Shivaji and His Times c6.s3.2

c6.s3.2

On 31st July he despatched Raghunath Pant to reinforce his attack on the Siddis of Janjira. And when the rains ceased and the dry season for campaigning began again (in October), he himself hastened to a new field. Crossing the Western Ghats he burst into Konkan. The northern part of this coast-strip formed the Kalian (modern, Thana) district and was then held by an Arab named Mulla Ahmad of the Nawaiyat (emigrant) clan, one of the leading nobles of Bijapur. The protracted illness of Muhammad Adil Shah had detained this governor at Bijapur for a long time, and during his absence the defence of his jagir had grown slack and inefficient. (*A. N.* 576). A considerable amount of disaffection and disorder seems to have prevailed among the petty chieftains of the district, which was a recent acquisition from the Nizam-Shahi State and where the authority of the new Government sat loose.