Shivaji and His Times c8.s24.3

c8.s24.3

The Emperor never committed himself to any such promise, and the Persian histories and Jai Singh’s correspondence are silent about it. But it is very probable that among the vague hopes which the wily Rajput general held out to Shiva, was that of being appointed Viceroy of the Deccan, where all the preceding imperial representatives, including Jai Singh himself, had failed, and only a born general and renowned conqueror like Shiva could be expected to succeed. The Deccan charge was so heavy and mere generals had so often wasted imperial resources there, that in 1656 and 1666 the Emperor had talked of going there in person and conducting the war against the local Sultans. Shiva’s past achievements promised success for such an enterprise, if the vast resources of Delhi were placed under a tried military genius like him. What could be more reasonable (Jai Singh may have argued) than that the Emperor, after seeing Shiva and personally learning of his merits, would appoint him Viceroy of the Deccan* to achieve its conquest and save himself the trouble?