शिवाजीचे पलायन व सिंहगडाचा आश्रय

Having, as it were, stepped on the serpent's tail at Bijapur, Shivaji had barely escaped with his life. Understanding full well what consequences would follow from the killing of the butcher and his flight, he now turned at once to preparing for what was to come. Dadaji Kondadev and Jijabai were thrown into deep anxiety; the two of them had, in all likelihood, already returned to Maharashtra ahead of Shivaji himself. They resolved firmly in their minds that, come what may, the work they had already begun in Maval must be carried through to completion. Foreseeing that a Bijapur army would soon be sent against them, and recognising that they could not hope to hold out at Pune itself, they took refuge, for safety, in the fort of Sinhagad. The fort's natural situation was such that there was no ground anywhere around it from which an enemy could plant cannon against its walls; with only a modest but resolute garrison posted on top and the gates shut, no besieging force could do anything effective against it from below. This stratagem of taking shelter at Sinhagad was originally Dadaji's own idea. He carried out some repairs on the fort, arranged temporary quarters there for Jijabai and Shivaji, gathered around them a handful of loyal companions ready to risk their lives, and settled on the policy that, should trouble come, they would not flee the fort but defend it. Preparations were put in hand at once. Dadaji also opened negotiations with a number of the local deshmukhs and secured their support; Kanhoji Jedhe, the deshmukh of Rohidkhora, in particular, helped him wholeheartedly — an old bond of mutual obligation between the two families that proved invaluable in this crisis. Rather than rush into open battle, they worked as far as possible through conciliation and negotiation to defuse the situation. Throughout this period, because Shivaji was still a minor, it was Dadaji's name, not Shivaji's, that appeared prominently in official government papers and in the public eye.

आदिलशाहाचे १६४४ चे फर्मान

To crush this new preparation — or, as Bijapur saw it, this rebellion — taking shape in Maval, the Adilshahi court deliberately dispatched troops and issued orders to all the Maval deshmukhs that they were to come out in person, with their own contingents, to help put down the uprising. Among others, Kanhoji Jedhe, the deshmukh of Rohidkhora, also received a royal farman to this effect; the document survives and is now well known, dated 1 August 1644. It reads, in substance: "Shahaji Bhosale has been dismissed from our court, and his deputy Dadaji Kondadev has been carrying on rebellious activity in the Kondana region. To punish this wicked traitor and his accomplices and bring the province back under control, we have dispatched our trusted soldiers Khandoji Khopade and Baji Ghorpade; you are therefore to join them with your own following and carry out this service, for which you will receive the government's favour." This document holds extraordinary importance in Shivaji's life story, for it is the first firmly dated piece of evidence for the founding of Swarajya. What happened afterwards — whether the Bijapur force actually marched, and what measures, if any, were taken against Sinhagad — is not clearly recorded. It appears that, through Dadaji, an explanation was sent to Bijapur: that they were engaged in no rebellion at all, only in improving the administration of the province, and that they remained loyal servants of the Badshah. This justification, however, was not accepted by the Bijapur court.

शिवाजीचे कान्होजी जेध्यांना उत्तर

Proof that the excuse was rejected came soon enough: the Badshah issued a further order, addressed this time not to Shahaji but directly concerning Shivaji, again sent through Kanhoji Jedhe, and dated 20 March 1645. It read: "Shivaji is gathering together bands of so-called Rajes and behaving disloyally towards the Badshah; he has now seized Rohida fort and is building a new fort called Rajgad, and he sends back arrogant replies. As soon as this order reaches you, therefore, you are to bring him under control." To this, it was not Shahaji but Shivaji himself who sent a reply to Kanhoji Jedhe, and it ran thus: "We are not being disloyal to the Badshah in the least. Sri Rayreshwar has granted us his blessing, and he remains fully capable of fulfilling the aspiration that you and we share, for a Hindavi Swarajya. The oath we swore before that God remains as unbreakable as a diamond." This reply refers back to secret oaths that Shivaji and his companions had sworn earlier, near Rayreshwar — and it is that episode which must now be told.

रायरेश्वरावरील शपथ

In the country belonging to the Jedhes, near Karha, stands a hill called Rayreshwar, on which there is a temple of Shankar. As soon as word reached him that a Bijapur force was on its way, Shivaji gathered his supporters together at this Rayreshwar temple and addressed them, in his sweet and spirited manner, with a stirring call to arms. He said: "We are raising no rebellion against Muslim rule, nor against the Muslim religion as such. Let them practise their own faith exactly as they please — but let them likewise grant us full liberty to practise our own faith as we please. In matters of religion, no one should tyrannise over another. In the Badshah's kingdom there is no check kept on theft and robbery, and no proper justice is administered; what wrong is there in our setting these things right? On the contrary, they ought to encourage us in this work. God himself is our helper. If, in spite of all this, the Badshah's men try to force some unjust oppression upon us, we shall never submit to it. We shall all stand united and resist. I myself am ready to stand at the very front of you all. So, with this God as our witness, let us all swear to help one another wholeheartedly — to give up our lives, if need be, but never to endure injustice." Hearing this address, those assembled took solemn oaths before the deity. A memorial to this event has in recent times been erected beside the road in the former Bhor state, and it is well worth the traveller's while to visit it and reflect on what Shivaji undertook there. Since Dadaji Kondadev was still alive when all this took place, there can be no doubt that it happened with his knowledge and consent.

दादाजींचा मृत्यू व राजगडची स्थापना

The Sinhagad affair did not end there, and the troubles it brought down upon Shahaji were still to come — but Dadaji Kondadev did not live to see them. He died on 7 March 1647. This upright and honest man had been a great blessing to Shivaji, and it was largely because of him that the foundations of Swarajya were laid so quickly and so soundly. By this time he had grown quite old, though his exact age and other personal details are not recorded; he was probably around sixty at the time of his death. Calling Shivaji to his side as he lay dying, he took his leave of him with these words: "Raje, the whole burden now rests upon you. I have told you and done for you everything I knew how to do, up to this day. Continue your work with unwavering devotion. Never abandon truth. Keep working for the good of the people, and God will grant you success. Guard carefully the sapling of Swarajya that has been planted — see that it is nurtured." Hearing these words, both Shivaji and Dadaji were overcome with grief, and Jijabai too felt the loss deeply. Dadaji had settled many disputes and brought prosperity to the province he administered; his surviving papers show him to have been a man of exacting justice, who carried out orders properly and promptly. Even after his death his reputation for fairness continued to be spoken of throughout the land. Around 1700, when the Emperor Aurangzeb was campaigning in Maharashtra, an old dispute came before him for settlement; on examining the papers, he found that the matter had earlier been decided by Dadaji Kondadev, a decision the disputing parties had refused to accept. The Emperor thereupon declared: "What better judgment could we possibly give than what a man as eminent as Dadaji has already given in this case? We confirm that very decision." Such was the regard in which Dadaji's memory continued to be held long afterwards. After Dadaji's death, Shivaji pressed on with his work with even greater intensity. Because of the trouble over Sinhagad, in 1645 he built a new fort in the difficult, rugged Maval country, naming it Rajgad, and at its foot founded a new town called Shivapattan, where Jijabai and Shivaji themselves came to live. In the same period they also brought the fort of Purandar under their control. A further stroke of fortune now favoured Shivaji: around 1646 the Bijapur Sultan, Muhammad Shah, was struck down by paralysis, and over the following ten years he continued steadily to decline. In effect, then, he was never again able to crush Shivaji's tender young sprout of power. Rajgad had been built, and Swarajya had begun to take real shape, even before Dadaji's death; for twenty years thereafter, Rajgad remained the capital.