Shivaji and His Times c14.s7: §11. Last campaign of Shivaji
Shivaji and His Times c14.s7
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§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.