सुरतेवर घाड: गुप्त कूच

This stratagem of Shivaji's — pressing until the victim's mouth opened, so to speak — was something nobody had so much as imagined. Who would connect Pune with far-off Surat in Gujarat, or dream that a raid might be launched in that direction, still less think of guarding against it? To conceal his true destination completely, Shivaji set up two military encampments, one near Kalyan and another near Nashik, and let it be rumoured that he intended to raid the Konkan in the direction of Goa. At both camps he personally selected every single trooper who was to take part — two thousand at each, four thousand well-mounted, fully equipped horsemen in all — and gave strict orders that, without asking any questions, all were to fall in behind the Maharaj the very next morning, the first of January 1664. Each man carried nothing more than a sling of parched grain to eat, a sturdy horse under him, a spear, and a sword at his waist. At dawn on the appointed Friday, Shivaji left Kalyan and set off northward, to everyone's bewilderment as to his true destination. On the fifth day, after covering some one hundred and twenty-five miles, he made camp at Gandevi, near what is today the railway station of Bilimora. From there he sent his vakil ahead to the Mughal officer at Surat, thirty miles distant, with this message: for years now the emperor has sought to destroy us, and open war now exists between him and us; he will not even let us practise our own faith in peace in our own homes; merely to preserve our lives we have no choice but to fight; and war, naturally, requires money, which everyone ought to contribute according to his means. It is for this reason that we have taken up the beggar's bowl of Swarajya and gone about asking alms. Surat has many wealthy merchants; let them together raise fifty lakhs in alms for us, and we shall take this alms and depart at once without laying a hand on anyone. We have no wish to injure anyone needlessly — our quarrel is with the emperor, not with the people — and if this is understood, let everyone see us off amicably. Should this not be done, we shall be compelled to use force upon the people, and the responsibility for that will not be ours.

इनायतखानाचा नकार व खुनी हल्ला

Shivaji sent word of this sort to the various merchants and, in the name of Inayat Khan, the Mughal governor of Surat, despatched his vakils ahead with notice that he would himself arrive at Surat on the sixth, and that the governor should come and meet him in person to settle the matter amicably. The people of the city were astonished — who was this Shivaji, and where had he sprung from? — and not a single soul took his message seriously. Inayat Khan had the vakils who carried the letter thrown into confinement, and retired for safety into the fort with proper precautions. On the sixth, as promised, Shivaji arrived before Surat and pitched his camp outside the Burhanpur gate, a small tent of his own with his horsemen encamped all around it. On seeing this, Inayat Khan sent his men to Shivaji with the message: 'We do not know who you are. Do not come our way.' Shivaji sent back word by the same messengers: 'You will soon know who I am.' Not one of the city's bankers came to call on him either. Shivaji thereupon sent some of his own officers into the town to proclaim publicly: 'Shivaji Maharaj has arrived. Come and meet him, and deliver the fifty lakhs. If this is not done, the city will suffer for it.' Still no one came forward, and Shivaji then sent out horsemen who seized a number of merchants and brought them before him by force. Meanwhile two men came out from within the fort on Inayat Khan's behalf, saying they had come to negotiate on the governor's part. Shivaji asked them, 'Why does the Khan hide away like a woman? Why does he not come and speak to me face to face?' The envoys drew Shivaji aside as though to answer privately — and one of them suddenly pulled out a concealed dagger and struck at Shivaji's back. Shivaji, being alert, escaped with only a slight wound and a little bleeding, nothing more; his attendants immediately fell upon the two assassins and cut off their hands.

आग, ळूट आणि सुरतेतून माघार

This attempt on his life provoked Shivaji, and on the third day he showed his fiercer face. On the 8th of January fires broke out simultaneously in a great many buildings across the city, and for two full days fire and plunder proceeded together without pause; a tremendous upheaval engulfed the city, and heaps of loot piled up before Shivaji. A number of merchants were seized and held in confinement. Throughout this episode the English and Dutch traders stayed safely shut up within their own factories, and Shivaji troubled them not at all. On the 10th, word arrived that Mughal forces were marching from Burhanpur to punish him. On hearing this, Shivaji at once had all the plunder gathered together, loaded the lighter and more valuable items onto horses, and withdrew from Surat without delay. It is reckoned that he carried away wealth worth somewhere between one and five crores of rupees — no one can say with certainty just how the loot was actually valued at the time. Many have since reproached Shivaji for this burning and plundering of Surat, but for a man determined to establish Swarajya there was, in truth, no other path open to him.

सुरतेच्या घाडीचे दूरगामी परिणाम

By setting Surat ablaze in this fashion, Shivaji planted a fire whose smoke permanently blackened the reputation of the Mughal emperor and struck terror into the entire Mughal empire; one might well ask whether this same principle of war — striking at an enemy's wealth and prestige rather than only his armies — has not remained in use down to our own twentieth century, in devastations no less terrible, such as the atom bomb. As a result of this Surat affair, the emperor's own prestige suffered what amounted to a public humiliation, and trade at Surat lay crippled for many years afterward. A fresh obstacle was also created for pilgrims bound for Mecca, since Surat had long served as their principal port of embarkation. The poet Bhushan speaks of this feat of Shivaji's in his own verses, praising how thoroughly Shivaji had 'unmade' Surat and how the smoke of that burning scorched the emperor's own reputation for good. The author notes that this account of the Surat raid draws on the researches of the historian D. V. Potdar.