Shivaji and His Times c5.s6.31

c5.s6.31

Shivaji then sent Raghunath Pant Korde as his envoy to the Prince to ask for the *deshmukhi* of the Junnar and Ahmadnagar parganas. Murad, on 30th November, 1649, promised to try to secure these rights for him after reaching the Emperor's presence. Whether Shah Jahan really consented to put pressure on Adil Shah to release Shahji is very doubtful. No historian mentions it. Indeed, active Mughal intervention on behalf of Shahji seems to me very improbable. For one thing, Shah Jahan always treated Muhammad Adil Shah with marked courtesy and kindness, while Shahji was bitterly hated at the Mughal Court for the trouble he had given them in 1633-1636. Then, again, the Mughal Emperor had definitely promised in his treaties with Bijapur not to take into his service or extend his protection to any officer of Adil Shah. It is, therefore, historically true that the release of Shahji was due to the friendly mediation of Sharza Khan and the bail of Randaula Khan, two leading nobles of Bijapur. Shahji after his release is said to have lived for some time in the Tungabhadra region subduing the rebellious chieftains of his jagir in Northern Mysore. Here his eldest son Shambhuji fell in an attack on Kanakgiri, but he himself afterwards carried the fort by assault.[*] (T. S. 8b.)