversion there, which would quickly recall Shiva home. The scheme seemed promising, as Shambhuji bragged of his ability to capture forts quickly with his Maratha followers and thus make the progress of the imperialists easy, while the petty chiefs (nayak-wars) of Miraj had been already won over by a Mughal agent.

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But his first work was to ravage the Bijapuri territory with insane cruelty. By way of Bahmanhali, Maknapur, and Jalgeri, he reached Tikota (13 m. w. of Bijapur), a rich and populous village, where the wealthy men of the neighbourhood had taken refuge with their families. "The Mughals were utterly unexpected. When Ikhlas Khan with [Dilir's] vanguard arrived there and began to plunder it, the wives of the Hindus and Muslims with their children jumped into the wells near their houses and committed suicide. The village was utterly sacked. Nearly 3,000 men, both Hindus and Muslims, were taken prisoner [for being sold into slavery.]......Leaving Tikota on 18th November, by way of Honvad and Telsang, ravaging the country and carrying off the people as slaves, the imperialists reached Athni (43 m. w. of Bijapur.)" Here, according to the English factory records, a breach took place between the Mughal general and his Maratha ally. Athni, "a considerable mart," was burnt down and Dilir proposed to sell the inhabitants who were all Hindus. Shambhuji objected to it, but was overruled, and began to grow sick of his associates. (F. R. Surat 108, Bomb. to Surat, 1 Jan., 1680.) On 21st November, Dilir left Athni for Ainapur, 12 miles westwards, but learnt on the way that Shambhuji had fled away to Bijapur.

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Since his coming over to the Mughals in December 1678, Shambhuji had been constantly approached by Shivaji's agents with all sorts of persuasions and promises to return to his father. Even Mahadji Nimbalkar, his brother-in-law, though now a Mughal servant, censured him for his act of desertion. (Shambhu reported the matter to Dilir, who put Mahadji in confinement for some days. Dil. 160.) But by this time Shambhuji had made up his mind to leave the Mughals.[*] In the night of 20th November he slipped out of the camp with his wife Yesu Bai disguised in male attire and only 10 troopers for escort, rode hard to Bijapur in the course of the next day and was warmly received by Masaud. Dilir, on learning of Shambhu's flight on the 21st, promptly returned towards Bijapur and sent an agent, Khwajah Abdur Razzaq, to that city to bribe the regent to capture the Maratha prince (28th.) In the night of the 30th, Shambhuji, getting scent of the matter, issued in secret from Bijapur, met a body of cavalry sent by his father to escort him, and galloped away to Panhala, which he reached about the 4th of December. (B. S. 501.)

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∗ According to Sabhasad, 93, Aurangzib wrote to Dilir to arrest Shambhu and send him a prisoner to Delhi; but the Mughal general, to keep his word to his guest, informed the Maratha prince of the letter and connived at his flight. Unlikely story. B. S. 501 says that Aurangzib summoned Shambhu to his Court.

§11. Last campaign of Shivaji

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We shall now trace the history of Shivaji's movements from 4th November, 1679, when he marched out of Selgur (55 m. w. of Bijapur.) The Maratha cavalry, 18,000 strong, rapidly moved northwards in two parallel divisions under Shivaji and Anand Rao, and poured like a flood through the districts of Mughal Deccan, plundering and burning all the places in their track and taking an immense booty in cash and kind. In the middle of the month, Jalna, a populous trading town, 40 miles east of Aurangabad, was captured and plundered.

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Here the godly saint, Sayyid Jan Muhammad, had his hermitage in a garden in the suburbs. As Shivaji in his raids always spared the holy men and holy places of all religions, most of the wealthy men of Jalna had taken refuge in this hermitage with their money and jewels. The raiders, finding very little booty in the town and learning of the concealment of the wealth in the saint's abode, entered it and robbed the refugees, wounding many of them. The holy man appealed to them to desist, but they only abused and threatened him for his pains. (K. K. ii. 271; Dil. 165; T. S. 39a.) Then the man of God, "who had marvellous efficacy of prayer," cursed Shiva, and popular belief ascribed the Rajah's death five months afterwards to these curses.

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Retribution visited the Maratha army very much sooner. Jalna, both town and suburb, was thoroughly plundered and devastated for four days. Then as the Marathas, loaded with booty consisting of "countless gold, silver, jewels, cloths, horses, elephants and camels," were retreating, an enterprising Mughal officer, Ranmast Khan,* attacked their rear-guard. Shidhoji Nimbalkar with 5,000 men held him in check for three days, but was at last slain with many of his men. In the meantime, very large reinforcements were hastening up to the Mughals from Aurangabad, close at hand, under Kesari Singh and Sardar Khan. When these came to a halt six miles from the fighters, Kesari Singh sent a secret message to Shiva as a brother Hindu, to run away at once before the Mughals could complete their circle and cut him off. Shivaji trusted to his chief spy, Bahirji, under whose skilful guidance the Maratha army escaped by an obscure path after three days and nights of anxious and ceaseless marching. But they had to sacrifice much of their booty, besides losing 4,000 horsemen killed and Anand Rao wounded.

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From this disastrous expedition, Shivaji returned to Patta-garh† (about 22nd November) and rested his exhausted and stricken army for some days, and then, at the beginning of December, went to Raigarh, where he seems to have passed the whole of that month.

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∗ Ranmast Khan, brother of Khizr Khan Pani, received a robe of honour from the Emperor on 18th September, 1682, and was created Bahadur Khan in August next (M. A. 222, 235.) T. S. speaks of him as thanahdar or qiladar of Jalna at this time. We afterwards meet him as thanahdar of Akluj (Dil.)

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† Patta, 20 m. s. of Nasik and the same distance east of Thal Ghat (Ind. Atlas, Old sheet 38), 19.42 N. 73.54 E. The fort was renamed Vishram-garh or the Castle of Rest. Bombay writes (29 Nov.) that he "fled here with 500 horse, having lost the greatest part of his army near Bijapur, where Dilir Khan wholly routed him, and took 2000 horses besides prisoners." [F. R. Surat 108.) Here the place of battle and the Mughal general are incorrectly named. Rajapur (30 Dec.) puts the loss at "above 4,000 horse," and the commander Hummedbough [=Anand Rao, rather than Hambir Rao] himself very much wounded. The above Bombay letter adds "The Peshwa was intended for Surat, but the overthrow he received by one Ranmast Khan, who killed him 2000 men and took 400 horse, which diverted him." But the rumour that reached Bombay evidently confounded the campaign of Shivaji and his Peshwa together; and Surat wrote, on 13 Dec., "The advice you (i.e., Bombay) gave us of Shivaji and his Peshwa being routed by the king's army in two several encounters is here quite contrary reported." Sabh. 92-93, J. S., T. S. 39b, Malkare 87, all ascribe

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As Dilir Khan was advancing westwards from Bijapur (middle of November) and seemed intent on laying siege to Panhala, and the presence of Shambhuji in the enemy's camp threatened a civil war in the Maratha State, Shivaji tried to convert Panhala into an impregnable refuge by removing to it the guns of many of his other forts, besides 40 pieces bought from the French. As early as 24th November he had sent Somaji, the brother of Annaji Datto, to remove about 30 pieces of cannon from the forts of Ankola, Karwar, Someshwar, and Phonda, and drag them to Panhala "by the strength of men and buffaloes." (F. R. Surat 108, Rajapur to Surat, 30 Dec., Karwar to Surat, 24 Nov., 1679.)

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Towards the close of November, a fresh Maratha army of 12,000 men assembled near Rajapur in South Konkan. They fired the town (26th) and set out (on the 28th) for Burhanpur, but abandoned the idea and turned off towards Malkapur, where Shivaji himself was reported to have arranged to meet them with 20,000 more cavalry. Evidently, he did not do so, and the Maratha division that raided Khandesh, in the last week of November, "burning and plundering Dharangaon, Chopra, and many other considerable towns adjacent", was led by one of his generals. [F. R. Surat 108, Rajapur to Surat, 6 Dec.; Vol. 4, Surat Consult. 8 Dec. 1679.]

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the victory over Shivaji to Ranmast Khan. No encounter took place between Dilir and the Marathas near Bijapur from Nov. 1679 to Shiva's death, as B. S. clearly shows.

§12. Domestic troubles of Shivaji

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Early in December, Shivaji was greatly relieved by the news that his rebel son Shambhuji had left the Mughals and come back to Panhala (about 4th Dec.) Here Shivaji arrived at the end of the month, to meet the returned prodigal and try to reform him by persuasion.

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The recent rebellion of Shambhuji had revealed the serious danger that threatened the newly founded Maratha kingdom. The character of his eldest son filled Shiva with the gloomiest anticipations of the future. A profligate, capricious and cruel youth, devoid of every spark of honour, patriotism or religious fervour, could not be left sole master of Maharashtra. And yet, the only alternative to Shambhu was Rajaram, a boy of 10, whose accession would have meant a regency. But there was such mutual jealousy and discord among the old ministers of the State, especially between Moro Trimbak, the premier, and Annaji Datto, the viceroy of the West, that a council of regency would have broken up in civil war and the ruin of the State as surely as the Puna council of ministers did a century later. A division of the kingdom between the two princes was proposed, Shambhuji taking Maharashtra and Rajaram the Karnat country beyond the Tungabhadra; but the plan was not given effect to. (Sabh. 94, 102.)

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Shivaji tried hard to conciliate and reason with Shambhu. He appealed to all the nobler instincts of the prince as well as to his self-interest, read him many a lecture, showed him his treasury, revenue returns, list of forts and muster-rolls of troops and horses, and urged him to be worthy of such a splendid heritage and to be true to all the high hopes which he own reign had raised in the Hindu world. (Sabh. 94.) But a born judge of character like Shivaji must have soon perceived that his sermons were falling on deaf ears, and hence his last days were clouded by despair. (Sabh. 102-103.)

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After December, 1679, Shivaji's health seems to have declined, and he seems to have had a premonition of the approach of death. (Sabh. 101.) This fact made the choice of an heir a live issue, and the plots and counter-plots in his harem and cabinet thickened in consequence.

§13. Death of Shivaji

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On 23rd March, 1680, the Rajah was seized with fever and blood dysentery. The illness continued for twelve days. Gradually all hopes of recovery faded away, and then, after giving solemn charges and wise counsels to his nobles and officers, and consoling the weeping assemblage with assurances of the spirit's immortality in spite of the perishableness of the body, the maker of the Maratha nation performed the last rites of his religion and then fell into a trance, which imperceptibly passed into death. It was the noon of Sunday, 4th April, 1680, the full moon of the month of Chaitra.[*]

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He had not yet completed the 53rd year of his age. The Muslim world ascribed his premature death to the curse of the saint Sayyid Jan Muhammad of Jalna. In Maharashtra there were some whispers of his wife Soyra Bai, the mother of Rajaram, having administered poison to him to prevent his giving the throne to Shambhuji.

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∗ Last illness and death of Shivaji: Sabh. 101-104; F. R. Surat 108, Bombay to Surat, 28 April, 1680 (followed by me); M. A. 194; Dil. 165 (one sentence only); K. K. ii. 271 (one sentence); Storia, ii, 231. T. S. 40b (one sentence), and Dig. 462-467 are "loose, traditional works" and charge Soyra Bai with murder. Orme's story (Frag. 89) has been rejected by me, (Ind. Hist. Quarterly, iv. 605). In 1680 the Chaitra full moon extended over both 3rd and 4th April (Sat. and Sunday). I follow Sabhasad who gives Sunday, which agrees with the English F. R.

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The oldest Marathi *bakhar*, that of Sabhasad, is silent on the point, and with good reason. A servant of Rajaram, in a book written by order of that king and for his eyes, could not possibly have mentioned his mother’s murder of her husband even if it had been true. Shambhuji on his accession put Soyra Bai to death on the charge of her having poisoned her husband, but it was in all probability a false pretext for wreaking vengeance on his step-mother for her late attempt to crown her own son. Readers of Macaulay’s account of the death of Charles II. will remember how at that very time in Europe hardly a sovereign died without the event being ascribed to poison.

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It is true that throughout life Shivaji (like all other Eastern sovereigns) was on his guard against being poisoned. We find him, during the Karnatak expedition, repeatedly writing to the English to send him Maldive cocoanuts, bezoar stone and other “good counter-poisons” (*i.e.*, antidotes), offering even to pay for them. But it merely indicated common precaution. (For the use of the bezoar stone as an antidote to poisons, see Irvine’s *Storia do Mogor*.)

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