Shivaji and His Times c8.s13: §4. Coalition of all the enemies of Shivaji
Shivaji and His Times c8.s13
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§4. Coalition of all the enemies of Shivaji
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Secondly, he played skilfully upon the hopes and fears of the Sultan of Bijapur, holding forth the chance of a reduction of his tribute and the removal of the Emperor's displeasure, if Adil Shah aided the Mughals and thus clearly proved his want of connection with Shivaji. Thirdly, he arranged to combine against Shivaji all his enemies and distract his attention by attacks from all possible quarters. As early as January he had sent two Portuguese captains in his service named Francisco and Diogo de Mello,* to the western coast with letters to the chief of the Portuguese settlement at Goa, inviting him to co-operate with the imperialists in attacking Shiva, who had a fleet of his own plying on that sea. In May he wrote to the Emperor, "Now that Shiva is quite negligent and free from anxiety about the west coast, if our ships from Gujrat make a sudden descent on his maritime possessions much booty can be gained." He also wrote to the Siddis of Janjira seeking their friendship. (H. A. Paris 114a; Ben. 78a.)
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In January he had sent his Brahman emissaries to various Deccani chieftains, to stir them up against Shiva. The zamindars of Karnatak were asked to help the Mughals by threatening Bijapur from the south; and agents from two such chiefs, namely Shivappa Nayak and the zamindar of Basavapatan, reached Jai Singh's camp in April with offers of service (Paris MS. 132a.)† Towards the end of January an envoy from the Rajah of Jawhar had met Jai Singh at Burhanpur with a proposal to join the Mughal side; he had been conciliated, promised a *mansab*, and asked to send his son or brother with a contingent of troops. Every one who bore a grudge to Shivaji or envied the sudden rise of the Bhonsles had been approached by the Mughal general's spies. Baji Chandra Rao and his kinsman Ambaji Govind Rao More,—the family from which Shivaji had wrested Javli,—in response to Jai Singh's invitation, sent to him a Brahman named Mudhá, asking for a safe conduct and money help, (middle of February.) These were given, and they reached his camp, along with Mankoji Dhangar, and were enlisted in the Mughal army (4th week of March) (Paris MS. 113a, 123a.) Similarly, Afzal Khan's son, Fazl Khan, solicited from Jai Singh a command and an opportunity of avenging his slaughtered father on Shivaji. (120b.) The adhesion of the petty Rajahs of the Koli country north of Kalian was secured through Niccolao Manucci, then chief of Jai Singh's European artillery. (Storia, ii. 132-133.)
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∗ Of the Mello family living in the Mughal country in banishment from Goa for having caused two murders there. Manucci (ii. 144.) Also Pissurlencar, i. app.; Biker, iv. 126.
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† Shivappa Nayak, the Rajah of Bednur, had died in 1662, and his son Soma Shekhar was now on the throne, but the country was still called the realm of the great conqueror Shivappa.
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Money and promises of high rank in the Mughal service were lavishly employed on Shivaji's officers to corrupt their loyalty (Ben. MS. 54b.), and with some success, as in February Atmaji and Kahar Koli and two other brothers of the former, who commanded 3,000 cavalry and were posted by Shiva at the foot of Purandar in charge of his artillery, sent their agent to Jai Singh agreeing to desert to him. (Paris MS. 113a & b.) Rama and Hanumant, two captains descended from an ancient line of jagirdars of the Supa sub-division, were called away from the service of the Rajah of Chanda and employed under Jai Singh on account of their familiarity with the seat of war and local influence. (122a.)
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Above all, Jai Singh concentrated all authority in his own hands, as an indispensable condition of success in war. The Emperor had at first given him the command of the field-operations only, while all administrative work, like the promotion, punishment and transfer of officers, the payment of the troops, and the regulation of jagirs, was left in the hands of the viceroy at Aurangabad. Jai Singh rightly insisted that in war there should be only one head, and that the 'man on the spot' should be given full authority, or else the work would suffer. The Emperor yielded to the argument and Jai Singh gained absolute civil and military authority alike. The commandants of the Mughal forts at Ahmadnagar and Parenda were also placed under his orders.
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In Western Maharashtra with its heavy rainfall, campaigning is impossible during the monsoons. It was already 3rd March when Jai Singh reached Puna, and if he was to effect anything it must be done in the next three months. From his despatches we learn how he utilized every day, how he struck swiftly and hard, and how he followed up every success to the utmost. The mariner does not scan the sky for the storm-cloud with more anxiety than did this general for the herald of the monsoons which must interrupt his work in the middle and drive him into the forced inactivity of cantonments.