The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c14.56

c14.56

But the enterprise on which Shivaji had set his heart most was the conquest of Janjira. The war with the Sidis had begun as early as 1648 and they had been steadily driven from their territories on the mainland. Then began a fierce struggle for the hill-girt island-stronghold of Janjira. Shivaji tried his best to reduce it by storming it from the mainland. He tried to build a mole; he ineffectually attempted the expedient of a floating battery. Once he was almost on the brink of success and the Sidi commander, driven to his last resources, had agreed to sell the island to his enemy; but his colleagues foiled him and saved the little state from being absorbed in the growing Maratha kingdom by transferring their allegiance from the weak Sultan of Bijapur to the powerful Emperor of Delhi. Neither Shivaji nor his successors ever accomplished the conquest of Janjira.