Shivaji and His Times c6.s4: §6. Bijapur plans to subdue Shivaji
Shivaji and His Times c6.s4
- Language
- English
§6. Bijapur plans to subdue Shivaji
c6.s4.1
After the Mughal invasion of 1657 had rolled back and Aurangzib had marched away to Northern India, the Bijapur Government gained respite and some accession of vigour. True, the old prime-minister, Khan Muhammad, was murdered (11 Nov. 1657) on a false suspicion of collusion with Aurangzib during the late war; but his successor, Khawas Khan, was an able administrator. The Queen Mother, Bari Sahiba, who virtually ruled the State till her fatal journey to Mecca (1660), was a woman of masterful spirit and experienced in the conduct of business. Freed for the time being from the constant menace of the Mughals on the frontier, the Bijapur Government now began to call its refractory vassals to account. Shahji was asked to punish Shivaji, but he frankly repudiated all responsibility for the conduct of his disobedient son and left the Government free to punish him without any consideration for her father's feelings. Measures had, therefore, to be taken for crushing Shivaji by force.
c6.s4.2
∗ The reading of the Mahad MS. of Sabh. (11 n) has been accepted here. Jedhe S. says that Narahari Anand Rao was created Peshwa on 21 Aug. 1661 (T. S. 13b), and Moro Pant Majmuadar on 2 Jan. 1661 and Peshwa on 3 Apr. 1662, when Nilo succeeded him as Majmuadar.
c6.s4.3
This was, however, no easy task. Shiva's military strength was far from despicable; and the Bijapuri nobles shrank from the idea of a campaign among the hills and jungles of the Western Ghats. The command of the expedition against him went abegging at the Bijapur Court, till Afzal Khan accepted it. (Sabh. 12-13; Jedhe S; Malkare 30; T. S. 15.)