pp. 353-354

CHAPTER XIII. His Last Years. §1. Adventures during return from the Karnatak. After his marvellous success in the invasion of the Karnatak, Shivaji left the Madras plains (about November, 1677) and entered the Mysore plateau, conquering its eastern and central parts. From Sera in the heart of the Mysore kingdom (December, 1677), he marched to Kopal, 125 miles north, the fort of which he took, then turned 35 miles westwards to Gadag, and 24 miles south of the latter to Lakshmishwar in the Dharwar district, (capturing the forts at both these places.) The desai of Mulgund, half way from Gadag to Lakshmishwar, had evacuated his fort in terror, and it was occupied by the Marathas.

p. 353

His route is thus given in Sabhasad, 91: Kolhar—Ballapur—Kopal—Lakshmishwar—Khangauda desai chastised—Sampgaon district—Balvada desain invested, captured, and "taught a lesson"—Panhala. Chitnis, 142:—Srirangapattan—Gadag—Lakshmishwar—Khangauda desai fled—Gadag—Balved desain Mai Bai besieged for 27 days, captured and released. Shivadigvijay, 347-357: Savitri Bai of Belvadi besieged—Gadag—Lakshmishwar—Gaunda desai fled—Balved desain loots transport, is besieged and captured. I cannot find Khangauda in the maps, but only Mulgund and Navalgund, (the last being 20 m. n. w. of Gadag.)

p. 354

Bankapur, 20 miles s. w. of Lakshmishwar, was besieged unsuccessfully, about the middle of January, 1678. (O. C. 4314.) From this place Shivaji retraced his steps northwards, and arrived near Sampgaon in the Belgaum district. At Belvadi, a small village 12 miles s. e. of Sampgaon and 30 miles s. e. of Belgaum, Savitri Bai, the widowed lady proprietor, plundered some transport bullocks of Shiva's army when passing by. Her fort was at once besieged, but she defended it most heroically for 27 days, after which it was carried by assault and she herself was captured.

p. 354

T. S., 38a, thus describes her fate: 'A woman named Savitri was the patelni (proprietress) of Belvadi. From the shelter of her fort she fought Shiva for one month. On her provisions and munitions running short, she made a sortie, demolished all the siege trenches, and dispersed and slew many of the besiegers. For one day she kept the field heroically, but at last fled vanquished, was captured and greatly dishonoured. Sakhuji Gaikwar was the doer of this evil deed. Shivaji, on hearing of his act, put out both his eyes and thus gave him his deserts. He was imprisoned in the village of Manauli.'

p. 355

This long check by a woman, before a petty mud-fort, greatly lowered Shivaji's prestige. As the English merchants of Rajapur write on 28th Feb., 1678: "He is at present besieging a fort where, by relation of their own people come from him, he has suffered more disgrace than ever he did from all power of the Mughal or the Deccans ( = Bijapuris), and he who hath conquered so many kingdoms is not able to reduce this woman Desai." (F. R. Surat, 107.)

pp. 355-356

Soon afterwards Shivaji had another and very great disappointment,—the greatest in his life, which we describe in the words of the Rajapur factors in their letter dated 3rd April. "Jamshid Khan, since the death of his master the Nawab [Bahlol Khan, on 23rd Dec., 1677], found himself incapable of longer holding out, agrees with Shivaji to deliver up [the fort of Bijapur and the person of Sikandar Adil Shah] for 600,000 pagodas. Siddi Masaud, having intelligence of this, feigns a sickness, at last death, and causes a handol publicly to be sent away with part of the army to Adoni, the residue (of his troops) about 4,000 sent to Jamshid, pretending that since the leader was dead, if he would entertain them they would serve him. He presently accepts their service and receives them into the Fort, who within two days seized his person, caused the gates to be opened and received the Siddi in alive, (21st Feb., 1678.) Shivaji upon his march hearing this news returns, and is expected at Panhala in a short time." (F. R. Surat, Vol. 107.) In an age when almost every man had his price, Shivaji cannot be blamed for trying to make gains by bribery. The fort of Bijapur was for sale, and he only made a bid for it, and took his chance with other competitors for the position of keeper of the puppet Adil Shah, even as Shahji had been the keeper of a puppet Nizam Shah. Masaud and Bahlol were not more disinterested, but certainly less efficient than he would have been as Regent of Bijapur.

p. 356

The news of the transfer of the Adil-Shahi capital to Siddi Masaud (21st February) reached Shivaji on his way from Belvadi through Turgal to Bijapur, and he swerved aside to the west and returned to his own stronghold of Panhala at the end of March or in the first week of April, 1678.

p. 356

§2. Maratha activity in 1677. At this stage we may conveniently inquire into what happened in Maharashtra during Shivaji's absence in the Karnatak. In November, 1676, an army was sent under Shambhuji to annex some Portuguese territory near Goa. He demanded 60 villages from the Portuguese on the ground that they belonged to the fort of Ponda, which was now in Shivaji's possession; but on meeting with a refusal, he made a rash assault on the Portuguese forces, who beat him off. Then the Marathas left the district for Daman, hoping to find less opposition there. But no permanent gain resulted from this campaign. (Dutch Rec., Vol. 34, No. 844.)

pp. 356-357

During this period (December, 1676—March, 1678), the army left at home under Moro Trimbak in the Desh and Annaji Datto in Konkan, naturally confined itself to the defence of the realm, without venturing to make any aggression. In November 1677, however, Dattaji taking advantage of the crushing repulse of Dilir and Bahlol by the Golkonda troops (September) roved the inland parts of Kanara and looted Hubli. Early in January, 1678, Moro Pant "plundered Trimbak, Nasik and other considerable places in the Mughal territory." Dilir Khan hastened there with the remnant of his broken army, (middle of February.) (F. R. Surat 107, Rajapur to Surat, 8 Dec., 1677; Bomb. to Surat, 21 Feb., 1678; O. C. 4314. Surat 89, Surat to Co., 21 Jan., 1678.)

p. 357

§3. Conquest of the Tungabhadra bank. Shivaji's return home (March, 1678), revived Maratha activity. The districts that he retained in Central and Eastern Mysore as the result of his Karnatak expedition, had to be connected with his old dominions by the conquest of the southern corner of the kingdom of Bijapur, which consisted of the Kopal region north of the Tungabhadra opposite the Bellary district, as well as part of the Dharwar and Belgaum districts intervening between Kopal and Panhala. This country was held by two Afghans, Husain Khan Miana of Sampgaon (Belgaum) and his brother Qasim Khan of Kopal. They were fellow-clansmen of Bahlol Khan, and it seems probable that on the death of that chief and the ruin of his family, the defence of these tracts, formerly included in his jagir, was entrusted to them.

pp. 357-358

Husain Khan was as high and powerful a noble as Bahlol Khan, a brave general renowned for his martial spirit, and commanding 5,000 Pathan archers, lancers, musketeers and artillery-men. The fort of Kopal was secured by Moro Pant from Qasim Khan for a price. Husain Khan is said by Chitnis (p. 142) to have opposed Shivaji's return by the Kopal-Gadag route and to have been repulsed. Some time afterwards he was defeated and captured by Hambir Rao near Sampgaon, but dismissed by Shivaji with honour. According to a late tradition (T.S. 33b), Husain Khan, being a man of a delicate sense of honour, took his disgrace to heart and swallowed poison. This is untrue, as we have contemporary evidence of Husain Miana deserting from Bijapur to the Mughals on 11th March, 1683, (B. S. 445; M. A., 225.) The Maratha troops who had won these triumphs under Hambir Rao and Moro Pant were, on their return, reviewed by Shivaji and highly praised and rewarded. (Chit. 146.)

pp. 358-359

"Kopal (105 miles due south of Bijapur and a slightly greater distance south-east of Belgaum) is the gate of the south," and its possession enabled the Maratha dominion to be extended to the bank of the Tungabhadra river and even across it into the Bellary and Chittaldurg districts. Many of the local chieftains, who had long defied the Bijapur Government and withheld taxes in this ill-subdued border country, were now chastised by the Marathas and reduced to obedience,—among them being the poligars of Kanakgiri (25 miles n. e. of Kopal), Harpan-halli (40 miles s. of Kopal), Raydurg, Chittaldurg, Vidyanagar (? old Vijaynagar), and Bundikot (? Gudicota, 45 miles e. of Harpan-halli.) This country was now formed into a regular province of Shivaji's kingdom and placed under Janardan Narayan Hanumante as viceroy.

p. 359

The Mianas: Sabh. 80-81; Chit. 142, 146, 179; Dig. 285, 339; T.S. 33a & o; B.S. 406 (one sentence only.) Dig. 335 speaks of a Yusuf Khan Miana. Is it a misreading of Husain (Isab for Hasen)? Sabh. B.S. and T.S. place the Maratha expansion into the Kopal district before, and Chitnis and Dig. after, Shivaji's invasion of the Karnatak. The latter view is more probable. The conquest and consolidation must have taken more expeditions than one and a pretty long time. The narrative in Chit. 179 and Dig. 285-287 seems to me to be confused and unreliable. Z. C. asserts that in January 1677 Hambir Rao defeated Husain Khan near Yelgedla (?=Yelburga) in the Gadag district and took 2,000 horses and some elephants from him; in May 1678, Shivaji after gaining the Gadag district returned to Raigarh; in March 1679 Moro Pant, by sending back the captive son of Husain Khan, secured the fort of Kopal; he released Husain Khan, who now entered his service.

p. 359

In the meantime, a few days after Shivaji's return to Panhala, his troops attacked Mungi-Pattan, on the Godavari, 30 miles south of Aurangabad. (M. A. 166.) It was probably next month that they made a second attempt to get possession of Shivner. They invested the village (of Junnar) at its foot, and at night tried to scale the fort.

pp. 359-360

"Three hundred Marathas climbed the fort-walls at night by means of nooses and rope-ladders. But Abdul Aziz Khan was an expert qiladar. Though he had sent away his sons and followers to reinforce the faujdar Yahiya Khan in the village, he personally with a few men slew all the infantry of Shiva who had entered the fort. Next morning he hunted out the few who had concealed themselves in the hill [side] below the fort and among rocks and holes, and released them with presents, sending a message to Shivaji to the effect, 'So long as I am qiladar, you will never take this fort.'" (Dil. 157.)

pp. 360-361

§4. The Mughals, Bijapur, and Shivaji, 1678. A rupture now took place between Shiva and Qutb Shah, and the diplomatic system so patiently built up by Madanna Pandit fell to the ground. Qutb Shah's indignation had been rising as he found himself made a mere cat's paw of Shiva in the Karnatak adventure. He had borne all the expenses of the expedition and supplied artillery and an auxiliary force for it. But not one of the conquered forts was given to him, not one pice of his contribution was repaid out of the fabulous booty carried away by Shiva from that land of gold. And now the Maratha plot to capture Bijapur by treachery destroyed the last trace of patience in the Golkonda king, especially as he had been playing for some years past the flattering role of a chivalrous friend and protector of the boy Adil Shah. So, Abul Hassan arranged for a peace between the new Bijapuri regent, Siddi Masaud, and his rivals (especially Sharza Khan), helped him with money to pacify the unpaid mutinous soldiery, and bound him to wage war against Shiva and "confine him to Konkan." The Adil-Shahi nobles prepared to open the campaign in October next, with about 25,000 cavalry and numerous infantry. But Dilir Khan spoiled the whole plan. (O. C. 4266; F. R. Surat 107, Rajapur to Surat, 3 April, 1678; G. Robinson to Surat, 31 Aug.)

p. 361

Dilir Khan had exacted heavy and humiliating concessions from Siddi Masaud when he made peace with him at Kulbarga (Nov. 1677.) The odium of that treaty fell on the new regent, and all the disorders in the State and all the sufferings of the people were laid at his door. Distracted by domestic factions, daily insulted and threatened by the Afghan soldiers, and hopeless of preventing "Shiva's boundless violence and encroachments" with the resources of the ruined, divided and bankrupt State, Siddi Masaud wanted to come to terms with Shivaji; but Dilir Khan forbade it, assuring him that the imperial army was ready to help him in fighting the Marathas. Masaud was, however, too bewildered by the disturbances in all parts of the country to listen to this advice. He wrote to Shiva, "We are neighbours. We eat the same salt. You are as deeply concerned in [the welfare of] this State as I am. The enemy [i.e., Mughals] are day and night trying to ruin it. We two ought to unite and expel the foreigner."

pp. 361-362

§5. Shambhuji deserts to the Mughals. At the news of these negotiations, Dilir Khan grew angry and set himself to conquer Bijapur. Only respect for treaties had kept him from doing so before; but Masaud's breach of faith absolved him from the obligation to spare Adil Shah. (B. S. 408, 414.)

p. 362

And he now received a most unexpected accession of strength. Shivaji's eldest son Shambhuji was the curse of his old age. This youth of nineteen was violent, capricious, unsteady, thoughtless and notoriously depraved in his morals. For his outrage on a married Brahman woman he had been confined in Panhala fort, but escaped with his wife Yesu Bai and a few comrades to join Dilir Khan. Shivaji sent a force in pursuit, but was too late.

pp. 362-363

Dilir Khan, on getting Shambhuji's letter, had detached from his camp at Bahadurgarh 4,000 men under Ikhlas Khan (the commander of his Vanguard) and Ghairat Khan (his nephew) to advance and escort the fugitive. They met him 8 miles south of Supa, and Dilir himself joined them at Karkamb, 12 miles further north-east. Dilir Khan was thrown into transports of joy at the desertion of Shivaji's heir to his side. "He felt as happy as if he had conquered the whole Deccan!" (B. S. 415.) "He beat his drums in joy and sent a report to the Emperor. Shambhu was created a 7-hazari and a Rajah and presented with an elephant." (Dil. 159.) This happened in November, 1678. The Khan with his valuable new ally halted at Akluj (50 miles south of Bahadurgarh) for some time to prepare for the invasion of Bijapur.

p. 363

§6. Maratha plot to seize Bijapur. In this danger Siddi Masaud immediately asked for help from Shiva, as agreed upon. The Rajah sent six to seven thousand well-armed cavalry to guard Bijapur. Masaud could not fully trust his ally, he asked the Maratha contingent to halt beside the stream of the village Itangihal (5 m. n. w. of the city), but they came nearer, encamped at Khanapur and Khusraupur, and demanded that one of the gates and towers of the fort should be entrusted to them. Masaud wisely declined. Then they moved to Zuhrapur and encamped on the plain just outside the walls, thus increasing Masaud's suspicion. Soon the allies began to quarrel openly.

p. 363

"It is reported that Shivaji has in person plundered Shahpur, the suburbs of Bijapur, and had liked to have got into the royal city, the conquest whereof is his sole aim, lest it should fall into the Mughal's hands, and then he knows he could not long subsist." (Bombay to Surat, 4 April 1679, in Orme MSS. 116.)

pp. 363-364

The Marathas were detected in trying to smuggle arms and men into the fort, by concealing the arms in sacks of grain and disguising themselves as drivers of the pack-oxen! Then Shiva threw off the mask. He began to plunder and devastate Adil-Shahi territory again. His men looted the suburbs of Bijapur,—Daulatpura ( = Khawaspura), Khusraupura and Zuhrapura, and carried off the rich banias for ransom. Near the tomb of Shaikh Ahmad Khawas-Khani, they slew Ali Raza and wounded Siddi Yaqut.

p. 364

But when they reached the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah, west of the city, a shot from the fort-guns killed the Maratha commander and the men fled away. Masaud now made peace with Dilir Khan. A Mughal force was invited to Bijapur, royally welcomed, and sent off with a Bijapuri army under Venkatadri Murari (the confidant of the regent) and other officers, against the Marathas. They reached Tikota (13 miles w. of Bijapur), when spies brought the report that Shiva himself had arrived at Selgur (55 miles w. of Bijapur and the same distance east of Panhala) with 7 to 8 thousand men and wanted to make a night-attack on the Mughal or the Bijapuri army, whichever would advance first. But a new quarrel between Masaud and Sharza Khan paralysed the power of Bijapur. (B. S. 415-418.)

p. 364

§7. Dilir captures Bhupalgarh. Dilir Khan next marched to the fort of Bhupalgarh, which Shivaji had built as a storehouse of his property and the refuge of the families of his subjects in the neighbourhood during his wars with the Mughals. By great labour the imperialists

p. 364

Shambhuji's desertion to the Mughals and capture of Bhupalgarh: B. S. 415, 418-19, 430 (best.) Dil. 159-163 (reliable.) F. R. Surat, Vol. 108, Rajapur to Surat, 16 Dec., 1679, Bombay to Surat, 1 Jan., 1680 (return.) Sabh. 93-94; Chit. 172-*4; Dig. 263-269 (legend.) T. S. 39a (confused.)

p. 365

dragged some guns to the top of a neighbouring height during the night and next morning began to batter the walls and towers. The assault was launched about 9 A. M. and the Mughals fought with vigour till noon, when they captured the fort after heavy slaughter on both sides. Vast quantities of grain and other property and large numbers of people were captured by the victors. Seven hundred survivors of the garrison were deprived of one hand and then set free; the other captives were evidently sold into slavery.

pp. 365-366

Before this Shivaji had sent 16,000 horse to relieve the fort. They arrived too late, but hovered on the four sides of the Mughals. Suddenly they learnt that Iraj Khan and Bajaji Rao [Nimbalkar] were bringing provisions from Parenda to the besieging army, and then they immediately hastened to intercept the convoy. But Dilir Khan detached Ikhlas Khan with 1,500 cavalry to the aid of Iraj Khan. Twelve miles from Bhupalgarh he overtook the Marathas. Ikhlas Khan's small force was enveloped and he took refuge in a walled village and repelled the Maratha assault with his back to the wall, doing great havoc among the enemy with his artillery, and slaying nearly one thousand of Shiva's men. Then large reinforcements arrived from Dilir Khan, at whose approach the Marathas fled. Dilir then went back to Bhupalgarh, burnt everything that he could not carry off, dismantled its fortifications, and returned to Dhulkhed. (B. S. 418-419; Dil. 160; Chitnis, 176 differs.)

p. 365

Bhupalgarh, 20 m. n.w. of Jath, 45 m. s.w. of Pandharpur, and 10 m. s.e. of Khanapur in the Satara district; the modern name of the village is Banur (Atlas, 40 N. E.); described in Bom. Gaz. xix. 455-456.

p. 366

The fugitive Marathas, however, scored a success. Near Karkamb (30 miles south of Parenda), they fell in with Iraj Khan, looted all his grain and the property of his troops, and forced him to flee with a few men into a small fort hard by, where he was afterwards relieved by his kinsman, Mir Muhammad Khan, the qiladar of Parenda. (Dil. 161.)

p. 366

The fall of Bhupalgarh took place in April, 1679. Then followed a period of puzzling intrigue and counter-intrigue between the Mughal viceroy and the Bijapur nobility, and also quarrels between Masaud and Sharza Khan, Masaud and Dilir, and Masaud and his favourite Venkatadri. About the middle of this year Shivaji sent to Aurangzib a well-reasoned and spirited letter of protest against the jaziya, which was drafted by Nila Prabhu in eloquent Persian.

pp. 366-367

§8. Shivaji's letter on religious toleration. To the Emperor Alamgir— "This firm and constant well-wisher Shivaji, after rendering thanks for the grace of God and the favours of the Emperor,—which are clearer than the Sun,—begs to inform your Majesty that, although this well-wisher was led by his adverse Fate to come away from your august Presence without taking leave, yet he is ever ready to perform, to the fullest extent possible and proper, everything that duty as a servant and gratitude demand of him.

p. 367

"It has recently come to my ears that, on the ground of the war with me having exhausted your wealth and emptied your treasury, your Majesty has ordered that money under the name of jaziya should be collected from the Hindus and the imperial needs supplied with it. May it please your Majesty! That architect of the fabric of empire, [Jalaluddin] Akbar Padishah, reigned with full power for 52 [lunar] years. He adopted the admirable policy of universal harmony (sulh-i-kul) in relation to all the various sects, such as Christians, Jews, Muslims, Dadu's followers, sky-worshippers (falakia), malakia, materialists (ansaria), atheists (daharia), Brahmans and Jain priests. The aim of his liberal heart was to cherish and protect all the people. So, he became famous under the title of Jagat-Guru, 'the World's spiritual guide.'

pp. 367-368

"Next, the Emperor Nuruddin Jahangir for 22 years spread his gracious shade on the head of the world and its dwellers, gave his heart to his friends and his hand to his work, and gained his desires. The Emperor Shah Jahan for 32 years cast his blessed shade on the head of the world and gathered the fruit of eternal life,—which is only a synonym for goodness and fair fame,—as the result of his happy time on earth. (Verses) He who lives with a good name gains everlasting wealth, Because after his death, the recital of his good deeds keeps his name alive.

p. 368

"Through the auspicious effect of this sublime disposition, wherever he [Akbar] bent the glance of his august wish, Victory and Success advanced to welcome him on the way. In his reign many kingdoms and forts were conquered [by him.] The state and power of these Emperors can be easily understood from the fact that Alamgir Padishah has failed and become distracted in the attempt to merely follow their political system. They, too, had the power of levying the jaziya; but they did not give place to bigotry in their hearts, as they considered all men, high and low, created by God to be [living] examples of the nature of diverse creeds and temperaments. Their kindness and benevolence endure on the pages of Time as their memorial, and so prayer and praise for these [three] pure souls will dwell for ever in the hearts and tongues of mankind, among both great and small. Prosperity is the fruit of one's intentions. Therefore, their wealth and good fortune continued to increase, as God's creatures reposed in the cradle of peace and safety [under their rule], and their undertakings succeeded.

pp. 368-369

"But in your Majesty's reign, many of the forts and provinces have gone out of your possession, and the rest will soon do so too, because there will be no slackness on my part in ruining and devastating them. Your peasants are down-trodden; the yield of every village has declined,—in the place of one lakh [of Rupees] only one thousand, and in the place of a thousand only ten are collected, and that too with difficulty. When Poverty and Beggary have made their homes in the palaces of the Emperor and the Princes, the condition of the grandees and officers can be easily imagined. It is a reign in which the army is in a ferment, the merchants complain, the Muslims cry, the Hindus are grilled, most men lack bread at night and in the day inflame their own cheeks by slapping them [in anguish.] How can the royal spirit permit you to add the hardship of the jaziya to this grievous state of things? The infamy will quickly spread from west to east and become recorded in books of history that the Emperor of Hindusthan, coveting the beggars' bowls, takes jaziya from Brahmans and Jain monks, yogis, sannyasis, bairagis, paupers, mendicants, ruined wretches, and the famine-stricken,—that his valour is shown by attacks on the wallets of beggars,—that he dashes down to the ground the name and honour of the Timurids!

pp. 369-370

"May it please your Majesty! If you believe in the true Divine Book and Word of God (i.e., the Quran), you will find there [that God is styled] Rabb-ul-alamin, the Lord of all men, and not Rabb-ul-musalmin, the Lord of the Muhammadans only. Verily, Islam and Hinduism are terms of contrast. They are [diverse pigments] used by the true Divine Painter for blending the colours and filling in the outlines [of His picture of the entire human species.] If it be a mosque, the call to prayer is chanted in remembrance of Him. If it be a temple, the bell is rung in yearning for Him only. To show bigotry for any man's creed and practices is equivalent to altering the words of the Holy Book. To draw new lines on a picture is equivalent to finding fault with the painter.

p. 370

"In strict justice the jaziya is not at all lawful. From the political point of view it can be allowable only if a beautiful woman wearing gold ornaments can pass from one province to another without fear or molestation. [But] in these days even the cities are being plundered, what shall I say of the open country? Apart from its injustice, this imposition of the jaziya is an innovation in India and inexpedient.

p. 370

"If you imagine piety to consist in oppressing the people and terrorising the Hindus, you ought first to levy the jaziya from Rana Raj Singh, who is the head of the Hindus. Then it will not be so very difficult to collect it from me, as I am at your service. But to oppress ants and flies is far from displaying valour and spirit.

pp. 370-371

"I wonder at the strange fidelity of your officers that they neglect to tell you of the true state of things, but cover a blazing fire with straw! May the Sun of your royalty continue to shine above the horizon of greatness!" (History of Aurangzib, iii. 325-329.)

p. 371

§9. Dilir invades Bijapur. Shivaji aids Adil Shah. On 18th August, Dilir crossed the Bhima at Dhulkhed, 40 m. due north of Bijapur, and opened a new campaign against Masaud. That helpless regent begged aid from Shivaji, sending to him an envoy named Hindu Rao charged with this piteous appeal: "The condition of this royalty is not hidden from you. There is no army, money, or ally for defending the fort and no provision at all. The enemy is strong and ever bent on war. You are a hereditary servant, elevated by this Court. And, therefore, you will feel for this house more than others can. We cannot defend the kingdom and its forts without your aid. Be true to your salt; turn towards us. Command what you consider proper, and it shall be done by us." (B. S. 427.)

p. 371

Shivaji as the ally of Bijapur in 1679: B. S. 426-429, 432; Chit. 175-179. Sabh. (silent.) F. R. Fort St. George, Vol. 28, p. 34 (Vira Raghav from Golkonda to Madras, 14 January, 1680.)

pp. 371-372

Shiva undertook the defence of Bijapur, ordered 10,000 of his cavalry to reinforce Masaud, sent from his forts 2,000 ox-loads of provisions to the city, and bade his subjects send grain and other necessaries to Bijapur for sale, so that the citizens and soldiers there might not suffer scarcity. His envoy Visaji Nilkanth brought to Masaud his cheering message, "You hold the fort. I shall go out and punish Dilir Khan as he deserves." Visaji reported to the regent that 5,000 Maratha troopers had reached Ainapur (20 m. s. e. of Miraj) and 5,000 others Bhupalgarh, waiting for his call to come, when needed. (B. S. 427.)

p. 372

The Mughal general Sujan Singh took Mangalvide from Shiva's men about September (M.A. 182), and came nearer to Bijapur. Masaud conciliated Sabaji Ghatge and sent him with the army of Turgal to Indi (28 m. n. of Bijapur.) This detachment had a skirmish with Shambhuji who was out foraging; about fifteen men were slain on each side; Sabaji was wounded but captured 50 horses, 50 oxen, and 4 camels from the enemy. Shivaji's envoy now reached Bijapur with Anand Rao at the head of 2,500 horse. They were welcomed by Masaud and stationed in the Nauraspura suburb. Bajaji [Nimbalkar], now in Mughal service, laid siege to the fort of Akluj, but a Bijapuri general named Bahadur marched up from Sangula (32 m. s.) and drove him away.

pp. 372-373

But on 15th September, Dilir Khan left his camp at Dhulkhed and came very close to Bijapur, reaching Baratgi, 6 m. n. e. of the city, on 7th October. Here he halted and held palavers with Masaud's envoys. On 30th October Shivaji arrived at Selgur, midway between Panhala and Bijapur, with 10,000 cavalry. His first detachment left Nauraspura next day to welcome him there. Shiva wanted to visit Adil Shah; Masaud permitted him to come with an escort of 500 men only.

p. 373

But the Peshwa Moro Trimbak dissuaded Shivaji from falling into the power of Masaud by entering the fort. So, on 4th November, 1679, the Maratha king divided his army into two bodies: he himself with 8 or 9 thousand troopers started by the road of Muslah and Almala, and Anand Rao with 10,000 cavalry by way of Man (? probably Jat) and Sangula, to raid the Mughal dominions and recall Dilir from the environs of Bijapur. But Dilir Khan, to whom the capture of Bijapur seemed easy, paid no heed to the Maratha plunder and devastation of those provinces, which was a familiar annual evil, and hoped for the highest rewards from the expected conquest of the Adil-Shahi capital. So, he pressed his attack on it, without retreating.

pp. 373-374

§10. Dilir's ravages. Return of Shambhuji. But his siege of Bijapur was a failure. After vainly trying to make peace with Masaud, he left the environs of the city on 14th November and marched westwards, intending to invade the Miraj-Panhala region and create a diversion there, which would quickly recall Shiva home. The scheme seemed promising, as Shambhuji bragged of his ability to capture forts quickly with his Maratha followers and thus make the progress of the imperialists easy, while the petty chiefs (Nayak-Wars) of Miraj had been already won over by a Mughal agent.

p. 374

But his first work was to ravage the Bijapuri territory with insane cruelty. By way of Bahmanhali, Maknapur, and Jalgeri, he reached Tikota (13 m. w. of Bijapur), a rich and populous village, where the wealthy men of the neighbourhood had taken refuge with their families. "The Mughals were utterly unexpected. When Ikhlas Khan with [Dilir's] Vanguard arrived there and began to plunder it, the wives of the Hindus and Muslims with their children jumped into the wells near their houses and committed suicide. The village was utterly sacked. Nearly 3,000 men, both Hindus and Muslims, were taken prisoner [for being sold into slavery.] ...Leaving Tikota on 18th November, by way of Honvad and Telsang, ravaging the country and carrying off the people as slaves, the imperialists reached Athni (43 m. w. of Bijapur.)" Here, according to the English factory records, a breach took place between the Mughal general and his Maratha ally. Athni, "a considerable mart," was burnt down and Dilir proposed to sell the inhabitants who were all Hindus. Shambhuji objected to it, but was overruled, and began to grow sick of his associates. (F. R. Surat 108, Bomb. to Surat, 1 Jan., 1680.) On 21st November, Dilir left Athni for Ainapur, 12 miles westwards, but learnt on the way that Shambhuji had fled away to Bijapur. (B. S. 428-430.)

pp. 374-375

Since his coming over to the Mughals in November 1678, Shambhuji had been constantly approached by Shivaji's agents with all sorts of persuasions and promises to return to his father. Even Mahadji Nimbalkar, his brother-in-law, though now a Mughal servant, censured him for his act of desertion. (Shambhu reported the matter to Dilir, who put Mahadji in confinement for some days. Dil. 160.) But by this time Shambhuji had made up his mind to leave the Mughals. In the night of 20th November he slipped out of the camp with his wife Yesu Bai disguised in male attire and only 10 troopers for escort, rode hard to Bijapur in the course of the day and was warmly received by Masaud. Dilir promptly returned towards Bijapur on learning of Shambhu's flight on the 21st, and sent an agent, Khwajah Abdur Razzaq, to that city to bribe the regent to capture the Maratha prince (28th.) In the night of the 30th, Shambhuji, getting scent of the matter, issued in secret from Bijapur, met a body of cavalry sent by his father to escort him, and galloped away to Panhala, which he reached about the 2nd of December.

p. 375

According to Sabhasad, 93, Aurangzib wrote to Dilir to arrest Shambhu and send him a prisoner to Delhi; but the Mughal general, to keep his word to his guest, informed the Maratha prince of the letter and connived at his flight. Unlikely story. B. S. 430 says that Aurangzib summoned Shambhu to his Court.

pp. 375-376

§11. Last campaign of Shivaji. We shall now trace the history of Shivaji's movements from 4th November, 1679, when he marched out to raid the Mughal dominions in order to create a diversion for the relief of Bijapur. The campaign was not an unbroken success for him. As the Bombay Council wrote on 1st. Jan., 1680, "He hath both lost and gained." Near Bijapur he was attacked (middle of November) and utterly routed by Dilir Khan, who captured from him 2,000 horses, besides prisoners. The defeated Rajah fled to Pattagarh (Vishram-garh) with only 500 cavalry, having lost the greater part of his army, and summoned Moro Trimbak and Annaji Datto to a council of war there. The Peshwa had himself just suffered a reverse in advancing towards Surat; he had been defeated and driven back by Ranmast Khan, a Pathan general, with the loss of 2,000 men killed and 400 horses captured. (F. R. Surat, 108. Bom. to Surat, 29 Nov., 1679.)

p. 376

Putta, 20 m. s. of Nasik, and 20 m. e. of Thai Ghat. (Ind. At., Old Sheet 38.) 19-42 N. 73-54 E. B. S. is strangely silent about this defeat of Shiva.

pp. 376-377

As Dilir Khan was advancing westwards from Bijapur (middle of November) and seemed intent on laying siege to Panhala, and the presence of Shambhuji in the enemy's camp threatened a civil war in the Maratha State, Shivaji tried to convert Panhala into an impregnable refuge by removing to it the guns of many of his other forts, besides 40 pieces bought from the French. As early as 24th November he had sent Somaji, the brother of Annaji Datto, to remove about 30 pieces of artillery from the forts of Ankola, Karwar, Someshwar, and Ponda, and drag them to Panhala "by the strength of men and buffaloes." (F. R. Surat, 108, Rajapur to Surat, 30 Dec., 1679; Karwar to Surat, 24 Nov.)

p. 377

A grand attempt was made to retrieve the two disasters of the middle of November. Towards the end of that month, a fresh army of 12,000 men was assembled near Rajapur in S. Konkan. They looted and burnt that town (26th) and set out (28th) for Burhanpur; but on the way they turned aside to the right towards Malkapur. Shivaji had been greatly relieved by the return of his prodigal son Shambhuji to Panhala (2nd December.) At the head of 20,000 horse he set out and overtook his army. The Maratha flood swept into West Khandesh, plundering Dharamgaon, Chopra, (4th—6th Dec.), and other rich trade centres, and then turning sharply to the south entered Balaghat, and reached Jalna, a populous town only 40 miles due east of Aurangabad. (Ibid, Rajapur to Surat, 6 Dec., 1679; Vol. 4, Consult., at Surat, 8 Dec.)

pp. 377-378

Here the godly saint, Sayyid Jan Muhammad, had his hermitage in a garden in the suburbs. As Shivaji always spared the holy men and holy places of all religions, most of the wealthy men of Jalna had taken refuge in this hermitage with their money and jewels. The raiders, finding very little booty in the town and learning of the concealment of the wealth in the saint's abode, entered it and robbed the refugees, wounding many of them. The holy man appealed to them to desist, but they only abused and threatened him for his pains. (K. K. ii. 271; Dil. 165; T. S. 39a.) Then the man of God, "who had marvellous efficacy of prayer," cursed Shiva, and popular belief ascribed the Rajah's death five months afterwards to his curses.

p. 378

Retribution visited the Maratha army very much sooner. Jalna, both town and suburb, was thoroughly plundered and devastated for four days. Then as the Marathas, loaded with booty consisting of "countless gold, silver, jewels, cloths, horses, elephants and camels", were retreating, an enterprising Mughal officer, Ranmast Khan, attacked their rear-guard, (near Sangamner according to Duff, i. 289.) Shidhoji Nimbalkar with 5,000 men opposed him for some days, but was at last slain with many of his men. In the meantime, the Mughals had received very heavy reinforcements from Aurangabad, (20,000 men), and they now threatened to envelop and cut off the entire Maratha army.

p. 378

Ranmast Khan, brother of Khizr Khan Pani, received a robe of honour from the Emperor on 18th September, 1682, and was created Bahadur Khan in August next (M. A. 222, 235.) T. S. speaks of him as thanahdar or qiladar of Jalna at this time. We afterwards meet him as thanahdar of Akluj (Dil.) For the sack of Jalna and the battle following it: F. R. Surat 108, Rajapur to Surat, 30 Dec., 1679; Dil. 165; K. K. ii. 270-271; T. S. 39a; Sabh. 92-93; Chit. 176 (confused.)

pp. 378-379

Under the guidance of Bahirji, his chief spy, Shivaji, after three days and nights of anxious and ceaseless marching, escaped from the ring of his enemies by an obscure path. But he had to sacrifice much of his booty, besides losing 4,000 cavalry killed and Hambir Rao, his commander-in-chief, wounded. This happened towards the end of December, and Shivaji retired to Panhala to meet his recovered son.

p. 379

According to Sabh. 93, Shiva wanted to retreat by the Jagdiri route.

p. 379

The credit of this victory over the Marathas must be given to the troops immediately under Prince Muazzam, the viceroy of Aurangabad, who had returned to the Deccan "with a vast army" (M. A. 169) in November, 1678. Dilir Khan was too far away in the south, near Bijapur, and too closely engaged with the enemy there to have taken part in the fighting near Jalna.

pp. 379-381

Sabhasad mentions no Maratha military enterprise between Shiva's battle with Ranmast Khan and his death. B. S. contradicts the theory that the Marathas at all opposed Dilir Khan during these four months. The English records are silent. But Chitnis (176-177) says that Shiva on his return from Jalna expelled Dilir Khan from Bijapuri territory, recovered Bhupalgarh and Bahadur-binda (2 m. s. of Kopal), and sent Moro Pant with 20,000 men to invade Baglana and capture 27 forts from the Mughals there. All these exploits in January or February, 1680, appear to me improbable, as Shiva was then pre-occupied with domestic troubles. F. R. Surat 108 (Chopra to Bombay, 7 Aug., 1680), however, says that Bahadur Khan was then laying "siege to a castle which Shivaji took last year, Hummutigarh, bordering upon these parts." Now we learn from Dilkasha that Bahadur Khan at this time besieged Ahivant without success. Hummuttgarh, therefore, seems to be Ahivant and not Himmatgarh or Hanumantgarh. If so, the Marathas had conquered Ahivant between April 1679 and March 1680.

p. 380

§12. Domestic troubles of Shivaji. The recent rebellion of Shambhuji had revealed the serious danger that threatened the newly founded Maratha kingdom. The character of his eldest son filled Shiva with the gloomiest anticipations of the future. A profligate, capricious and cruel youth, devoid of every spark of honour, patriotism or religious fervour, could not be left sole master of Maharashtra. And yet, the only alternative to Shambhu was Raja Ram, a youth of 18, whose accession would have meant a regency. But there was such mutual jealousy and discord among the old ministers of the State, especially between Moro Trimbak, the premier, and Annaji Datto, the viceroy of the West, that a council of regency would have broken up in civil war and the ruin of the State as surely as the Puna council of ministers did a century later. A division of the kingdom between the two princes was then contemplated, but the idea was very wisely given up. (Chit. 181-182; Sabh. 94, 102.)

pp. 380-381

Shivaji tried hard to conciliate and reason with Shambhu. He appealed to all the nobler instincts of the prince as well as to his self-interest, read him many a lecture, showed him his treasury, revenue returns, list of forts and muster-rolls, and urged him to be worthy of such a rich heritage and to be true to all the high hopes which his own reign had raised in the Hindu world. (Sabh. 94; Chit. 174.) But a born judge of character like Shivaji must have soon perceived that his sermons were falling on deaf ears, and hence his last days were clouded by despair. (Sabh. 102-103.)

pp. 381-382

The evil was aggravated by intrigues within his harem. At the age of 47 he had made the mistake of marrying three young women, though he had two or three other wives and two sons living.

p. 381

According to Sabh. 72, Shivaji married six wives besides the mother of Shambhuji. Mr. Rajwade (Vol. iv. Intro. 53) infers from the Life of Ramdas that Shiva had three wives and two concubines. On 27th May, 1674, Mr. Henry Oxinden wrote from Raigarh. "The Rajah was, and is still so busy about his coronation and marriage with two other [blank in the MS. record] women, that it was yesterday before we had audience." Under 8th June, 1674, he writes, "The Rajah was married to a fourth wife." (F. R. Surat, Vol. 88.) From a letter of Narayan Shenvi to the Deputy Governor of Bombay, dated 4 April, 1674, we learn, "I arrived at Rairi on 24th March... An order [came] from Naroji Pandit that I should remain in his house until the time of mourning was over for the death of Rajah Shivaji's wife, which I did, resting there five days." (Ibid.) So, one wife of Shiva died in March 1674. Rajwade, in his Sankirna-lekh-Sangraha reprinted from Granthmala, gives Shivaji eight wives on the authority of a paper found in a private house at Tanjore. This document (of unknown date and authority) gives the names of six of the wives and of their fathers, but does not name the other two, who were evidently concubines.

p. 382

His old wife, Soyra Bai, the mother of Raja Ram, felt herself neglected by her husband and tried all kinds of charms and love-philtres to win back his affection from her more youthful rivals. Shivaji's harem was, therefore, a scene of veiled warfare,—the queens plotting against one another through their maids, doctors and magicians, and the poor husband trying to find some quiet by sleeping outside. (Dig. 455-458.)

p. 382

The question of succession, which was constantly discussed during the earlier months of 1680, intensified this conflict of wives. After December, 1679, Shivaji's health seems to have declined (Chit. 180), and he seems to have had a premonition of the approach of death. (Sabh. 101.) This fact made the choice of an heir a live issue, and the plots and counter-plots in the harem and cabinet thickened in consequence. (Dig. 459-462.)

pp. 382-383

§13. Death of Shivaji. On 24th March, 1680, the Rajah was seized with fever and dysentery. The illness continued for twelve days. Gradually all hopes of recovery faded away, and then, after giving solemn charges and wise counsels to his nobles and officers, and consoling the weeping assemblage with assurances of the spirit's immortality in spite of the perishableness of the body, the maker of the Maratha nation performed the last rites of his religion and then fell into a trance, which imperceptibly passed into death. It was the noon of Sunday, 5th April, 1680, the full moon of the month of Chaitra.

p. 383

He had not yet completed 53 years of age. The Muslim world ascribed his premature death to the curse of the saint Sayyid Jan Muhammad of Jalna. In Maharashtra there were some whispers of his wife Soyra Bai, the mother of Raja Ram, having administered poison to him to prevent his giving the throne to Shambhuji.

p. 383

The oldest Marathi bakhar, that of Sabhasad, is silent on the point, and with good reason. A servant of Raja Ram, in a book written by order of that king and for his eyes, could not possibly have mentioned his mother's murder of her husband even if it had been true. Chitnis tells us that Shambhuji on his accession put Soyra Bai to death on the charge of having poisoned Shiva, but it was in all probability a false pretext for wreaking vengeance on his step-mother for her late attempt to crown her own son. Readers of Macaulay's account of the death of Charles II. will remember how at that very time in Europe hardly a sovereign died without the event being ascribed to poison.

p. 383

Last illness and death of Shivaji: Sabh. 101-104; F.R. Surat 108, Bombay to Surat, 28 April, 1680 (followed by me); M. A. 194; Dil. 165 (one sentence only); K. K. ii. 271 (one sentence); Storia, ii. 231; Chit. 180-183. T. S. 40b (one sentence) and Dig. 462-467 are "loose, traditional" works; both charge Soyra Bai with murder. Orme's Frag. 89.