Shivaji and His Times c14.s6: §8. Shivaji's letter on religious toleration

Shivaji and His Times c14.s6

Language: English

§8. Shivaji's letter on religious toleration

"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.