Keywords

1 . The Final Campaigns 1678-1680

In consequence of the adjustment made between Diler Khan and Masaood Khan of Bijapur, Moropant Pingle had to keep himself on the alert and secure every position from a surprise attack on the part of the combined forces of the Mogul and the Adil Shahi governments. There was besides no mitigation as regards the continued descents of the Abyssinians on the Konkan coast, an account of which may be deferred till the next chapter.

Aurangzeb was displeased with the peaceful settlement that had been just concerted between Diler Khan and Masaood Khan. The emperor reprimanded the subhedar and ordered him to force the Bijapur government to pay up the arrears of pay to their troops, to win over the leading members of the Adil Shahi nobility to the Mogul interest, to bring their affairs under his direction, and in short to bring that state under the protection of the Mogul power. Diler Khan set to work to carry out these instructions and succeeded well enough in detaching the Afghan nobility of the Bijapur state to the Mogul side. But there was a party in the state to whom the great Mogul was an abomination. They could not be brought over by any means. The Mogul agents made a formal demand for the person of the sultan’s sister, Padshaha Bibi, who, as it had been previously arranged by Khawas Khan,[1] was to be given in marriage to a son of the emperor. The present minister agreed to bring about the marriage alliance. But a large faction in the state was against it, and when the Mogul envoy came to demand the princess, there was a violent outcry and threats of resistance. The pro-Mogul party, on the contrary, urged strongly the fulfilment of the promise that had been made, and both parties were on the brink of civil war, when the princess herself appeared on the scene and offered to go to the Mogul camp[2]. This decision paralysed the opposition of the anti-Mogul faction. The princess was welcomed at the Mogul camp with all the honours befitting her rank and escorted with a suitable retinue to Agra.

But Diler Khan was not satisfied with this sacrifice. He had already begun a campaign of invasion, breathing vengeance against Masaood Khan for non-compliance with the terms of the treaty. At this critical juncture the latter had no other resource but to supplicate Shivaji’s aid. This decision was taken not without a considerable mental struggle. Shivaji’s attitude towards Bijapur could not be that of sincere friendship. Whether he would respond to the appeal favourably or otherwise, there was no means to conjecture. But he was himself on no friendly terms with the Moguls, and an appeal might be made to the family connection of Shivaji with the Bijapur state, under whose auspices he had risen to greatness. Struggling amidst these doubts and hopes, he finally applied to Shivaji for immediate help with the message: “The Mogul hosts are almost at the gates of Bijapur! This sultanate is yours. Come to instant relief!”

On receipt of this urgent request, Shivaji turned to march towards Bijapur, when, to his consternation, news was brought that his son, Prince Sambhaji, had escaped and taken refuge with Diler Khan.[3] Upon this Shivaji ordered Hambirrao to proceed to Bijapur with the army and himself came away to Panhala, lost in a hundred doubts how to recover Sambhaji from the hands of the enemy.

It is necessary at this stage to unravel the story of Sambhaji’s infatuation. Every provision had been made for the education of the young prince. The best pandits had been engaged to act as his tutors, and they had spared no pains to cultivate his mind and heart. But these labours had been spent in vain. He was, and he always continued to be, a wanton, forward, violent-tempered youth. The efforts of his father to inculcate in him the qualities of a good statesman, administrator and ruler were all wasted. In order to get him proclaimed as the heir-apparent to the throne, the prince had been made to undergo the ceremony of the investiture of the sacred thread. But his insolent and licentious ways became steadily more aggravating. There was once a festive celebration[4] at the palace, in honour of the goddess Gauri, when the ladies of the royal harem were entertaining all the matrons of the town. At such functions only ladies assemble and the hostesses honour their guests with the distinguishing marks of red and yellow powders or pastes, which are considered auspicious and conducive to a long life of matrimonial bliss. Among the ladies invited on this occasion was a young Brahman female of exceptional beauty. Sambhaji saw her, was smitten with her beauty, and, managing to have her taken to his room, violated her chastity. Shivaji was extremely wroth at the news of this atrocity. He said the prince was the heir to the throne and yet was guilty of such a heinous sin, - the violation of a Brahman lady, a female of the sanctified class, - the basest crime possible. To the king all subjects must be like sons and daughters. The prince must receive condign punishment in proportion to the grossness of his crime. His being a son of the blood royal could not procure him a pardon. If he persisted in such a violent course, he must perforce disown such a son.[5] And saying so, Shivaji ordered the prince to be incarcerated in the fort of Panhala; and though released from strict imprisonment after a lapse of time; he was still detained at the fort in a sort of informal custody. This was most galling to a man of wild and violent nature like Sambhaji. Assured that his father was engaged with the Moguls at a distance, he planned an escape to the Mogul camp, having sent previous intimation to Diler Khan of his meditated flight. Diler Khan was naturally pleased to see this rebellion in Shivaji’s own house and gave orders to Ikhlas Khan to start with a force of three to four thousand horses to welcome and escort Sambhaji to the Mogul camp (November, 1678).

Shivaji at once despatched search parties in various directions in pursuit of Sambhaji; but the prince had by this time already joined Ikhlas Khan’s party about four miles from Supa and thrown in his fortunes with the Moguls. The Marathas who came in pursuit of him saw the enemy’s force was too strong to be attacked. They, therefore, returned in despair to Shivaji.

Diler Khan communicated to the emperor how Sambhaji had come over from Shivaji and how he had accorded to him a cordial welcome. The commander congratulated the emperor upon what he considered a piece of rare good fortune, that there was at last some chance of a division in Shivaji’s camp, for some nobles of the Maratha kingdom were now sure, said Diler Khan, to come over and join Sambhaji. The cleavage thus commenced would cripple the Maratha power and the confusion of the foe would redound to the interest and glory of the empire. For by putting Sambhaji at the head of a Mogul detachment and sending him against his father, forts and provinces under the Maratha sway would fall in no time. But the emperor did not approve of this suggestion suspecting, as he did, that Sambhaji might be playing a part in collusion with his crafty father, as a prelude to some stroke of policy. It might be that Sambhaji was come to sow sedition in the Mogul camp or tempt the Mogul armies into some deep-laid trap and lure them to their own destruction. But Diler Khan had already put his suggestions into practice before the arrival of Aurangzeb’s protest, and Sambhaji had advanced, supported by a Mogul corps, against the fort of Bhupalgad. This was the easternmost outpost of Shivaji’s defence system, almost projecting into the Mogul dominions, and as such was well fortified against a surprise attack on the part of the enemy and always equipped with an abundant supply of war material. The garrison prepared for an obstinate resistance. In normal circumstances they would not have minded the utmost rigours of a Mogul siege. But the presence of Prince Sambhaji, the heir-apparent to their state, not only among the enemy, but at the head of the assailing column, filled the garrison with dismay. Was it proper to open fire upon a prince of the blood royal? If not, how were they to defend the castle? But there was no time to think. Sambhaji called aloud from without and threatened the havaldar of the fort with death, unless he instantly threw open the gates. The garrison soldiers were perplexed at this conflict of duties, and in their consternation took fright and fled in all directions. The governor of the fort was Firangoji Narsala, the same who in the campaign with Shaista Khan had won his laurels by his brilliant defence of Chakan fort.[6] But on this occasion fortune seemed to frown upon the prospect of a successful resistance. It was impossible to rally his soldiers for the purpose of a protracted defence. Many of them fled, and nothing could restore his authority over their wavering minds. To open a cannonade was out of the question, as Prince Sambhaji was the most exposed of all. Did his authority over the castle entitle him to do an act which involved the sacrifice of the life of the crown prince of his kingdom? This was the dilemma, and there was no getting out of it, except by a precipitate retreat. In the dead of the night the governor fled away, and the fort fell easily into the hands of the assailants. (April, 1679). The Moguls put under arrest the remnant of the garrison still found at their posts. The Mogul commander sentenced the inoffensive captives to horrible punishments, mutilation of hands and feet. Many were sold into slavery. Sambhaji naturally protested against this wanton cruelty, for which apparently there was no reason, except the belief that the fate of these helpless defenders would strike terror into the hearts of the defence garrisons of other forts. On Shivaji’s being apprised of this event, strict orders were issued to the governors of other forts that Sambhaji had revolted and fled to the Moguls and should he advance against any fort, he should be treated, without the least fear or respect for his position, as a traitor and an enemy. No surrender should be made on any account.

Shivaji sent one of his confidential agents to persuade and win back the errant prince. The agent protested against the conduct of Sambhaji and dilated on the suicidal character of his secession. What could have provoked Sambhaji to this step by which he now helped the Moguls to reinstate themselves in their lost possessions? Whose was the loss? As for Shivaji, he had no motive now left to think of temporal things for himself. He might as well now retire to some solitude or the banks of some holy river and spend the remainder of his life in devout meditation at the feet of some godly saint like Ramdas. If Shivaji continued to care for affairs of temporal interest at his advanced age, surely it was not out of personal interest, but solely for the sake of his son and heir. What folly it was then that son and heir should draw his sword against such a father. Such was the manner in which the interceder pleaded with this headstrong Absalom. But persuasion had no effect upon his heated mind.

Shivaji however did his best to come to the rescue of Masaood Khan. The cavalry was ordered to muster at Panhala, whence a force of seven thousand pushed on to Bijapur. The orders given to these troops were that they should immediately occupy and take charge of the fort of Bijapur and maintain a close watch, while with the rest of the cavalry Shivaji surprised the Mogul on his rear. When pursuant to these orders Shivaji’s cavalry came to Bijapur,[7] they were asked by Masaood Khan to make their camp on the banks of the Atang. The Maratha commanders refused, and, coming up to the town, pitched their camp at Khanapur and Khusraupur, sending word to the Khan to put one fortress gate and tower into their charge, and they would defend it with their lives. But Masaood Khan would not comply with this demand and refused admission to the Maratha army, with the exception of the great commanders. The Maratha force then went down to Joharpur (Zuhrapura) and encamped in an open plain opposite the city-walls. After they had lain a few days outside the walls, some of them managed to enter the city under pretence of buying supplies and provisions for the army. Loading their baggage oxen with sacks, which securely concealed their swords and muskets, one cavalry man after another entered the city leading his ox and joined to form parties in out-of-the-way parts of the town. It did not take long to discover the stratagem. However Shivaji’s commander represented to Masaood Khan that, on the invitation of the Bijapur government, they had come out of their way and only found themselves exposed to the enemy. It was a great hardship for them, since in case of an attack they would find no cover within the walls of the city. But Masaood Khan would not listen to this argument. He had no faith in their professions; he believed it to be a trick, as it probably was, to gain possession of the Bijapur capital. What the Maratha army could not gain by conciliation, they attempted to carry by a show of arms, making concerted attacks upon the city, pillaging the suburban towns of Daulatpur (Daulatpura) and Khusraupur (Khusraupura), and putting the wealthy merchants of the exposed parts under arrest. A similar assault was made upon Joharpur and the repelling force put to rout. The Maratha army lost some officers in the action. The Bijapur garrison replied with a violent cannonade from the city walls, which compelled the Marathas to give some ground, but they did not relinquish their attempts for some time to carry the town by assault. When they lost all hopes of capturing the fort by storm, they won over the commander of the garrison with a bribe of fifty thousand pagodas. Masaood Khan required the governor of the fort to give up the bribe, when the latter shielded himself behind the back of a great commander of the Bijapur court, Sarje Khan (Sarza Khan).

Scarcely had the Marathas thus forced their entrance into Bijapur, when the Mogul foe arrived on the scene. Shivaji had not been idle. He had kept his eye steadily on the movements of Diler Khan. The Mogul commander encamped outside the city and prepared to deliver an assault. This event put a decisive end to the hostilities between the Maratha and the Adil Shahi troops within the walls of Bijapur. Masaood Khan had to make fresh petitions to Shivaji for help, in most pathetic terms. Shivaji approached to within eight kos (i.e. about twenty miles) on the rear of the Mogul camp, with a view to surprise and carry it by storm. But he soon discovered that Diler Khan’s forces chiefly consisted of picked Pathan soldiers, numerous enough to make impossible the chances of a successful raid on the Mogul lines. He thought it more prudent to lead his forces to make a diversion in other parts of the Mogul territory. With this view he wheeled round and, swiftly crossing the Bhima, made a terrific onslaught upon the Mogul territory. But Diler Khan neither relaxed the siege nor sent men after him. Shivaji’s squadrons ravaged the Mogul territory from the Bhima to the Godavari Plundering all the country. Forcing his way into the town of Jalna in Khandesh, he plundered it uninterruptedly for three consecutive days. Prince Muazzim lay close by at Aurangabad, but Shivaji did not allow this circumstance to disturb him in the least. He had skill to detect the exact places where the people had hidden their treasures. On this occasion it is said that Shivaji’s troops did not spare even the cloisters of the fakirs, a departure from the usual practice, it being one of the principles of his military discipline not to do any violence to persons, no matter of what faith, who had devoted their lives to religion. There is no record, however, of any soldier or officer of Shivaji being sentenced to any of the usual penalties for any such breach of his rules of discipline, as is alleged to have occurred upon this occasion.[8]

When Shivaji, laden with all this booty, prepared to retire and conduct the spoils in safety to Raigad, Prince Muazzim sent a force of ten thousand horses under the lead of Ranmast Khan to harass his retreat. Ranmast Khan followed in close pursuit and came up with Shivaji at Sangamner, and a fierce encounter followed between the two forces. Santaji Ghorpade rather overacted his part and the result of his foolhardiness was a momentary confusion in his division and the loss of a distinguished commander, Sidhoji Nimbalkar. But Shivaji did not lose heart at the temporary set-back, rallied his men, and regardless of his personal safety, flung himself upon the enemy. The Maratha soldiers inspired by the example of their king, occupying the post of danger in the forefront of the field, recovered confidence. The Maratha columns hurled themselves upon the Moguls. At this onslaught, the enemy broke and ran.[9] Shivaji again claimed the victory and attempted by a forced march to convey his booty beyond the reach of any further attempts on the part of the enemy. But to reinforce the scattered bands of Ranmast Khan, the Prince despatched another force under Kishen Singh of Jaipur.[10] With this addition to their strength the Mogul fugitives rallied once more and again overtook Shivaji at the head of a defile. Shivaji was about to file through the gorge, when he was called upon to face this new danger. He knew his men were so exhausted with the fatigue of the march and the encounter they had just had with the enemy that they had scarcely any life left to face an enemy who came fresh and with unimpaired spirits. In this dilemma, a plucky scout from Shivaji’s reconnoitring corps, Bahirji Naik, presented himself before his master and undertook to lead both army and booty down the defile without coming in contact with the Moguls. And he was as good as his word. The whole night long the Maratha army marched through the defile, at a distance from the gorge where they had been stopped by the Moguls. The Moguls knew not when the Marathas had vanished. But when they noticed that the position taken up by Shivaji was unoccupied, they hastened forward to discover where the enemy had disappeared. But they could find no trace of the Maratha army, being unable to discover the narrow gorge by which Shivaji had escaped. They again returned to the head of the defile where they had expected to entrap Shivaji, and poured down the gorge into the vale below. But Shivaji had already[11] reached Patta, and in commemoration of the fact that the walls of that citadel gave him a much needed asylum from the hot pursuit of the Mogul foe, the Maratha monarch had its name now changed to Vishramgad or the Asylum Fort. The safe retreat that Shivaji found behind the hospitable walls of Patta, threw his Mogul pursuers into despair, and they returned disappointed to Aurangabad. Aware of the valuable services of Bahirji Naik on this occasion, but for whom the campaign was likely to have had a tragic conclusion, Shivaji conferred an adequate inam upon that gallant scout. During the days of rest spent at Patta, Shivaji conceived the plan of subduing the numerous forts that surrounded it, and thought that the present juncture of events, when Diler Khan was involved in a fierce struggle with Bijapur, was the fit moment to put this plan into execution. Moropant was charged with these operations, with a complement of infantry recalled from the Konkan and a body of horse to second his efforts. Moropant set about his work very briskly, carrying fort after fort, according to his master’s instructions (November and December 1679).

While Shivaji lay at Patta Masaood Khan sent an express courier with a request for urgent intervention against the Moguls. The purport of the missive was as follows: “By your loyal behaviour with our durbar at this time of tribulation you have indeed proved yourself a worthy son of Shahaji. You have repaid the price of the salt that Shahaji ate of our durbar. Forgetting your enmity with the durbar, you have hastened to our aid. You have made every effort to relieve us. That was a grand idea of yours, to deliver us by diverting the war to the enemy’s own country and surrounding him on all sides. Following this plan you have done him much harm and inflicted on him one or two stunning defeats. Likewise in our own capital your men have proved to be of considerable assistance to us. But Diler Khan is obstinately resolved not to leave the siege of Bijapur, whatever the cost of Mogul disasters in the south. He will not raise the siege by any means. He has advanced close to our walls. We cannot think of any other deliverer at this crisis except yourself. Wherefore we pray that, leaving all other thoughts aside, you hasten to the rescue of the Adil Shahi dynasty.”

Meanwhile Hambirrao Mohite and Moropant had led their arms to Bijapur and, though overtaken by Ranmast Khan with a squadron of eight to nine thousand horses, had already rendered a good account of themselves. Mohite sand Anandrao made for the Mogul camp and began a series of raids cutting off their food and fodder supplies and starving the besieging armies that surrounded Bijapur. Men, horses and elephants fell off for want of food. Diler Khan was at last forced to raise the siege for the present and fall back westwards to Aurangabad, making good his arrival at that place with difficulty. He left the neighbourhood of Bijapur in the middle of November 1679. The foiled chief wreaked a bloody revenge upon the hapless subjects of the Adil Shahi state. Men, women and children were carried off as slaves. The wives of both Hindu and Mahomedan subjects committed suicide by jumping into wells. Villages and towns were sacked. At one village alone 3,000 inhabitants were sold into slavery.[12] At Athni, a prosperous centre of trade, the town was burnt down and the Khan sold the inhabitants, who were all Hindus, as slaves (November, 1679). Even Prince Sambhaji who accompanied the imperialists protested against the meditated cruelty but his protests were vain. These acts of ruthless rapine, however, served to open Sambhaji’s eyes to the iniquity and unrighteousness of his own conduct.[13]

But the Marathas were close at Diler Khan’s rear. The disproportionately smaller forces of Hambirrao and Anandrao prevented them from provoking the enemy to a pitched battle. They had to content themselves with guerilla warfare, but they inflicted no little loss upon the retiring Moguls.

After plundering Athni and carrying off the doomed inhabitants to be sold as slave, Diler Khan crossed the Krishna and, invading the Karnatic, commenced a campaign of wholesale plunder.[14] Dividing his army into two parts he directed them into two different parts of the Karnatic, being himself the leader of one of them. Janardanpant[15], the governor of Shivaji’s possessions in that quarter, was apprised of the unimpeded march of Diler Khan’s plundering armies and mustered a force of six thousand strong to oppose him. As the result of this encounter not only was the further career of Diler Khan’s division completely arrested, but be was himself beaten back with considerable slaughter Janardanpant then turned upon the other division which likewise experienced the same misfortune as the first.

On the news of these defeats, the emperor gave vent to his indignation that Diler Khan, instead of guarding the interests of his governorship, should have plunged into a reckless war with Bijapur. He also ordered him to send Sambhaji under arrest to Agra, considering it dangerous to permit him to entertain him as a commander in the Mogul camp, lest he might instigate a spirit of discontent or disaffection among the Mogul soldiers and insidiously work mischief to the empire. These orders of the emperor were most displeasing to Diler Khan, who caused Sambhaji to be informed about his master’s intentions, whereupon the Maratha prince quietly stole away from the Mogul camp and came to rejoin his father in the vicinity of Panhala, where Shivaji had personally proceeded.[16]

After the first embraces of welcome, Shivaji reprimanded the errant youth in words that must have seared the very soul of Sambhaji. He pointed out to the repentant prodigal the great risk he had run in committing himself into the hands of Diler Khan, the inveterate foe of the Maratha state, at a time when the hostilities between the Marathas and the Moguls were rekindled. He owed it to the protecting hand of Heaven that he had escaped alive. For this at least, once in his life, Diler Khan had earned his fervent gratitude. It would never do for Sambhaji to forget that he was the heir to the fortunes of a noble house, the residuary claimant to all that Shivaji had won and earned. Recognising the responsibility of his position, how could he at all have thought it consistent with his honour and understanding to curry favour with Diler Khan, as a refugee and an exile? His destined succession to the throne required him to exercise a due sense of discipline and a paternal solicitude for the interest and welfare of the citizens of the state. He was expected to be the defender of the lives, the fortunes and the honour of his people. And if the guardian himself turned upon his wards and robbed them of all they held most dear and precious, what friend under heaven could they look up to? What tyranny more gross than the violation of female chastity? What more subversive of past merit and reputation? He must bethink himself of the fall of Ravan and other despotic rulers of epic fame! To cure him of this heinous offence he had sentenced him to a short term of imprisonment, - sentenced him with a heart bleeding and charged to overflowing with love. He had replied by an act of treacherous desertion. Now at length he must return to his senses and no more seek to gladden the hearts of the enemy by dividing his house against himself. If Sambhaji had a desire to wield the sceptre before his time, he might parcel out his dominions into two equal lots, giving to Rajaram the territory from the Tungabhadra to the Narbada, and that from the Tungabhadra to the Kaveri, to Sambhaji; and as to himself he might dedicate the last few days of his life to peaceful devotion by the banks of some holy river, or to meditation on the Most High at the feet of Ramdas Swami. Pending these arrangements Sambhaji had to be kept under restraint at Panhala. After celebrating Rajaram’s nuptials in the fort of Raigad,[17] the rest of the arrangements might be completed. So Sambhaji again found himself safely ensconced behind the walls of Panhala fort, with a district of three lakhs of rupees assigned for his maintenance and his affairs managed on his behalf by Vithal Trimbak Deshpande, under the name and style of khasnis or special steward.[18]

The defence of the fort was entrusted to three officers of proved loyalty: Somaji Naik Banki, Bawaji Naik Samsher Bahadur, and Biwaji Dhamdhere. The officers, both civil and military, were instructed to soothe Sarnbhaji’s hurt mind and by wise discourses to wean him gradually from his disaffection and discontent. But they were not in any case to permit the prince to leave the fort, the havaldar or resident commander of the fort being armed with special powers to overrule Sambhaji. The administration of the territory assigned as Sambhaji’s appanage was vested in Janardan Narayan Sumant, who also exercised a general surveillance on Sambhaji’s movements.

The repulse of Diler Khan by Shivaji’s forces and the deliverance of the Adil Shahi durbar from the tightening siege-lines of the Mogul armies evoked from the sultan’s government an appreciative acknowledgment of the priceless services of the Maratha power. While tendering their thanks the Adil Shahi court wrote to Shivaji: “It is due to your generosity and nobility of spirit, that we have been delivered from the deadly grip of our enemies, and to the timely succour and adequate reinforcements we have all along received from you. You have truly acquitted yourself in our hour of peril of the debt of filial obligation towards your father, the Raja Shahaji. That in the face of the interminable feuds that have hitherto raged between yourself and our government and in the face of the unmerited persecution to which we subjected Shahaji for your misdemeanour in the past, that in spite of all this you should have forgiven old scores, repaid unkindness with kindness and hastened to our rescue and deliverance, has carried your fame to the ends of the earth.” Such were the contents of the epistle presented to Shivaji by the envoy of the Adil Shahi state together with the customary nazar of rich raiments and jewellery, horses and elephants. Shivaji replied in terms of equal appreciation of the favour of Bijapur. “We have to thank you,” wrote Shivaji, “for that magnanimity which prompted your government to continue the jahgirs and honours of Shahaji, the moment you were freed from your suspicion that Shahaji had any complicity in that programme of active operations which has yielded to us such a large slice of the Adil Shahi territory. The same acknowledgments of gratitude are due to your government for the continuation of Venkoji in our father’s estates and honours. It is under your kind auspices and patronage that we have risen to greatness, and nothing has given so much satisfaction to us as the fact that the fortunes we have built up have proved to be of some service at least to you in your day of tribulation. That you have won the final triumph is due entirely to the auspicious fortunes of your sultan. We did what lay in our power to contribute to that triumph. Hereafter in the day of trouble do you call upon us for help, without entertaining any misgivings on the subject”. Shivaji sent an envoy to Bijapur, conveying this reply with the complimentary presents to the reigning sovereign of that state, as also an important document, the protocol of a new treaty with that state, based on the, following conditions : -

1st. That the forts of Kopal and Belvadi with the adjoining territory, in the Karnatic, be ceded to Shivaji.

2nd. That the Adil Shahi State renounce all claims and rights upon the conquests made by Shivaji in the Dravid country, i.e. the southern part of the peninsula.

3rd. That the Adil Shahi state renounces its sovereign rights over Tanjore and the other districts constituting Shahaji’s jahgir and that the said rights be exercised by Shivaji.

4th. That both parties agree to render mutual assistance in time of danger.

These conditions were accepted by Masaood Khan and a treaty was ratified upon these lines. Shortly afterwards Shivaji paid a visit to Masaood Khan at Bijapur for a secret discussion on the future policy of the two states.

But Venkoji took with an ill grace the news of the compact between the two powers by which the sovereignty over the Karnatic and the south was transferred to Shivaji. He thought he was now divested of all liberty of action. He was already vexed in spirit at the supposed loss of independence by that coup d’ elat on the part of Shivaji which had set Raghunathpant over his head and placed him over his affairs, which meant Shivaji’s influence and Shivaji’s policy permeating everything. And now on the heels of that had come this surrender of authority on the part of Bijapur, an event which blighted all the prospects of Venkoji’s being able sooner or later to redeem himself from his brother’s yoke with the help of the Adil Shahi forces. He gave himself to a settled melancholy. Affecting indifference to all routine business, he acted like a recluse. Raghunathpant communicated to Shivaji the change that had again come upon his royal brother. This communication elicited from Shivaji the following epistle to the chief of Tanjore:-

[19] “Many days have elapsed without my receiving any letter from you; and in consequence, I am not in comfort. Raghunathpant has now written that you, having placed melancholy and gloom before yourself, do not take care of your person, or in any way attend to yourself as formerly; nor do you keep any great days or religious festivals. Your troops are inactive, and you have no mind to employ yourself on state affairs. You have become a bairagi, and think of nothing but to sit in some place accounted holy, and let time wear away. In this manner much has been written to me, and such an account of you has given me great concern. I am surprised when I reflect that you have our father’s example before you - how did he encounter and surmount all difficulties, perform great actions, escape all dangers by his spirit and resolution, and acquire a renown which he maintained to the last? All he did is well known to you. You enjoyed his society, you had every opportunity of profiting by his wisdom and ability. Even I myself, as circumstances enabled me, have protected myself, and you also know, and have seen, how I have established a kingdom. Is it then for you in the very midst of opportunity, to renounce all worldly affairs and turn bairagi - to give up your affairs to persons who will devour your estate - to ruin your property and injure your bodily health? What kind of wisdom is this? What will it end in? I am to you as your head and protection; from me you have nothing to dread. Give up, therefore, all this and do not become a bairagi. Throw off despondency, spend your days properly; attend to fasts, feasts and customary usages, and attend to your personal comforts. Look to the employment of your people, the discipline of your army and turn your attention to affairs of moment. Make your men do their duty; apply their services properly in your quarter, and gain fame and renown. What a comfort and happiness it will be to me to hear the praise and fame of my younger brother. Raghunathpant is near you, he is no stranger to you, consult him on what is most advisable to be done, and he will consider you in the same light as myself. I have placed every confidence in him. Do you the same. Hold together for your mutual support and you will acquire celebrity and fame. Above all things, be not slothful; do not allow opportunity to slip past without receiving some returns from your army. This is the time for performing great actions. Old age is the season for turning bairagi. Arouse! bestir yourself. Let me see what you can do. Why should I write more? you are wise.”

This must have been probably the last letter addressed by Shivaji to Venkoji. For soon afterwards, Shivaji fell ill, - an illness from which he did not recover.

2 . Footnotes

1. Vide, Chapter. XXV, p. 417
2. Scott’s Deccan, II, 52.
3. The order of events followed here is on the whole based on Jedhe’s Chronology and the Basatin-i-Salatin, which confirm one another in a surprising manner. It differs slightly from the order of events as given by Chitinis and the Shivdigvijaya and as followed in our original Marathi edition. The principal difference is that in the usual bakhar accounts the flight of Sambhaji and the siege of Bhupalgad take place after the plunder of Jalna and battle with Ranmast Khan, while according to Jedhe these events took place in Septcember-October 1679, while the flight of Sambhaji took place in November 1678 and the fall of Bhupalgad in April 1679.
4. Called “Haldi Kunku” or the consecrated red-powder and yellow turmeric, distributed amongst married women, the application of which to the forehead, under the auspices of the goddess Gauri, is supposed to have the virtue of lengthening conjugal felicity.
5. Some bakhers state that on hearing these angry words, Sambhaji fled away with his life that very night.
6. Vide, Chapter XVI, page 223.
7. This happened about August 1679. Diler Khan’s siege of Bijapur became rigorous about September 1679. Vide, Jedhe P. 195.
8. Khafi Khan says that on this occasion Shivaji molested the Mahomedan saints and fakirs, and in consequence died soon afterwards. Khafi Khan states that Shivaji’s hosts entered Khandesh and plundered Dharangav, Chopra and Jalna, a prosperous commercial town in the Baleghat. (Khafi Khan, Elliot, VII, pp.304-5). Shivaji’s general orders as regards military discipline are described in Elliot VII, 305. The alleged excesses of the Maratha troops may be explained by (1) military tactics to raise the siege of Bijapur, (2) excitement caused by the desertion of Sambhaji, and (3) the savage treatment of the Maratha garrison of Bhupalgad.
9. According to some chronicles Hambirrao Mohite was wounded in this battle. The Jedhe Chronology dates these events about October or November 1679; but Prof. Sarkar dates the events in December 1679, soon after Sambhaji’s return from the Mogul camp.
10. He was a grandson of Jay Singh. Sabhasad gives his name as Keshar Singh. Chitragupta states that this Keshar Singh pitched his camp three Kos from Shivaji’s and sent him a private message that since he looked upon him as a brother, he desired him to clear away by forced marches before he could overtake him.
11. Sabhasad gives Pavangad as the name of the fort to which Shivaji retreated.
12. The Basatin-i-Salatin, 426-483; Factory Records, Surat 108, Bombay to Surat, 1 Jan. 1680, quoted by Prof. Sarkar. With such a record of Mogul cruelty and rapine, which likewise had characterised Shaista Khan’s progress in Maratha territory, it is absurd to make a pretence of virtue and speak of Shivaji’s cruelty and plunder.
13. Prof. Sarkar’s view is that, disgusted with these cruelties, Sambhaji fled away to Bijapur and thence came to join his father at Panhala, Sabhasad says, Diler Khan connived at his escape.
14. Grant Duff Vol. I, Ch. IX.
15. He was Sumant or foreign secretary and the brother of Raghunathpant Hanmante.
16. Sabhasad, 93; Shedgavkar, p. 91. Shivaji had at this time considerably strengthened Panhala and concentrated his forces there against a possible attack upon it by Sambhaji and Diler Khan. The forty pieces of artillery received from the French, as described in a previous chapter, were mounted among the batteries of Panhala fort. See foot-note (2), p, 478.
17. In the light of the concluding paragraphs in Appendix II.
18. He was a grandson of Murar Baji Deshpande, the hero of Purandar: see p. 257.
19. This epistle is given in extends by Grant Duff (Chap. IX) whose translation of the same is reproduced here, with only a few alterations in spelling. Grant Duff has almost literally translated the original letter, which is in the hand-writing of Balaji Avji Chitnis. Grant Duff characterises this letter as being “full of energy and sense.” The Marathi original was published by Rao Bahadur Parasnis in his “History of the Tanjore Dynasty”, in the “Itihas Sangraha” (page 42).

Footnote:

The fakir plundered at Jalna was Sayyid Jan Muhammad. In the belief that holy men were systematically spared by Shivaji’s troops, most of the wealthy citizens of Jalna had fled to his hermitage for shelter, with their money and jewels, - a misuse of the “right of sanctuary,” as understood in mediaeval Europe. No wonder, if under these circumstances the right was not respected. The very fact that the Khandesh people had such faith in the expeditionary principles and practice of the Maratha Army is itself no small compliment to its creator, though Khafi Khan and the Bundela Memoirs attribute Shivaji’s death to the Sayyid’s curses. If Hambirrao Mohite took part in the battle with Ranmast Khan after the sack of Jalna (see Shedgavkar bakhar p. 90, where he is wrongly reported as killed in the battle), he must have accompanied Shivaji throughout the Khandesh expedition, leaving Anandrao in charge of the operations against Diler Khan in the south. For this purpose Shivaji, divided his forces into two columns in November, 1679. For Anandrao and Hambirrao, see footnote at page 344 and Appendix II at the end.

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