A A

SHORT HISTORY
3 3

OF

[TiEMAHRATTAS
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. SAN DIEGO

3 1822

02399 6192

U. \. BA) L

ifornia Dnal
ity

SHORT HISTORY
OF

THE MARHATTAS.
(From the early times to the death
of Shivaji).

BY

UPENDRA NATH BALL,

Professor of History
<

M.

A.,

Economics,

D. A.-V. College, Lahore.

Published by

KAMA KRISHNA AND SONS,

.

tnarkafi, Lahore.

L919.
Price Rs. 1\8.

Printed at the Panjabee Press, Lahore.

PREFACE.
A
word
of

explanation
little

is

necessary regarding the

publication of this

volume.

The main
language a
In

object

of

writing

it is

to present in simple

brief

narra-

tive of the rise of the

Mahratta people.
of

India there
the

were races, the story

whose

rise

fills

the hearts of

readers with pride and pleasure.

The Mahrattas were

Mahratta
the

such a race and as long as there will remain any History

of

India the

anecdotes

of

the
It

warriors will
of

be read with admiration.

was

ambition
race

the
to

writer to trace the history of this

sturdy

down
leisure

the annexation of their country by the British.

But the
to

pressure of the College duties

left

him

little
it

bring the book to

that the

its

natural end, and as

it

was believed
death
of

book so
A.

far as

was written up
of

to the

Shivaji might be of
the
B.

help to the students preparing

the

for
it

examination

Punjab University)
it

was thought advisable

form with
a

to

bring
to
it

out

in

the present

view

to

add

afterwards

when time

would permit.

The
book.

writer

does not claim

any originality

in

the

He acknowledges his indebtedness to the various wi iters on the history of the Mahrattas. The standard works by Dr. Bhandarkar, Grant Duff, Ranade, and
Messrs.

Kincaid

and Parasanis

have

been

of

great

help to him.

THE RETREAT.
I, alio-

famitry 24,

1919.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
Pases ft
1-

L...

...

...

...

1-6

Introduction the country.

II
of the
...
...

...

S 24

Early History

Deccan the Epic Period

the Maurya Period the Andhras the Dark Age the Early Chalukyas the Rashtrakutas

the

Later Chalukyas
III

the Yadavas.
...

CHAPTER

...

2542

Maharashtra under

Muhauimadan Rule

The Afghan conquest Devagiri the Capital of India the Bahmani Kingdom Mahratta InstitutionsMain features
of the

Bahmani Adminisof

tration Gawan's Reforms Dismemberment

the Empire.

CHAPTER
Internal

IV.

The Renaissance
in

...

4354

The Five States Maharashtra

Administration
of

1573

in

the

period the

condition

the

Mahrattas Principal Mahratta

Families the
gious Revival.

Ahmadnagar

Kingdom

Reliin

CHAPTER
Deccan

V.
...

The Moghul 'advance

... ...

the
...

2561

Malik Ambei

Bijapur and Ahmadnagar

Early
life of

CHAPTER CHAPTER
the

VI. VII.

Shivaji

6267

Rebuilding

Mahratta vStatc-6S 98
in

Torna and other

hillforts Adventures
of

Konkan Captivity

Shahjee Jaoli

invest-

It
*

[Relations
at

with the

Mognuls

Discomfiture
the

Janjir.a. Afzul
of

Kin's

Mission Winter

Campaign

1859-60 All Add Shah's Supreme

Eflforti-vhaSji's

Fall of Haji
the

Campaigns in Ghorpade oJ Mudhol

Bijapur.

Konkan
of

Reduction

Savants Peace with

\ III-

CHAPTER
Shaista

Khan's

The MGoghul Invausion expedition - Defence

Shaista

...''J

-IKS

oi

Chakaa Disaster
Sural Death
dhar Shivaji
of

to

Khan .Sack
of

of

Shahjee
the

Convention

Puran-

at

Imperial

C >nrt Shivnji's
,

Escape Retreat

of the

Moghuls.

CHAPTER
Surat

IX.

THE RESTORATION
of

119-136
of

Reconquest

Sinhgad

The Second Sack

Further

Incursion into the Moghul Terof

ritorythe

Battle
of

Salheir The

European

Factories Eoss
linst

Danda Rajapuri Expedition

...13

Bijapur The Coronation.

CHAPTER X
The Campaign
in the

7-M4

South
*Bi
;

Konkan the

affairs in

Operations in the apur Alliance will!

CHAPTER

Golconda The Tanjore expedition. ...145 164 XI. The Last years of Shivaji Alliance with Bijapur The fall of Bhupalgad
troubles
in

Further
an

Bijapur Naval engage-

mentDeath of Shivaji Shivaji's system of Government The Chauth and Sardcshmurkhi

estimate of his greatness.

SHORT HISTORY
OF

THE MAHRATTAS.
CHAPTER
I.

INTRODUCTION.

Moghul Power in Indi& there arose a number of small states. The old officers emperors became practically indepencf the Delhi dent in Oudh, Hyderabad and Bengal paying nominal The Rajput princes ignored allegiance to the throne.

On

the

decline

of the

the suzerainty of Delhi. the Mahratta

confederacy, the foundation

in

But in the Deccan flourished which of

of

was
most
to

laid

by Shivaji
states

the reign

Aurangzeb, and
British

which was ultimately broken up by the

of

and

which

forming the confederacy were added

in the

the British

Empire

nineteenth century.

The

Mahrattas ceased to be a political power since the conquest of Deogir by Ala-ud-din in 1313 A. D. In the middle of the 17th century Shivaji made them a nation

and gave them an ideal to strive for and a history to make. The rise of the Mahrattas would not have been
possible
if

Shivaji alone

was

the upheaval of the

had tried to effect it. "It whole population," saysRanade,

"strongly bound together by the

common

affinities

of

language,

race,

religion

and

literature,

and seeking

further solidarity
existence.

by a

common
first

independent political
of the

This was the

experiment

kind

attempted in India after the disastrous period

of foreign

Mussalnian invasion."

The Mahrattas found

the

in vShivaji a leader

fit

to fulfil
in his

ambitions

of

the race.

They supported him

the
fortresses
of

national

projects

and

started

foundation of the
the

structure
Ghats.

on the

strong

Western
of

Their power extended over the whole

of

the

Xteccan, and in the dark days

it

the

Delhi

Empire

reached the banks of the Sutlej on the

north and

of the chiefs
It
of
is

Ganges on the east. At one time the Mahratta became the custodians of the Moghul prestige.
therefore a most fascinating study for
the

student
of

Indian history to trace the rise and

fall

such a

power.

The word Mahratta

Sanskrit

or Maharattha

is

derived from
derived from

Maharashtra,

which again

is

Rashtra or

Katta by the addition of the prefix Maha.

Rastikas are mentioned in the Asoka inscriptions but it is

doubtful whether the

name Maharashtra
occur in

or Maharattha

bad come

The words some inscriptions Maharathi and Maharafthini 3n the cave temples at Bhaja, Bedsa and Karli, 'which are referred to the second century after Christ. (R. G.
into

use in the time of Asoka.

Bhandarkar).

It is

therefore, asserted,

that the
iu the

name
early

Mahrattha or Maharashtra came into use

cen turies

of the Christian era.

A poem
attributed

in the

Mahrathi dialect entitled Setubandha is

to

Kalidasa
first

who

lived either in the

fifth

cen-

By the time tury or in the of Kalidasa the dialect was sufficiently developed, and must have been cultivated two or three centuries earlier. Mahrathi is one of the old Prakrits, and one of the
half of the sixth century.

principal provincial
cient progress.

languages which has made

literature
of
its
is

suffi-

The Mahrathi

very rich,
anti-

and very
quity.

important

on account

great

The Country

The
is

country of the

people

speaking

Mahrathi language

called Maharashtra.

People someits

times identify Maharashtra with Deccan, in

sense,
that
is

narrowest

the

land

watered
that

by

the

Godaveri
Krishna.

and

lying

between

river

upper and the

In the Strictest

sense therefore Maharashtra

lies

includes the

Konkan
the seas.

which

between the Western

'Ghats

and

The Mahrattas have,

however*

extended beyond the original boundaries and Grant Duff in his " History of the Mahrattas " defines Maharashtra
as
the

space which

is

Satpoora
east

mountains,

bounded on the north by the and extends from Naundole

on the west, along those mountains, to the Weinegunga, of Nagpur. The western bank of that river forms a part of the eastern boundary until'
into the

it falls

Warda.

From

the junction of these ri-

vers

it

may

be traced up the east hank of the

Warda to

Manikdroog, and thence westward

this
last

to

Mahoor.
he

Fromto-

place a

waving
covers
to

line
it is

may
area

extended
the

Goa, whilst

on the west
tract

bounded by
of

ocean.

The whole
miles.

an

102,000 square

According

the

last
is
is

census the

Mahrathi

speaking population of India

the population of Maharashtra

about 20 millions and

about 30 millions.
lying between-

The Konkau

is

a rugged country

the Ghats and the sea extending along the coast from Sewdasheogarh to the Tapti. The country is inters-

persed with mountains 3000 to 4000

feet

high.

The
of the

breadth

of the

country from the sea to the summit

to 50 miles.

Sahyadri range varies from 25

sive table-land on the top
is

called the

The extenKonkan-GhatThul Konkan.

miles broad.

Mahta and the lower regions are called The Konkan-Ghat Mahta is 20 to

the

25

The

table-land

is

divided into

three parts viz., the.

Mawals, the Khoras, and

the Mooras.

The

hills

have made the country very strong from

of

a military point

view.

The summits

are crowned

with strong basaltic rocks, and are, therefore,

capable

of being formed into fortresses without great difficulty.

The Ghat-Mahta has

There are from west
jrange from

sloped

down towards
hills

the east-

four

important ranges of
the Satpoora

running
is

to east viz.,

range which
;

the northern boundary of

Maharashtra
the

the

Chandore
hills

Rhoura

to Berar;

Ahmednagar

from Joonere
ofSatara.

to

Bheer and the Mahdeo to the north

is

There

also
of

a the

range

to
is

the

south of

Poona.

The climate
it is

country

healthy but

in fertility

inferior to

some parts

of India.

The

principal rivers of Maharashtra are the

the Godaveri,
tributaries.
its

Narmada,

the Tapti,

with their

Bhima, and the Krishna The banks of the Godaveri, the

the

Bhima and

tributaries the

Neera and the Maun are

celebrated for the breed of horses.

The rugged

surface

of the country influenced the character of the people to

a great extent.

The
viz.,

country

is

mainly divided into three parts

land
the
the

the

long strip of
as
the

behind

the

Sahyadris
region
the

known
in

Konkau,

moitutainous

the

centre

known
the the
of

as
of

Mawal,

and

wide plains to

east

the hills

called the

Desh.

The
wide

fertility

of

country

varies

according to the
circumstances.

variety
is

climate

and

other

There

plenty of rainfall in the

east

plains in the

Konkan, whereas the are almost dry, receiving not more

than 20 inches of rain (hiring the year.

describing tin- character of the people a modern " The race that inhabits it varies, just writer says
In
:

as

Frenchmen
races.

of

different

provinces vary.
differentiate
it

But

it

has

distinct

characteristics,

which
of of

from other
Their

Indian
lack

The people

Maharashtra as a rule

the

regular features

Northern Indian.

tempers,

too,

are usually less under control than those

in

of the dwellers

the

Gangetic
high as

plain.

But

their

courage
Indian

is

at

best

as

that

of

any other

nation,

while

their

exquisitely

keen sense of

humour,

the lofty intelligence of their educated classes,

their blunt speech

and frank bearing raTely

the Indian
traveller

fail to

win the
it

love and admiration of those Englishmen whose lot

to serve

is

among them
description

Government."

(C.

A.

Kincaid).
a vivid

The Chinese
of

Hiuen Tsiang gave

years

thirteen hundred " Their manners Thus wrote he are simple and honest. They are tall, haughty and supercilious in character. Whoever does them a service

the

people
:

back.

may count on
them
will

their

gratitude,

but he

that
If

offends

not escape their

risk
to

revenge.
their
lives

any

one

insults

them, they will

If

to

wipe out
they
to flee

the affront.
will

one apply
care for

them

in

difficulty,

forget

to

'

themselves in
they
to

order

to his

assistance.

When
fail

have

an

injury
to-

to

avenge, they

never

give warning
his cuirass

their

enemy,
his

after
in

which each dons

and grasps

spear

fugitives, but

his hand. In battle they pursue the do not slay those who give themselves

up.

When

a general

has

lost

battle,

instead

of

punishing

him
clothes,
life."

corpora lly.

they

make
him
of

him
to

wear

women's
his

and by
In
the

that force

sacrifice

own

later

history

the

people

most

of these

characteristics

were greatly

in evidence;

and their rise was due to this nobility of character and intolerance for wrong. The Mahrattas possess the constructive genius in a greater degree than any other
race in India^ and their

modern

institutions

one believe that

such a race could not but

make have a

grand though

tragic history.

CHAPTER

II.

Early History of the Deccan.

no connected history of the Deccan until conquest by Ala-ud-din Khalji in 1313. The labours of Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar and a few other scholars have brought to light a few fragments from
is

There

we come

to its

ancient

inscriptions
is still

and

literature.

the main history

in his "Early

very obscure.

But as yet Dr. Bhandarkar

History of the Deccan" describes only the

landmarks in the history of the various dynasties which ruled over the country, and there is very little to form a correct idea of the evolution of the
grand nation which
in India. figured

so prominently in

the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of the Christian era

The
been
of

early

inhabitants of India

are said to have

the

the Dravidian stock.

in

When

Aryans came
south

and

settled

Northern

India

the

country

Vindhyas were inhabited by the Dravidians. The legendary march of Rishi Agastya is considered to be the
of the
first

attempt made by the Aryans to go into

forests

the south.

But the thick

between the Vindhyas and the sea

a strong barrier
that
in
It

and

the great central hills served as

is

against such projects.

said

the

7th

century B.

C,

the

Aryans spread across

the

Vindhya

but

towards the further south the wave

its

of

migration

gradually lost

strength.

The Epic Period.

tion of the
is is

The Ramayana gives a good descripof

forest

Dandaka but beyond

us an idea
the
of the
of

that

there

very

little

to give

country.

So

it

believed that at

time

the

Ramayana

the

Aryans had not gone very far from the Vindhyas. In the Mahabharata we find Sahadeva, the youngest
brother of King Yudhisthira,
Keralas, and Andhras.
It

subduing the Pandyas,

therefore appears that at the

time

when

the

Mahabharata was written the

Aryans

had explored the southern peninsula. The Maharasthra was then known as Dandakaranya, by which name
the

Brahmanas

refer to the
it

country
close
to

in their

Mantras
it

even now.
conquered

Although
last of all,

lies

Aryavarta

was

and itibecame the most Aryanised

old races were absorbed in the

part of the south.

The

race of the conquerors, and the language of the country

became richly blended with Sanskrit, the language of Aryans. Professor Rawlinson writes The inhabitants of the Dekhan appear to belong mainly to
the
:
'

a Scytho-Dravidian

stock,

with a considerable Aryan

element
is

in the

higher castes.
descent,

They speak

a dialect

which

Aryan by

with an

intermixture of a few

aboriginal roots and forms."

10
The Maurya Period Chandra Gupta Maurya (320 B. C.)

who had

his capital at Pataliputra, ruled

over Northern

India as far as Kathiwad.

His grandson, Asoka, who

B.
to

reigned from 263

to

229
east

C.

extended
in

his

sway
west.

from Kalinga
In his
fifth

in

the

Kathiwad
Petinikas,

the

edict the Rastikas,

and Aparantas
religious

are mentioned as

provinces where he sent

not certain

preachers.
these

It

is

whether

he

conquered
semi-

provinces.

But most probably they were

independent, and owed allegiance to Asoka as suzerain.

Paithau or Pratisthana must have been the capital of the

Kings
Is

of the

Rastikas at the time, as the information

gathered from the inscription at Pitalkhora.

The Aodhras The Maurya Dynasty lasted for

year?.
Its last

137

King was murdered by Pushpami.tra who

dynasty.

founded the Sunga

The Sungas were Kanvas

latter

in

power

for 112
for

years and the

45 years.

who

succeeded

them ruled
by Simuka,
bhrityas,

The

were

overthrown

the founder of the

dynasty

of the

Andhra-

who were once

list

servants or dependants.
of

The

Puranas give a
of

of

names

these kings,
the

and some
and

these

names are

found

in

inscriptions

were discovered

in the

several parts of the Deccau.

The Andhras

dwelt between the

rivers,

mouths
of

of

the

Krishna and the Godaveri

on the Bay

Bengal.

11

They were

tributaries

of

Asoka, and

after

the death

of that king they

gradually

assumed independence,,

destroyed the Kanvas and overran Maharashtra. They

were also
about
three

known

as Satabahanas.

They ruled
C.

for

hundred

years from B.

73

to

about

213 A. D.
tribe

Their long rule was interrupted by a foreign

called the Sakas for about 53 years.

in

The dynasty
Pulamayi, the
in

was founded by Simuka

son
of

B. C.

73.

Gotaraiputra, drove
father,

out the foreigners,

co-

operation with his

aud
of

the

father
to the

and the
GeograPaithan.

son ruled the country

jointly.

According

phy

of

Ptolemy the capital

Pulamayi

was

(130 A. D.).

The country under the Andhras was in a prosperous condition. The people were mostly Buddhist Brahmanism was in a flourishing state. although
Princes

and

chiefs,

merchants, goldsmiths, carpenters,,

orn -dealers and others excavated temples and monasteries

for

the use

of

Bhikshus

out of solid rocks at

Karli aud other places at their

own
of

expense.

Monasteries
for

were also dug out

the
tions

in

the

caves on the seashore

the historical

Buddhist priests.
of in

Most

informa-

the

time are

derived

from

the

found
of the

these places.

We

gather from the

inscriptions " Periplus.

Krythrean Sea " that the country

prosperity
in

was enjoying
vSopara,
trade.
for

material
Paithan.

these places.

Broach,

and

Tagara

were
call at

important

Foreign vessels used to

Broach, then

known as

12
Barugaza,

and goods from the country were stocked

Paithan

there for export.

the Dakshinapatha.

was the greatest city in The important articles of export

spices

were

rough stone,

coloured cottons,
articles of imports

and

mallow and unguents, and the were wine, and glass and specie
the

ordinary cottons, muslin,

and
from

beautiful girls for

this that

royal

harem.

It

is

evident

India

was

industrially ahead of the

Euro-

pean countries.

"There were
"guilds
of

in those

days"

writes Dr. Bhandarkar,

trades such
oil

as those of weavers, druggists,

etc.

corn-dealers,
zation seems
since,

-manufacturers,

Their

organieffective,

to

have been

complete

and

as

already mentioned,
of

they received permanent

interest
in

deposits

money
guilds

and

paid

them from
has
the

generation to generation.
of

Self-government by means
village-communities

such

and
an

always
political

formed

important
of

factor

of

administration
sab/ia
in

the

country.
is

A
men-

uigama
tioned

or
of

town

corporation

also

one

Ushavadata's
like

Nasik

inscriptions,

which shows that something

existed
in

Municipal institution

those
five

early

days."

The
of

rate

of

interest

was from

to

seven and half per cent per annum,

evidence
in

which is a government.
testimony
to

sufficient

the

efficiency of

Inscriptions
the
fact

different

places
of

bear

that

people

different

13
provinces could
great
difficult}-.

move from long

distances

without

There must have therefore been good

inter-provincial roads.

The Dark Age -The

fall

of
of

the

Audhras
history
of

was
the

followed by a long period

three
rulers

darkness.
clear

For about

centuries
of

there

is

no

the

country.

came from
in

the

The Sakas and the Huns west and there was great confusion
It
is

the country.

believed that a branch of the

for

Audhras
after

ruled

some

time

and

the Kshatrapy dynasty

obtained a portion of the Deccan

the Satavahauas or Andhras.

rise of the

The Vayu Furana

mentions the
for

sixty -seven years.

Andhras or a clan of cowherds They probably reigned in the

fourth century of the Christian era.

The

inscriptions

mention two indigenous

tribes of

Kshatriyas called Bhojas and Ratthis.

the north called
their

The

Ratthis in

themselves

Maharatthis and one of

as

groups became

known

Rashtrakutas.

The

princes of this Rashtrakuta family were in power from

about the end

century.

of the third to the

beginning of the sixth

*

The Early Chalukyas.

In

the sixth century a the

dynasty spread
original seat

its

supremacy over
dynasty

Deccan.

new The

of

the

branch

of

it

migrated to the

was Ayodhya and a south and in course of time

were

became

supreme.

These

rulers

known

as

14
<Chalukyas, and according to tradition they
the gotra of
Hariti.

belonged to
of

Manavya, and they were

first

the descendants

The

prince
the

to

become prominent was Jay

Rashtrakntas

Simba.

He

defeated

and became
Pulakesi
capital
his

sovereign of the

country.

His

grandson

performed Asvamedha,
,

and established

at

modern Badami in the Kaladgi district. His son Kirtivarman (367591 A. D. ) subdued parts of the Konkan and Kanara. Maugalisa (591610 A. D.),
Watapipura,
the

brother

of

Kirtivarman, defeated the Kalachuris of

Chedi,

near modern Jabbalpur,

and

is

said

to

have

carried his
seas.

arms both

to the eastern

and the western

Mangalisa occupied the throne during the minority

of

the sons of his

brother

Kirtivarman.

But he tried

away his nephews from the throne and to place his own son instead. Pulakesi II, son of Kirtiwas a young man of remarkable abilities. He varman,
to keep

overthrew his uncle and

assumed authority
Chalukyas.

in

611
his

A. D.
in

The reign

of

Pulakesi II was the most brilliant

the history

of the early

He reduced

of the Kadambas of Banavasi^ Gangas of Chera, the Mauryas of Konkan. With a fleet or hundred ships he attacked Puri on the western coast, and the kings of Lata, Malwa, andGurjara became Harshavardhan of Kanouj made an his dependants.

neighbouring kingdoms

the

attempt to extend his power

in

the south but he

found
thus-

in Pulakesi a very strong opponent.

The Narmada

15

remained
empire.

the

southern boundary of Harshavardhana's

Later on Pulakesi invaded Kanchi,

and

the

countries of the Cholas, the Pandyas and the Keralas in

the south,

who became
and
is

his?allies.

His career

of

conquest

closed before A. p. 634.

He
the

also sent an embassy to the

King
Jiim.

of Persia,

said

to

have received one from

Chinese
traveller

Hiuen

Tsiang,

great

visited

Maharashtra about 639 A. D.

He

describes the

country as 1200 miles in circuit and the capital six miles.

His description

of

the character

of

the people

has

been already given.

The reign of Pulakesi is the most important. He was followed by a aumber of able rulers until 747 A. D. The descendants of the old Rashtrakuta family wrested from Kirtivarman II the
fathers,

country

of

their

fore-

and maintained sovereignty

reign
of

for a

long period.

The long
progress

the

Chalukyas

is

marked by

and prosperity.

Hiuen
race.

mony
dhism.

to the virility of the

Tsiang bore testiJainism was richly

well as Bud-

patronised by the princes and people as

the latter

ever,

The former was was on the decline. was fully restored, and the
of

rising into

prominence Whereas

sacrificial rites,

Brahmanism, howwhich
of the Buddhists,'

went out

vogue during the ascendancy

were revived.

Temples were

built to the

Puranic gods

Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswar. The frescoes at Ajanta and the temples of Ellora stand as monuments of the

IG

culture of the
that

times.

One

fact

has to be remembered

were patrons of all the religions extended their patronage impartially to all.
the kings

and

The

Kashtrakutas. During Chalukya rule

in a state

in

the

Deccan the Rashtrakutas were

of

vassalage.

When

Pulakesi

II

was

in

troubles

they tried

to

recover independence but failed to achieve their object. But a Rashtrakuta chief Indra married a Chalukya
princess.

The

off-spring of this union, Dantidurga, re-

belled against Kirtivarman II and succeeded in defeating army and getting possession of Badami (about his

75S A. D.
rulers.

He was succeeded by When they were secure in

)

number
all

of

able

the territory of the

directions.

Chalukyas they extended their powers in

Nripatunga,
city of

Iu the beginning their capital was Nasik. Later on one of the rulers of the family founded the

Manyakheta,

identified

withMalkhed

in the

Nizam's
greatest

dominions, and removed the capital there.

of the Rashtrakuta

The
III.

princes

was Govinda

"

He

have become" writes Sir R. G. Bhandarthe paramount sovereign of the whole country kar, from Malwa in the north to Kanchipura in the south, and to have under his immediate sway the country
appears
to

between fhe Narmada

son Amoghavarsha was

and
the

the

Tungbhadra."

His

greatest

patron of the

Digambara Jainas, and most probably he adopted the Jaina faith. A number of Jaiua works are attributed

17
to him.

Amoghavarsba abdicated two

of

ears before his

of

death in favour
later

bis

son Akalavarsha. Some

the

kings became corrupt and licentious, and

conse-

quently confusion ensued.

The The

last

king

of the family-

was Kakkala, who was conquered

of the

in battle

by Tailapa
reigned

Chalukyan

race.

Rashtrakutas
that
is,

from 748 A. D. to 973 A. D.,

centuries and a quarter.

for

nearly two^

The Rashtrakutas were patrons

krit

of learning.

Sans-

literature

got a great impetus in their reign.

They
Sindh

were very powerful.

The Mahomedan

rulers

of

were friendly with them, as they were allied against Guzerat and Rajputana. the Gurjara Kings of north
Regarding the culture and
civilisation
of the

time

Dr..

Bhandarkar writes:
" That the princes of this race were very powerful

there can be
still

little

doubt.
their
of

The rock-cut temples at

power
and
magnificence.
the Puranic

Hllora

attest

Under them

the worship

gods received

much
kings
of the

greater importance than before.

The days when

the

and princes got temples and monasteries cut out

solid

rocks for

the

use

of

followers

of

Gotama Buddha had gone by, never

of

to

return.

Instead

them we have during

worship
of

this

period temples excavated

dedi-

or constructed on a more magnificent scale and

cated to the
the grants
of

Siva and Vishnu.

princes

Several of
praise
their

these Rashtrakuta

country and mention their having constructed

temples

is
Still

as the Kanheri inscriptions of

I

tin?

reign of

Amoghabene-

varsha
factors,

show

Buddhism had

its

votaries and

though the religion

unimportance.
the

Jainism, on the

had evidently sunk into other hand, retained

prominence it had acquired during the Chalukya period, or even made greater progress. Amoghavarsha
patron
of
1

was, as we have seen, a great

of

it,

and was
were

perhaps a convert

to

it,

and some

he

minor chiefs
its

and

the lower

castes, especially

the

traders,

devoted adherents.
vailed in
the
the

The form of the Jainism that precountry was mostly that professed by
sects.

Digambara

good
as

many

of

the

extant

Digambnra
during

works were,

we have

Ree'h,

composed

this period."

The

Later

Cbalnkyas
to

(A.

!).

973
the

to

11S9) TaiChalukya

lapa belonged

a
of

branch
the

of

old

Kings.
obscure.

The

new dynasty, however, is The usurper conciliated the people of Mahaorigin

rashtra by marrying a daughter of the late king of the

Rashtrakutas. Besides consolidating his power in Maharashtra he had

to fight against the

Cholas
in

in the south,

and

to

ward

off

danger from Guzerat

of

the

north. His
the uncle of
led

greatest opponent

was King Munja the celebrated Bhoja. Munja is

the offensive

Malwa,
to

said

have

six

successful

expeditions against Tailapa, but ultimately

when he took
became

and

crossed the Godaveri he

to

a prisoner,

and on trying

escape was beheaded.

19
Tailapa ruled for 24 years.

He was

succeeded by his

son Satyasraya, who

died childless.

The Cholas
in
his

are said to have overrun Maharashtra

reigo.

Satyasraya

left

his

kingdom

to his

nephew, Vikramaditya
shortly after by
his

(1UC8 A.
of

King Bhoja

was killed ), who Mahva in revenge of

D.

uncle's

death.
his

But Jaysimha,
death by

Vikram's brother,
the

in turn

avenged

breaking up

con-

federacy of M.ilwa.

The

Cholas, however, were gaining

strength day by day,

and an

attack of Jaysimha

on

Jaystmha died in 1C40 their country was repulsed. and was succeeded by his son, Someshwara or better Ahavamalla made vigorous known as Ahavamalla. preparations against Chola aggressions, removed his
capital

from Yatagiri

(30 miles south of Malkhed) to

in the

Kalyan,

modern Kaiyani

Nizam's dominion.

The removal
battle of

of the capital to a

central position prov-

The Cholas were defeated at the Koppam, and lost the provinces of Bauavasi and (iangavadi. Ahavamalla had three sons. His second son, Vikramaditya was the ablest of all. He
ed to be a success.
assisted
the

the

King
and

of
is

Malwa
said

in

driving his

enemy from
Bengal
the

country,

to

have

invaded

and Assam.
southern

According to Bilhana he snbiugated

to

kingdoms up

Ceylon and entered Kanchi

and then plundered

ing himself
in the

Ahavamalla died by drownit. Tungbhadra while he was fighting

2o
against the Cholas.
T

lis

eldest son,

Someshwara

II

suc-

ceeded to the throne.

For sometime the two brothers.

But as Someshwara was
control over his

were on good terms.

weak

and tyrannical he
Yikramaditya
II,

lost

own

subjects.

with his younger

brother,
the

Jaysimha

went
its

to

the

Konkan, and received

After

submission of
the

king,
the

Jaykeshi.

subjugating

Alupas

and

Keralas he went to the Cholas.

offered

The Chola

King Virarajendra
daughter
died,
his
in

help to him, and gave his

marriage to him. Shortly after Virarajendra

his throne

and there was dispute over Adhiraja and son, his

between
Prince.-

nephew
in

Kullottunga, the

King

of Vengi,

who

also incited Soine--

hwara to march against

his

brother,

order

to

weaken
sued
in

the defence of Adhiraja.

bloody battle

en-

two brothers
wards

which Someshwara was taken prisoner. lived in amity for sometime, but
of

Theafter-

with the help

the disaffected
in

nobility

the

weak Someshwara was dethroned and

Vikramaditya
II

1076 A. Dtitle

became

king under

the

Tribhnvanamalla.

He

appointed his brother, Jaysimha,

brother having revolted be-

viceroy of Banavasi.

The

came

prisoner and lost his authority.

in his

He had
who

court the poet Bilhana of Kashmir,,

wrote the famous Vikramanka-dcv-Charita, from which most of the historical informations are gathered^ *The renowned jurist, Vijnaneshwar, the author o

21
Mitakshara lived in his court.
appears Yikramaditya
II

From
the

all

accounts

it

was

greatest prince oi
his

the later Chalukya dynasty,

and during

reign the

countr}' enjoyed happiness and prosperity.

The next
author

in

succession was

Someshwara
astrolog3',

III,

the

of Abhilashitattha

Chintamani, a marvellous book

dialectics,

dealing

with polity, astronomy,

rhetoric, poetry, music, painting, architecture, medicine,

training of horses, elephants, dogs, etc.

On account
his

of his

learning he received the

title

of

Sarvajna Bhupa.
after

He

died in 1X38 A. D. and shortly

death, the

power
dent

of

the

Chalukyas rapidly
Chief

declined.
Vijjala,

depenthe

Kalachuri
of

named

who was

minister
throne.
tal

to

war under King Tailapa II, The Chalukya prince first removed his capiAnnigeri, and then to Ba'navasi. The Chaluwas interrupted
for a
in

usurped the

kya
jala

rule

few years.
the

But Vij-

could not long continue

throne.

A new

sect called

the Lingayets arose.

to death.

Their leader, Vasava

In
this

Madhiraj, put Vijjala

confusion the
to regain

Chalukya prince Someshwara IV managed

part of their

dominions,

and

established

himself at

Annigeri,

with the help of

till

He
a

ruled

1189 A. D.

Bomma, a feudatory chief. The restoration lasted only

of the

short time.

The Vadavas
of

South

under

Vira

Ballala

and

the

North

under

Bhillama
dis-

then

became

powerlul,

and

Somesnawar

22
appeared,
in

the

scramble

(or

the

Chalukyas never again rose into power.

families
of

the

name
its

of

Chalke

in

the

Umpire. The The Mahratha Saugamesvara

bear
the

Taluka
name.
The

ami

neighbourhood

still

old

Yadiiviis. The
into

two on
were

dynasties
the

whieh
of

came
the

prominence

downfall
the

later

Chalnkyas

Hoysalas

Dwara Samudra and the Yadavas of Devagiri. Kreyanga Hoysala was the governor of Gangavadi
of

under Vikramaditya
Chief

II.

The

territory
of

at first belong-

ed to the Cholas, but the defection

brought about
Vikramaditya's
power.

the

Hoysala

success.

The
A. D.

Hoysalas gradually rose to

By

1130

they became masters of modern Mysore, and of Hangal

and Lakshmeshwar
the revolution
of

in

the

Dharwar
the

district.

1159,

Vir

Ballala defeated

During Botnma

and drove his army across

Senna
descendant

Krishna.
claims
to

Chandra Yadava,
of

who
of

be

King Krishna

Dwarka, was

the Chief

of Seunadesh, lying between

Devagiri and Nasik.

II.

He
His

was

governor of Vikramaditya remained loyal to the Chalukyas till the successors But when, however, the Chalukya govrevolution.
a
faithful

ernment
Bhillama

fell

into

disorder
the

they

considered themselves

independent.

On

defeat of

Bomma

by Vir

Ballal

Yadava

assumed

sovereignty

over

the

2<t

country north

of the

Krishna,

with Devagiri ascapital

(U91 A.
and

D.j.
friction

There was constant

the Yadavas.

between the Hoysalas

the

In

the

beginning

Hoysalas

held the better posion.

But by 1210 A. D. the Yadavas

kin?,

bicu'n; superior.

T'nir

Singhma,
from
the

invaded

Milw.i and Guzsrat, and conquered the lower

Konkan

and

the

south Maratha country

1247.
II,

Hoysalas.

Singhana ruled Ion? until by his grandson, Krishna

Hoysalas,
the

He was succeeded
also defeated
of

who
him
in

the

Gurjaras,

and the king

Malwa.
A. D.

His

brother, Mahadeva, succeeded

1260

He

ruled for

11 years

and
his

when
place.
to

he died, his nephew

Ramdeo
the

stepped

into

He was
king

the

last of

great

Yadava

rulers
a

govern Maharashtra in-

dependently.
reign
the

He was
*

wise

and during
the

his

people were happy.

or

He was

fortunate in

having

Heinadpant

Hemadri,

renowned

scholar, as his

chief secretary,

Srikaranadhipa.

The

Vratakhanda

written
Theis

by hiui gives a valuable account

Chatnrvarga Chintamani, divided

of the dynasty.

into

tour

parts,
of the

an

exposition

of

the

religious

The Grammarian Bopadeva doctrines also lived in the court of Ramdev, and he was greatly Hemadri is said to have patronised by Hemadri. The Introduced the Modi or current form of writing.
Hindus.

Mahratha

saint

Jnandev

also

flourished

during

24
this reign.

He wrote
Marathi.

commentary

of

the

Bhaga-

vadgita

in

was
in

a prosperous career of the Mahratha nation interrnpted by the invasion of Ala-ud-Din Khalji 1'94 A. D.

Such

25

CHAPTER III. Maharashtra under Muhammadan Rule. Tbe Afghan Conquest. The wealth -and prosperity ofthe
southern kingdoms

awakened

the

lust

of

the Mussal-

mans
of

of

the

north.

Ala -ud- din Khalji was governor

to strengthen his

Karra.

He wanted
of

position

against
the

his uncle

and father-in-law, Jalal-ud-din

Delhi.

Khalji,

Emperor

He

obtained permission to attack

Central India.
rich

Chanderi, a Rajput fortress in

When

he reached there he heard

of

the
the

treasures of the

King

of

Devagiri.

He crossed

Ellichpur,

the northernmost city

of his

Viudhyas and reached of Ramdeo's kingdom.

People did not take notice

that he

advance as he gave out

was going towards Rajahmundri. Suddenly he turned upon Devagiri and attacked the king unguarded. His son Sankaradev had gone out on a pilgrimage, and
the

king hurriedly gathered together a small force of

3,000

and stood
in

against the
of

Muhammadan

invasion

four miles

front

his

capital.

Ala-ud-din forced
in the

him back
of the

into the citadel

and roused terror

heart

Mahrattas by sounding a false alarm that he led

merely the advance party of Jalal-ud- din's army, and

would follow him. Therefore the Mahratta chiefs became anxions to defend their own strongholds and left Raindev almost alone. In this helpless Ramdev condition offered fifty maunds of gold, and a quantity of pearls and jewels in
that
a

bigger

party

26

order that he might return

ud-diu, and he prepared
to

to Delhi.

Tins

satisfied

Ala-

withdraw, when Sankardev returned from his pilgrimage. The Mahrattas fought
bravely, but the troops

under Malik Nasrat took them

his

by the

rear.

Ala-ud-din asked

people

to

call

out

that the Delhi

army had
all

conic.

The MahrattaS panic-

stricken dispersed in
to hold out.

directions.

Ramdev

intended
of

But when he found that his store

pro^
to

visions

was exhausted he had no other alternative than

the settlement

surrender.

Ala-ud-din now made very heavy demands"

As

a result of

Ramdev had
diamond and
of silk.

to give

600

maunds maunds

of gold, 2
of silver,

maunds
and
its

of

pearls, 1000

and 4000 pieces

Besides he had

to cede Ellichpur

dependencies.

money got from the sack of Devagiri Alaud-diu managed to slay his uncle and to put himself on Ramadev did his best the throne of Delhi (1296 A. 1).).
With
the

to restore

afterwards the prosperity of his ruined

city.

But Ala-ud-din did not forget the wealth and prosperity

of the south.

Ten years
of

after his accession to the throne

he again formed plan

ostensible pretext

of

a southern expedition.

The

this expedition

was

the failure of
of Ellichpur.

Ramadev

to

pay the

tribute

on account
of

Another pretext was that he

devi, the daughter
of

afforded shelter to Devala-

Karan Ghelo
chief.

Guzerat.

Karan

Ghelo was a Rajput

rage by
trying
to

capture

He committed a great outthe beautiful Rup Suudari,

27
wife of his
suicide,

minister

Maclhav.
to

The lady committed'

Delhi to seek protec-

and her nusband went

emperor.

tion under the

Ala-ud-din sent his brother

defeated,

Alaf

Khan

to Guzerat.

Karan Ghelo was

to
of the

and

his chief queen

Kamaladevi was taken

Delhi,

where

he adorned

the

harem

emperor as his mistress,

Sankardev, the

She had
son

daughter called Devaladevi.

of Ramadev of Devagiri, sought her hands. But Karan Ghelo haughtiiy declined to give a Rajput girl to

a Mahratta prince.
ttb

Kamaladevi persuaded Ala-ud-din

Alaf
of

send an expedition to bring her daughter to her.

of

Khan demanded
Devaladevi.

Karan

Ghelo

the surrender
of

This changed the mind

Karan, and he
In this

preferred to give her daughter to a Mahratta instead of

disgracing his

race

by sending her to Delhi.

desperate condition he sent his daughter with a small

body guard

to

Devagiri.

Unfortunately the party was

girl

overtaken on the way by the Moslem troops and the

was taken
Devagiri

to

Delhi,

Khizr Khan, the

with

em peror's
the

where she was married to Prince Malik Kafur reached son.

Afghan army.

Ramadev

finding

further resistance hopeless capitulated, and offered to pay

the arrear tribute in

offer

hill

and also

large indemnity.

The

Delhi,

was accepted. Shortly afterwards Ramadev visited where he was received with honour, The emperor
upon
him
to

conferred
besides

the

title

of

Kay-i-Rayan, ami

restoring
in

him
his

his

Navasari

Guzerat to

kingdom he added dominions. Ramadev was

old

28
ever afterwards
faithful

to

the

emperor

till

his

death.

When

Malik KahiT passed

Devagiri on an expedition to

Waraneal Ramadev rendered him till possible assistHis son Sankardev was a brave Mahratta prince. ance. He did not prove so yielding as his father. Malik Kafnr
<lid

not

receive any help from

him

in

subjugating the

Hoysalas of Dwara Samudra in 1310 A. U. Sankardev had also the boldness to withhold the tribute to Delhi.
Malik Kafur therefore came on another expedition in
1312 A.D.

He stormed Devagiri and beheaded Sankardev.

Confusion
I).

In this expedition he overran the whole of Southern India

upto Rameshwaram.

in

Delhi

called

Malik

Kafnr back.
poisoning

In

1316 A.

Ala -ud- din was killed by

in the

hands

of

Malik Kafur,

who had served

killed

him so

well.

The treacherous general

emperor's family.
of

most

of the

members

of the

He however could not

was beheaded
late

escape the hands

instance of

Nemesis and
the

at the

Mubarak Khan,

emperor's

fourth

son.

On the depature of Malik Kafur from the Deccan, Harpaldeva, the son-in-law of Ramdeva madean attempt
to recover the lost

kingdom

of Devagiri.

Sultan Mubarak

came

to

chastise

him

in

person.

Harpaldeva was
Since

arrested and inhumanly flayed alive in 1318 A. D.

then the emperors of Delhi had an uninterrupted govern-

ment
forts

till

1347 A.

D.

Mubarak Khan
to

built

a chain of

from the

Vindhyas

Dwara Samudra,

and

all

29
hopes
of

Mahratta rising were crushed

for

more than three

conturies]
Devagiri
the
of

Capital of

India

After
the

completing the-

conqnest
appointed
in-chief of

the

Deccan
as

Mubarik

Khan

Malik
the

Yaklaki
in

commander-

arm}-

the

south and parcelled out

jagirdars.

Maharashtra

among

Mohamedan

The

Malik broke out into open rebellion

(1320).
rising the

An army

was

sent from Delhi to suppress the

was executed. The command of given to Ain-ul-Mulk of Multan.

and Yaklaki army vvas then

Mubarak Khan's
raised to high dignity

reign ended
a sweeper

in

confusion.

He

who
the

accepted Islam,
favourite

under the name

of

Malik Khusru.
in

The new
Deccan,
officers.

attempted to set up a rebellion

but did

not receive the support of the imperial

He

later

on assassinated
throne.

Mubarak Khan and put himself on theThe ladies of the harem were distributed among
and he kept
of the

his caste-fellows,

for

himself the beautiful

Rajput priucess"s romantic Devaladevi, a Ghazi-ud-din Tughlak brought order out of the career.
tragic end

chaos

of the

time and established the strong government

of the Tughlaks

(August

23, 1321

A.D).
fell

The
fusion,

affairs of the

Deccan once more

into

con-

and Ghyas-ud- din's son Alaf Khan was sent The Prince's mission proved a success to restore order.
in Deogir, but his

campaign

in

Warangal was

a failure-

30

as

he had

to

retreat

on

receipt

of

rumour
Bidar,

emperor's death.
with strong
it

Khan was sent reinforcements. He captured

Alai

of the a second time

made

his

base

and forced

angal to surender.

Rudradeva of WarThe Kakatiya country was annexed

of

Pratap

and

it

received the

new name

Sultanpur.

Ghayas-ttd-din died in 1325 A. D. and was succeeded by his son Alaf Khan, under the
Tughlffk.
title of

Muhammad
wise ruler.

The new sovereign was

philosopher, a

poet and a scholar.

He had

all the gifts of a

But his imagination sometimes carried him much beyond the requirements of his time and landed him into diasters.

He made
and
schemes.

several projects which he could not carry

out

his failures

goaded him

to try

.still

more impracticable

In the beginning of his reign he

the

was engaged

n quelling

disturbances in the distant provinces.

treasury.

His costly wars and his rich munificence depleted his In order to replenish it he began to circulate

copper coins with the face value of gold.

not take the

He however

did

necessary

safeguards of credit
to

money

and afforded opportunity

about a
crisis.

the speculators to bring;

His next scheme was to conquer China,

and

to

bring her vast wealth to Delhi.

The

gigantic

army
in

sent across the

Himalayas was

totally annihilated

the mountain

passes.

He

then

cast his

ronguag;

looks towards the south.

Delhi

was

associated

with

M
all

his

misfortunes

capital to Devagiri.

and he thought of removing his The new place was more central,

and he could command the riches of the south more With Devagiri as base Delhi had acquired easily. Warangal and Dwara Samudra and it was nearer the
and the eastern provinces of the empire. There also was no apprehension of an attack from the north-west. The idealist emperor therefore ordered
northern
the whole

population of Delhi, along with the court and

the offices to
built

remove

to

Devagiri.

Regular roads were

all

from the old to the new capital, and

comforts for

the migrants were provided.

The ancient name Devagiri

city
of

was changed

into

Daulatabad ^the
it

wealth;.

He

resolved to

make

worthy

of

an emperor's resi-

dence.

service to gratify the

fortress

The Marathas were forced to render free whims of their master. A strong
was
built

on the rock not far from the

fortifications,

city.

Galleries ran
left

inside the
it

and nothing was

to

make

impregnable.
of
all

enjoyed the position

this

For a few years Devagiri During the imperial capital.

the

period of glory

works which are

its

most

marvellous features
in

were executed.
retains

ruins,

hut

it

still

the

The city is now name given by

passers

Muhammad
The
happy.

Tughlak, and reminds the

by of

the vanities of humanity.

removal

of

the

capital

was
in

anything
various

but
parts

Insurrections

look

place
of

of the empire.

The viceroy

the

Punjab

rebelled.'

>

The governors of Bengal and Southern Konkan revolted. The southern provinces including Devagiri showed signs. This was a hard time for the emperor. of restlessness.

To add

to his

troubles his troops were attacked

with a
In the

pestilence.

The emperor
difficulties

himself had an attack.

of

midst of such
to Delhi.
of famine,

he gave orders

marching back

Central India was at that time under the grip

and most

of

the emigrants

from Daulatabad

died on the

way
It

for

want

of

food.

small

portion

reached Delhi.

took a long time for old

Delhi

to

regain its a half -forgotten dream to hei.

prosperity.

Daulatabad' s splendour remained

The
P.atap

rebellion

in

the south

retirement of the

Emperor.
II
of

grew stronger on the Krishnadev, a relative of

in

Rudradev

Warangal rose

rebellion,

and with the help of Harihar of the newly risen Vijayanagar kiugdom regained the country. The success of Krishnadev inspired others to rise, and within a short,
time Daulatabad remained
Delhi.
the

only place faithful to

of the

Kutlugh Khan, the old tutor

emperor, was.
complete his

sent to the

Deccau, but before he could

operations he was recalled

was appointed

in his place.

and Ain-ul-Mulk of Oudh Ain-ul-Mulk fretted at this,

order and rebelled, but he was put down by Muhammad Tughlak with a strong hand. On the withdrawal of

Kutlugh Khan the Deccan again became rebellious, and Daulatabad only remained in the hands of the emperor.

33
The policy of Muhammad Tughlak had meanwhile undergone another change. He thought he should not give the high offices to men of rank and position but to
the

men

of

low origin

in order

that

thejr

might remain

faithful to

him out

of

gratitude.

Besides he began to

crush the old nobility with the help of the newly appointed

men.

was appointed governor of Malwa. He treacherously murdered 70 Mussulman nobles

Aziz, a
liquorseller,

at a dinner party.

This act received the approval of the

emperor.

Makhil, a slave,

was appointed governor

of

Guzerat. These

made

the old nobility rise in rebellion.

to

The

emperor came personally

crush the rebels in Guzerat,

From

there he sent Makhil to bring the nobles of Daulata-

bad. The nobles

anticipating

what would
to

befall

them over-

powered the guard and returned

Daulatabad.

Muham-

mad Tughlak

in a fury

came

to Daulatabad, defeated the

nobles and besieged the city.

In his absence the Guzerat

nobles once more rose in arms.

the
siege
to of

Mad

in

anger he raised

Daulatabad,

Guzerat

Sindh.

and pursued the nobles of There he was attacked with fever and
in

died 30 miles fro n Thatta

Sindh on

March 20,1351

A. D.

The nobles of Daulatabad in their struggle against Mohammad Tughlak elected Ismail, a commander of a thousand horse as their leader. But during the siege, and
afterwards
in

the defence of the country against Imad-ul-

Mulk one Hasan

iosj into prominence.

t'.i

Ismail or Nasirt
11

ud- din recognising

merit of Hasan, and seeing la-

he had alreacy acquired

as<

ndancy im: the arm;

Saltan
Alla-udf-din

al di-

cated in his favour. In 1347 Hasan founded tbe

Bahmami

dynasty uuder the

Bahtuani as
a

title of

Hasan

mark of gratitude to his Gangu the Brahman Gangadhar or Gangu of Delhi.

Once

old master

again Maharashtra became autonomorrs al-

though under foreign rulers. The new revolution, says Grant Duff, was aided by the native princes of the Deccan

and from several circumstances

in the

conduct

of the

war,

particularly the desultory plans adopted by the insurgents

which always require the aid of the native inhabitants of any country, there is strong presumption of their having contributed more to its success than the Musssl-

man

historian

was aware

of

or perhaps

was willing to

allow.

The Bahmani Kirqdom : The dynasty

ruled over the Deccan for
a
thirteen

of

Hasan Gangu
had
the

generations for over

century

and

half,

The
lands

founder

insight oi a
ciliation.

statesman and followed the policy of condistributed

He

among

the leading

Marathas,
of

granted

them

pardon,

them

in their old

positions,

most and conferred military

confirmed

rank on seme
internal

of the chiefs.
of the

By such means he streng-#

thened the foundation

new

administration.

The

government

of the

country rested en1 rely with

with the
herefore,

the people.

The new

rulers did not interfer

Marhatta institutions. lemained loyal to them.

old

The

people,

35
Mahratta Institutions The political unit of Maharashtra.
as in almost all other parts of India,

was a

village.

The

chants

of

governments anl dynasties could not destroy

Mr. E. B. Havel
I

the village institutions.

in

his

new

book, Aryan Rule in India writes: "Bat in India a political

freedom had been built upon the basis

of

of the

village
T
,

republics from the earliest period

her historj
to

and
the

no Buddhist

or

Hindu King attempted

curtail

right to administer their

own

affairs

which the village reconstitutional

for

publics enjoyed under the

government.
of

There
or
for

Aryan system of was no struggle

political

freedom

conscience

rights

of

individuals

because both were established by the unwritten law of the laud confirmed by every monarch in his coronation oath.''

Every village

is

a small state in miniature,

writes Grant Duff.

either

The

villagers are mainly cultivators,

Meerasdars

(hereditary occupants)

or

Oopries

(tenants-at-will)-

The

complete

establishment of a

village consisted of Palcll, Koolkurni and Chogula and 24 other castes of artisans, and public servants, known as.

Barow Baloulay and Barow Alowtay.

The
Chogula
clerk.

Palcll
is

his

headman of the village, and the The Koolkurni is the village assistant.
is

the

In all important matters

the

Palcll consults the

PanchayaU

consisting

of

five

persons.

The ancient

name

of

Gramadkikari the Palcll and the Koolkurni were

36

and Gramtekkuk.
formed

These oTicers
of

collected

the

land

revenue, which was one -sixth

villages
a
district,
officers.

the
a

crop.

Several

with

Deshmookh
officers

and

and

a Deshpandy* as

These
to

were mere
carried on
officers.

agents,

and were not allowed

office

usurp greater power

than the

permitted.

The kings always

of

their administration with the help

these

Hasan

Gangu

maintained

the

old

organisation

and thus could consolidate

difficulty.

the empire

without

much

Main

features

of

the

Kuhimmi

Administration:

In the beginning the Bahmanis ruled over the country

lying the
of

between

the

Sahyadri

and

Warangal, and
the old master

Narmada and the Kishna. Gangadhar, Hasan became his treasurer and so long
of

as he lived the

work

government went on undisturbed. Hasan was

succeeded by his sou,

Muhammad

Shall

(1358 A. D.

).

His reign was disturbed by constant

"Warangal and Vijayanagar.
too strong for them

warfare against

The Bahmani king proved The King of Warangal ceded Golpeace by presenting the

konda, and bought

off

Takhti

Firoz, a throne of solid gold studded with precious

gems

which Pratap Rudradev II had prepared for Muhammad Vijayanagar Tughlak. was also forced to make peace. Muhammad Shah I died in 1375 A. D., and
his brother, Mujahid Shah. He also continuous war against Vijayanagar for carried on a

was succeeded by

27
the possession of a

few places in the Toabof the Krisnna

and

the

Tungbhadra.

Mnjahid was murdereu

tried
to

b}T

bis

uncle Daud Shah, who

throne. the

set

himself

on

the

In this project he failed

and Mahmud Shah

youngest

son

of
I).).

the king

U37S A.

Hasan Gar.gu Mahimid was

was
a

made

good king.
second

He

reigned for nineteen years in peace.

His learning

and moderation brought on him

Aristotle.

the title of the

He was

succeeded by his sou

Ghyas-ud-Din

(i397 A. D.) a youth of only seventeen years.

He was
chin,

blinded by a

Turkish slave called Laldaughter of

because

he demanded the beautiful

this slave for his

harem. His brother, Shams-ud-din, was

then placed on the throne. But Firoz

Khan, the two younger sons

vengeance upon Lalchin,

Khan and Ahmad Daud Shah wreaked and Firoz Khan became king
of

under the

title

of

Firoz

Shah Babmani

(1397

A. D.

Nov. 15). The new king was a scholar and a linguist He conducted twenty -four campaigns against the Hindus,

and extended the borders

celebrated
his

of his

empire.

But he
as he

was
in

for

his lubidinous character,

had

harem
those

beautiful
of

women

of all

nationalities, iuclud-

ng

Greece and

Italy,

Russia

and Thibet,
towards

Afghanistan and India.

the
li
i.-,

There was
and
his
ol
lie

civil strife

end
death

of

his
in

reign,
of

abdicated 10 days before

Savour

brother

who ascended

the

throne under the

title

Ahmad Shah (March

.

L422).

Ahmad Shah was

strong rulci

lb defeated the king

38
of

Vijayanagar,

and
reigned

annexed
for

the

kingdom

of

Warangal.
got the
1435.
title

He
of

over

tewelve years and

died in

'Wali'

or Saint.

He

February

The succession was disputed between his two sons, Ala -ud- Din and Muhammad Khan. The former triumphed in the struggle, and Muhammad Khan was appointed governor of Raichur. The King had another
trouble

from

his

despised wife, Malika Julian.

At her

instigation her father the

King

of

Khandesh allied himsel army was given to a Under that Persian

to Ala-ud-I)in.

with the King of Guzerat and came against Ala-ud-Din.

The command
Persian
officer
officer

of

the

Bahmani

Malik ^ul-Tu jar.

the

But

the incident

campaign brought victory brought ruin upon

preferred

the

kingdom.
foreign

The King henceforth

officers

Persian

and

Deccanis and Abyssinians, who discontented formed themselves into a clique. Vijayanagar made an to

other

attempt

to to

regain

its

Tost of

position,

but

ultimately
lords,

had
to

accept the

Kings

Bidar as over-

and

pay tribute

1458. His son

to them. Ala-ud-Din died in and successor Humayun after a tyrannous

rule

of

three

years

'

and
A.

a
I).).

half

was

assassinated

by

his

servants (1461

The
of

reign of his nine

year old young son,

2

Nizam Shah,
Chief

lasted for less than

years.

The Hindu
defeat
at

Orissa
the
of

suffered

terrible

the

hands
died

of

Bahmani
heart

troops.
failure

But
at

the

young
of

King

the

time

celebrating the
II

victor}'.

His younger

brother

Muhammad Shah

succeeded him.

He had

39
a noble minister in

was connected with

forced to

Khwaja Muhammad Gawan. Gawan Ke was the royal family of Pers a.

:

leave his

country

by

came
first

to

Bidar

as a
a

merchant,

Din made him

minister of

noble of his

He Shall Tamasp, and Sultan Ala-udHe became the court.

the minority of

Humayun, and during

Nizam Shah and Muhammad Shah II he continued in office. The strength of Muhammad Shah's government depended upon the minister.
Gawan's Reforms.
of

In

the

beginning the dominions

Bahmanis included Maharasthtra, and parts of Telingana, and of the Raichur and Mudkal Doab. The second King Muhammad Shah had divided the empire
the

Gulburga, Daulatabad, Telingana and Berar. Each province was under a governor who had to maintain an army within his own province.
into four Tarafs via.

Whenever
of

the

Sultan

declared war

the

provincial
In

governors were summoned to join

time the governors became

him.

course

very
to

powerful.
old

The/

rater

conquest-

were

added

the
in

divisions.

Mahmud Gawan saw the defects He made an attempt to curtail the

Tarafdars and
by
dividing the
of
to

the

system.
of

powers
of

the

increase the

authority
eight

the

King

empire

into

divisions.
to

The
were

revenues
for the

the

provinces
:h

were

be

collected

Kin

whi

purpose special

collectors

appointed.

The

iwever created discontent

among

the

nobility.

They

formed

conspiracy

4J
against
the
of

Prime

Minister.
at

Ni/.am-ul-Mulk,
of

the

governor
racy.

Telingana was
a
letter

the head

this

conspi-

He forged Mahmud Gawan to

into

purporting to be written by
Orissa offering to
divide
letter

the Raja of

between

themselves the Bahmani

the

kingdom.

The

was put

hands

of

the

Kin;.;,

and Gawan was

beheaded by an Abyssinian slave

in his presence.

Dtememberment

of

the

Empire. The
to
It

death

of

Mahmud
of

Gawan
to

led

the

dismemberment
not
take
the

the

Bahmani kingdom.
long
in a

did

king
almost

discoyer

the

conspiracy.
in

He

died

His twelve year old son, Mahmud Shah, succeeded him. Ni/.amul-Mulk who was appointed minister in place of
1482.

demented condition

Mahmud Gawan He was jealous

Bijapur.

practically
of

controlled

the

Kingdom.

Yusuf
of

Yusuf Adil Shah, the governor of was a Turkish prince. He was

execution
to

under the order

managed
found

to

come

India

in Turkey. Somehow he and became a slave of

.

Mahmud Gawan.
sufficient
to

At the capital

of

the

opportunity to show his

Bahmauis he talents, and

soon rose ed

prominence.

When

his

master was murder J

he and

two

other

officers,

Imad-ul-Mulk
the

and

Khudawand Khan, managed

of Bijapur

to obtain

governments

and two parts

of

Berar.

Yusuf Adil Shah and his confederates were asked by Iniad-ul-Mulk to come to Bidar. But as soon as they entered the city Imad-ul-Mnlk attacked them with the

41
royal foices.

managed

to

Shah and Imad-ul-Mulk escape somehow and declared themselves

Adil
in

Yusuf

independent

Bijapur and

Berar respectively (1487).

dom.

Thus began the dismemberment of the Bahmani kingNizam-ul-Mulk had appointed his son, Malik Ahmad, governor of the western provinces of Daulata-

bad and Joonnere.

murdered Malik
declared
himself

When Ahmad

the

King had Nizam-ul-Mulk threw off his allegiance and

under
the
title

independent

of

Ahmad Nizam
Shah

Shah.

dynast}- of
of

The foundation of the Ahmadnagar was laid in this manner.

fell off,

Nizam

The Tarafdar
(1512).

Telingana, Kutb-ul-Mulk, next

of

and established the Kutb Shahi dynasty

Bidar

Golconda
of

now remained

the

only territory

the Bahmanis. The King, however, was a puppet in the bands of the minister. Kasim Barid was appointed

minister

after

Nizam-ul-Mulk.
Shah,

When Kasim
place.

died his

son Amii

Bajid stepped

into his

Amir Barid

imprisoned

Muhammad
after

reign of 37 years. His sou,

who died in prison after a Ahmad Shah, died in poverty

member
of

two years
dynasty
asked

him.

His two successors were killed

the

by Amir Barid.

The- only surviving

Ulla,

was Kalim
for

son But

of

Ahmad

Shah.

He

Babar

help.

could not come to his rescue.

Bijapur, and from there to
in 1539.

Mnghul Emperoi Kalim Ullah fled to Ahmadnagar, where he died

the

So

After his death

Ali

Barid formally

declared

himself

King

of Bidar.

Out
five

o! the

'vast dominions
viz.

of

the

Bahmanis arose

Nizam Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar, (-') Shahi kingdom of Adil the Bijapur, f.i) the Kutb Shahi kingdom of Golconda, (4) the Imad Shahi kingdom of Berar, and (5) the Berar was annexed Barid Shahi kingdom of Bidar.
important States
(l) the

to

Ahmadnagar

in

1574,
in the
of

and Bidar was annexed

to

Bijapur by 1619.

So

beginning of the seventeenth

century the kingdoms

Ahmadnagar, Golconda, and

Bijapur, were the three which deserve our attention. Of these three, however, the nrst was greatly reduced
in
size

and power by

the

Moghuls, and was the nrst

to be

added

to the Delhi

Empire.

43

CHAPTER

IV.

The Renaissance.
The Five States:
ruins
of the

The five States which arose on the Bahmani kingdom were engaged in constant
Hindu kingdom
of

warfare.

Either the}' were fighting against each other or

fighting against the powerful

Vijaya-

nagar. In this conflict Berar and Bidar suffered, and after

the battle at Talikota

(1564) Vijayanagar was ruined.

in

The hopes
and

of

the

Hindus

the

South were utterly

could not annex the

crushed. The old city rem tins to this day a scene of ruin:
desolation.

TheMuhammadans
of

country on account
the

jealousy amongst themselves, but

Hindu Kingdom could not risi again as it was divided into pieces. Deshmukhs and vassal chiefs
became independent
Maharashtra
in

in this state of confusion.

1573:

The population of these states were

with the other states.
Bijapur

not homogeneous. YVarangal was a Telugu country, and

had nothing
Tungbhadra.

in

common
Its

was an extensive

state lying

population

between the Neera ami the was mainly Canarese.

the
'

Ahmadnagar was practically Berar. with Khandcsh and

writes a

Mahratta country Within its frontier "

had its
born.

modern author " the great Maratha resolution birth. AtJunnar, one of its fortresses, Shivaji was
At Poona,
one
of
its

towns, Shivaji passed his

II

boyhood.

His grandfather Maloji and

in

his father Shahaji

were nobles

the

Ahmadnagar

king's employment.*4

The
foi

history of the

Marathas,

therefore,

was bound up

about two countries with these Slates.

Internal

Administration

in

the

Period

: The
Sirkars
the

country

was

divided

into

Sirkars,

and

were generally
Hindus,

divided

into fargauas,

called, by

Prant or Desh.

Most

of

these

Prants were

entrusted to the

Hindus.

The

villages
the

were

either

farmed out or Hindu Aumils collected

behalf of
the

revenue on
relating
to

Government.
or

Disputes

hereditary
the

office

property
of

were

decided by

Panchayat

consisting

fifteen

persons,
a

both
of

Hindu

and

Muhammadan.

Over

number
officers

Aumildars there were Mo^assndars.

These

were

not hereditary and used to get a percentage upon the revenue as remuneration. The Mokassadar was not

always a Muhammadan. Above the Mokassadar there used to be a subah. He had no share in the revenue

management, and was not

Tlit*

a resident officer.
:

Condition of the Mahrattas

offices

The

Mahrattas

en-

joyed high

under

the

Muhammadan
of

kings.

About

the year 1529

Burhan Nizam Shah

r

Ahmad-

nagar appointed a Brahman his pes /iw a or prime minister. Ibrahim show ed a great Adil Shah of Bijapur
.preference
for the

natives of Maharashtra both for civil

4o

and
the

military appointment-.

He
and

discontinued

keeping Marathi

accounts

in

Persian,

introduced

instead.

He

disbanded his foreign troops and formed

Deccan

cavalry
Berghees,
In

and introduced

the

practice

of

enlisting

who were
all

supplied with horse by

states

the state.

almost
or

the

Mahrattas were
with the

bestowed munsubs privilege of enjoying

generally
garrisoned

individual
jagkeers.

command
The
hill

forts

were
the

by

the

Mahrattas,
title

and

important chiefs

received the

of

Raja,

Naik or

Rao. The Berghees were very useful to the Muhammadart The chiefs could procure horses at short rulers.
notice,

and so saved the

states

lots

of

wasteful ex-

penditure fcr maintaining horses.

The
to

Mahrattas
each

who enjoyed
their

were mostly
service
of the

faithful to

fight against

other
states.

and power lmsteis. They had often when they were in the
office The-}'

lival

rarely
of

showed any
at

unity
timent,

amongst
:.nd

themselves

out
they
l

national sen-

very

often

were

feuds

rivate eauses. of The cut other with each dimension amongst the- Mahrattas kept the Muhammadan

rulers
in

strong
of

in

their

government.

But the
part

decline
the

power

these

states
in the-

and
period of

the-

that

Mahrattas played
the
their
ideal
of
the-

transition

changed

people.

They

could
they

look

beyond
properly

degraded position provided

were

46
organised.

They saw
In
their

rsy

of

hope

in

the

altered

circumstances.
the
nation.

This new

spirit

helped the growth of

dependent condition they

con Id

hardly were humiliated they got an opportunity to raise

heads.
Principal

maintain

their sell respect.

When

their

masters
their

Mahratta
Jaoli,

Families-* The

names
Phaltan,
of

of

the

!0tes

of

the

Naiks
the

of

the

Ghatges of Mullaore, Ghorepades,

of

the

Manes Dudes, and

the

Mnswar, the Savants

Wardi appear very prominently in the history of In Ahmadnagar the Jadav Raos were very Bijapur.
powerful-

They
of

are
old

supposed

to

have been
of

the

descendants

the

Yadava

Rajas

Devagiri.

jaghir under the Nizam Lokhji Jadav Rao held a Shahis for the support of 1,000 horse. Another fa mi
ly

of

which rose into prominence was that of the Bhonsles In this family was born Virole near Daulatabad
These Mahratta leaders held high
confidence in the people
their in
offices

Shivaji.

and
to

inspired

their ability

govern

own

country.
T

Chandra Rao More w as a Naik reign of Yusuf Adil Shah. He was

12,000
infantry.

of

Bijapur in the

in

command
Shah.
of

of

He

dispossessed the Shirke Raja

of

and For

defeated the troops

these services

Burhan

Nizam
as

he was comfirmed
ruled for

Raja

Jaoli,

where Naiks

his
of

family

seven generations.

The

Phaltan were Deshmukhs.

They were known

Rao Naik Nimbalkars. They were made Surdeshmukhs and polygars later on. Jugpal Naik lived in the
&s

early

par.t of

the seventeenth century.

His

sister

Deepa

Bai was from the Bhonsle family of Virole, who were Patells .He early married the sister of of several villages. Jugpal Rao Naik Nimbalkar of Phaltau. At the age
the
of

grandmother

of

Shivaji.

Mallojee comes

25

in
of

1577

he entered the service

the
interest

of of

Murtaza Nizam
Lukhji Jadav
Sillidar,

Shah

Ahmadnagar by

Rao
born

of Sindkheir.

He was an
It
is

active

and
of

attained distinction
in

very shortly.
said
that

His son Shahji was

by
the favour

1594.

the goddess Bhowani he obtained enormous wealth, with which he endowed temples and other works ot

public utility
of

and

succeeded in getting the

title of

command

5,000 horse,
forts
of

with the

Mallojee Raja Bhonsle,

The

Shivneri and Chakan were placed in his

charge,

and Poona
places.

and

Supa

he

got

as

jaghirs.

The
in

future history of Maharashtra

these

Jadav
his
this

Rao

was greatly moulded Nimbalkar was now

in

persuaded to give

daughter

marriage to Shahji.
founder

The

offspring

of

marriage was the great

of the

Mahratta confederacy.

The

Ahm;idn;i[|;ir

Kingdom,

l'he founder

of

the

Nizam

Shahi dynasty

and
his
i

administrator.

Ahmad Nizam Shah was an able general He left a well -governed state to
Nizam Shah
(1503).

BOn

iJtirhin
of

Burhan
throne,

was
ami

boy

seven when

he ascended the

IS

was placed under the able guardianship of Mukami* He married Bibi Miriam, the daughter of Khan. Vusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur, and the sister of Ismail
Adil

Shah,
to

promised

The Bijapur King give Burhan Sholapur and five and half
the

reigning king.

districts as

down'.
this

But he never redeemed his prool

mise.

For

breach

promise

Burham
for
of

declared

war against Bijapur but was He once again was A. D.

)

utterly
in

defeated (1524

danger

changGuzerat,

ing his religion by becoming a Shia.

Bijapur, and

Kings

Khandesh formed themselves into a league But by a clever mauouvre he to divide his Kingdom. bought off the Kings of Guzerat and Khandesh. Later on
he induced the kings
ally
of Berar,

Golcouda and Bidar

of

to

themselves with

Ram

Raja

Vijayanagar against

Bijapur. Burhan Shah led the allied army and besieged Kalyani, and succeeded in obtaining Sholapur and He died in 15 55 and Bijapur five and half dtstricts.

managed

to

outlive this

crisis.

Hussain Nizam Shah

now
sou

occupied the throne

of

of

Ahmadnagar.
the dancing

He was
girl

the

Burhau's

first

wife,

Amina.

The son of Bibi Miriam went over to Bijapur. Ibrahim Adil Shah, the King of Bijapur, sought the helpThe allied army won of Ram Raja of Vijayanagar.
a
victory.

But Ibrahim Adil

of

Shah died
victory.

of

excess in

the course of the celebrations

His son AIL

Raja and the
of

Adil Shah continued the alliance with

allies

Ram

were strengthened

by the support

Golconda.

49

The

thvei

artnbs
in

b23tejei

Ahmadnagar.
condition
to at

Hussain.
forced to

Nizam Shah
receive

this perilous
of

was

cede the fortress

Kalyani
inferior

Bijapur,
the

and
of

to

pan as

an

hands

Rama

Raja.

Five years later Hussain Nizam Shah in alliance

with the King of Golconda tried to retake

Kalyani.

Berar and Bidar

joined

Bijapur

and

Vijayanagar-

Ahmadnagar was again besieged, but a quarrel among The Hindus defiled the Moslem the allies saved it. and Ram Raja insulted the Mussalman places, holy
Kings
the
of Bijapur,

GMconda, Berar and

their

Bidar.

At

this;

Mussalman kings gave up

Shah

quarrel

and com-

bined to crush Vijayanagar.

Ali Adil

Hussain Nizam Shah and

alliances.

entered into matrimonial

The kings of Golconda and Bidar joined

them.

Ram

Raja was defeased at Talikota on the Krishna, his head was cut off and placed on a spear. Vijayanagar's glory vanished
for ever (1564).

shortly after the

victory (1565).

Hussain Nizam Shah died Murtaza Nizam Shah

succeeded his father, and made a fresh treaty with Ali Adil Shah. The principal provisions of the treaty were
that Acil

Shah would complete the conquest

Murtaza

of

Vijaya-

nagar

and

would

conquer

Berar.

The The

campaign
infant

against

Beiar

was very

successful.

King Burhnm Imad Shah, anl the usurper Tufal Khan were made prism us, and on the death of the

50
captives in 1575 Berar was annexed. Towards the end of his life Murtiza Nizam Shah became insane and was murdered by his son Miran. After the murder of
his father

Miran ascended the throne but he was put into

the

prison

at

instance

of

his

Minister, Mirza

Khan.

Ahmadnagar

was

now
the

full

of factions.

rivalry between the party of foreigners to

There was which Mirza

latter
set fire

Khan

belonged,

and

Deccani party.

party demanded the release of Miran.

to the gates of

The The mob

the city,

and then Mirza Khan was be-

headed. The foreign soldiers were massacred (1589 A. D.)

The

state

of

confusion gave

opportunity to interfere.

He
1595
the

helped
to

Emperor Akbar an Burham Nizam

occupy the throne.
son
only

Shah, the brother

of

Murtaza,
in

On
IJizam

his

death

his

Ibrahim
for

Shah

occupied

throne

few months.

He

died while

fighting against Bijapur.

On

his

death his infant son

Bahadur was

crowned

King, and Cband Bibi was appointed regent. Chand Bibi was the daughter of Hussaiu Nizam Shah, and the

widow
ability.

of Ali

Adil Shah. She was a lady of extra ordinary

of

She was guardian

of her

her hephew Ibrahim Adil

Shah on the death

husband.

But on account of

an intrigue in the court of Bijapur she was put under confinement at Satara. Although she was released by
the

people she

left

Bijapur in disgust, and came to

Ahmadnagar.
But the factions
Jhe

People
at

had

perfect confidence

in

her.

Moghul army.

Ahmadnagar invited Prince Murad came

the invasion of
at the

head of

51
the array.

Chand

Bibi

made
of

a heroic defence.

Murad
en the

admired the gallantry

not end here.
nagar.

the lady,

and

retired

cession of Berar (1596).

Unfortunately the trouble did

of factions in

There was no end

in

Ahmadcity.

Akbar came
Bibi

person and besieged the

was forced to evacuate the capital and took shelter in Juunar. The noble queen was murdered by her own soldiers and Bahadur Shah was taken as a
prisoner to Gwaliar, where he died in 1600. Akbar annexed Khandesh and Ahmadnagar but he could not

Chand

conquer the entire

-under the leadership
of the State.

province.
of

The Abyssinian

faction,

Malik Amber, managed the affairs

to

Murtiza Nizam Shah II was placed on the

capital

throne.
years.

The

was removed
country,

Khirki after a few

under the Mussalman rulers, practically enjoyed autonomy. With the Moghul invasions they apprehended tyranny associated with the old Afghan rule from Delhi. The national
although
sentiment appealed to the Mahratta leaders, and
joined the

The

Mahratta

they
in

movement
Revival

to

oppose

Moghul invasions
of

no

mean

spirit.
:

Religious

A
the

sketch

the

political

history
tipto

of

Maharashtra
of

from

the

early

times
of

the end

sixteenth

century

Chrstian eia has been given in the preceding pages.

But Ina.an history cannot be properly understood unless

we
VV
e

follow the trend of religious

movement

in the country.

have already seen that during the rule

of the

Andhras

r
.

>2

Buddhism was
precepts of

the

prevalent religion.

Giadually
the people,

the

Buddha were forgotten by

and

the cult of Mahabir appealed to the popu'ar view.

This

again was superseded by the monotheistic

religion,

preached

by Sankaracharya.

From

the seventh century

onwards

we

find

beautiful temples dedicated to

God

Shiva.

The

rationalism of the Vedantic religion, however, was not

sufficient to

awaken

the devotional spirit of the Marathas.

The

reign of

Dnyandev of Pandharpura who lived in the Ramdev of Devagiri gave a new turn to the He was an outcaste Brahman. But by movement. his devotion he became a saint. He wrote a Marathi commentary on the Bhagavat Gita and also many other poems rousing the devotional spirit of the people. On
poet

account

of his saintly life

Pandharpur

attracted a large

number of pious men. His followers came mostly from low classes. Chokhamela was a Mhar, Rohidas was a Chambar. JCabir who came from the north was a Mussalman. Namdev was a tailor. ",,They were all "
writes Mr. Kincaid,

"men

of

holy and austere

lives.

Their worship

of

Krishna was eminently pure and sane.

Their preaching and their poems stimulated men's minds and led them to seek a refuge from their sorrows at
Krishna's shrine.

The
were

spot where

Dnyandev and

his

brothers and sister died became centres frcm which the

Pandharpur

tenets

promulgated from the Bhima

to the Tapti and from Alandi to Saswad.

Men whoto

made pilgrimages
oth?r by their

to these shrines

were drawn

each

common knowledge

of the

Maiathi speech

5i;

;and

of the

doctrines of the Pandharpur Saints.

In this
of

way

there

came

into

existence

the

beginnings

national feeling."

The love for God made them realise the brotherhood Through religion people were brought to of man. " Religious revival and puritan enthusiasm " unity.
says Mr.
it

Ranade
to

'

were

at

work

in the

laud,

and

was

clear

men's minds that the old bigotry must

cease.

This religious enlightenment was the principal

point of departure from the earlier traditions of submission to brute force and
of a determination

that

not again spread in

more strongly than

pur.
others

made itself manifest in the form Mahomedau intolerance should the land. None felt this influence he worshippers, who placed their
it
I

faith in the shrines of

Bhawani
this fire

at

Tuljapur and Kolha-

They caught
"

and
the

communicated
Gondhlis

it

to

through their

bards,

and

the

Bhata

The

spirit of

Maharashtra was thus

fully

awakened
the
all

for a national

regeneration.

The

social conditions,

religious spirit

and

the political
of

circumstances
life

were

favourable for the growth

aud character. The rise of the Marathas was not thus an accident. While the Mnssalmans in the south were indulging in
national
vice

and

riot

the

M.irathas

were
thus

going

through

process of purification.

Their

clean and pure lives

-pared the:n

for the position

acquired

later

on.

64

The Turk

rulers brought ruin

upou themselves.

When

they degraded themselves in the eyes of the people they Government could lost their power to control them.

no longer be

their

work, because
of

it

required superior

moral force on the part

rulers.

The Marathas were

rallied
in his

inspired by a religious fervour

and they quickly

round
life

the

banner

of

their

leader

who embodied

and

character the noblest ideals of the people.

55

CHAPTER
The Moghul advance
Malik

V.
in

the Deccan.
of

Amber : The

last

days

Akbar
son.

were
died

darkened by the rebellion

of his

eldest

son Selim and

the death of Prince Daniyal, his

third

He

in broken health in 1605, and was succeeded by Selim under the title of Jehangir. The rebellion of Khusru, Jehangir's eldest son, in turn, kept the Delhi Govern-

ment too busy

till

to

look after the affairs

interval
of
of

of

the

south

1606 A.

D.

In this

six years

Malik

Amber, the Abyssinian minister

II
tried

Murtiza Nizam Shah

to

retrieve
after

the lost position of

fall of

Immediately
fortified

the

Ahmadnagar. Ahmadnagar he strongly

the

Daulatabad,

and reformed

system

of

revenue collection.

He

abolished revenue farming and

for

appointed Brahman agents

supervision of
of village

collection,

under the
old

Mahomedan
at

officers.

The
of

system

administration was restored, and the revenue

the rate
of

was assessed
paid annually.

two

fifths

the actual
to be

produce, which in

turn was

commuted

in

money

People under these

reforms became
treasury also
felt

prosperous and

happy,

and the

state

became

full*.

In 1610 A.

D
His

Malik Amber
the

himself

strong enough to
the

regain

provinces conquered by
1610
to

Moghul emperor.

operations from

1615

A. D. were uninterrupted success.

He had made
and employed

Khirki,
all

modern Aurangabad,
of

the capital,
in

the resources

the

state

driving the Moghuls

05
out

of the

recovering the city

whole
ricts

of

Nizam Shahi territory. He succeeded in of Ahmadnagar, and almost the the old kingdom excepting one or two distJehangir did not like to be deprived
of his

in

the north.

of the conquests

father,

and

s nt his*

son,

iam, to conduct the campaign against Malik

KhurAmber.

Khurram was an

able soldier,

and made Malik Amber

to

leave his newly conquered territories point by point.

The Abyssinian leader was put

His revenue
fell
off,

serious troubles.

and
lost

the

soldiers

could not be

paid regularly.

He

Ahmadnagar
left

fort,

and some

of the veteran generals

to the

his

service

Moghuls

(1621).
of

Lokhjee Jadava Rao

renegades.

and went over of Sindof a battle

kheir

was one

these

Other Mahratta

Chiefs remained faithful.

In

the

accounts

fought in 1620 the names of Jadava Rao and Shahjee

Bhonsle are mentioned.

father

The
died in

latter

had succeeded

his

Maliojee
of

who

1619.

Since he joined
himself

the service

Ahmadnagar he

distinguished

by

his bravery.

In 1621 circumstances

in

Delhi interrupted

the

campaigns
gir

in

the south.

Nur Jehan persuaded Jehanv Shahriyar,

the youngest
to recall

to accept her son-in-la

son of the emperor, as his heir, and from the Deccan. Khurram rose in
defeated by the Imperial troops.
in
last

rebellion, but

Khurram was

He

then sought refuge

Guzerat,

he came

At Khandesh and Bengal successively. Amber, and was cordially to Malik

57
received by him. against the
the

The two now led combined attack Moghul troops. The prince did not find
and asked the forgiveMalik
father,

new
of

policy very hopeful

his

ness
fate.

leaving

Amber

to

his

Jehangir,

however, was

now

not the master of

himself.

general Mahabat

He was first a prisoner in the hands of Khan who had incurred the displeaNur Jehan succeeded
the
in extricat-

sure of

Nur Jehan.
but

ing

Jehangir,

intriguing

general
a

joined
to
it

Khurram,
Persia.

who was
Khurram

then contemplating
of

flight

The death
for

the emperor

in

1627

made

easier

to

occupy the throne.

1626 leaving
his

Malik
to
his,

Amber

died in

charge

son Fateh Khan.

The new

peace with the Moghul general,

tiza

made up a Khan Jehan L,odi. Murminister

Nizam Shah'II had by

to curtail
of

this time attained

majority

and wanted
the help

the powers of the regent.

an

officer

With named Tukurrib Khan he put

Fateh

Khan

into the

prison (1629 A. D.)

On

the fall

of Fateh Khan Lokhjee Jadava Rao came back to Ahmadnagar, but he was treacherously murdered by the Nizam. In utter dismay his widow went to the Moghuls, and was confirmed in the jaghir of Sindkheir. afterwards the Jadavas remained faithful aud ever

to the

Moghuls.

Fresh troubles came upon the Nizam from different

quarters.

The

Moghul

general

Khan Jehan

Lodi

58

was

personal enemy of the

emperor Shah Jehan.

He

Delhi.

was transferred to Malwa and then called to There he suspected treachery and fled to the
received the support of Murtiza
rebellion.

Deccan, and

Nizam
field in

Shah

in

his

Shah Jehan took the

to

person.
retreat,

Khan
and
rebel

Jehan Lodi was pursued

in

his

last

slain

1630.

The

Nizam Shahis were

now hard
of the

pressed by the Moghuls for taking up the cause

commander.
his
in his

Finding his position insecure

services
to

Shahjee

tendered

the emperor,

and

was confirmed
districts

old jaghirs,

and granted some

belonging to Fateh Khan.

The

difficulties of

Murtiza Nizam Shah were increased by a famine at the

time.

Almost in a desperate condition he released Fateh Khan, and put him into power. But the offended
minister

threw

infant son,
self

Murtiza into prison and placed his Hussain on the throne, and appointed him-

his

regent.

To

strengthen his

position

against

the

rebellious
of the

support
the

spirit of the people he bought the emperor by rich presents and got back

districts

granted to
this

Shahjee.

The

latter

was

aggrieved at

treatment and with the help of Murar

of Bijapur,

Jagdev, entered the service

bijapur
and

(1631 A.D.)

Ahmadnagar

Ibrahim
divide

Adil Shah

II,

king of

Bijapur,
ally

was
of

jealous of Malik

Amber.

He
of

had been an

the

Moghuls, and entered into

to

an agreement with

them

the

kingdom

Ahmadnagar between themselves.

Ibrahim,

however,

59
died in the same year as" Malik

and was succeeded by

his

Amber (1626 A. D.) son Mahomed Adil Shah.

The new king was

government
in his

not desirous of prepetuating Moghul

neighbourhood.

He

therefore entered

into a secret

negotiation with

Murtiza

Nizam. Shah,
Moghuls, Randulla

and

sent Randulla

Khan apparently
of

to help the

but really to promote the cause

Murtiza.

demanded

of the

promised in the old agreement.

Moghul general Azim Khan the districts Azim Khan did not
request,
inflicted a severe defeat

comply with
Randulla

his

between the two kingdoms

and suspecting an intrigue upon

Khan. It was in these circumstances that Fateh Khan was released. We have already seen that Shahjee had left the Moghul service in disgust and

went over

to

Bijapur.

He persuaded Mahomed

Adil

make an attack upon Daulatabad. Fateh Khan applied to the Moghul general Mahabat Khan for help, and offerred the surrender of Daulatabad, and proposed
Shah
to

Moghul Emperor. Mahabat Khan sent an army under his son Khan Jaman. But before Khan Jaman could reach Daulatabad Shahjee had come there, and by diplomatic overtures turned Fateh
to
the

become

vassal of the

Khan from Moghul alliance. At this treachery of Fateh Khan Mahabat invested Daulatabad. The impregnable fort was stormed, Fateh Khan surrendered with the
fort of

Daulatabed, and the infant king Hussain Nizam

vShah

was taken
53

prisoner

to

Gwaliar.

The

siege

lasted for

days *and was marked by heroism

and

ravery on both sides.

60
Shahjee tried once
storm,

more

to

take the fortress by

but he was driven back by

of

commandant

the

garrison.

Khan Dauran, the Mahabat Khan pursued

he was superseded by
in

the Bijapur troops.

At

this stage

prince Shuja, and he

was put second

command.

This

division of responsibility reduced the vigour of the operations.

The Moghuls were

defeated at Parenda, and were

compelled to retreat to Burhanpur. Meanwhile Shahjee

had put another infant named Ahmed Nizam Shah on

the throne of
regent.
set

Ahmadnagar

and he himself acted as

He

regained his position greatly, and began to

in the country.

up good government
felt

The Emperor
to

Shah Jehan

that Bijapur

must be subdued

restore

settled conditions in the

newly acquired

territories.

He

sent an ambassador to

Mahomed

Adil Shah demanding

the

the restitution

of the forts

belonging

Nizam Shahi
upon
the abanfive

kings, their guns and stores, and insisting

donment

of

Shahjee.

The

fort of

Sholapur with

and

half districts

was held out

as reward.

The

refusal

was
in-

threatened with annihilation.

effective.

The overtures proved

till

So vigorous war continued

1636.

The

territory of the Bijapur king was overrun by the Moghuls. Ruin spread over the country and at last both sides,

weary
whole

of

war, came
of the

to

terms.

Bijapur got a
including

large

portion

Ahmadnagar kingdom,
the'condition of

the

of the territory lying

between the Bhima and the

Neera up

to

Chakan on

annual tribute of 20 lakhs'of pagodas.

payment of an Bv an article of

61
the treaty Shahjee

was promised pardon provided

in his possession.

he-

surrendered the forts

At

first

ShaVjee
of the

held out for some time. But without the support

king

of Bijapur

he could not

stand long against the

his forts

Moghul arms.
he applied
peror.
told
for

When

most

of

were

reduced

pardon, and for service under the emthe prayer for

in

Shah Jehan granted

in

pardon and
Since
then.
till

Shahjee to seek service

the

Bijapur.

Shahjee remained
death.

service of the

Adil Shahs

of Ahmadnagar was now complete, and Bijapur and Golconda remained the only independent Afghan kingdoms in the South. The Maharashtra

The reduction

remained mainly under the king

of Bijapur.

(52

CHPTER
Early When
on
behalf of

VI.

life of

Shivaji.
against the
11

Shahjee was busy

Murtiza

fighting:

Moghuls
Shivner

Nizam Shah
This boy

his wife Jijabai

bore him a son on April

close
to
to

10, 1627, in the fort of

Junnar.
the
British

Thanks
Shivaji,

was named Shivaji. Government the birthplace of

who rose to be one of the greatest of Indian kings has now been marked out by a marble trablet. This was the second son of Jijabai, her first son, SamThe childhood
hardships.
of

bhujee was born four years earlier.

Shivaji
after his

passed

through

various
to

Shortly

birth Shahjee

had

go ever to the Moghuls.

But the disgrace which was meted out to him by depriving him of some districts granted by Shah Jehan made him
forsake the

Moghul

service.

Since

1631 his entire

energy was devoted to crush the imperial power. He created a number of enemies in the Moghul Court He alienated the sympathy of his mother-in-law by
contracting a second marriage
the

with Tukabai, a girl of

this

Mohite

family (1630).

After

Jijabai

went

to her relations.
in

When
to
of

new marriage Daulatabad was

was taken
con-

besieged by
a

Mahabat Khan
But she
the

1633 Jijabai

prisoner.

managed
offices

keep Shivaji
her relations

cealed.

With

good

who

Moghul Court she was released and brought to the fort of Kondane. In 1636 when Shfrhjee went with Morar Pant to Bijapur, Jijabai accompanied her
were
in the

63

husband and remained there

the Carnatic by the

till

the

celebration

of

Shiva ji's marriage with Saibai. Shahjee was King of Bijapur shortly afterwards.
Jijabai

sent to

So

and Shivajee were sent to Poona under the guardianship of Dadaji Kondadev.

At Poona Shiva ji received his training under Dadaji, future career was greatly influenced by the and environment in which he was brought up. Poona was
his

then a small village near the confluence of the Muta .and the Mula. The country about was a barren wilderness.

The

late

wars had devastated the

entire Deccan.
to
life

People were feeling insecure with

property.
carried

respect

and

Young children and women were often away by Mahomedans, and made converts.

The jaghirs of Shahjee were deliberately destroyed by the enemy and the inhabitants had either fled or perishDadaji was an able manager, and applied himself ed.
to

improve the condition

rent free
to

of

Poona and Supa.

cultivators

L,and

was given

the

and

the wild

beasts were hunted out of the fields by giving rewards

to huntsmen.
off robbers.

Bands
Within
a

of

hillmen were armed to

ward

few years he succeded

in effect-

ing considerable progress.

Two more

talukas, Baramati

and Indapur, which were granted to Shahjee by the Bijapur Government, were also handed over to Dadaji
ior

management.

The

fertile soil of the tract

under his

able

management

shortly

began

to

reward

his labours.

Harvest was

abundant, and with the surplus revenue

64
thus earned
village,

he

planted

mango
after

trees,

and founded a

which he named
of

Shivaji, Shivapur.

The guardian

the

young Maratha was honest,

a

pious and intelligent.

He brought
of

number

of

boys of

the age of Shivaji, to play with

art.

The

best

known

him and. to learn military these companions were Tanaji

of

Malusare,

petty

baron

Umrathe

village

in the

Konkan,
Sahyadris.

Baji

Phasalkar, the deshmukh of the valley of

Mun, and Yesaji

them lessons
instructors
stories of his
in

Kank,

small 'landholder

in the

Paid instructors

were

appointed to give
of these

warlike exercises.

The teaching

was supplemented

by

Dadaji by relating

own

experience.

Besides these exercises the

young men
gained
ses

travelled through hills

and

forests

and thus
pasthe

first

hand knowledge
of the

of the

Maval,

of the

to the

Konkan, and

obscure

regions on

Sahyadri.

course
future.
life to

of

knowledge Shivaji acquired in the these wanderings was very useful to him in-

The

In addition to this training Dadaji pitched his

a high religious fervour

by giving sound religious

instructions.

saints of
stories

teachings of Dnyanadev and the Pandharpur were expounded to him, and the from Ramayana and Mahabharata were related

The

on winter evenings.

The heroism

of

the

Kshatriya

warriors, their skill and bravery in war, the statesmanship of Bhishma, and other elevating anecdotes

made a
*

deep impression on the young Shivaji.

It is

no woudi

05
therefore that cne of the
of his life
rr.cst

important characteristics
fervour
in

was
as

the note of

deep religious

In

almost
a

all

his activities
if

he conducted himself

such
he

manner

he received a call from within, and

unless he

would not undertake anything

ported

was sup-

by divine authority. Mr. Kincaid gives a fine which moulded his description of the surroundings character, and the passage is quoted below in full
:
' '

The scenery round Poona

kind.
of the

To

the west are the

is of the most inspiring tremendous barrier ranges

Sahyadris.

Only twelve miles

to the south stands

out the colossal fortress of Sinhagad.

To

the south-

west

may be dimly seen the peaks of Rajgad and Torna. which, when outlined against the setting sun, arouse
to-day

even

emotion

in

the
to

phlegmatic
the

Englishof

man.
lies

But

thirteen

miles

Alandi,

the

spot
to

Poona where Dnyanadev entered his

north

living

tomb and

which,

now

as,

in

Shivaji's

time, thousands of pilgrims bearing yellow flags

their

make

way from Pandharpur.

more powerful than

But there was yet another

either Dadaji

influence

Kondadev's
Jijabai,

teachings or the grandeur

fatherless, deserted

of the

landscape.

by her husband, and her eldest son

her
vShe
all

found a solace
possession
left

for

grief

in

Shivaji,

the

one
all

her.

lavished

on

her

son

and more

than

mother's

love.

At

the

same time she bade him naver forget that he was descended both from the Yadavas of Devagiri,

66

ami

the

Ranas

of

Udaipur.

She

reeited
of

to

him

the

Puranas with

their

marvellous feats

But she wished to see

war and daring. him pious as well as brave. She

at

made him pray constantly

which
still

the

little

village

shrine
site

may

be seen at Poona

not far from the

of Jijabai's

home.

There too she welcomed Kathekaris

translate

or religious

preachers to

and expound
the

to

him,

better than

even Dadaji
of

could do,

various

virtues

and merits

Krishna.
at eighteen

Thus grew Etruria

was a man,
tireless,

strong;
fearless

and Shiva ji

and deeply devout.*'

in

Thus

an inspiring atmosphere under the

influence-

of his guardian Dadaji,

Jijabai, Shiva ji

and his high souled mother formed an ideal for himself. He underMaratha race
from
fo-

took the task

of liberating the

reign j'oke, and of establishing a Swarojya for them. He did not want preferment for himself in court, which.

he could

easily get

through his father or

relatives.

He

did not desire to renounce the world

-eligious

either, as

other

would do. But he chose a perilous ahead. course with full knowledge of the dangers Although young companions encouraged him, and his old tutor blessed him in his mission, he was not sure As a matter of the support of the great Maratha chiefs.
people
of fact he

had

to fight against

many

of

them.

Yet in-

spire of all these

"he

difficulties, without fear or hesitation plunged himself into the noble task of nation-build-

?ng.

The

teachings of

the Bhagavatgita

must

have

67
prepared his mind to undergo
the the severe
of

hardships of

great

work. Exhortations

Srikrishna to Arjuna

in the field of

Kmukshetra could not but have appealed

to Shivaji s mind,

08

CHAPTER
Torn;i

VII.

Rebuilding a Mahratta State.

and other
hill

-forts The

young Shiva ji was

which were before
In
his

quick

in

finding

the

opportunities

him

in

forming a strong Mahratta State.

to his friends of

boy-

hood he talked
dent poiygar.

becoming an indepenencurageDadaji

But he did not receive any

Dadaji in
his

ment from

designs.
(

gave

management of the jaghir, statecraft. In the trained him up in thus and course of his business Shiva ji met a number of respectable Mahrattas, who were drawn towards him by
Shiv^ji a large share in
the

his conciliatory

deportment.

His intimate

adherents

at the

time were

Tanaji

Mulasare, Baji Phasalkar,

and
his

Yesaji Kouk.

The
in

hill

men

of

the

most

faithful adherents,

'ihe Mavalis

Maval were were clow-

nish and stupid

active

appearance, but they were very

and

intelligent

situations of trust.
their
life

and remarkably faithful in They were very poor and spent

in the

in the

most abject condition

their

valleys

of Maval.

Dadaji improved

condition by

makvery

ing concessions in their favour,

and by
Shivaji

admitting a

number

of

them

into his service.

was

attentive to these people,

and they
paths

generally accom-

panied him on his

became
hilly

With their help he and defiles of the country round about Poona, and the survey that
familiar

excursions.

with the

69
lie

made

of the situation in the

Mahratta country sug-

gested to him

the possibility of attaining independence.

He found
Most
dars
or

the hill-forts

neglected,

and

unfortified.

were entrusted to Mahratta jaghirof them was Scarcely any deshmukhs. garrisoned by Mahomedans as they were considered unhealthy specially in the rains. Shivaji intended to occupy some of these forts, and thus to prepare himof these forts
self

for his further projects.

in

The

forts

within his

jaghir were not

The fort of Koudane had a Mahomedan killidar and Puraudhar was under a Brahman named Nilkant Rao. Twenty miles
charge
of Dadaji.

south west of Poona was the hill-fort of Torna.

fort

The
it

was

situated at the source of

the

Neera, and

could
the
in

not be easily

approached.

Shivaji

won
of the

over
fort

killidar of

Torna, and got

In order to stop

possession

1646 A. D.

opposition from Bijabefore

the Court

pur he sent his agents

that

to represent

the transfer of the managment of the fort would be to the benefit of the king and would bring him more revenue than he could get from the Deshmukhs. Mean-

while

he

began

to

repair

the

fort

and

got a large

treasure in digging Up a part of the ruins.

With
built

this

money he

got arms and ammunitions,

and

an-

other fort three miles south-east of Torna.

cthis fort

he gave the

name

of

Rajgad.
if

The

activities o

hivaji
to

roused suspicion at court

forts.

and he was forbidden

build the

His

father,.

ro
Shahjee was also warned and asked
of his son
to

keep the activities

under cheek.

Shahjee represented to the king

that his
state,
its

son was not inimical to the interests of the and that what he was doing was to strengthen

position.

On

the other
control.

hand he asked Dadaji

Dadaji was then
to in

to

keep

Shivaji
bed.

under

his sick
his
all

He

tried his best

dissuade Shivaji from

course and impressed upon him the danger of losing

his future prospects

by offending the King

on deaf
ears.

of Bijapur.

But his advice

ji

fell

He found

that Shiva-

was

firm

and

resolute.

He had an inward symIt is

pathy with his ambitions.

said that before he

of

died

he advised him to prosecute his plans

to protect

independence,

Brahmans, kine and cultivators and preserve

the temples of the Hindus from violation. He exhorted him to follow his fortune and blessed him in the bold and noble undertaking of forming the Mahrattas into

a nation.

His

blessings

and exhortations

brought

upon Shivaji the support of the subordinate jaghirdars and gave as it were a divine sanction to his projects.
After the death of Dadaji

Kondadev

Shivaji assumed

charge of the jaghir of Poona. He evaded all payments to his father, and at last he informed him that the heavy expenditure of the jaghir did not leave any
surplus of revenue to be sent to him.

He
the
Baji

also

ma-

naged

to get the fort of

Chakan, and

adjoining

villages from Phirangojee Narsulla.

Mohite, the

n
brother
yielding.
of

his

step -mother,

Tuka
his

Bai,

proved un
a party
of-

Shiva ji

surrounded Sopa with

party

Mavalis, and and sent him away

officers of

took Mohits and

prisoners,

to the Carnatic to join Shahjee.

The

Baramati and Indapur without dispute subShivaji.

mitted to

In
its

this

way he

consolidated his

power

in

Poona and

neighbourhood,

Killidar

Koudaue was in charge of a Mahomedan who handed it over to Shivaji on receiving handsome bribe. The Brahman Killidar of PuranThe
fort of

dhar

had died

by

this time,

and there was

sons.

a quarrel

over succession

among

his

three

Shivaji
garrison,

took

advantage

of this quarrel,

surprised the
All the

and

made

the

brothers

submit.

brotheis

were

persuaded to take service under him.

Kondane was changed

tions of

into

The name of hinhagad. The acquisibecame master of the Neera without opposinot consider these
notice
of the

these few years secured Shivaji a strong posithe

tion
tract
tion.

in

Ecccan.

He
the

between Chakan and

The
of

King

of

Bijapur did
did not

places

important.

He

take any

activities

Sbivaji,

while he was busy in

adorning

his capital

with grand mausoleums and fine buildings.

of

The
tion

state
of the

affairs

in the

Carnatic required the attenAll

the

engaged
hilly

there,

Government. and the

able generals were

jaghirs
in

affairs

of the

the

tracts

went altogether neglected.

The Moghul

72
governors
in
to the

north

were busy
of

in

restoring order

that tract.
in

The system
India

revenue collection intro-

duced
adopted
Kuli
years.
to
his

northern

by

Todar Mall was

districts

also-

in

Ahmadnagar.

The

under Murshid
20

Khan

thus enjoyed peaceful government for

The permanent settlement brought prosperity

So
in

the people.

every

way

Shivaji carried

on

operations uninterrupted. The Moghul rulers had no occasion to interfere and the King of Bijapur was busy otherwise. The circumstances were therefore

favourable to

the

formation
of

of

an

independent

government
dom.

on the

outskirts

the

Bijapur

King-

Adventures

in

the

Konkan The

occupation

of

the

four fortresses at Toiua, Rajgad,

dhar made the southern frontier

Sinhagad and Purauof Foona safe. Shivaii

now
the

cast his lcoks towards the Konkan. This part of country was made ever to the King of Bijapur by

Shah Jehan on the fall of the Kingdom of Ahmadnagar. vShahjee had overrun the tracts before he surrendered in
1636.

There were a number

all

of hillforts in the country,

but they were not

well guarded.

Shivaji had

be-

orehar.d sent agents to

make

a survey of the
to

region,

and

the accounts he received

emboldened him

under-

take fresh adventures. He had received news of the despatch from Kalyan of a large amount of money collected by Maulana Ahmad, the Mussalman Governor
of the place to Bijapur. Shivaji

with

body

of

3Co

73

horse

overtook

the

party on the
the
r

way

carrying the

treasure near

Wai down

Bhor Pass

The money
1

thus

obtained was conve3 ed to Ragjad.

expedition

he success
a series
of

of this

was followed

up

by

attacks

upon

the neighbouring forts. Within a short time

the whole

of the

Konkan up
was

to the borders of

Savant in

wadi

fell

into his hands.

The most important event

these campaigns

the capture of

Kalyan by Abaji
Dadaji.

Sonde v, one
governor
of

of the

officers

trained by

The
as
res-

Kalyan, Maulana

Ahmad, was brought

a prisoner before Shivaji who received him with

Shivaji pect and allowed him to go to Bijapur. showed his respect for women by not taking

also

the

family of the late governor

prisoners.
of Shivaji's

Of

the forts

which

fell

into the

hands
the

corps the most

important were Rairi, Lohgad, and

Rajmachi.

Rain
the

became afterwards

capital

of Shivaji,

under

name

of

Raigad.

Lohgad stands above

the

Bhor Pass
is

on the way from Bombay to Poona.

Rajmachi

at the

foot of the pass. The conquest of Kalyan and the other forts in the Konkan did not go unnoticed by the

Bijapur

Government.

Tbey however had

by the

not

the

boldness to take any measures

openly against Shivaji.

The people were

tired of the misrule

Muhammadans
the conquests

and gladly welcomed

d the old

a change.

As soon as
of

were made the revenue system

institutions

Dadaji was introduced,

All

revived.

endowments
restore)

to

temples or

in

the

interest of

Brahmans were

7i

The conqueror had thus

sympathy on his
Captivity
of

the greatest

asset

of

popular

side.
:

Shahjee

The
of

King

of Bijapur, feeling

his position insecure thought

bringing Shivaji under

conrol through his father. Shahjee

was

in the Cainatics,

and was

engaged in the operations against

the polygars
a jaghir,

of that part.

He

received the grant of

and
faith-

made Bangalore

his headquarters.

He
son.

rendered

ful service to the state

and could not possibly be made

But the King

responsible for the activities of his

suspected that he had

sent orders to Baji

complicity
of

with Shivaji,
to bring

Ghorpade

Mudhole
of

and him

a prisoner.
after inviting

Ghorpade

was

a relative

Shahjee and

him

to a dinner seized his

to

peison treacheinsisted
of

rously,

and sent him

Bijapur.

The King
from

upon Shabjee

to dissuade Shivaji

his policy

aggression but Shahjee pleaded in vain that he had nothing to do with his son, and that he could

not

in

any

way

be

made answerable
the
to

for

his sou's
spirit

deeds.

He

was asked to control The King had written

But he agreed
to

rebellious

of his son.

Shivaji

to

come

to Bijapur.

come provided
fief.

all his

conquests were
his

conferred upon him in

offer,

The King had declined

and

tried to bring

on

his father.

him round by putting pressure The Mussalman officers of Muhammad

of

Adil vShah were jealous

Sbahjee's powers, and gave

he King such

advice

as

would bring

this

faithful

servant into disgrace.

and was

threatened to

Shahjee was put into a dungeon be walled up unless he had

pleaded his innocence to
chin,
to

confessed his guilt.

the last.

He however

The wall was built up to his was to be closed up if Shiva ji did not come
within a
situation
certain
to

and
the

Bijapur

period.

Shahjee wrote

about

his

son.

Shivaji

was

thus

inovlved in

great difficulty.

His surrender

into the

hands
if

of the

King would bring death upon himself, arid In this father would be killed. dilemma at the advice of his wife, Saibai, he appealed
not surrender his
to

he did

the

Moghul
to

Emperor.
Emperor,

Shivaji

offered

his
for

services

the

and

prayed

intercession

anxious to

Shah Jehan was in favour of his father. find an opportunity to pick up a quarrel
of

with the King

Bijapur

in

order that he

might get

the territories of the old

Ahmadnagar Kingdom, which

were given away

to Bijapur in 1636.

He

therefore readily
for his pre-

granted Shivaji's prayer,

excused Shahjee

vious conduct, and conferred upon Shivaji a

5,000 horse.

Munsub

of

The King
of the

of

Bijapur could not put Shahjee

at the request of

to death for fear

Emperor, and

Moral Punt relieved him from the dungeon, but did not allow him to leave Bijapur for four years. During these years the King could not do any harm to Shivaji
as he dreaded the Emperor,
in

and Shivaji did not carry

sake
of

his

depredations
in

for

the

his

father.

At

last the affairs

the

Caruatic required the services of

70
Shahjee.
Killidar
officer

His son Shambhujee had been killed by the

of

Kanikgiri,

and
died.
to

also

his

chief

Naro
to

Pant
proced

had

Before

he
he

allowed

the

Carnatic

was was

made to promise that he would not molest Ghorpade.

Although Shahjee kept
to
this

promise he wrote to Shivaji

Shivaji

avenge the

treachery.

remembered

the

wishes

of his father,

portunity came.

The

and carried them out when opletter which Shahjee wrote to

" Be careful to

Shivaji ran as follows.

complete the

work which you have undertaken. By the grace of the most High may the wives of your enemies ever breathe in their own warm tears. May God crown your hopes with success and insure your prosperity.

You

will

not
for

fail

to

be courteous
the

always

to

Eaji

Ghorpade,

you know
'

great obligations under

letter

which he has placed me.

The

not only enjoined

upon Shivaji
also approved

the

punishment
great

of
of

Ghorpade

but

it

of the

work

nation-building he

had undertaken.
Jaoli

Invested

(1655 A.

D.) After
Shivaji

the

return

of

Shahjee to
operations.
Jaoli.

the

Carnatics

resumed

his
of

First of all

he dealt with Balaji More

Balaji

was

a faithful vassal of the

King

of Bija-

pur. His ancestor, Parsoji Bajirao, received Mahablesh-

war

as a jaghir

from Yusuf

Adil Shah for

his

ser-

vices in connection with the suppression of the Shirkes.

He

was

also

conferred

the

title

of

Chandra Rao

77

which

his

descendants

enjo}r ed

afterwards

aiono-

with the jaghir.

hereditary
of
title of

His son, Yeshwant

Rao earned

the

Raja by capturing the green standard

chief

Ahmadnagar. The
valley of the

town

of the

Mores was Joali

Mahableshwar.

in the

Koyna

river near

days

The plateau down Mahableshwar was known in the The place is conof Shiva ji as the Nahar forest.
it is

sidered sacred as
the five

believed
the

that

it

is

the source of

important

rivers,

Krishna,

the

Yenna,
Gaj-atri
sea.

and
and

th^

Koyna, which flow eastward, and the

westward
into the
built a

the Savitri flowing

Arabian

The Yadava king Singhaua

Shiva at the source
place has since then
the presiding
deity.

temple to the

god

of these five rivers in 1215,

and the
after

been

called

Mahableshwar

The

place

was considered
visit the

holy

and

a large

Jijabai

number once went

of
of

of pilgrims

used to

temple.

there with

Shivaji,

and attracted
of Balaji

by the beauty
asked
offer
for

the three

daughters

one

them

to be

married
as the

to

Shivaji.

More The

however
of

was declined

Mores

considered
Shivaji

themselves

superior social position.

in his

When
the

was engaged

work

of

uniting

Mahratta

State he invited the co-operation of Balaji More.

Once

again

Shivaji

was disappointed.
Baji Shainraj

It

is

also

believed

that Balaji allowed the base

of

to

use his estate as

operations against Shivaji,

when he was
kill

appointed by
secretly.

Muhammad

Adil Shah to

Shivaji
of

The Mahratta

leader got the information

78
this

conspiracy

before

and overpowered Sliamraj near

Mahad, and

drove his party into Jaoli.

The

fiist

busi-

ness therefore of Shivaji after the

release

of

Shahjee

was

to secure himself against this danger from Jaoli.

Shivaji had no intention of entering into hostility

against Balaji

More.

He

therefore tried
Jaoli

all

means

to

win him
Raja.

over.

He

visited

personally

and apthe

pealed to the religious and patriotic sentiment of

But Balaji remained stubborn, and

it is

believed

he

tried to

hand over

Shivaji to the

King

of

Bijapur,

When however but the latter managed to escape. he found all friendlv offers were refused he sent two
envoys, Ragho Ballal Atre and Sambhaji Kavaji with an

ultimatum asking him

ing the hands
refuse
the
of his

to join Shivaji at

once and demand-

daughter.

This time Balaji Aid not

offer,

but evaded a definite answer.

Mean-

while Shivaji had occupied Mahableshwar.

This afford-

ed the occasion of an altercation Balaji and the envoys of Shivaji.

altercation
Balaji

of

high words between

In the course
of this

More and

his

brother were killed,

Shivaji through

and

the

envoys managed

to escape to

the jungles.

Although Shivaji had not authorised the

this

envoys to take them over. He

joined by

now

extreme step he could not give turned upon Jaoli. He was

Balaji's brothers

who were
The sons
stout

deprived
of

of their

villages by the late

Raja.

Balaji

and his
But

minister

Hanmantrao

offered

resistance.

7J

they could not stand against the disciplined ariny of

Shivaji.

The

minister

was

killed

in

action,

and
within

the

sons were taken prisoners.

admitted into the service
short t:me the
entire

The
of

troops

of Jaoli

were
a

Shivaji

and

jahgir

with

the

strong fort of
Shivaji

Wasota was brought under

in Jaoli a

his control.

found

large treasure,

with which he improved the

fort of

temple at Mahableshwar, and built the

gad.

Pratap-

There
at

is

stor}'

that
at

he built the
express

temple of
of

Bhawani

Pratapgad
live

the

desire

the

goddess to

near Mahableshwar, and the fortress

was built round the temple under the supervision of Moro Pingle. Tne fort was built at the height of 1000 It occupies a very importfeet from the Koyna vallej'. ant position as it conmands the Mahad Ghat which is the Konkan and the Koyna the only pass between valley, and the occupation of this place connected
Shiva ji's old possessions with the territory newly conquered.
Relations
with
the

Mogbuls:

The
of the

Moghuls
districts

were

carrying on the administration

in their

possession in the Deccan peacefully.

interfered with them,

Shivaji had never

sought the help

of

the

and we have already seen that he Moghul Emperor against the

King

of

Bijapur.
of the

Prince

Aurangzeb was

appointed
opportunity

Viceroy
the

Deccan

in 1G50.

He found an
in 1655.

of declaring

war against Golconda

minister
of

Mir Jurnlah,

prime

Abdulla

Kulb Shah

had a

SO
difference

with his master

on account

of his dissolute

son,
help,
zeb.

Muhammad Amin.
and
this

He

application

applied to the Emperor for was supported by Aurang-

Sultan

Muhammad,

the eldest son of

Aurangzeb,

was sent against Abdulla. and

the city plundered.
to

Hyderabad was attacked,

to release

The King was forced

restore

Muhammad Amin
and
to

Mir

Jumlah's property,

to give his daughter in marriage to Sultan

Muhammad,
of

pay up the arrears

of tribute at the rate

one

crort a year,
the

Emperor.

which was reduced by twenty lakhs by Mir Jumlah went to Delhi and was
of Vizier.

appointed to the rank

This crafty Persian

urged the Emperor

to

invade

Bijapur and Golcondah,

in order that these provinces

might be annexed

to the

empire.

They were not long

declare hostilities against

in finding

out a

pretext to

Bijapur.

Muhammad
his father at the

Adil

Shah Shah
of

died on the 4th November, 1656. His son,

II succeeded to the th]

Ali Adil

one

of

age

nineteen.

The

late

king had friendly relations with

Dara Sukoh, which Aurangzeb did not like and was On his death therefore anxious to put him into trovole. Ali Adil Shah did not pay any homage to the Moghul
spite the

Emperor, or did not pay any compliments. Out of Moghuls circulated a rumour that Ali Adil was not the son of the late king, and that the Shah

Emperor

should

nominate

a successor.

War was

81
therefore declared against Ali Adil

on the part
to
is

Shah. This War, Moguls." says Grant Duff " appears have been made completely destitute of apology than commonly found, even in the unprincipled tran'

of the

sactions

of Asiatic

Governments.*

appointed at the head of the

second

in

command.

Jumlah was army and Aurangzeb was put The Moghtil army marched upon
Mir
Kalyani, Bidar and Guiburga

Bijapur in March. 1657.

fell

The

Bijapur was besieged. was pressed with great vigour when Aurangzed received news of the serious illness of his hither in September. Shiva ji became an ally of Aurangzeb iu
siege

in

quick succession, and

Aurangzeb had recognized his claims to his new conquests and sought bis co-operation in the war against Bijapur. But Shiva ji
although anxious to see the powers of Bijapur crushed
did not

the expedition against Bijapur.

look with
in the
in

favour

upon

the

advance
other

of

the

Moghuls
active

P<*ccan.

He

therefore did uot take

any

part

the

expedition.

On

the,

hand

when Aurangzeb was engaged iu Bijapur he attacked Junnar and Ahmadnagar most probably to weaken the
pressure upon Bijapur,

vigour of

the

This however did not affect the soon found that Sbivaji investment.

further hostility against the

Moghuls might bring disasters

upon him.
giveness for

So he wrrte to Aurangzeb asking his forthe ravages upon the Voghul cities. Aurang-

zeb was preparing for the coming struggle for the throne.

He

therefore readily agreed

to his request

provided he

S2
tained
to
faithful to
lii

afterwards, and also promised

to

recognise his

claims

further

conquest!)

in

the

territory of

the Adil

Shahis.

Shivaji's the

position

thus

became very

strong

when
With

fighting for succession.

the help of the

<>f

Moghul princes were Moghuls

Bijapur.
:

he thought he could defy the King

Discomfiture
;it

.lanjini

(l<>5

A. D.)

The
left

with-

drawal
iree
to

of

Aurangzeb from the Deccan

his

Shivaji
lie

promote
his

plans

o:

Loiijiust.

strengthened

army
not

by

admitting

700 Pa than

infantry discharged by the Bijapui Government. Henceforth his

army was
soldiers.

merely a body
but
it

of

hill

men and
of

inexperienced
trained

tylarathas,

consisted

The
and
'JLne

Bijapur

Government,

on

the

other hand, was rent into factions.

ween

the

foreign
bitter.

the

The quarrels betbecame Deccani nobles

gradually

Abyssinian minister,

Khan Muwas
Shivaji

hammad was treacherously murdered, and there

no able
therefore

man

to

guide the affairs of the

state.

availed himself of this opportunity in spread-

ing his conquests in the

Deccan.

His
of

first

objective

was
lo

to

reduce the island fortress

built a naval base

Janjira.

Malik

Amber
officers

twenty miles
the

west

of

Rajgad

protect the
in

commerce With

Persian

gulf.

The

command of the navy were mainly AbyssiThe Mahrattas uians, who assumed the title of Sayad. After the fall of the Ahmadcalled these men Sidis. nagar Kingdom the island passed into the hands of the

So
Bftijapur

Government with

the

Abyssinian sailors.

At
of

the time of Shivaji

a

Fateh Khan, an

Afghan

officer

Bijapnr Government, was the governor of the place.

Shivaji had

taken the forts of Rairi and Sala Gossala

at the

from

his subordinates,
in

very

beginning

of his.

adventures
watchful,

1646.

Since then

Fateh Khan
to

became
meet the

and was

thoroughly prepared

force

The command of the expeditionary Shamraj Nilkant the Peshwa Ranjakar. The Peshwa was not an able general, and Fateh Khan defeated his army and pushed him back. The disaster to the Mahrattas was great, and Shivaji made every effort to recover his position. He sent Kaghu Ballal Atre to supersede Shamraj in the comMahratta invasion.

was entrusted

to

mand, and
With
Khan.
he began

appointed

the help of his

to

Moro Pingle as his Peshwa. new Peshwa and Netoji Palkar

make

gigantic preparations against Fateh

At

this

time the Savants of Savanlwadi in the

athern

Konkan

entered into an alliance with him.

Bijapur

Bat soon afterwards they went over to the King of and broke off the alliance with Shivaji. The
of Shivaji

plans

had
of

to be

changed by an

altogether

unexpected turn
Af/.nl

events in Bijapur.

KhiinS Hissiun

news
joy.

of the repulse of

: Ali Adil Shah received the Peshwa Shamraj at Jaujira with

Mahrattas
nobles
inspired hope
to a

The
mind.

defeat

of the

in

his

He

called

his

meeting ami

K4
asked

them

:is

to

who
a

could destroy Shivaji ami the

Mahraltu

rebels.

The

first

man

to
<t

volunteer was
the

Aizul

Khan.
of

He was
the

relative

King,
the

being

the son of his maternal ancle

dent!

who was
At/ul

Superinten-

kitchen.

This

Khan

was

in

the

instigated Mustafa Khan to rise Shambhujee when Sfcahfee was under restraint at Bijapnr. He was fully acquainted with the country round about Jaoli. as he was once Governor of Wai,

Carnatic and

had

against

He was
and

the ablest

of the generals
i

of

Ali Adil
to

Shah*
the

undertook
rat"

ti

the

Durbar
or
alive.

capture

Mountain
consisting of

huge army 12.000 horse was placed under him, and

dead

he was supplied with

tion.

stifficient

stores

and ammuni-

He

started

from Bijapnr
Tuljapur,
the

in 1659 and proceed-

ed north towards
sacred to
the

shrine

of

Bhawanu
the-

Bhonsle family.

He

desecrated

temple although he could

not find the image which

had
of

l>een

removed by

the priests beforehand. vShivaji had

his

meanwhile taken up
Jaoli,

position at

the strong

fort

where he could
Afzul

oppose the

Bijapur army

effectively.

Khan

getting this information turned

Jie

southwest, and crossed the Bhima at Pandharpur. There desecrated the temples and threw the image of
water.

Vithoba into the

The vandalism
of

of

Afzul

Khan wounded
he could

the

feelings

the

Mahrattas

and

not expect any sympathy from them. Froim i*andkarpur he marched to Wai through Rahimatpur.

So

He
and
for

sent

his

Dewan

Krishnaji

Bhaskat to Shivaji,
to

offered to use his influence

the Bijapur

obtain

forgiveness
to

him from
in
all

Government,

and

confirm
invited

hire

the lands
to

he had
to

acquired.

He
the

him
At /.ul

to

come

Wai and

discuss

terms of

settlement.

Wai.

to meet Khan, but he said he was afraid of going to He was prepared to make the necessary arrangefor

Shivaji

expressed his willingness

ments
iJTaoli.

the

reception

of

the

Bijapur

General at
with

In

the

course

of

secret
that

interview

Krishnaji at uight Shivaji

treachery and that he had

learnt

Aizul intended
of

no
of

intention

doing him

any service
henceforth

at

the

Court
guard,

Bijapur.
sent

Shivaji

was
Gopi-

on his

and

Pantoji

nath to Aizul

Khan

to

formally invite him to Pratapgad.

of

He made
provisions
'lie

every preparation lor the reception

the

General, cut through the forest a wide road, and kept

all

along the

road for

the

army

as

well

General.

At a distance* from the road he posited

the tiers

hi-

troops

behind

so that they might

not be

-cen

by the

Bijapur

soldiers.
to

Krishnaji

Jmaskar
Alter a

persuaded Aizul Khan

fortnight
the General
of his

accept the invitation.

Jaoli.
IK-

started for

was

fully

onfidenl
able
to

strength
at

and bs.U^sd
any
place.

that he wouid be

crush
Valley
foot

Shivaji

IK reached
at

the
Pai-

koyna
nt

after SOnie

days and encamped

Jt

the

oi

Pratapgad.

was then arranged

that

86
he interview
:

rhould

\u1f

bee

the next

evening

at'

place quarter of a mile off from the fort walls.

-

Shivaji was now in the midst of a crisis. If Ik were captured by Aizul Khan his ambition of building aMahratta State would be frustrated. He therefore

took counsel with Tanaji Malusare,

and Nforo Pingle,

to

and Netoji
so posted

Pulkar.

The troops were ordered

be-

as to prevent the retreat of the Kijapur

army

it treachery were attempted by Afzul Khan. Ikappointed his son vSambhujee his heir, and Netoji as his

regent

in

case he were killed.

Last of

mother, and received her blessings.

himsell
fully
for

all he saw his Then he prepared.

the

supreme moment
with
a

in

his

life.

lie

equipped

coat of
these

chain armour
things

was and a
gold-

steel cap.

He concealed
hand he
or timer's
a fixed

undei

embroidered coat, and

of his
left

a cloth

turban.

On

the fingers

the steel points

in

known
right

Waghnakh
scorpion.

claws, and

his

sleeve
or

he concealed

crooked digger known as Bichhwa

to

Thus equipped he came down

three attendants.

meet

Afzul.

Khan accompanied by
Afzul

Khan had reached

the appointed place before

left liis of Krisanaji Bhaskar he and kept only three men with Www. The escort was reduced to twoas Shivafi had done.

him.

At the advice

soldiers behind him,

at the request

of Shivaji,

he
the

in

his turn

leaving one

behind.

The meeting

of

two has

been variously;

37
descril>ed.

attacking Afzul

The Muharamadau writers describe Shivaji Khan with Wagknakh while going to
other.

embrace each

But the
Afzul

other version

is

that

when

Shivaji

approached

Khan

the

latter

ad-

dressed him in insulting language,

and asked
such
a

how a
display

common
similar
befitted

peasant like him could make

the

of wealth in

Shamiana.

Shivaji

retorted

him

in a

was
the

too

display a and said that such him and not the sou of a cook. This much for Afzul Khan. He caught Shivaji on

language

neck under

his

left

arm.

and

thrust

his

head

under the armpit.

he tried to stab

Bringing him then under his control

in

him
of

the stomach,

but the coat

of

chain armour turned the point of the

sword.

Shivaji
of his

was on

the point

fainting
the

when he thought
raised his right
his left

divine mission.
for a

When

Khan

hand

second

blow Shivaji tinned

his hold
'

arm round
stomach.

hi> waist

and thrust the

Wagknakh. into his

Tiie

Khan unloosed
the
latter

upon Shivaji
him
in

in bitter pain.

when
with

pierced

the

back

the

dagger.

Al'xul

K.han

then

gave

hun

severe

blow

on
the

the
steel

head,
cap,

turban and

which cut through the and touched the scalp.

of

Shivaji snatched a sword

from one
the

his

attendants

and struck Aizul

Khan on
resist

right

shoulder.

The
foa

Khan could
help.

not

any

further
in,

and called
tried to

His

attendants rushed
in

and

carry

him away

palanquin.

But they were overpowered

by the Mahrattas.
the signal

Afzul

Khan'sci

d
to

was cut

off

and

Bijapur

was given to army was annihilated, and only

lives
of

the troops

approach. The
a few escaped.

Hut the
It

those

who surrendered were

of
-300

spared.

is

said

that a

cavalry

including
to

Fazal
escape.

Muhammad,
The
war,

Afzul

Khan's son,
were

managed

spoils of this battle

rich,

and the Matiratta

Hie
in

army was greatly

strengthened
permitted
to

by
enlist

prisoners of
the

who

were

army.

The

historians

who

derive their information from the

Muhammadan

writers accuse Shivaji of treachery.

for Shivaji

Mr. Runade has tried to find an excuse

mitting such in act.

Kven in com is

But

it

seems

the

other

version

not less reliable.

Shivaji might have the intention

his

of

doing away

with

greatest foe,

but

if

the

first

by Afzul Khan, then the charge maintained. The Hindu against Shivaji ^annot be
chroniclers agree in
the offensive,

blow was given

holding that Atzul

the

Knan

took up

and

story

ut

Siiivaji

relating the

incident

to

xamuas

as uescnoed by his pupil,

Hanmant
the

confirms the theory.

The
of

murder
Bijapur

of

Afzul
created

Khan
a

and

rout
at

the

army

consternation
jubilant,

Bijapur.
the

The
of

Mahrattas
Shivaji.
for

were

and

sang

praise

Jijabai
the

blessed

her

son and

thanked him
.Sambhujee.

avenging

death of his brother,

The head

of the

dead general was buried

s!)

on

the

top

of

the

hill

still

known

as

Af/.ul

Buruj or

tower
a-:

Khan. His sword was kept by Shivaji trophy and it has been handed to his descendants
of Af/.ul

down
Raja

to the present day.

of

.:

was

r.

the treasury of the

Satara for

many
of

years.

Winter Campaign

1659H60

: Shivaji kept up
in

his

success by

invading

several forts

the

south

as

well as in the north.

His army v\as

left

now
the

increased

by the men
he tried to

who had

the

Bijapur service,
of

and
by

maintain the

morale
to

arm}-

constant adventures.
tions

He wanted

carry the opera-

into

the

heart of the bijapur

capital.

march upon

the
the

army under
was
fought

and to The King had sent another command of Rustam Khan. A battle
Pauhala,
in
officer

Kingdom

near

which Rustam was

in

completely
fort

defeated.

The

charge

of

the

had already

surrendered

Pauhala into the hands

Annaji Datto. The forts of Pavangad and Wasantgad fell afterwards. Rangna and Khelna were The name of the latter place was taken by assault.
of

changed into Yishalgad, which name

After
his

it still

retains.

the

defeat of

Rustam Khan Shivaji

to

carried

on
In

depredations up

the

gates

of

Bijapur.

plundered towns he
terror
in

levied

contributions
people,

andistruck
with
his

the hearts of
to

the

and

plunder he returned
that

Yishalgad with Mich a rapidity

impossible.
In

any attempt

at

pursuit became

no
January,
there
L660, he

marched

directly

upon BLajapur on

the coast ami

levied

there a rich contribution.

city

From
and
its

he

went to Dabhol, captured the

and returned
to

dependencies,
able

Rajgad with consider-

booty.
(VliAdU Shah's Supreme Effort -.The
defeat
of the

Bijaptir

Government
in

at

so

many

places

created a

consternation
laid

the

capital.

The old
the
field

factions
foe.

were

aside

to deal

with

such a formidable
in

The

king

contemplated

taking

person.

I'llimately Sidi Johar of Kornuul,

who had
in

distinguish-

ed himself

in

several

engagements

the

Carnatic

was
Afzul

selected

by

common

consent. Fazai

Muhammad,

Khan's son, was put second in command. Sidi Johar was directed to recover Panhala. Fateh

Khan
in

was ordered to begin his operations the same time as vSidi Johar would march niton Panhala. The Savants of Savantof

Janjira

the

Konkan

at

wadi,

who had by

this

time
to

broken

off their alliance

with Shivaji,

were asktd

harass him on

his south-

western frontier.
Shivaji

was thus

attacked on

three

sides,

and

on

his

part

made adequate arrangements

for defence.

Ragho Ballal was sent against Fateh Khan. Abaji. Sondev defended the districts of Kalyan Pheemree.
Paji

Phasalkar, the commander-in-chief of the infantry r marched against the Savants. Moro Piugle w as put

in

charge

of

Purandhar

Sinhagad,

Pratapgad

and

91
the

adjoining countries.

Shiva ji considering Panhalas

it

place of importance resolved to defend

to

himself,

and ordered Netoji Talkar

country and
-when they
to

ravage the surrounding

troops
of

harass

the

Sidi

Jchar,

approached the
the

fort.

Shivaji
the
fort.

made
But

no

attempt to prevent
Sidi

siege

of

wheV

Johar had inverted Panhala the

to

Mavalis under

Neto;i used
the besiegers
this

come out of the ravines, and attack when they were off their guard. In

way heavy losses were inflicted. But Sidi Johar had a large army under him, and vigorously pressed
the siege
for

four

months
and
Baji

till

September,

1660.

Meanwhile
over R'agho

Fateh Khan had gained some advantage

Ballal,

Phasalkar although had

an even
died
in

fight

with Savant Kaya, both the commanders

Shivaji

action.
retire

expected

that

Sidi

Johar
that the

WCUld

during the

rains,

but he

found

Abyssinian generals remained

strong

and stubborn.

His provisions
in a
c*.

were exhausted, and he was placed

itical

position.

When
disaster

Shivaji

was
a

in

the

midst
t<>

of

grave
for

he

sent
in

messenger

Sidi
oi

asking

an
Sidi

interview
J*. l:;i

crdei

to settle tin-

terms

surrender.

granted

tie

request,

and an

interview

took

place

between the two leaders.

The

terms
011

of

surrender
minoi
at

were

almost settled

excepting

few

points.
to

They

retired

to their respective
in

camps

nighl

resume the conference

the

morning.

There was
by midnight
In

cessation

of

hostilities

and the

troops

slept in peace.

Shiva ji thoug'it over the situation

left

and

Panhala with

a hotly of

chosen troops.

silence they passed through the

the

through

thick

forests

towards
of the

enemy ami marched Vishalgad. The

flight

enemy

got the

information

early in the
lie

morning, and

Fazal

Muhammad
at
left

went' in pursuit.

was about
Vishalgad,
a

to

overtake the party

Shivaji

when
,

about six miles from Baji Deshpandye with

small partj

to

oppose his advance, and he marched

towards Vishalgad,

He

told

Baji

Deshpandye
are

that

when he had reached Vishalgad he would

as
a

guns
as he
at

signal,

and then he might

retire

as best

could.

Baji

Deshpandye waited
a
difficult task

for the

enemy

place called Pandhar Pani.

and
to

it

was

The place was precipitous, for the Mussahuan soldiers

superior position
.

dislodge

Baji

from

this

Attack
led the

liter

attack failed.

At
in

last

Fazal

Muhammad

attack

up

the slope

person.
resist

The Gallant
any more.
fell

Baji
fell

Deshpandye
ed
lie

could

not

He

covered over with wounds.

But while he
of

woundthat

heard

of

the

boom

guns

from Vishalgad

and died with the consciousness

he

of the satisfaction

had done

his duty.
his

was carried by
flight
of

The body of this brave soldier men safely to Vishalgad The

i

Shivaji

put

Sid'i

Johar's plan into confusion.

a

The general encamped

called

for

few da}
for

at a

village

Gajapuri

near

Vishalgad

few days.

Then he besieged
it

the fort.
as

But on the western

it

sideof

eoukl

not be

invested

was

precipice

2,000 feet on thst side,

his

and Shiva ji could

easily get

provisions from
fort

the

Konkan.
n side

The
failed,

attempt
as

to-

blow op the
destroyed

on the

eastet

Shivaji
Ali

the

Bijapur sappers by countermining.

at

Adil

SI. ah

got furious
to

the
i

second
S d
i

failure,

and
person
other

w?s induced
bribed by

believe

that

Joharthe

had been-

Shivaji,

He

then

took

field in

(Jamiarv.

1661).

l'anhala,
fell

Pavangad,.

and

neighbouring forts
of

into his

hands

in

quick succession,.
in

Only Rangna and Vishalgad remained

Shivaji.
to

the
the

hands
Kinga.

On

the

approach
on
the

of

the

rains

withdrew

Chimulgi

Krishna.

Within
losses

few months Ali Adil Shah retrieved the

bijapur

of the

Kingdom

to

some

extent,

aid

expected to

continue his operations after the rains.

Sfcivajfs Ctmpeiflis
in

the

Koakaa
Adil

Shivaji
Shah.
besieged

did

not

offer

any
in

resistarcc

to

Ali

He was
Dan da,

busy

the
a

Northern

Konkan.
a

He

Kajapuri,
lived.

town where
expected a
to

He

large

number of English factors sum of money from the

English
factors

place,

and wanted
of
of

punish the

who

were (inspected to Patch Kl an

supplying
J::n;ira.

arms and
Sever;
1

ammunition
the
factors

ff

were taken prisoners, end Ihcy lad

ji?i\ -itig

to be released aftei

hcav\ raUFOin.

;4

Atk'i

the

reduction

ol

Rajapuri

he

captured
jagh

Sri u gar pur.

The Mahratta polygar

killed
in

of ilie phicc-, called

Dalvi)

was

action,

and

the

was
look

annexed.
with

The Mahrattas of tliis state* [avow upon this conquest, and Shivaji had great
did not
in

difficulty

persuading the i objects of the

his

late

polygar

to

live

uudet

Government.
from
this

It

is

said that Shivaji

became more
the
the

religious

time.

He
to

accepted

Saint

Rarndass as his spiritual-guide

of

and removed
a

temple

Bhavani from Tuljapur

resolved
to
Jive

And
holy

henceforth he
life.

Pratapgad pure and

1

Fa teh Khan

still

remained

unsubdued.

Shivaji

now

laid

siege

to Janjira in

person.

But he did not

artillery

possess an efficient navy

and long range

gave

to

reduce the island.

a

Frustrated in his at'empt he built

it

naval base

off

Malwan, and

the

name

of

Sindhu

Durg.

He

also rebuilt and strengthened the

strongholds at Suvarndurg, Ratnagiri, Jaygad, Anjanvel,

Vi jay durg and Col aba,
these places.
Pall o! Baji

and

prepared vessels in

all

Ghdrpatfe of

Mmlhol :-

The

news from
iu

Bijapul called Shivaji away from

the Deecaii.
Sidi
to

his

operations

Johar

felt

the disgrace of supersession

and went
troubles
in

his

own
as to

jaghir.

There
the

were
could

fresh

the

Camatic

and
the

King
of

not

make up
At
this

his

mind

the policy he should pursue.

critical

moment

Savant

Savantwadi

95
offered
to

attack Shivaji provided they were supported

of

by

Baji

Ghorpade
a

Mudbol and

the

Bijapur army.
sent

The Khan with

King accepted the proposal,

strong contingent.

and

Bahlol

suppress the rising in of this plan .Shivaji

The King went to the Carnatic. On receiving news at once marched to Vishalgad,
Savantwadi
from

which lay
received

between

and

Mudhol.

He

information

his father

that Baji
force.

GhorShivaji

with a small at Mudhol Mudhol without uelay. He took the place by surprise. Baji Ghorpade and his sous were all The King sent Khawas Khan to killed in action. support Bahlol Khan. But the new army was intercept-

pade was

went

to

id

on

the

way and

sent

back

to

Bijapur.

Mudhol

was sacked and plundered,

and

all the

riches carried

away by

Shivaji's troops.

Reduction of the S;iv;:nts (1662 A. I).)

found his position precarious.

: Sidi Johar now He was afraid of going

to

back to Adil Shah.

At

first

he went

his

estate.

He

then joined in an intrigue with the

Hindu
of

rebels of

the Doab.
at
to

He was
suppress

appointed in
the
.

command
lint

an army
the
last

rebellion,

he helped
at

rebels to correspond

with

Shivaji.

He was
to

assassinated by his

own

soldiers.

Raichur and Torgal

the

then threw
recalled
to

off

their

allegiance

king.

The
were

army under Bahlol

Savants were thus

Khan and
the

Khawas
in

Khan
south.

suppress

rising

the

left to

themselves.

The They were now

attacked by Shivaji,

and unable

to

stand
of thai

igainst

him-

Red to Goa.
threatened by
chiefs.
tion,

But

the Portur&ues'e
to

place

when

Shiva ji hfd

surrender
to
a

Qie Savant

They

wee

thus reduced

h el pi ess condiof

nnd threw themselves upon the

mercy

ShivajL

Their offer was accepted and Shivaji restored to them

theiT

Deshmukhi
fort of

rights on condition of faithful service.

Shiyaji,
their

Phonda was talcen by Savant troops were employed outside

The

and the

own country
supply
for

He
with

also

forced

the Portuguese

to

him
giving

muskets,

ammunition and cannon

protection to the Savants.

l'ciicc

with

Kijurmr

(1662)*The King

of

Bijapur

began
policy

to realise
of

that

it

was

of

no avail to continue the

Mahrattns.

hostility
of these

against the

His

bitter

experience
of the

few years made him

Shiva ji

feel the

strength

Mahratta

movement.

was no longer
energies of a
of

n mere free hooter,

hut he directed

'.he

nation to attain
ifi

independence.
the

The King
All

Bijapur

his pride ignored to accept

Mahratta rising, and

truth.

now

he
,

had

th*
allies

painful

his efforts

have

failed.

His

have
the

them have entered

generals have been
the moral
in

heen crushed, and most of His able Mahratta service.

killed,

and

his troops

have

lost

their

continuous defeats.

At the sughe appointed*

gestion of his minister, Abdul

Muhammad,

Shahjee to negotiate terms

of settlement.

117

Shahjee came from

-.

his

jaghir

in

the

Carnatic,
as
ait

accompanied by

his

son, Venkoji.

He went

.arbitrator

between his master alld

in

discharged his duty

his jom, and he most satisfactory manner.

First of all he visited the shrines at

Tuljapur,

Shlngna-

-pur and Pandharp.fr, and then he proceeded to meet his The meeting of the father and the sou son at Jejuri. full of pathos. Shivaji after such a long time was

did not

sit

before his

father

and would not

ride

a horse

or a palanquin in his presence. to

From

Jejuri

they went

Poona, and there the terms

of

were

settled.

demands
not
time.

Shivaji
in
full,

from

the
lie

Bijaj.nr

The governuent
oath
life-

were granted
to attack

and

Look

solemn

the

latter

kingdom
in

in his father s

He was acknowledged independent

between K.ilyan
the

ruler of the

untry
in the

north and

l'homla

south,

and

Dabhol

in

the west

and Indapur in
in

the

east

The whole

territory

was

length about

loo miles, and

at its greatest

breadth between Sopa and

Janjira

it

did not exceed 100 miles.

Shahjee remained with Shivaji for some mouths, and

his

important forts
It is

at

Rajgad, Purandhar, L,obgad

and
the

Kuiri.

believed thai lhe impregnable position

'! R:iiri

Mahratta

Shivaji,

make it the capita] of The suggestion was accepted by and Abaji Sondev was appointed to fortify the Every efforl was made to rciulry it impregnable
suggested to
vState.

Shahjee

>

The name
The
ttnited

of the place

was changed
of

into

Rayjjad.

scattered

forces

Maharashtra
for
in

were now
Shivaji

af'.er

strenuous efforts
iti

16

years.

l>egan his plan

1646,

and

1662 h's independent

It

was

recognised

T>y liis
t<

qttondum king.
see

was

proud
race

privilege of Shahjee

bis on liberating

his

from the

thrahiorn

of

foreign

rulers,
It

and restoring
a matter

Maharashtra to her ancient glory.

of satisfaction

was also

to

Iiim

that

fcetweert his love

for his

had not to struggle son, and his loyalty to his

lie

master.

99

CHAPTER

VIII.

The MoghulJInvasion.
Shaista Khun's Expedition. The treaty with the
of

king

had practically recognised t e formation The Mahr^ttas upof an independent Mahratta State. to the borders of Goa had come under the flag of Shivaji, but in tbe northern part of the Deccan some
Bijapitr
districts

were

still

tttider

the

Moghul Govtrnment

of
his:

Delhi.

At the time when

in

vShivaji

was busy
1661.

in

operations against Bijapur

the

Moghuls had occupied

After
the

Kalyan
treaty he

the

Konkan

in

May

Netoji

was free to deal with the Moghuls and sent Palkar ami Moro Pingle to plunder the Moghul
from

territories

Pingle occupied a
the

Moro Ahmadnagar to Auraugabad number of hillforts, and Netoji ravaged

the

Moghul districts up to Aurangzeb got information

ordered
Shaista

gates of Auraugabad.

of these

depredations

and

Khan, Viceroy
force
his

of the

Deccan,

to lead

an expeditionary

against the
recently

Mahrattas, and to
forts
*

deprive Shivaji of
territories.

acquired

and

With a big army Awir- ul Tviara Shaista Khan marched towards I'oona and Chakan. He left Auraugabad in charge of Mnnitaz Khan. Shivaji at that
-

time WAS at SojML Moghul army he left

it

But

on the

approach

of

the

that place. Shaista

left

Khan occupied
of

without opposition, and

Jadtv

l-'ao

Sindkheii

100
in

charge
for

of

the

place ahti afcfcW

feJui

to

provide sup-

plier

the

army.
of

usual

method

Mahrattas followed their It was imharassing the enemy.

The

however lo stand before the Moghul Poona and Shiva pur fell into the hands avalanche, vShaista Khan took up his position at of the enemy.
possible lor them

Poona.
Defence of Chakan
:

-From Poona
Chakan
in

he sent

recou-

nointiing parties round about the country and ordered

first

the occupation of
to

order

to

keep the

road

Junnar

clear.
of

Since 1646 Phirangoji Narsula

was commandant
resistance

that fort,

and he offered

a stout

Moghul army. The small garThe besieging army rison held out for fifty -six days. was harassed by the cavalry of Netoji Palkar. The
against the

heavy
charge

rains
of

in

the

Sahyadris

also

rendered
Inspite

the

the

Moghuls

ineffective.

of all

lh.se difficulties the siege

was pressed vigourously and

day a bastion which had been mined was blown up and "stones, bricks i nd men flew into The Moghuls the air like pigeons" (KhafiKhan).

on

the

fifty

-sixth

rushed

in but the

brave Mahrattas put up a barrier of

earth inside the fortress,

tion
to

and maintained

their

posi-

against heavy odds

resist

throughout the day.

capitulated
in the

Unable

further

Phirangoji

morn-

ing.

Shaista

Khan

received him

with

honour, and

offered

him

a post in the

Moghul

service. But Phirangoji

101

was
in

too

proud

to accept
of

these offers.
soldier,

Shaista

Khan<,

admiration

this

gallant
his

allowed

him

and

the survivors of

garrison to return

to Sliivajr

who
ties

rewarded him by appointing him commandant of

Khan"

Bhupalgad.
in this

Khan

estimates the

Moghul casual-

engagement

at 900,

including 5nu slain.

Disaster to Shaista Khan.

The
lorts.

difficulty in

reducing

Chakan impressed upon

ble

Shaista
hill

Khan

the insu: the

character of the

But

mouutaemperor

entertained no such idea.

of

He

considered the conquest

In order
to

Maharashtra an easy
Amir-iil-I'mra
of

affair.

strengthen

the

he

sent

Raja

Jaswant
Shaista
in

Singh

Jodhpur with
his

a large reinforcement.

Khan
iti

after

return

from Chakan was

built
all

residence

the
for

Raj Mahal, Shiva ji.

against any
all

the house

by Dadaji Kcndpossible

de-v

He had taken
surprise by

precauPatrols

tions

the Mahrattas.

ipnud Poona. Tht pass of tre Katraj Ghat which leads to Sinhgad was strongly guarded. No <ne was allowed to enter Poona without a passport.

were posted

The Marath3
re

horsemen
in

were

dismissed,

but

ihere

some Muiathas
the

the infantry.

This suggested
In

to

Shiva ji
>,

means
planned

of

entering

Poona.

April*

Shivaji

to lend

an

at'.aek
ot

A Mahratta
obtained

foot

soldier in [he
for

army

upon Poona. the Moghuls

to
pas--

permission

marriage party

through

Poona.

gbivajiwith about 200 soldiers joined

102
tliis

party.

large

to cover his retreat.

the
ins

army was posted outside the city He was fully acquainted with
Pooua,
familial

and outs

of

and

the

residence of

Shaista

Khan was

his

abode since childhood.

for a

So he could make the necessary arrangements

surprise attack.
parts
of

After

placing

his

men
Tanaji

in

several

the

city

Shiva ji,
20

with

Malusare,
the

Yesaji

Kank and about

in

chosen men entered

palace through the kitchen.

the

servants

the

They killed and strangled the cook room and entered

while they were
to the

women's

apartments.
a

But

effecting

their entrance

maid servant ran

General and

roused him from his sleep.

The General

however

took no notice
freely

till

used his

bow

wounded some of the window his

party had entered. He and and arrows and killed Marathas. While looking down the Meanwhile thumb was cut off.
Shivaji's

more Marathas had entered the palace. Abdul Fateh Khan, the son of the General, tried to resist the attack and killed two or tlnee men, but he in turn was killed. The general in ihe meanwhile had escaped to a safe place with the help of some maid-servants.

An

old

nobleman

of his

party

was trying

to

escape
for

by a rope

ladder.

The Mahrattas mistook

off his

him

the General and cut

that
their

head.

Under
fled off

the impression

task

was over they

at

as .quickly as

possible.

The men

the

several places were called

103

back and when they had reached the Katraj Ghat blazing torches were fastened to the trees to deceive
the
of

Moghuls.
the

The imperial troops waited

at

the fool

pass

to fight, as they thought that the Marathas

were encamped on the summit.

j:

This afforded Shiva

to Sinhgad. Next and his men time morning Shaista Khan vainly attempted to take the

retreat

fort.

Shivaji opened
in

fire

retired

confusion.

upon the besieging army which The Moghuls were harassed on

cavalr}'

the

way

by

the

Muhralta

under

Kadtoji
off

Ouzar.
balance.

The

disaster

threw

Shaista

Khan

his

He accused Jaswant Siugh

Then he marched
in

of treachery

and

wrote to Aurangzeb that this Hindu subordinates were

bribed

by Shivaji.

off to

Aurang-

abad lea"ing Jaswant Singh

charge

of

Chakan and

Junnar. The Emperor was about lo leave for Kashmir when he leceived the letter of Shaista Khan, and recalled both Jaswant Singh and the Amir-ul -Umra

from the Deccau.

Afterwards he
of

appointed Shaista
placed

Khan

governor
in

Bengal,

and

Jaswant

Singh second

command

in the

Deccan under Prince

Mauzzim.
S.K'K of

(July, 1663 J.

Sunit

(,l;inu;ir\, 1((>4)

: Jaswant Singh made

an ineffective attempt

to invest

main army
while
lichest

retired
to

to

Sinhgad and then the Aurangabad. Shivaji was meanSurat,

planning

attack

cue
stands

ol

the

Moghul

tnvns.

This

town

on the

101
rirer
focal

Tapti
tradition

in

South

Grtzerat.

According

to*
.

the

town was established by one Gopi

wife
its

and

called

after

his
of

Suraj.

It

rose into promiposition.

nence on account
fmift a

geographical
in 1512.
it

The

Portugese sacked the place

fort in [546 to

The King

of Gu/.eiat.

protect

against foreign attacks.

Akbar conquered Surat in 1573, and made a treaty with the Portugese. wtlO became the chief merchants of thepfaee.
Fn

Hut with
the

the

fall

of

the

power
in

of

Portugal.

Ettrope

Portugese possessions

India

were
per-

couffttered by the Hutch.

The Moghul Emperor gave

Surat
permission to build

mission

to the

Dutch

to huild a factory in

in 16J.8.
a fac-

The English
tory \u L612,
in
164.?.

also obtained

and the French got the same privilegesforeign

in

These

merchants made
the

Surat

the

lichest

emporium
to

Moghul

Empire.

Shivajh

planned

help himself

with

the riches of

Surat.

He

assembled his army between

the apparent object
liut

Uasseiu and Choul with

of

reducing the

Portugese there.
Surat..
all

his

real

intention

was

to

march

Meanwhile
ol

his

spy.

P.ahirji

Xaik,

upon brought him

also
in

the

informations about the city,

a

Shivaji
the

disguise

mendicant

explored

roads
a

to

South-

Guzerat.

Thus

fully

prepared he made

rapid

march
o';

with
vnirat,

4i)oii

horse,

and appeared on

the

outskirts

on January 5,1664.

The Moghul Governor asked the help, of the Dutch and the English merchants to defend the town.

105 But they

could

not

render
factories.

any

assistance

except

defending their

own

The governor

made

no
into

efforts

to

protect

the

inhabitants
in

who
river

fled in fear

the

country or took shelter

boats.

On
and

the
his
_i.it

other

hand he went
For six days

inside

the

castle

walls withcity,

men.

Shivaji

sacked the

immense wealth.
01

He

could not plunder the fac-

European merchants on account of their On receivin.; news of the approach of strong defence. a Moghul army the Marhatta chief retired on Jamrary
tories

the

10.

The

treasure

he brought

to

Raigad

as

safely

as he

ha~d started

on
:of

his expedition.

IX-iitli

of Shiihjcc

On

his return

from Surat Shivaji

Shahjee was
suppress
long the
stout

received
il

the

news

his father's death.

by the
of

Bijapur

Government
in the

to

the

rfeoellion

some nobles
of

Doab

Tungresist-

bhadra.
ance.

The Chief
Shahjee

Bednore offered
in

succeeded

crushing the rebellion.

at

While he

was
his

encamped
buck

Basavapatan

he

went out on

black

hunting.
in
its

buck
the

was
en-

wounded by
the

arrow and
fell

following
foreleg
tell

victim

horse of Shahjee
in

by

being

tangled

some
neck,
his

creeper.

Shahjee
the

headlong and
his

broke

his d

ami by
life

time

attendants
1664).

him

had

expired

(January,

Venkeji wes informed

t'

of the accident,

ami he hastened

tin-

place to perform the funeral rites.

The Bijaput

vernmeitt

in

recognition

of

the

services

of

the

dead general confirmed the fief of Bmgalore and Tanjore on his son Venkoji, Shivaji on receiving
the

news

of

his

father's

death,

was

thrown
to

into

deep

affliction,

and some time afterwards went

avenge

his death by attacking the

lost

Doab
in

nobles, because Shahjee

the

his

life

while

engaged

Doab expedition.
Government,

He

received the village, where his father met with this

a

accident, as

grant from
a

the

Bijapur

and erected there

memorial temple.
in

Shahje; died while

service
in

under the Bijapur

Government.

But his share

is

the

making

of

the
that

Mahratta history

not

to

be

overlooked

on

account. His ability as a soldier and as an administrator

was
bay

of a
fcr

high order.

He

kept

the

Moghul army
affairs

at

sometime and

managed

the

of

the

Ahmadnagar Kingdom as a regent. His services to the Bijapur Government were iny a luable. He brought
order
in

the

affairs
in

of

the southern

provinces,

and

when advanced
to

age his services were requisitioned

in

suppress

the

rising

the

Doab.

The

later

relations between

the Bijapur

were the
diplomacy.

direct

result

of

his

Government and Shivaji statesmanship and

the Mahratta troops

could

He had shown that successfully sUnd against

to

trained

Mussalman

armies by rapid movements and with local knowledge.

His attempt

maintain the integrity of the

Ahmadnnger

107

Kingdom
armies

failed

as

he

was

opposed

by

the

of the

Moghuls, and the Bijapur Government

attitude
of

assumed
necessity

an

hostility.

Shivaji

gained

by the failure
of

of his father's enterprise

standing behind the figure of a

his

and he had no puppet

Shahjee
his

king

to

exercise

power and

authority.

had shown what

outdid him
of
in

Mahratta could do

and

sou

freeing his nation from

the

oppression
era for

foreign

governments.

He
the

heralded a

new
of

the

Mahrattas.

The honour
by
his
in

of liberating the

Mahrattas

belongs to Shivaji but

foundation

Mahratta
held
the

power was
character
letter

laid

father.

Shivaji

of

his father

very high

esteem.

In

to

his

brother, Yenkoji,

some years afterwards,

' :

he referred to his father in the following terms

did

How
per-

he encounter and surmount

all

difficulties,

form great actions, escape all dangers by his spirit and resolutiou and acquire a renown which he
maintained to the
of his father
last.''

The brave sou

example always

was proud
before his

and kept

his

tyes.

Convention of Piirandhnr 1665

father
vShivaji

assumed the
as
a

title

conferred
of

on his

grand -father

: On the death of his of Raja which was Mallojee by the king

of

Ahmadnagar, and
which
he had

mark

his

independent

authority he also struck coins in his

fleet

own name.
in

His

built

became very busy

plunder-

ing the ships from the M>jfiul ports, and the pilgrims

1(8
to

Mfecca

were forced
with
the

to'pay ransom when captured.

pilgrims

Interference
the

drew

the

attention

of

Delhi

and the

Bijapur

Governments.

Attraugze*b

recalled Jaswant Singh and Prince Muazzim,

and appoint-

ed

in their

place

Mir/i

Raja Jay Singh

of

Dilere
ot

Khan.

Meanwhile Shivaji plundered

the coast.

Amber and a number

an attack

ports on

He
as

also

repulsed

upon

his territory

by

the Bijapur

He went
time.

as

far

south

army near Panhala. Goknrna in his plunderfull

ing expedition,

-and

returned to his capital after somepreparations

for

The Mbghuls had made

in

an offensive
Jay Singh
SUbdtlC
Bijapur.

ids

absence.

Aurangzeb
with
arrears

had

sent
to

and

Dilere

Khan
exact

instructions
of

.Shivaji

and

to

tribute

from

The two generals arrived in the Deccan 1665. They began their operations in Pmandhar. The fort was invested by Dilere Khan and Jay Singh blockaded Sinhgad. I'urandhar was
in

April,

defended by

Murar

Baji.

Prabhu
1,000

by

caste.

The

garrison consisted of
karis.

about

Mavalis and Het-

Murar

Baji

maintained his position with great

bravery.
killed

A
his

large

number

of

Moghul troops
fort

were
by

by

men.

The lower

was

carried

Moghuls by mining one of the bastions. Ihit tin advance of the troops was held by the stout resistance of the Hetkaris ami tin- Mavalis. At la'sl
the

Murar

Baji

was shot and

killed

hv Dilere Khan.
into

The
fort

Mahtatta

soldiers

now

letreated

the

upper

of

Rudra Mai,

situated on the north-east of Purandhar.

his

Dilere

Khan He

pressed on
with
his

attack.

Shivaji held

nsultation
tion.

principal
the
told

people on the situaadvice

of
lit-

also

sought

the

goddess

Jihawani.

The goddess
Netoji Palkar,

hiin

that

would not
of

succeed against Jay

cavalry,

Singh.
also
at

The
a

commander

his

could not render him

greater distance.

any assistance as he wib

the

At

same time he was threatened

In

with

attacks from

Bijapur.
tions
At

such circumstances he carried on negotiafor

with

Raja Jay Singh

to

an

armistice.

He

Raghunath Pant

Jay Singh

with

view to

The Mirza Raja assured the agent of Shivaji that he would procure pardon from the emperor and would grant him favours when he sui rendered. On receiving this assurance Shivaji
presented himself
received by the
before

bring about a settlement.

Jay Singh

in July,

ami was

general

with due honour.

went

to Dilere

furious but Shivaji

the

keys of

Khan in Purandhar. won his sympathies by presenting the gate with his own hand. The
peace

He next The Khan was

terms of
wards.
Shivaji
lie

the

were

settled

shortly

after-

was
in

forced lo give

up

the forts and territory

had conquered from the Moghuls.

the
forts

He

surrendered

all

his possession including Sinbgad and

12 forts

Pur&ndhax except

and adjoining lands

yielding;

110
fln
I*

income
be

of

lakhs

<>f

rupees.

He

promised'

tin-

Moghul emperor and not to plunder His son. Shambhujee was [tnperial made a mnnsuMar of 5, COO, and he and Neloji
faithful to the

dominions.

Palkat were

to

attend

Shivaji pledged himself

on the Siibedat of the Deccan. to render any service in the

of

Deccan,

which

might be asked
*

him.
of

Shivaji

was
in

also promised lands yielding

ol

lakhs
3

tons (20 lakhs

of

rupees) in

Thal-Konkan and

lakhs

/inns

Kalaghat Bijapuri

when

these

lands would be

con-

quered from the State of Bijapur. In return Shivaji to pay 40 lakhs of linns to the Emperor promise
1

in

yearly instalments of 3 lakhs.

of the

Some

writers

state

on the authority

Mahratta accounts that Shivaji

obtained the right to levy Chant h and Sardcshmnkhi

vn Bijapur. Prof Jadunath Sarkar denies this claim on the authority of the Persian documents. {Modern Revinc.
July
1916
.

Aurangzeb's

letter

to

Shivaji confirming
to the

the terms

of

settlement contains
letter of

no reference

Chauth. The
also
set
is

Raja Jay Singh to the Kmperor

point.
of

very clear on the

in

The

claims were

forth

the petition

Shivaji,

and most prob-

ably neither the Emperor nor Raja Jay Singh attached

any importance
Sardcshmnkhi.

to

the

claims relating to

Chaiith

and

The

Emperor did not either understand

Ihe significance of such a levy or

knowing

its

meaning,

did not commit himself

to

such an arrangement.

Ill

The
rank
of

treaty
a

of

Purandhar reduced Shivaji

felt

to

the

vassal chief of the

Moghul Empire.
greatly

The

Mahratta leader must have

the humiliating
of

mortified at

terms

of

the treat}'.
of

The

ambition
State

maintaining the integrity

frustrated
for

the

Mahratta

was

the

time being.

His main business

now was
Bijapur.
spirit of

to follow

the

Although such
Shivaji

Moghul generals in reducing a position was galling to the

in all sincerity.

he accepted the terms

80 long he had
was
in

fought against the Delhi and the Bijapur

armies separately.

In fighting against the Moghuls he

Bijapur,

alliance with

and

in

his

campaigns

against Bijapur he

was on

friendly

terms with the

Moghnls.
the fronts.

Now

he had

to deal with the

enemy from both

view

The

friendship of the Moghuls with a

to share in the spoils of Bijapur might have influenced

his policy at the time.
Shivaji at the Imperial Court

: Raja Jay Singh was

now
the

free

to

attack

Bijapur.

The Deccan was never

of

completely subjugated by the emperors

Delhi since

withdrawal
txpto
of

of

Muhammad

Tughlak.

Akbar

conquered
the
in

Khandesh, and Shah

Jehan reduced

Kingdom
the

Ahmadnagar.

Aurangzeb had been

he-

Deccan

before he occupied the throne, and

had a strong desire to reduce the Kingdoms <>i Bijapur and (b)loonda in order to extend the imperial swa\ Into Southern India and to become the supreme master

of India, of

Jay Singh received

in

tin-

help and co-operfetion

Bijapur.

Shivaji

his

operations

Against

The

latter

joined

the

8000 infantry.

Moghul army with _'000 horse and He reduced l'lialtan the fief of the
the
fort

Nimbalkars, and escaladed

miles
to to

of

Thatwadn
sent

Kt

the

sojth-east.

He

was then
in

south-

wards
attack

engage the Bijapuris

the

Konkan, and
the
first,

Panhala.

The successes
recognition
a

of

Shivaji in

operations received

A handsome
ment
fell

dress and
a

Kmperor. jewelled sword were sent to

the
letter.

from

him along with

of

congratulatory

The

invest-

Panhala however proved a

fort of

failure,

and Shivaji
Netoji

back upon his own

the

Yeshalg;ad.

Palkar,

commander
and

of

the

Mahra.ta cavalry, was

corrupted by the Bijapuris, and went over to the enemy.

Raja Jay Singh

Dilere

Khan had
reached
After

already pro-

ceeded towards Bijapur.

Their march didnot meet with

any

resistance

till

they

had

Mangalveda,
a week's siege

60 miles to the north of Bijapur.

the place
fighting
fell,

and two Moghul armies

5 A'os

after

two months'

reached

distance from the capital of the

Adtl Shahis.
at
this

AH
to

Adil Shah
repel

made

strenv.ous exertions-

stage

the

received substantial help in

Moghul attack. He also men from Kutb-iilMuIk.

its

The Imperial army was harassed, and

off.

supplies cut
to

Kaja Jay singh then

called

Shivaji

come
into

t>

him, and with his help several forts

came

the

bands

of

the

Imperial

forces.

Anrangzeb

wrote

in
a second
that letter
letter inviting

bim

to

come

to the

Court.

Irt

he expressed his great regard for him, and

of

assured him
Shivaji

hospitality

and leave
Jay

to return

soon.

consulted his friends and

invitation.
his son,

all of

them advised

hiu to accept the

Singh guaranteed

him

safety
to

and sent

Ram

Singh, to

accompany

him

the court.

Shivaji

business of
Pingle,

made arrangements for the conduct of the his kingdom in his absence. Moro Trimat
Regency.
as to

Abajee Sonde v, and Annajee Dutta formed the

of

Council

The
to

officers

were

given

full

instructions

how
Jijabai

carry

on the business of

government.
his wives

was entrusted the care of Ram. His eldest accompanied him to Agra. He also son, Sambhujee, took with him 1000 infantry and 30C0 horse. Some of his principal officers, including Raghunalh T'aut,

To

and

his second son, F.aja

Kadtojyiktzar, Yesaji

Kank and Tanaji Malusare were

After
vicinity
to

among
was
some
officer

his

attendants.

a
of

march
Agra.

of

some weeks

the party reached the

sent to the

Ram
his

Singh
arrival.

Emperor
that

inform

of

Shivaji

expected
high

he

would
instead

be

received by

officer.

But

an
to

ordinary

named
the

Mukhlis

Khan was
felt

sent

conduct
at
at
this

him
time.

to

court.

Shivaji

humiliated

treatment,

but

did not give vent to his feelings

the
oi"

The Emperor was celebrating the anniversary

accession to the throne

his

and the

citv

was

full

of

114
activity.

While
of

in the

Roval presence Shivaji present6,000

rupees,

ed nazar
rupees
royal
iu

5Gt Ash?/fs and

30,000

all

(May

12,1060).

He was
this

directed

by

command

to take the position of

a pani-hazari.

The

Mahratta chief considered

as a

deliberate

insult, as his

son Sambhujee'and his commander .Netoji

enjoying such a position.

were already
his

He

expressed

bitter feelings before

Ram

Singh and the Emperor

dismissed him

without conferring

any mark
to

of

the

Imperial favour,

and directed him

city

X*

taken to a
of

house outside

the

near

the

house

Raja Jay

Singh. Shivaji was

presence.

forbidden to

come

to

the

Royal

When

he retired to the house provided for him

orders were given to the Kohvals to place guards round

it.

Shivaji's Escape.

Shivaji

was

practically in a state
a
petition

of

confinement at Agra.

He

sent

through

Raghunath Pant, reminding the Kmperor of"iis promises and the assurances given to him by Raja Jay
Singh.

He

referred to his services to the empire,

in

and
and

promised
Golconda.
jaghir,

every assistance

reducing

Bijapur

He

asked permission to

go back

to his

and

to let

his attendants return

totheDeccan.
reply.

The emperor
allowed
his

did not give

any
return
felt

definite

He
and

attendants to
Shivaji

but

kept

Shivaji

under

restraint.

awfully

mortified

sought opportunity to escape.

115

While

at

Agra he had made

began
to

the acquaintance

of

-several nobles and

exchange

presents with

them as a mark of friendship. Once he wan reported to %e ill, and after some days it was given out that he had
recovered.
After recovery he
to

obtained' permission

to>

.send sweetmeats

Brahmaus, Faquirs
for

and

to

his

friends.

For

this

purpose he procured large

baskets.

The presents passed out of his house Meanwhile he had sent two or three
wait
city.

days together.
horses
to>

swift

for

him

at a distance of fourteen A'os

from

the

In two baskets Shivaji

and Shambhujee accomto

modated themselves, and directed the servants

take
in

them

in the direction of his

of the

horses

already sent

advance. One

attendants Hiraji Phat/.and, stayed

ring of
vShivaji
off

behind putting the

allay suspicion.
in the

on

his

finger to

"Shivaji

marched

towards Muttra

course

of the night,

and the Imperial guards did

till

not receive any information of the flight

vShivaji

had

gone a

long way.

runaway
guise of a

whiskers.

made for the chief. At Muttra Shivaji took up the dismendicant, and shaved his beards and From Muttra he went to Benares, and
close

search was

returned to the Deccan by following the route of pil-

prims along Allahabad, and Gaya.

bhujee was
left

The young Sham

In

behind

in

charge of a Deceani Brahman

named

Khrishnaji

Vishwanath.

December

1660,

Shivaji returned to his capital after an absence of nine

months.

His return vas received with .meat rejoicing

people.

by

his

Shortly

afterwards Shambhujec was

Krishrtaji Yisln\anath
for tie scfe

safely brought to

him.

and

his

mother
the boy.

were amply rewarded

custody

of

Retreat of tie Rbgfcttts

for eight months.

: The
the

siege of Bijapur lasted'

Neither the cavalry nor the infantry-

spared
Shahis.

pains to

reduce

capital
city

of

the

Adil

devastated.

The country about the Not a trace of grass

forty

found

for

Imperial
the other

armies

was thoroughly was to be or fifty /cos round about. The suffered for want of supplies. On
or fodder

hand

the

King
L

of

Golconda

had sent

6,000 cavalry

and 25,000
the

infantry

in aid of Bijapur..

The

besiegers were greatly

harassed by the combined'

troops.

When
fell

Moghul

army was
Singh
sent a

reduced

to-

such a

miserable plight Raja Jay

and

Dilere-

Khan

back on Dharur,

and

despatch to*

The Emperor directed the generals to cease operations. Jay Sing was to proceed to Aurangabad and Dilere directed Raja Khan was recalled to the Court. Jay
the Emperor
describing the situation.

Singh ence

raised
to

the

siege

of

Bijapur
All

in

obediforts

the

Imperial

orders.

the

he-

had

conquered

were

abandoned,

except

Lohgad,

Such guns as could be carried away were removed from the forts. The forts were then given up to plunder, aud were set orb
Sinhgad

and

Furandhar.

117
fire.

The strong towns and walls

to

were blown up.

The general then proceeded

of

Aurangabad.

The news
this

Shivaji's

escape

from

Agra

had

by

time

reached Raja Jay Singh.

He

arrested Netoji Palkar

and

his

son according to instructions from the

Em-

;peror.

The
of

failure

of

the Bijapur

campaign and the

escape

General.
-suspicion

Rajput Shivaji brought discredit on the Aurangzeb recalled him from the Deccan on
of

his

complicity
died on
the

with the Mahrattas.

The

veteran
12,1567^,

soldier

way

at

Burhanpur (July
Prince Muazzim
the

and thus escaped disgrace.

appointed

was now

and command. Raja Jaswaut Singh was placed second Dilere remained for sometime in the Deccan, and was
Governor
of

Deccan
in

afterwards transferred to Malwa.

Shivaji

on his return from Agra began his hostile

operation- against the Moghuls.

great portion of

Kalyan wis reconquered.

and
strengthened.
not
in a

was
the

The old forts were repaired The new Viceroy of the Deccan mood to pursue hostilities against
acquaintance
at

Shivaji.

JaswuiU Singh formed the

of

Mahratta chief
of

when

he was

Agra, and

became one

his

enthusiastic admirers.

treaty

was

negotiated through the Rajput prince.

Aurangzeb

was prevailed upon to agree to terms very favourable to Shivaji. The title of Raja was conferred upon
hiin.

Sharabhujee
in

ghit

was confirmed in his muhsub. A Berar was granted to Shivaji in satisfaction

118
of
liis

claims on Junnar ot Ahmadnagar.

The

districts,

of Poona,
forts of

Chakan.

and Supa were restored but the

Purandhar
ot

aud Sinhgad were retained.

in

The

services

Kadtoji Guzar were placed at the disposal

of Prince
ment.

Muazzim
very
in

pursuance

of the

terms of agreethe attitude

of

It is

difficult

to explain
It

Aurangzeb
himself for

this matter.

may

he that he wanted

to break the opposition of the Mahrattas.and to prepare

a

more vigorous

attack

later

on.
to

Pnt

that he would

design
-early

is

not conceivable.
3668.

make Prince Muazzim privy The treaty was

Aurangzeb
in

this

ratified

in

letter

to

Shiva if,

dated the 24th February 1668, gave his approval to the terms of settlement.
Shortly afterwards about the middle of the year a treaty was also concluded between the King of Bijapnr and the Emperor. Aii Adil Shah surrendered Sholapur and territory yielding 18C,000 pagodas.
Shivaji pressed on Jaswant Singh his claims to Chauth

and Surdeshmukhi in both Bijapur and Golconda. Although the claims were not fully recognished the
Bijapur Government promised to pay an ajanual reve-

nue
of

of three and half lakhs of rupees, and the King Gclconda agreed to pay five lakhs. So for the

first

time the two

Kingdoms agreed

to

pay

an

<.xtraord;nary
ing

tax to the Mahratta leader for maintainSince the conclusion of

attention
to organise,

peace in their territory.

Sliivaji directed

peace

his entire

the Civil

Government

of his

Kingdom.

lis

CHAPTER
1668
to
:

IX.

The Restoration.
1674 A. D.
Reconquest of Sinhqart

For about
with

two years
the

after

the conclusion of the treaties

Moghuls

in

Shivaji was busy in organising his governThe reforms he introduced and the order and discipline he enforced in the army were as important as his work cf liberation of the Mahratta nation.

1668 A. D.

ment.

For

the

time being there was complete peace

in

the

country and the people were happy and

prosperous..

The peace however was interrupted by Auraug/eb in 1670 A. D. The Kmperor suspected that Prince
Muazziru was plotting his overthrow and that he

was

maintaining friendly relations with Shivaji

to

in

order

obtain his help for

the

purpose.

He

did not desire

to the

this
to

friendship to ripen and sent orders

prince
the

apprehend
were
reached

vShivaji,

Pratap
officers.

Rao

Guzar and
the

principal

Mahratta
recived

Before

official

orders

by
of

the the

Prince

informations
intention
privately,

hud

him

Emperor's

ami

he had warned

Pratap Rao

Guzar

Pratap Rao made a precipitate escape

orders came
the
it

and when the

was too
vShivaji

late for

the

Prince to capture

Mahrattas.

could

no longer rely on the

friendship of the Moghnls.

I

Aurangzeb did not mean

the treaty.

>

stand by

the terms

of

His only object

120

was

to

extend his empire, and the peace

was only

temporising measure.

The small

State- of the

Mahrattas
the

was not
defensive.
at

likely

to

exist

by simply remaining on

Aurangzeb had deliberately insulted Shivaji

a

Agra most probably with

by forcing them
occasion the
to

view

to

crush the Mah-

rattas

declare
to

hostility.

On

the
of

present

order

seize

the person

Shivaji and the principal officers

to

them.

earnest,

The and Shivaji now plunged

reconquering
his

was an open challenge challenge was taken up in right

himself
into

the the

work

of

territory

from

Moghuls.

His

first

object

was

to

obtain
forts

possession of
obstructed
his

Sinhgad

and

Purandhar.
to

These

communications

Chakan

and
There

Poona,
is

and

were very strongly

Marathi which
says
at

garrisoned.
that

a ballad in

the expedition to

Sinhgad

was

undertaken
of

the
fort

instance of

Jijabai.

The
soldier
it

commandant

the

named
the

Ude Bhan,
It
is

and

it

was was
on
the

a celebrated

believed that
the

was
of

impregnable.

situated

eastern

side

Saihadri range,
hills

near

point

where
It

the
is

Purandhar
connected

branch
these

off into

the

Deccan.

with

hills

on
lis

the east

and

west

by

very

narrow

ridges.

north

and south sides

mile.

are rugged,
is

with an

ascent

of

half a
this

a steep

precipice of 4o feet

above

height

There and
this

the

strong

walls

of

the

fortress

stand' above

121
precipice.
is

The

fort

is

triangular,

and

its

boundary
it

about two miles

in (length.

Entrance

into
its

is

impossible except through the gates.

From

summit
to the

could be seen the beautiful valley

east.

of the

Neera
north.

A
in

great plain stretches

the

in the

Poona
in

stands

midst

of

this

plain,

and

the
lies

midst

of the

mountains

far off in the south

west

Raigad.

Tanaji

Malusare

started

from

this place

with a picked body of a 'thousand Mavalis

in

the

month

of

February on the

ninth night

of the

dark

half of the

moon. He was accompanied by

his brother.

They approached by the western gate known Suryaji. The troops went bj* different as the Kalyan gate. paths, andjeached a place which was least liable to
discovery.
escalading.

Tanaji

adopted

the Mahratta

device

of

He
fifty

fastened a rope

ladder

along

the

Dongri

cliff

by means of the Ghorpad Yeshwant.

When
broke.

only about

men had
with

climbed

the rope

The

gallant

fifty

Tanaji

at the

head

silently

approached the
surprise.

Kalyan gate and took

the guards

by

700 men.

They entered two other gates by killing about By this time Ude Bhan was prepared \S> meet the Mahrattas, and was engaged in a fierce
The brave Mavali
soldier
fell

encounter with Tanaji.

fighting.

The small band which accompanied him would

have been overpowered but for the timely an \a. of the rest of the army. Soon the garrison was slaughtered

and Shivaji's nag

was

hoisted.

Five cannons

V2'2

were

fired to

announce

the

occupation of
to

the

fort.

wShivaji

came
17.

to the place

rejoice with his troops

(Feb.

Mnlusare

1670). On seeing the dead body of Tanajt who was his comrade since childhood, and

who had

fought so

bravely in several battles he said

with a deep pathos

lost the lion."

"

have got the

fort

but

have
silver

The

soldiers

were rewarded with

bracelets on return to Raigad. Suryaji

was

appointed-

commandant

of the fort

of

Sinhgad.

One month

after the fall of

Sinhgad Purandhar was

occupied without much resistance. By the end of June Maholy, Kurnalla and Lohgad were taken. But Shivaji

met with repulse at Shivneri, the place of his which he was very anxious to recover. He
island Fateh
position.

birth,

and

met with
of the-

another disappointment at^Janjira. The governor

Khan was reduced

bridgeheads

to
to

The
by the

an almost inextricable the island were all

the

occupied

Mahrattas, and
island.

governor was

driven into the

reinforcement
of Shivaji

He
Bijapur

could not receive

as the

any

from
lying
fleet

possessions

were

between

Janjira and Bijapur.

The Mahratta

also attacked Janjira.

Fateh

Khan

had no other alternative than to surrender. He waswilling to give up Janjira if only Shivaji allowed him and his garrison to go free. Shivaji agreed to
these

terms.
of the

But before

Fateh

Khan could
island.

avail

himself

arrangement he was put rrnder confineAbyssinia ns

of the

ment by

the

The

leaders-

U'3
of the Abyssinian party, Sidi Sambal, Sidi
Sidi to

Yakut and
of

Khairyat applied to the Moghul governor

Surat

protect them from the

a

Mahrattas. and to hold the

of

rsland as
ment.

dependency
fleet

the

Delhi
in

Govern-

The Snrat
fleet

was despatched
in

response to*

the appeal,

and acting

conjunction with the Abys-

sinian

relieved the island.

The

Second Suck of
the
of

Snrat : Shivaji

was not

the

man
the

to forget

part Snrat played in Janjira.

In
city

beginning

October he

marched upon the

with

an army,

15,000 strong.

He

reached Snrat

on
fled

'

October 3,1670, and on his approach the inhabitants

aa

The Enropean merchants defended their own factories. The English obtained peace by sending some presents to Shivaji. The Dutch factory was not molested as it was lying in a retired part of the city. The French also were spared as
on the
first

occasion.

they allowed the Mahrattas to pass through their factory

to attack,
the

Prince

of

Kashgar who was

valiantly

protecting a seraglio,

which was

reported to contain

much

treasure.

considerable
Alter three
of
left

The Prince fled at night leaving a amount of silver and gold to the Mahrattas.
left

days Shivaji

the city laden with spoils

immense value.
a
letter

But before he had gone

t

away he
the
city
12

for

he

inhabitants

of of

deinanding from them an annual tribute

t<

lakhs

escape

further plunder.

124

The party took the main road from Surat to Munchiu near It had passed Kunehin Chandore when it was followed by a Moghul detachAurangabad.

ment from
larger

Anrangabad under David Khan.

of

body

the

Another Moghnl troops was proceeding to

at

oppose the

Mahrattas

the

Nasik

pass.

Shiva ji

perceiving the danger beforehand divided his army into

four or
five'di visions.

The party carrying

Other
parties

the

booty
the

was

sent

in

advance.
at

harassed

Moghnls,

and

whelmed and
resistance.

the

Khadase Dand Khan Moghuls Wfire put to

got at Surat

was
ront.

over-

The

Mahrattas then returned to Raigad without any further

The money he
his

was employed

in strengthening

military position.

He

prepared

large

army and

a big fleet,

and

made

a display of

his strength along the coast round about Bombay.

Further Incursions into the Moohul Territory :

Khau-

desh was not strongly pretected.

tion
of the

Shivaji got informa-

state of

affairs in

that

province,

and sent

them

to

Pratap Rao Guzarwith a large force (December

large

1670). Several
tributions
led the

towns were plundered and conIt

is

were

levied.

believed
of

that

Shivaji

incursions in person.

The town
village
to

Kurinja was

severely

plundered.

The

authorities

on the
his

route promised in writing to pay

officers

Shivaji and

one -fourth

of the in

revenue due to Government.

to

Shivaji

promised

return

spare

these

villages

125

from pillage and

This
is

to

protect
of

them

in times
of

of

danger.

the beginning

the exaction

chantk in a
levy
is

Moghul province.
clear from

The
of

object of such a

very

the terms

agreement with these

the

villages..

Shivaji not
raids

only saved

places

from Mahratta

but took them under his

protection.

Moro Pant
through
including

Pingle, thePeshwa, descended into

the country
torts,

the

Nasik pass, and

took

several

Aundha, Patta and

State
tions.

Salheir.

He

also reduced the

Jawhar

and forced

the

Kohvau

State to pay contribu-

The Moghuls
those
raids,

did

not

offer

strong resistance
that

to-

and the Emperor suspected

in league with
in

Prince

Muazzim was

Shivaji.

There was no
in

-doubt a deficiency
at the

the

Moghul army
for

the

Deccan

time,

and

applications

further

reinforcedesire

ments went
to strengthen
troops.

unheeded.
the

The Emperor
the

did not

position of

Prince

by sending

When

the capital

news of continued disastei s reached Jaswant Singh was recalled, and Mahabat
the
at

Khan came
general was

the

head

of

40,000

men.

independent of the Prince,

The new and directed his

operations against the Mahrattas vigourously.

The Battle
onset Mahabat

of Salheir

1672

: In

the

first

rush

of his

Khan

retook the

forts ol

Aundha and
in to

Patta, but as the

monsoon

set in the

MosJiuls went

L26
cantonments, and
tillate in -the

they did

not
I

ensuing season.
tlie

resume Were Khan

the
fort

operations
laid siege to

Chakan
Salheir.
011I3'

and

oilier half

of

army

invested

The

garrison of the latter

consisted oi
store

7000 men, and there was not a sufficient

in

of provisions

the

fort.

party

of
Cttt

horse sent
to

to

reinforce

the

garrison
Shivaji

was

pieces-

by the Pathans.
the
fort

and

sent

was determined to save Moro Pant and Pratap Rao

.(.fU/.ar

with

20,000 horse.
of

On
to

receiving the

the

approach
directed

this

strong

Mahratta force

news of. Mahabat

Khan
Iklas

Iklas. his

Khan
army.
to

oppose them with the

greatest part of

Pratap

Rao

confronted
the-

Khan, who

tried

prevent the junction of

two columns
in

of the

Mahratta army.
Pratap

Moro Pant came

combined
lasted for

time to support
the

army attacked
twelve hours.
the

Moghuls.

Rao and the The battle

in

The Mahrattas succeeded

into

throwing

Moghul army
2,0C0
killed, or

disorder.

Iklas

with only
either

men

out of 20,000.
It is

Khan escaped The rest were

quantity
of
ofc

taken prisoner.

stated that 6, 00O

horse,
T

125

elephants
fell

and
into

large

jew els and treasure

the

hands

the victors.

The

result of the
of

great success

was

the

abandonment

of the siege

Salheir.

" This victoty " writes Grant

Duff, "

was
in

the

most complete ever achieved by Shivaji'sfought

action

troops,

a fair

against the

Moghuls,.

187
;and contributed greatly to the renown
of the

Mahrattas."
a

Mahabat Khan was

to his

veteran

soldier,

and

defeat
of

arm}" greatly increased

the

prestige

the

"Mahrattas.

large

of

Bijapur

the Mahratta

and army.

number of soldiers left the service Delhi and sought admission into

The

European Factories

During the

rains

of

1672

Kohvan in the northern Konkan. The same year he demanded tribute from The latter refused the Portugese at Daman and Salsette. an attempt to take the to pay and vShivaji made
Shivaji conquered parts
of the

fort

of

Gharabandar
failed
in

in

the

island of Salsette.

The

Mahrattas
settlers

their

object.

But

the

English

and sought peace. They had recently obtained possession of Bombay, of England got the island as a King Charles II
at

Bombay

got

frightened

dowry from
then

the

King

of

Portugal

in

1C61.

It

was

an insignificant
families.

place inhabited by

only eleven
it

Portugese
distance

Unable

to

manage

from a

-Company

King Charles transferred it to the Hast India The headquarters of the company in 1668.
at

was

still

Sural.

The

position

of

Bombay
to

as

shelter for

the vessels

from the fury

of the

south-west

monsoon
the

suggested to
there.

Gerald
But

Aungier
the

headquarters
until

transfer

made

1674.

The English

did

not

remove was not desire any

for
its

hostility

with Shivaji as

Bombay depended

128
supplies

upon
but
the

the

Mahratta

territory.
to

On

sefcking

peace the English were asked

Janjira,

join
to

Shivaji against

they
plea

managed
for

avoid

this

request on

of their

on the other hand asked

of
lit,

Rajapuri

in

1661.

neutrality, The English damages for the plunder Shivaji was willing to pay

000 pagodas

when

they

would again

settle

there.

This the

English did not agree to do

till

they were

indemnified.
at the time.

The

negotiations did not proceed further

Loss
recalled
disaster

of

Danda

Rajapuri

Mahabat Khan and

at Salheir.

prince

: Emperor Aurangzeb Muazzim after the

Bahadur Khan Koka, afterwards Khan Jahan Bahadur was then appointed Viceroy of the Deccan, with Dilere Khan as second The new Viceroy did not venture on in command.

known

as

uny

offensive

operations
of

against

the Mahrattas,

but

instead raised a line

defence by blocking

up the

Ghats,
raids
his

so that the

Mahrattas might

not

carry their

into

Khandesh. Dilere
offensive.

Khan, who had acquired

experience in the previous

a strong
with

engagements advised' This however did not find favour

Bahadur Khan. The Mahrattas cunningly turned from Khandesh and raided the country between aside

Ahmadnagar and Aurangabad.

take
elective
at

encamped
monsoon.

The Viceroy failed tomeasures against such raids, and Pairgaom on the Bhima during the

129
Shivaji went

on an expedition against

Golconda

when Bahadur Khan was taking rest. The King of Golconda had sent his army to recover the little town
of St.

Thorns
This
of

in

the
a

Coromindel
taken

Coast from

the

French.
the

wis

settlement of the Portugese,

and

King

Golconda

had

it

by force

in

1669.

The French invested the place by sea and turned away the Golconda garrison. The King had sent his troops against the French when Shivaji appeared at the gates of Hyderabad. The Mahratta chief returned
to

Raigad

on

re^eivin^

ransrn

of

tvvo

million

pagodas.

While Shivji
towns suffered great

was
loss

away
Sidi

in

Golconda

his

coast
of

by the combined attack

the

Moghul and
Governor
send a
of
fleet

the Sidi

fleet.

Janjira.

He

asked

Yakut was then the Bahadur Khan to

readily complied
of
.

from

Surat.

The Viceroy

nnd

Danda Rajapuri wis stormed. This p^rl was

it

great value to Janjr.i, as

stood between the mainland

and

the

island.

Raghu

Ballal

Atre was in charge of

the garrison.

When
o'-f

the Mahrattas

were celebrating the

Koli and were

their

guard they were attacked both

garrison

by land

and

sea.
in this

The

was

massacred.

Raghu

Ballal

miserable plight

surrendered on
But Sidi

condition that th* garrison would be spared.

Yakut did not keep bh w>rd. They were put to death and only the old women were allowed to escape.

i:;o

J'xpnlitiuns aipiinst bijapur : Saltan

Ali

Adil Shfth
15th
of

ol

P.ijapur
1

had $d.

a
Ilis

paralytic stroke

on
Shall

the

Decern km, 1672.

son

Siknnder
other

was

only

inc years

His

oul}'

offspring

was a

daughter named Padshah

Bibi.

Abdul

Muhammad was

man

cf

The ])rime minister weak nature. He

lacked the ability to keep factions at Court under control

on
to

the demise of

Ali Adil Shah,

although he was very

honest.

recommended to the dying King Khawas Khan as the regent of the infant king. He further recommended that he himself along with two other principal nobles Abdul Karim and Muzuffar Khan should be sent to command in different
therefore

He

appoint

parts of the
to
these

Kingdom.

The King

reluctantly

agreed

proposals.
the regeney,

On
to

his

death

Khawas
Abdul

Khan

assumed and Abdul Muhammad

]est

but did not send

their

respective

Karim commands,
Conse-

they enter into friendly relations with the Moghuls,

to suit
of

and make terms

quently the plan

their

convenience.
to

the

Prime Minister

engage the
Sultan

Moghuls
of
affairs

failed.

Shivaji

kept informations of the state

of the

in

Bijapur,

and on the death

from
the

considered himself
treaty of
1662.

free

conditions of the

March 1673 he assembled a big army at Vishalgad, and retook Panhala which had been in the hands of the King of Bijapur since it was
In

captured by Sidi Johar.

Next

he
of

directed

Annaji

Dutto

to

attack

the rich

town

Hubli,

south- east

131
-of

Dharwar.
for the

It

was an

important centre
of cloth.

of

trade,

famous

manufacture

The Mahrattas

plundered the merchants of all nationalities at the place. The booty here exceeded in value even that of Surat_

The English
Mr. but Shivaji
time,
to

factor}- suffered a loss of

about
the

,3.000.

Aungier demanded indemnity

did no:
full}'

for

damage,

admit the claims.

fleet

At

this

May, 1673, the Moghul

over the monsoon

from Surat asked leave

tide

in

the harbour of

Bombay.

But Aungier refused to break the neutrality specially

because
it

was not

to his interest.
fleet

Shivaji

then sent his

of

along the Malabar coast.

With

the help

his
of

Ankola. The Raua

tribute.

navy he occupied Karwar and Bed n ore agreed to pay an annual

he

On

land

took

Panhala,

Satara,

Chandan, Wandan, Pandavgad, Naudgiri

da, the line of forts

and Tathwabetween Satara and Phaltan, which

behalf
of

were captured by Shivaji on

1668,

Aurangzeb
in

in

and which were

restored to

Bijapur

the

subsequent treaty.
of the

Bahadur Khan, the Moghul Viceroy Deccan, discontinued hostility with Shivaji on
a large

receiving
ing
the
laid

sum

of

money and on
refrain

the understand-

that

Shivaji

would
In

from

marauding in
of 1673 Shivaji
the

Moghul
siege

territory.
to

the

autumn
the

Phoiida,

which
Bit

was on
place

road to

Karwar
strongly

and

Ankola.

was
the

very
next

defended,

and the siege lasted

till

monsoon.

'
tj.

The

protracted siege cf Phonda afforded opport-

Government to plan a counterattack near Panhala. Abdul Karim marched westwards with a strong aimy. Pttttap Rao Gir/ar was detached to harass him. Karim approached towards Bijapur. They met each other at Bmbraui between
unity to the Bijaput
Miraj and
Bijapur.
Abi.nl

Karim's

army was out-

numbered by Pratap Rao"s cavalry and by the evening he was forced to ask for an armistice. He promised'
to allow
if

the

Mahrattas to pillage

his

province only

he was permitted to escape unmolested.

Pratap Raofull signific-

agreed to the terms without perceiving their

ance.

Abdul Karim had no

allow

authority

to

agree

to

these terms, and the Bijapur

possibly
its

Government

could not

territories to be

pillaged without

Shiva ji was greatly displeased with Pratap Rao for giving x\p this oportunity of pressing against
resistance.

the enemy,

and censured
verj
r

his

action.

Pratap

Rao
This-

showed

bad

spirit

in leading his

cavalry into*

the Moghttl territory upto the borders of Berar.

was

breach

of

neutrality

with

the

Moghuls.

Moreover Shivaji was badly in need of his help at the siege of Phonda. Abdul Karim also did not remain
true to the agreement, as

he

shortly

returned

to-

retake Panhala.

Shivaji

could

not

offer

him

any
in

resistance without the aid of

Pratap Rao.

When

the

month

of

February, 1674,

Abdul

Karim

had
from.-

almost reached Panhala, Pratap Rao

returned

K55
"his raids.

As

he
sent

.attack,

Shivaji

was him

about
a

to

commence
until he
*

the

message that
perturbed

had

destroyed
his

Abdul Karim*s army he

before

should not
his

show
a

face

him.

This
usual

mind.

He

departed from his

charge.

method, and
cut

made

down with man}- of his men and the Mahratta army was put into confusion. At this juncture Hasaji Mobile came up with his reserve force. The Mahratta soldiers
headlong
rallied
retire.

Pratap Rao was

round him, and Abdul Karim was forced to

Thus
was
In

a defeat

was turned

into

victory.

Hasaji

Mobile was

henceforth

called

Hambir Rao,
of the

and he

appdinted
this

Commander-in-Chief

cavalry.
Santaji

battle

two other
Dhanaji

officers

named

Gnorpade

and

Jadav

distinguished

themselves.

The Coronation:
exercised royal

Although

Shivaji

had so

long

authority he had never undergone a formal ceremony ot coronation. Such a eeremny be-

comes

a necessity in the case of

every king

to receive

the recognition of his subjects as well as of other states.

was specially necessary in the case of Shivaji was the founder of a new dynasty, and as his kingdom was altogether a new state carved out of the
It

as he

old state of ffijapur.

The important Mahratta

successful
leader,

families

considered him

only a

but

were

not willing to concede to

him
the

royal rank. In such cir-

cumstances

Shivaji

on

advice

of his

ministers-

134

arranged for a formal coronation ceremony. For this purpose Gaga Bbata, a Oakhini Pandit residingat Benarefi

was
title

invited.

The ceremony took place

in

pure Hindu

style at
of

Raigad on the 6th June, 1074. He assumed the Kshatriya Kulavatamsa .Shiva Sree Raja
I'ati.

Chhatra
by, the

The accession

of

the king was announced

of the

fire of

guns from one end

kingdom

to the
in the

other, from

Kalyau in

the north, to

Savanlwadi

south.

The dav following

a

the coronation the king received

deputation of the English from Bombay.

1 he deputhe

tation

was

led

by Mr.

Oxenden.
to

The
the

petition of

English

of settlement

was granted almost were embodied

of the

full.

in

a treaty.

The terms The most

of

important

terms were

(l) that the

English should

be permitted to trade in the

dominions on payment
of 2 A

an ad valorem import duty

they would be

percent

(2)

that

permitted to build factories at Rajapur,

;

Babul, Chaul and Kalyan

pass reciprocally
the
:

(:>)

that the

coins should

(4)

the English ships wrecked

on

Mahratta coast should be restored to

them

and

losses at (5) that indemnity should be paid for the granted almost all the Rajapur and Hubli. The King

requests, but

did not pay

any compensation

for

the

losses at Hubli, as he

was

not informed of the occurrence

to

by .\nnaji Dutto.

By agreeing

the terms Shivaji'

obtained the friendship of the English.

135
Jijabai died shortly after the coronation.
vShe

could
illness

not bear the

of
five day's

fatigue of the festivities.

After an

she died.

Shivaji held a

second coronaover.

tion

when

the

mourning period was

:

The old
ruler
of

lady had the sat sfactiou

of seeing her

son wearing the

crown, and being recognised

Maharashtra.

as the

lawml

She had suffered a great deal, and when

her

become Sati but the her from such an action. She used to exhort her son to remember his forefathers, and no one has^done^greater honour to his
entreaties
of

her husband died she wanted to

son dissuaded

ancestry than Shivaji.

186

CHAPTER
The Campaign
Operations
in

X.

in the

South.

the Konkan:

The

English merchants

on
tor

the coast

had received favourable tcnns from Shivaji

Shivaji sent Moro Par.t after demand chauth from them. Th

carrying on their trade. .There has also a Portugese

settlement round Bassein.

the

monsoon

to

Portugese evaded the chauth but had to save themselves

by paying

tribute.

At the end

of the

year Shivaji joined

the country

Moro up
and
to

Pant, and the combined

army ravaged
Jaujira

Junnar.

The

siege

of

was

continued,
of

the

Moghuls having attacked some part

and
Patta.
of

Kalyan
attempt
king,
to

Moro Pant retook Aundha

to

An
the the
tried

retake

Shivneri,

the

birthplace

failed.

Then

he

turned

towards

south
to

besiege Phonda.

Nimbalkar and Ghatge

favour
of

make

a diversion
country
Phonda.

in

the

king

of

Bijapur in the
Shivaji
in
-

between Panhala
not turn back

and
from

Tathwada.
his

however did

operations

breach was

effected in

the fort by explod

in

ang a mine, and the garrison surrendered

1676.

April,
to

The
of

success at

Phonda encouraged Shivaji

levied contributions

go

further south.

He

from

the

Raja

Sonda, plundered the town of Karwar, and

booty.

returned to Raigad with immense

While he

was away

South Hambir Rao entered the Moghnl territory and brought spoils to the capital. Soon after
in the

137
Shivaji

was busy

in

Phaltan against the Naik Ximbal-

kar, built four

forts

between Panhala and Tathwada

as a

line of defence.

The

fatigue of the health.

paign was too

much

for his

Konkan camHe was laid up

of
life.

with fever for some months.

were the longest period

The Affairs
noble
in

of

These months rest he enjoyed in

illness

Bi.japur. Khawas
of

Khan an Abyssinian
king.

was regent

the

infant

In

order to

his own interests he opened negotiations with Moghul Viceroy Bahadur Khan. Khawas Khan's daughter was betrothed to the second son of the Vice-

promote
the

roy

as

mark

of

friendship.

Tfhe
of

regent agreed
give

to hold

Bijapur as a dependency

Delhi and

away Padshah Bibi to one of the sons of Aurangzcb. The arrangment did not please the people, and the Afghan party under the leadership of Abdul Karim
formed a
conspiracy against
trie

Khawas Khan, and

about.

the

murder

of

regent was brought

Bahadur

Khan came to punish the murderers of Khawas Khan, but the army under Abdul Karim put up a strong defence. The Viceroy was forced to retreat to the
north of the Bhima.
of

Ultimately through the mediation

truce

Dilere

Khan
entered

leaders

into

was concluded. The two an offensive and defensive

alliance against Golconda.

Alliance with

Golconda

had died

in

167J

and

: Sultan Abdul Kutb Shah he was succeeded by iiis

i:;

sou

\fi

l:>^

Abu llussain.'The new king was

before his accession to the throne.
that

a dissolute

young "man
>vl>

expected

government
in fulfilling

by such a
his

Auraugweak man
waiting

would help him

to
tor the

object.

He wanted

conquer the whole

time

of the

Decean, and was

in

when
his

the

factious

the different courts

in

would make

work

easy.
to

Both

Bijapur

and

Hyderabad he had men

make

intrigues in his favour.

To

his

great

disappointment however
in

Abu Hussain

greatly

improved

character,

strong opponent of Moghul

intrigues'.

and proved himself a He appointed

two Brahman Pant to High

brothers,
offices

and

Madanua Pant and Akkana entrusted the management

of the kingdom into their hands. This policy was looked upon with suspicion by both Dilere Khan and

Abdul Karim.
Hanurnante,
the

At
old

this

time

Raghunath

Narayan

minister of Shahji

quarrelled with the

latter,

and Venkoji and was living at Hyderabad

both
of

with

Madauna

Pant,

as

them

were great
danger

Sanskrit scholars.

Shiva ji
in

reflected

over the fate of

Golconda,
to
his

and saw

the

ruin

of

Golconda
of

own kingdom.
to

He thought

two

measures
First,

as

safeguard against the purpose of Aurangzeb.

he wanted

form an alliance with

to

Golconda,

and
in

second he

wanted

establish

kingdom

the

So even when he would be dislodged from his kingdom in the Konkan, he might have a refuge to rally his forces
of his father.

south by securing the territroy

that

lo9
for further

operations.

This was the

this

keynote of his

policy

in

the south.

With

object

he

made

-grand preparation for an expedition.

The
by
a

opposition

of

Bahadiir

Khan was bought

the
his

off

heavy amount.
of

Moro Pant was given

kingdom
Dittto
in

chief

management

the

absence, and the

Pant Sachiv Annaji

-coast.

All possible arrangements

was appointed to guard the were made for carry-

ing on the administration.

Towards
teat did not
country.
sent a

the close

of

1676

Shivaji started
r

with:

30,000 horse and 40,000 infantry.

object
to
his

The Bijapu* Govern through

that
of

marching
border

On approaching
messengei
to

the

Golconda he
Sultan
a

Hyderabad.

The

was

persuaded

by Madanna

Pant to extend

welcome

to the Mahratta king.

Raghunath Narayau Hanumante

who was
of the

living

with

king.

After

Madanna worked in favour some consultations extending over

month

Shiva ji.
position

the Kutb Shah entered into an alliance with The Mahrattas guaranteed to fight for the

of
of

Golconca
Delhi.

either

against

Bijapur

or

the

Kmperor

They were in return provided With ammunition and a large sura of money. It was o arranged that Rijapur would be admitted into Abdul Karim th benefits of the alliance, provided
I

were removed from regency and the brother

of

Madanna

Past appointed instead.

II)
After
Shivaji
Nivriti

completing the arrangement with Golconda

marched south, crossed the Krishna at the Sungutn, 25 miles below Kornoul in March.
a

Here he went on
Mallikarjuu
the
self
at

pilgrimage to the temple

of

Shri

Parvatem,

about 85 miles lower

down

Krishna.
before
to

There he was prepared to sacrifice hinv

deity but,

the

so runs

the story,

3hawani

him in a vis on that she wanted to accomplish much more through him. The King- therefore desisted from the course, and then visited several other sacred
places in that place, and
after

spoke

twelve days rejoined the

army

at

Cuddapah.

The Tafljore Expedition : The Mahratta army entered

the Carnatic by the

Damalcherry

pass,

inarched in advance with the cavalry

soldiers
leavin-

and here Shivaji and his Mavali

the

heavy part
north-west

of the

army

to follow

him.
first

He

passed Madras in the early part of Ma}-, and

of

arrived at Gingi,

Poudichery.

The

fortress belonged to Bijapur, but the garrison surrender-

ed

without any resistance.

for

Shivaji

made

regular

arrangements
system
of
of the

the

government

of the

place.

His

Deccau was introduced.

Sher Khan,

The commandant
prisoner.

Trinomali

opposed the Mahratta force,

but he was overborne and

made

Vellore

surrendered

in

Septemper.

When
He

the siege of Vellore

weiit to Trivadi
letter

had made considerable progress Shivaji

forty miles
.

south of Gingi.

sent a

to

his-

brother, Yeukoji, from that place asking for a share in his

Ill
father's property.

Venkoji had removed his capital from,

1675.

llangalore to Tanjore in

Although he inherited
Shahjee the Bijapur

the jaghir from his father, his claims did not rest entirely

on inheritance. On Government made a

jaghir

the death

of

fresh grant of the jaghir to Venkoji.

his claims

Shiva ji however based

on the ground that the

that the re-grant

was hereditary property, and

his

was
for

made without
Venkoji to

knowledge.

He

therefore

sent

settle the dispute presonally.

Venkoji stayed
could not
to Vellore

with his brotl.er

for

two

months, but they

Shivaji

come

to

any settlement.

then

went

Meanwhile Venkoji referred the But the latter matter to the Bijapur Government. u'ged him to comply with bis brother's demands.
to complete the siege.

Then he
killed in

resolved to fight
in

out

his

own

case.

An
a

engagement took place

large

which Venkoji's soldiers were

fchivaji

numbers.

then undertook
vis.,

steady offensive, and the

Kolar, Bangalore,
Mxccession
the
in 1677,

fiefs

outside Tanjore,
all
fell

Arm
quick

Balapnr and Sira,

in

and
of

the

whole

of the Carnatic

under
and

Government

Bijapur

either

paid

Chduth

Sardeshmukhi

or were plundered.
affairs in

The
Shiva
ji's

state of

the

Deccan now required

attention.

Bahadur Khan has been recalled

with Shivaji.

by the Emperor

for his friendly relations

The plan of an attack upon Golconda by the combined army of Dilere Khan and Abdul Karim was approved
.f.

but the

attack

failed.

The

Bijapur troops grew

112
rebellious
of

as

they did not

receive

their pay,

and

ihost

them entered the Mahratta service.

ion

was

further

increased

by

the

death
-

The confusof Abdul

Masaml Khan, son in-law of Sidr Johar, was appointed regent, as he was a man of

Ka vim

(January).

considerable

property, being the

jaghirdar of
of

AdoniDilcre

The new regent

part
of

promised

to to

pay the debts

the

Khan, and the arrears due

the

troops,

lie

paid

s*

arears

to

the troops hut did not

pay tVc
t

debts of
<>iven

Dilere

by Khawas

Khan. Khan,

He

did

not

redeem the pledu<

viz to

give

away

Padshah

Bibi

to the

Moghuls.

A
left

large portion of
either

the cavalry

was disbanded, who joined

Mahrattas.
his

the

Moghuls or the
of

Shivaji

the
in

Carnatic after appointing

half-brother

Santaji

charge

Gingi, to

f>e

Narayan and Hambir Rao in* assisted ;by Raghuuath the general management of the affairs in then:.v./
acquired territory.

He marched
river
until

along the

banks
one

of

the
of

Velavati
the people

he reached Bellary.
the fort

Some
of

belonging fo
king.
Shivaji
as

cut

eff

the patrols of the

for
fort

demanded

satisfaction

the outrage,

but

none

was forthcoming
fell

the

was blockhis

aded.

The commandant
heroically

fighting

and

widow,

Sabitribai

defended the
the

fort

for

26 days.

On
the

the

27th

day
all

garrison

surrendered.

Shivaji reduced

the country in the

Next Doab south of

Saniaut

Tungbhadra.

Janardhan

Pant

wi>

11.1

appointed governor
halted
to

of

the

province.
to

At Turgal he
matters with

make another attempt

settle

Yenkoji.

The small party of Hambir army of Yenkoji, and entire

anxious to join
dispirited the flag
of

Rao had routed

his

the

troops

became

Shivaji.

The prince
from

was
to

when
to

he received a

letter

Shivaji,

urging

him

concede

his

claims,

and not

depend upon
his

his

Mussulman

advisers. Yeukoji consulted

wife

Dipabai,

intercession of

the and at her advice sought Raghunath Narayan. The latter howtill

ever refused to see him

he received Shivaji's orders,

obtained, and

which however were

nath succeeded
in

readily

Raghu-

bringing about an accommodation.

for his
of

Yenkoji
a
half

*'as

forgiven

past conduct.
to

He

paid

considerable sum
of his father's

money, and gave

Shivaji

The heieditary fiefs were bestowed upon Dipabai, and Yenkoji was allowed to retain Tanjore on payment of a share in the revenue. One of the conditions of the settlement was that Yenkoji would remain true to the alliance, and would accept Raghunath Narayon as his first minister.
jewels.

The campaign ended in success. The Mahratta kingdom now extended beyond the frontiers of Maharashtra.

The Bijapur governor Khan Miana made an attempt

with

of the

Doab, Husain
the Doab.
of

to hold

In

conjunction

Ximbalkar, the

Naik

Phaltan he

Ill

attacked Shivaji
Shivaji

near Turgal.
tithe,

Hambir Rao had

were

joined'

by

this

as

his services

no longer

required in the Carnatic. Hussain

defeat.

The whole
Shivaji

of

the

Khan .suffered a heavy Doab now submitted to

he

Shivaji.
t)f

returned to Raigad after an absence

In this campaign

eighteen months.

had almost

doubled his kingdom, and his territory now extended.

Irotn sea to sea, with a strongly fortified frontier.

14,')

CHAPTER
The Last Years
April 1678.
Iu his

XI.
of Shivaji.
returned to Raigad in

Alliance with Bijapiir: Shivaji

absence

his

Peshwa Moro Pant

had carried on operations against the Sidis of Janjira,. but it was very difficult to crush them on account of their position and because they received help from
the Moghuls.

The Mahratta
them
Shivaji

sailors

dealt with by

and

a large

number
south

were very severely inhumanly

to take

slaughtered.

was preparing
the

revenge ou
was-

them
called

alter his

return from

when he
Moghuls.
in

away

to help Bijapur against the

of

The
quests of

Government
account
Shivaji

Bijapur
the

was

state

confusion on

of

factions inside, the conin the

in the

Caruatic and

Doab, and

the pressure of

Dilere Khan.

The recent
to the

Sidi
of

Masuud
Ciolconda
at

in a helpless condition applied

king

for assistance.

Sultan

Abu Hussain was indignant

the conduct of Shivaji.

He

had provided Shivaji with

in his

money,
but did

artillery

and men

southern

campaign,

not receive any

share

iti

his rich spoils.

So

he enterd
Shivaji,

into an alliance

with Sidi
large

and

paid him

amount

Masaud against of money to

pacify the mutinous soldiets.

Khan

had

agree! to give
to hold the

The late regent Kh'awas away Padshah Bibi to the

as a

Mo"huls and

kingdom

dependency

of.

up
Delhi.
Sidi

Masaud/did not comply

wa;

with these term**.

the conciliatory

The Emperor

not

satisfied

with

attitude of Dilere

the failure of the

Khan. Moreover he was incensed at Moghul attack upon Goleonda. So

of the atid

he appointed Prince Muazzim as Viceroy

Deccan
asked

and placed Dilere

Khan second

in

command,
the

him

to press

the treaty.

upon Bijapur The Afghans in

to

to fulfil

conditions of

the Bijapur service

enlis,le
in his

were

won
13ibi.

over by Dilere Khan, and

army.

An

envoy was sent

Tut-

demand
arms
to

the surrender of
the

Padshah

Afghan party under

rose in

leadership of Syed

Mukhtoom
Moghnls.

support the demand of the

furious.

Bat

the people

grew

Padshah Bibt
give her up.

was their favourite,

ami they could not

She went
to Dilere

The unfortunate
.to

girl

resolved to sacrifice herself in order

save her country.

accord,

Khan

of

her

own

and was sent to Auran^abad

of the

by the

General.

But the sacrifice

princess did not stop

of

the advance of Dilere Khan.

The people

Bijapur offered
B.rt

a stout
Delhi.

resistance,

and

pushed
large

his attacks back.

to their great dismay a

In

reinforcement came from

almost a bewildered state Sidi Masaud wrote

to Shivaji to

come

to dieir aid

as a neighbour,
foreigner.

and to
fall

unite

with them to expel

the
the

Bijapur and the success of

The Moghul arms

oi

in

the

Deccan
ssven

meant danger
thousand
strong

to

the

Mahratta

power.
six

S
tt>

Shivaji readily agreed to join Bijapur.

A cavalry
to

was

despatched

protect

M7
Mijapur. ShivajTs

-should be entrusted to them.

men demanded that one of the gates Masaud declined to grant

this request,

so the Mahrattas began to harass the Moghute r

and

to

plunder the places on their way. Masaud became

-suspicious of their conduct

and made peace with Dilere Khan. But the quarrel between the regent and his rival Sharza Khm put this arrangement at naught, Bijapur
in the

remained

same

state of confusion.

This happened

towards the end of 167S.

The
Shivaji
Pall of Bhupalgad:

Sambhujee,

the eldest son ol

was a young man of violent temper. For an outrage committed upon a married Brahman woman he wasat Panhala.

kept under coiinement by his father

he

But
I

somehow escaped from

the

the Dilere

fort

and joined
received

Mere
in

Khan in November 1678. open arms, and wrote to

in Maharashtra
in

Khan

him

Emperor urging an intrigue

favour of the prince. Sainbhujee

of 7C00,

was

made
Raja.

commander The flight of

and conferred the title oi Sambhujee was a cause of great

to his troubles
fort of

anxiety to Shivaji.

lie tried his best to bring

But

all efforts failed.

To add
to

him back. Sambhujee

was
was

sent by Dilere

Khan

storm the

Bhupalgad,
defence

'lying between Bijapur and Satara.

Phirangoji Xarsula

the

commandant

of the fort.

His gallant

of Cliakan

won

praise even from the

proach

of

Sambhujee

enemy. At the apwavered, and requested Phirangoji

the prince not to attack the fort.

cuaii to listen to these entreaties,

Sambhujee was not the

and
appeared before

148
the
gate>s of
left

Bhupalgad with

all

his forces.
to

PhirangoJK

then

the

command and
early

went
.11

l'anhala.

Thethe-

Moghul
iort
fell

assault began

the

morning and
could
duty,

by noon

(March, 1679).
late.

The
of

relieving party

.sent by Shivaji came too excuse Phiraugoji for the

Shivaji
his

not

neglect

and

ordered
ihe

his execution.

Dilere Khan's forces were

howto-

ever harassed
fort.

by

the troops

sent by Shivaji to relieve Dilere

From

Bhupalgad

went

back

Dulkhed.
further Troubles
in

Bijapur :

Masaud Khan
and

of

Bija-

pur found

it

impossible to Testore order in the Kingof intrigues

dom.

There was no end

It

counter

intrigues.

was not
be

to the

interests of the

Moghuls
In
this-

that there should

peacehil government.

state of confusion Dilere

Khan launched
the

new campaign
at

against Bijapur.
forty

He

crossed

Bhima
the

Dulkhed,
August,.

miles north of Bijapur,

on

18th

1679.
to

Masaud Khan wrote to Shivaji entreating him come to his rescue. "We cannot defend the
he,
salt

kingdom" wrote
lie

"and
;

its

forts

without your aid.

us.

true to

your

turn towards

Command,

what you consider proper and

i:s."

Shivaji

it shall be done by could not refuse such an entreaty. He

ordered

10,C00

cavalry under

Hambir Rao Mohite

to

to proceed to Bijapur and

.of

sent there a large quantity himself, went

Fanhala..

provisions.

The King

149
'The Moghuls by
this time

had reached

the

neighborled

hood
end

of

Bijaput;
of

Shivaji
1

personally

another
tha

cavalry

10,0)0 an

earns to

Bijapur towards
to

of October.

He
in

directed

Hambir Rao

raid the

Moghul dominions
from Bijapur.
But

order to call Dilere

Khan away

the

Voghul
But on

General did not pay

the

-any heed to the raids.

pressed his
siege

more

vigorously,

hand he which however

other

proved a

failure.

Then he made
Masaud.

a fruitless attempt to

make peace
'let Bijapur

with

On

the 14th

November he
invade the

and marched

westwards

to

country about
via

Tikota

Miraj and Panhala. He proceeded dourisbmg village to Athni. Here Dilere

fell

Khan and Sambhujee

upon
the Hindus.

out.

The

Mahra,tta

Prince

objected to the violence committed by the

Shivaji had

Mahomedans
prepara-

made

sufficient

tions to meet

Dibre Khan's
territory

attack

at

Panhala.

His

raids in the

M >ghul

had not been so successful

as he expected,

Bijapur and he

lie was defeated by Dilere Khan near managed somehow to escape to Patra

with only 500 cavalry. At Panhala however he retrieved

Dilere Khan's army was pushed the previous disasters. back and the Mahrattas pressed towards Khandesh and plundered Dharagaon and Chopra to the north 6i

Aurangabad l4th 6th December). By this time Satubhujee had left the Moghul protection. Aurang/.eb did a
t\

approve

of

Dilere

Khans

design to create an intrigue

in favour of

Sambhujee.

He was

rather

apprehensive

lf>0

that

tlic

Mahratta

Prince

instead

<f

helping

the

Moghuls might Win over the Hindu

-So

officers

under him.
a

he ordered Dilere

prisoner to Delhi.

Khan to send Sambhujee as Dilere Khan however was not

MoghuJ camp and connived
1679).
his

so-

mean
his

as to

commit
(iud

this treachery'.

He warned Sambhujee
at
of

of his position
esca]>e

in the

December,

The
ui:der

return

Sambhujee was welcomed by

not given
I'anhala.
lull

father but he

was
at

freedom and

kept

restraint

Flushed

with success in Khandesh the

Maharatta

troops turaed south-east and attacked Jalna to the east

of

Auraugabad.

This rich city was only 50 miles from.

the Moghul capital of the Deccan.

-citizens

Most

of

the wealthy

of

Jalna had taken

refuge

in the

hermitage

oi a saint called Sayed Jan

Muhammad.

The Mahrattas
the
sanctity
of

violated contrary to their tradition hermitage and plundered the men the
shelter
saint.
is said

there, inspite of

the

protests

who had taken made by thedays and

it

The plunder

continued

for three

the saint curbed believed by the people that the curse proved effective in bringing about the death of vShivaji within a short,

Shivaji for this sacrilege.

It is

time.

Prince Mua/./irn
10,000
xetreat*

who was

then at Aurangabad sent.

men under Ranmast Khan to cutoff Shivaji's Shivaji was overtaken near Sangamner bat

1M
by
a

counter-attack Raniuast

Khan was

slain

and the

Moghuls were routed.

sent against Shivaji.

Auother army

The

retreat of the

wa* Marhrattas was

of
JO, 000

about

to

be cut

off

when with
After

the help of his spy Bahirji

Shivaji escaped by a passage through

to the spy

the hills

known
last

alone.
Patta.

a difficult

march

the Mahratta

army reached
wounded and

December 1679.
Shivaji.

This was the

important battle fought by

Hambir
heavy

Rao was
loss.

the Mahrattas suffered a

Bijapur had been saved from the Moghul attack by

the efforts of
the Mahrattas.
'Hie

people of

Bijapur

celebrated Dilere Khan's defeat by a series

of festivities.

They

invited Shivaji to grace the occasion by his presence.

the
invitation

The King accepted

conquered by him
should he ceded

but

as a

condi-

tion of his acceptance

in

he demanded that the territory

the Carnatic

and

in

the

Doal*

to hi su

and

that

his

brother
instead
of

Venkoji
that
of

should be recogm-rid a* his vassal

Jiijapur.

Out

of grattitlde to his
co*.m >lie
I

services
all

to

Bijapur
of

M:isa<id

Khan

with

the

demands

Shivaji.

When
of

the

king visited Bijapur Sikunder Adil

the concessions
t
>

Shah granted
At
this

a sawui specifying

made-

grant

sovereign authority

Shivaji in Taujore

Venkoji was greatly depressed. Shivaji wrote a letter lohis brother to shak- t>5 this depression and to prove
hi-nseif a

worthy

Ron

of

Shivaji

by

making

further

conquest.

153
.vival

Engagement: On

his

return

to

Raigftd

Shivaji

made

his last effort to reduce the Sidis of Janjira.

In

the middle of 1679 the Mahrattus took

possession of

Kbanderi or Kennery

island, about 16 miles

south
a

nl

Bombay.

The English claimed

place

the

island
15*

and

naval

engagement took

on October

between the

English and Shivaji's admiral, Daulat Khan.

rattas

The Mah-

were beaten by the English frigate t&omge which

heavier guns
then

contained

than
to

the

Mahratta

vessels.

Daulat

Khan

managed
in

withdraw

into Khanderi.

The
ly
it.

Sidis

were then

open alliance with the English,

and took

part in the blockade of Kbanderi,

i

occupied Under

or

They secretHennery and began to fortify

Mahratta
sailed

Two

engagements took place between the Sidis and

the
ileet

Daulat Khan, and

was
to

so

much

damaged
Tefit.

that the

ships
at

away
did

Rajapur to
look with
into

The English
Shivaji.

Bombay
of

not

favour at

the' activities

the

vSidi,

and entered

treaty with
Sidi

They undertook to exclude the of Bambay; and to prevent him from making it as a na#l base against the Mahrattas. This was the last important ievent in the
from the harbour

career of Shivaji.

Death of Shivaji (April

5, 1683.)

Towards
declined.

the

end
>

oi

December
for

1679,
of

Shivaji's henlth
the

He had

&

premonition
the

great

event.

coming end and prepared himself The affairs in the Maharashtra

J5.i

cast a

gloom over

was

a profligate

His eldest son, Sambhujes his mind. young man and was lacking in the
nation.

character of the leader of a rising

wife Sayarabai

Hi* third

was carrying on an

intrigue in favour of

her infant son, Raja

Ram.

Among

the ministers

there

was no
West.

unity,

and jealousy

prevailed

between

Moro
of the

Pant, the

Peshwa, and Annaji Dutto, the viceroy

of

In the perplexed state

the
best

his

mind he

visited

Ramdas,
tried

Mahratta
to

saint,

at

Parali.

The

saint
to
his.

his

cheer him up, and appealed

spiritual

nature.
the 24th

On

with fever and dysentery.

March. 1680, the Rajah was attacked He suffered for 12 day-;, and
in the

on Sunday, the 5th April, he passed away

It

noon-

was

the full

moon

of the

month

of

Chaitra.

He was

scarcely

53

when he
System

died.

Shivaji's

of

Government. The regeneration &(

country from alien rule but by
of

the

Mahratta race

was brought about by Shivaji hot

government.
after the

only by

liberating the

establishing a
in this

sound system

His work

connection

may
in

be compared to the organisation

set

up by Xapolean

France

French Revo-

lution.

As Xapolean gave
of

a code of laws
to the

and

gave

system
restore

good government
in

country so did Shivaji

order

Maharashtra against so many adverse

circumstances.

The

late

Mr.

Ranade

in

his

admirahW-

book on the Ri

..//..

\farathfl

Power has given

%fyp

m
Shivaji. The Kingdom was an illiterate ntan. In this respect he was like Akhar and Ran jit Singh. And like Akhar his system of government

analysis

of

the

system

introduced by

founder

of the

Mabratta

saved the country from many serious dangers

Ranjit Singh's
*>liivaji's

in future.

Kingdom

did not long

for

outlive

him but
n
ot

kingdom endured
is

about a century and

of the of

half.

This

no mean evidence

statesmanship
the

the

founder.
-of
to

From

the

position

leader
of

of

bfad
rose

Mavalis in

the neighbourhood

I'oona

he
his

be the leader of the Mahratla nation,

and

alliance

was sought by

the kings of
of

Golcouda and Bijaoccasions.

-mr. and even by the

life

Kmperor
felt

Delhi on

power was

directly

by the people from Surat

and the European merchants in the Indian The people under his p#rts stood in awe of him. government were happy and comfortable. Hi* civil*
to Tunjore,

government was perfect and his military organisation was perfect, and Shivaji did not derive the inspiration
good government from any foreign advjser or from any other country. The whole structure, was entirely
of <iue to his native genius.

Here

lies

the

greatness of

the

man.

the

system was laid during the years 1668 and 1669

wheta he had

made peace with

the Moghuls.
laid

arrangements followed the principles

JCondev.

The revenue down by Dadaji

of the

The Government

received two-fifths

loo
actual crops.'
the

In

the

neighbouring states the share

cent.

of

Government was more than 50 per

CollecIcing..
.

tions

were made by "The agents appointed by the

into

The whole country was divided number of villages were grouped

numl>er of taluks formed a
tained a

1^ Praute.

A.

into a Taluk,

and a

Sul>a/i.

Each Prant conofficials

number

of

Snbahs.

The lower

were-

superintended by the

men with
of

higher authority.

He

discontinued the practice of

farming out lauds, acd'

for services rendered-

introduced the system

payment

The

old

village

and

district officials

such as

Patels or

Kulkurnis,

under

strict

Deshmukhs and Deshpandes were brought supervision. The pay of the district officer
month.
three

or Subedar wasabout Rs. ICO a

The

collector

of revenue in a group

of

two or

villages

was
the

known
the
title

as

Karkun

or Kamavisdar. as

Tfce officer of

Taluk was
of

known
the

the Talnkdar or Tarafdar,

officer

and

district

was

Afamltfdar,-

Stibedar or

Mahalkari.
the

The lauds were

of the

carefully

mea-

sured
entered

and

names
made.

holders

were carefully
advances
performed the
Civil justice

in the

books. In times

of distress taga?

were
duties

liberally
of

The Subedars

collectors

and magistrates.

was

administered
India.

by the Panchaye.t, an ancient institution of

Shastras.

The criminal law was mainly derived from the The work of the civil officers was supervised

by two highest officials in the headquarters vr: '., Pant A matya and Pant Sac/tfv, The former held an office

.v.

vu responding

io the present

Finance Minister,
>l

and the

latter to that of the

Comptroller
of

A -co; nits.

Shivaji had

Council

Ministers
the

known

as

the

Asfita Pradhan. The Prshtca was He was the head of both civil and
tion,

Prime Minister.

military administraof the

in

and exetcised powers next

to those

king.

The Scnapati
the
.

or Coir.mander-in-chief

was

charge of

militarj-

administration.

Pant

Atnatya and Paul

Sachiv were also members of the Cabinet.

king's Private

The

Ufantri

-was the
wr.s
the

Secretary,

Foreign

Secretary.

and the Smnanta The two other members

the
of

of the Council

were the Xyadhish or

Chief Justice,

and

the Pandit

Rao

the

expounder
like

the

Hindu Law

and Shastras, something

division
of the
offices

the

Law Member.
a
of the

The

was made on

scientific basis

and

the present

Executive Council

Government

-of India

follows in

many

respects the Council of Shivaji.

None

of the offices

were hereditary.
to merit.

The appointments

were made according

He
ments.
in

paid great

attention to

the

religious establish-

charge

Temples were adequately endowed. Brahaians of endowments had to render accounts of

their charge.

He

continued the endowments made for

the maintenance of temples

saints.

and mosques or

in
for

honour

of

Grants were made to the Brahmans

imparting

education in the form of Dakhsiua.

lo7

His military organisation bears ample marks

order and
discipline.

of

The army was divided

In
the

into-

cavalry
wer,

and
had

infantrv.
of

cavalry

there

two
latter

kinds
to

men,

Bargirs

and
horse,

SiUidars.

The

provide their
supplied

own

where-

as the former were

horse

by the State.

The
fat-

Bargirs formed the Pagah or household troops. Shivaji

relied

more npon
Sillidsrs.

the

Pctg\i

troops

than upon

irregular
unit,

Every 25

horsemen
125

formed a

over which

ther^r

was
5

a IlaviiJar,

formed a

Jnmala, under a Jumaladar, 10 Jumafas constituted the charge

of a

Jfasari,

and

Hazari charges formed a

Panab Flazari.

In the infantrv 10

men

constituted a unit
5

under

a
'

Naik.

There was

Havildar over

Naiks, a

Jtnnilait rr over 2 Havildar.-,, a

HazaH

over 10 Jumalas,.

and

Sarnobat over

Hazaris.
there

Under

each

of the

higher

Maratha

officers

were one Brahman and

clerk,

one Prahbu accouutanr and

or

known

as

Sabnis

officers

Mazumdar, and Karkhannis or Jamiuis. These Besides these the were government agents.
cfthe

officers

rank

of

Jumaladars and upwards had

All
the
officers

th-dr

own

clerical establishment

and

men

received fixed pav.

All plunder
officers
in

was
tp

the

property

of the
of the

government.

The

had

give an account

plunders made,

ami

order

that

they

may

nol
in

misappropriate the

spoils

of

war they were paid

mainly
in

advance.
country.

The horse
While
in

subsisted

the

enemies
foddei

the forts

during

the

rains

was supplied
Ik- displayed

bj

the villagers

who were given nut

had about 2nu
in

free

lands for the purpose.

Shivaji

fort^.

his foresight

and generalship

looking

after these forts.

a

The kingdom was bound together bj

and
in

chain

of hillfots,

days
fort

of

adversity these

hillfots,.

Each saved the country Subedar and assisted by a

Karkhannis.
to

was under a HavHdarm The Subeda*

perform the reve-

was generally
nue and Prabhu

Brahman, and had

civil duties.

1'he Karkhannis was invariably a

and was

in

charge

of grain,
strict

toddc, stores and

hilt

of the repairs.

There was

conservancy on the

and the forests below the forts were entrusted te> the Ramos his. The forts were built in such a style a* would make them almost impregnable. "There is scarely an instance of one of these'' writes the Rev. A.K. Nairne
sides,
in

the

"History

of the

Konkan" "standing on
all built

level or

open ground.
of

They are
If

on some natural post

cliff

advantage.

on the coast, on a

or
;

a spit o
if

land

more than

half

surrounded by the sea

hill

on the
a
river

low country,
or a pass;
if

on some steep

commanding

on the Ghats, on some projecting spur

or

rock, or above a great natural scarp.

The

construction^

of all

on the same principle, the whole top of the hiTJ a wait or the end of the promontory is surrounded by is any slope If there relieved by numerous bastions
is

or place likely to invite approach

jected

an outwork
fort

is

pro-

and connected with

the

main

by a passage

&t

b-twetn
strongest

double wall.
to

There

is

seldom more than

gene. ally
the

one entrance
-.gateway
<ju
is

the

fort,

and

this is

part

and

the

most noticeable.

The outer

thrown forward and protected by a bastion each side and often by a tower above; entering this a narrow passage winding between two high walls leads to
is in

the inner gate, which

the face of the

main wall, and

the

defended by bastions which

command

approach.
not

This arrangement

in a

time

when guns could

the

com-

pete with stone walls rendered the approach to the gates

very

Hazardous.

Inside

main wall

there

was

generally an inner fortress or citadel, and surrounding

this

were the various buildings required

ol

modation

the troops,

accomand also magazines, tanks and

for the

wells. In main- of the greater forts living houses for the

.commandant

or massive

round towers were

built

upon
side.

the wall of the main

work on

the least accessible

a

The

larger forts

had

generally

town
on

or

pdiui
.fort

clustered about the base of the

stood.

bill

which the

Finally

may

be mentioned, as one of the invari-

able features of Shivaji's forts, a small Shrine with aiv

image
the

of

Hanumau
gate."
site

the

monkey

god, standing just inside

main

The

plan, of course,
of

was modified

according to

and requirements

each place.

The troops were mainly

-nd in the

recruited in the
soldiers

Ghat Mahta
the

Konkan.

The

from

former

region were knoflrn as the Mavalis, and from the latrei

ItiU

tin-

Hetkaris.

appeals were
numbeift.

During the Ihtsserah every year when made for enlistment the men flocked in large His army consisted also of the soldiers of
left

Bijapux
noii

who

the service of their

former

master for

The admiralty was mainly by Mahomedan officers. So the army was not managed entirely a Hindu army.
of their dues.

-payment

The

Chiiiith

and Sarilcslimulihi

Shivafi
is,

made

a clear

distinction

between Swarajya, that

territory directly

governed
r*ther

b\-

him, and Moglai or country governed by

kings outside his Swarajya.

The

civil institutions

mentioned above were intended

the foreign territory he

for the

Swarajya.

In

demanded Chant h and Sardesh-

muhkiy a special kind

only. Sardeskmukhi

of levy

known

in

Mahratta country

joyed by the

was a hereditay / 'alan or grant enMaraiha Deshmukhs under the Adil Shahi

and the Nizam Shahi kings. They were responsible for the tranquillity and peace of the country, and the collection They used to> of the revenue entrusted to their charge.
receive about 10 per cent of their revenues, 5 per cent in

cash or grain, and

Shivaji

per cent in grants

of arable

land.

asked

for

1650 in Junnar and

Vatan from Shah Jehan in this Ahmadnagar. He repeated the

same demand

before

Aurangzeb

in 1657,

when he was

Viceroy of the Deccau, and later on when he became In the treaty of Purandhar in 1666 the Emperor,
1

asides the Sardcshmukhi he asked for an

of

additional
districts,.

grant

25

per cent of the revenue of

some

161

known

as

Chant h.

The
lieu

Emperor
of

did

not commit

himself to these grants,

but in 1667 a

jaghir
In

was
1663

granted in Berar
the

in

these grants.

Government
in

of

Bijapur agreed to pay three lakhs

of a

of rupees
of the

yearly tribute instead

so
also the

fixed portion
of

revenue and
five

king

Golconda
levied

agreed to pay

lakhs

annually
in

Shivaji
a

Chauth and

Sardeshmukhi

Khandesh,

Moghul

province in 1671 and the Portugese were forced to pay

tribute in 1674.

The

districts in the

Carnatic were also

alt

made

to pa\r the levies to protect

in

1676.

In

cases

Shivaji

undertook
foreign

the

aggression.

kingdom and the people from The system was practically a

well-known

S3'stem of tributary alliance anticipating the

system

of the

Marquis

Of Wellesley.

An Estimate

of Shivaji's

Greatness

: Shivaji

is

looked
deity,

upon by
whereas
depicts
his
life

his

countrymen
as
a

as an incarnation of the
historian,

the

Mahomedan

Khan
close

Khan.
of

him

"free-booter."

study

impresses upon

every one the idea

that he

was

really a

arrogance which
liberator of the

"superman" without superciliousness and that term signifies. He was the

Mahratta race.
a

He

grandly concieved

the idea

of establishing

did he carry out his plan.

generally

found

in

Hindu kingdom and nobly He was free from the vices men of his position. Not to
and not
to

molest

women and
strict

saints

plunder temples
to

were the

injunctions

issued

his

soldier!

1C2

Even

at

the
of

present

day

in

Kurope some nations are

lie

accused
r.ny

these barbarities.

never

stooped to

means which can

is

be said
to

Whatever cruelty
to perpetrate in

ascribed

mean and inhuman. him, he was forced

in order to secure

pure self-defence, and

The capture of Purandhar, the murders of Afzul Khan and Chandra Rao More of as without any Jaoli are held by some historians But the capture was made with the justification.
the safety of his nation.

consent

of

tha garrison.

The murders were

raids

committed
in

in bare self-defence.

The

and plunders

the

surrounding country were undertaken to replenish his treasury, which was exhausted in his war for the inde-

pendence

of

Maharastra.

The

greatest achievement of Shivaji

was

the bring-

ing together of the scattered forces of Maharashta.

The
some

Mahrattas had no confidence

preferment under one

in

themselves and were

actuated by jealousy towards one another.

of

To

get

the

Mahomedan governments
They were even ready
In such
to

was

their highest ambition.

betray their
to carve

own countrymen.
and

circumstances

out a principality for himself,

liberty

and

to

make

the standard of unity

respected
spirit

was not an
American

insignificant achievement.

The

of the

chamiopns of independence or the burning nationalism Mahrattas. With of the French did not animate the a number of half -clothed Mavalis the son of a Mahratta

163
chieftain roused the

drooping

spirit of his

people by his
states
of

successive triumphs.

The

weakness

of the

Bijapur aud Golconda and the lack

of

insight of the
to his

Moghul Emperor no doubt contributed considerably

success.

But
of

the the

very

fact

that

no other race

did

avail itself

opportunity proves conclusively the

of the

extraordinary services

Mahratta leader.

He was
faithful

lucky in having a

number
his

of able

and
a

followers.

No

one ever dared betray him.

left

His
time,

general,

Netoji

Palkar,

service for

and Partap Rao

Guzar

was
all

led

away by
failed
to

the

spirit of

insubordination, but they

repented afterwards.
fulfil

Shivaji
his

never broke his alliances or

agreements.

Even Khafi
in

Khan admits
of in

that

he
his

strove to maintain the honour

territories: he

the people in

presevered
in

rebellion,

plundering
entirely
parti-

caravans,

and

troubling

mankind,
acts
of the

but

abstained from
cularly
fell

other disgraceful
as
to

and was

careful

the

honour

women who
any
dis-

into this
to

hands,

and would not

allow

honour
History

be done to mosques or to the Koran.

"It

is

necessary to
of the

remember" writes author of the the Konkan, "the cruelties and hardships
in

which the
civilization

Portugese

the

name
the

of

religion
of

and
the

had Konkan, and the

their

inflicted

on

inhabitants

atrocities

of the

Musalmans during
particular the death

wars with Shivaji, and

in

which Aurangzeb himself

inflicted

on

Shivaji's son

m
and successor.
respects

In

view

of

these

things

we

certainly
in

cannot say that Shiva ji

barbarian as he was

many

and

without pretence to culture of any sort,

of

was

the

inferior

those

of

his contemporaries either

Christian or
in contact

Musalman with whom

this coast.

he was brought
it

on

And

altogether

is

possible
of in

to

believe

that

notwithstanding
the

"the

clamour

continual war "

the time enjoyed
of its history."

greater

part of the
at

Konkan

more prosperity than

most periods

His administrative system and revenue arrange-

ments were a marvel for the age, writes Prof. Sarkar, and greatly contributed to the prosperity and happines
of

his .subjects.

As
in

patriot, as a general

and as
his
in

statesman Shivaji
temporaries,

stands very high

the history

among

conthe

and

of India,

and
him.

history of the world,

there

are really not

many, who
"But

can be

placed in the same position with

great orgainser and military genius that Shivaji

writes Mr. Kincaid, "it
is

was

in farseeing statesmanship that

he stands supreme. In
of

all

history there

is

no such example

modesty

in the face of

continued

success.

The

in-

solent,
of so

overweening vanity which has proved the ruin

both in ancient and modern
Shivaji's admirably

many commanders,
no place
in

times, found

balanced
Bijapur

mind.

He won

victory after victory against

and the Moghuls,

yet

his

head was never turned.

He

realized always

that he

had yet

to

meet the

full

165

power
do

of

the

Moghul empire.

His

one

aim was

to

secure the freedom of his countrymen.

so,

That
of

he might

he sought to win the friendship

that

Aurangzeb
to

when

proved impossible, he resolved

against the

secure a

place of shelter
clearly foresaw.
his genius bore

coming
there

peril,

which he
time

At
fruit."

last

came

when

He was
feet

not only a great general and statesman, he

the
his
for

was endowed with deep spiritual fervour. He sat at of Tukaram and Ramdas, and in the midst of
engrossing duties he used
to

snatch himself

away

devotional exercises.

In every fort he constructed there

In
his
trials

was
he

a temple

for

worship.

and
the

tribula-

tions he

used
after

to consult

Bhawani, and whatever he did

the

did

receiving
life

blessings
the

of

deity.

This aspect

of his

appealed to

religious senti-

ment

of

his

people.

He was

extremely frugal and

economic.

His character was greatly moulded by his earnest faith and intense piety.

^ M' O

.CSra-^-

*-0
<1

Jfii^SiffitSeM.nEGJQNAL LIBRARY FACILITY

A A 000 '634 331

Uni
i