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The life of Shivaji Maharaj, founder of the Maratha empire

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The Shri Shiva] i Literary Memorial Committee of some leading members of different Hindu Communities was formed in Bombay, last year, with the object ' of placing before the English reading public an authentic life-story of Shivaji Maharaja, the Founder of the Maratha Empire, with a view to remove unfounded prejudices and misunderstandings unfortunately perpetuated in the Maratha history written by irresponsible writers who chiefly gathered their informa- tion from Mahomedan sources. In order to accomplish this object the Committee resolved to buy and distribute gratis four thousand copies of the English biography written by Prof. N. S. Takakhav and Mr. K. A. Keluskar, to English libraries and other educational institutions of all lands. The committee was with great difficulty able to collect about Rs. 4,000, while it required Rs. 28,000. The Committee, therefore, applied for help to His Highness Maharaja-adhiraj Raj Rajeshwar Sawai Shree Tukoji Rao Holkar Bahadur Maharaja of Indore, who is well known for his liberality in helping forward and encouraging every good literary effort, and who rightly and naturally cherishes very high reverence and patriotic feeling for our greatest national hero. His Highness was gracious enough to approve of the object of the Committee and readily made a munificent grant which has enabled the Committee to carry out the project of distributing gratis 4,000 copies in the manner mentioned above. Hence the Committee is now able to make a present of this work to your library, and requests the favour of your accepting it and acknowledging receipt of the same to the undersigned.

15th September 1925.

Rao Saheb Manaji Rajuji, J. P. Rao Saheb H. Y. Rajwadkar, J. P. G. Y. Shinde

Address- A. N. Surve, B. A., LL.B, Advocate, J. P.,

C/o K. A. Keluskar, Fellow of the Bombay University,

Dadar, Bombay, M. L. C.

India. Rao Saheb R. Y. Wandekar, J, P,

. Chairman. ^ Joint. /Treasurers.

I

Joint

Secretaries

SHRI CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ, FOUNDER OF THE MARA.THA EMPIRE

PRESENTED BY

5 n'VAJI LITERARY MEMORIAL

COMMITTEE,

BOMBAY, INDIA.

THE LIFE OF

SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

FOUNDER OF THE MAR ATM A EMPIRE

BY •

N. S. TAKAKHAV, M. A.,

PROFESSOR, WILSON COLLEGE, BOMBAY

ADAPTED FROM THE ORIGINAL MARATHI WORK WRITTEN BY

K. A. KELUSKAR,

TEACHER, WILSON HIGH SCHOOL, BOMBAY

BOMBAY, MANORANJAN PRESS, 1921

10 s. Rs, 7

Printed by D. R. MItra at the Manoranjan Press, 3, Sandhurst Road,' Bombay 4, and published by K. A. Keluskar, Dadar, Bombay*

516119

UB SETS

SHRI CHHATRAPATI SHAHU MAHARAJ,

G. C.S. I., G. C.LE., G C«V. O., LL D., etc., KOLHAPUR STATE

TO

H. H. SHRI CHHATRAPATI

SHAHU MAHARAJ

KOLHAPUR STATE

THIS BIOGRAPHY OF HIS MOST ILLUSTRIOUS

ANCESTOR IS MOST RESPECTFULLY

AND GRATEFULLY DEDICATED

BY THE PUBLISHER

PREFACE

AT a time when the whole of the Indian Continent is -entering upon a new phase of political life and bold schemes of social and political re-construction are being daily pressed for acceptance, no apology would seem to be neces- sary for the publication of a new life of Shivaji. For among the glittering multitude of mighty kings whose names adorn the pages of Indian History, the name of Shivaji stands forth in bold relief as the author of a momentous national revival that changed the destinies of India. And this is a fact allowed by all historians, even though the editors of the Rulers of India Series have chosen to ignore him and denied him a place in their Series, while including many other "Rulers" who were more or less mediocrities, when compared with the great Shivaji. If ever in the pre-British period of Indian History, there was anything that might be compared with the great national movements of Western countries, it was the political move- ment which laid the foundations of the Maratha Swarajya. And that movement would have been utterly destitute ot all . its national glory and significance, were it not for the genius and originality of one master mind who presided over the whole event, built a nation out of chaos and breathed life and purpose into the dead clay and disjecta membra of Maharashtra society and institutions.

Such a man was Shivaji. Of the empire which he built up, only a few fragments have escaped the ravages of time. The rest has crumbled down and gone the way that all great empires in the world have gone. But the spirit of it has remained behind. He has left no pyramids, no rock- cat temples, no architectural marvels to attest his greatness. But the name of Shivaji still lives to kindle and inspire the growing manhood of Maharashtra.

Inspired by the stirring events of the late war, when the Maratha soldiers were called upon to display their native valour on the battle-fields of the West, this work

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•was undertaken at the special request of the author of the Marathi original, as a grateful tribute to the genius of the founder of the Maratha nation. At the time when this work was undertaken, there was no worthy biography in the English language of the life and career of the great King who during the night of Mahomedan despotism dreamt the dream of national independence and realized it. It seemed a standing reproach to the Indian community, with their newly awakened political consciousness, that there should be no biographical record, commensurate with the greatness of the national hero, in that language which has done more than anything else to unite us into a nation- and stimulate our national aspirations.

This English version was taken in hand about severe years ago. As the work proceeded it was found necessary to make considerable alterations in the original Marathi text of Mr. Keluskar's Life, as published in 3907. It wa& found necessary to take notice of the mass of new material and discoveries which have accumulated in the course of the last fourteen years. In its final draft the present English version has practically become a new and indepen- dent work and has already served as a basis for the second Marathi edition, which in a revised and considerably enlarged form, as compared to the first edition, was pub- lished by Mr. Keluskar early in 1921. This work has been thoroughly revised and retouched from time to time during the last seven years. It is quite up-to-date, so far as our knowledge of Shivaji and the men and things of his time extends and the conflicting theories that have been proposed as regards the purpose or policy for which he strove and the men of wisdom or action who counselled or co-operated in his plans.

While the preparation of this work was in its various stages of progress, three important English works on Shivaji appeared in print, one of which has already gone into a second edition. Some explanation would seem to be necessary to justify the publication of a fourth work on the

same subject. The first and obvious answer is that none of these works can be called a faithful biography of Shivaji, that is to say, a biography which is at once full and exhaustive and traces the development of his life-work from beginning to end in chronological order. The work of Mr. Kincaid reviews the work of Shivaji as a fragment of the History of the Maratha People, that of Prof. Jadu- nath Sarkar discourses upon " Shivaji and his Times " and often forgets the hero while discoursing upon his " Times ", that of Prof. Rawlinson is avowedly a monograph, too meagre in its scope to comprise the life-work of a great hero like Shivaji. The thanks of the Maratha reader are due to all these scholars for the new light they have thrown on many obscure points in the life of their national hero, and to Prof. Rawlinson and Mr. Kincaid in particular for the generous way in which they have interpreted the motives and character of the great King. The earliest of this triad is the Life of Shivaji by Principal Rawlinson. It is a generous appreciation of Shivaji's work and character. But the monograph, besides being too meagre in size for the magnitude of the task, devotes a good deal of its con- tents to discussions upon somewhat irrelevant topics. The impression that remains after a perusal of the book is that the author's purpose is to show that the new era of Shivaji after all inaugurated a new type of bureaucracy, and the author seems to suggest that from the times of Ashoka and Ghandragupta down to present times, the bureaucratic form of government has prevailed in India and must in- evitably prevail for all time. The author forgets that there are bureaucracies and bureaucracies and that a bureaucracy with a Shivaji at its head ceases to be a bureaucracy, both in form and substance. Mr. C. A. Kincaid, who writes in collaboration with Rao Bahadur D. B. Paraenis, has devoted some 170 pages of the first volume of his History of the Maratha People to the story of Shivaji. The authors have taken little notice of the stirring events of the career of Shahaji and have chosen to ignore many a

VI

controversy which has caused an acute tension of feeling- among scholars. This history is full of legends and folk- lore tales and apparently attaches as much importance to them as to matters of serious history. Its highest virtue is its picturesqueness. Although Mr. Kincaid has repeated the orthodox version as to the date, when Shivaji enrolled himself as a disciple of Bamdas Swami, it is some consola- tion to think that Mr. Kincaid has not allowed the infatua- tion of the Ramdas cult to blind him to such an extent as to ascribe to the preceptor the credit of Shivaji's glorious achievements. He has had sense enough to see, as some patriotic and over-zealous Maharashtra scholars have not that such a representation of the relations between the pre- ceptor and the disciple would reduce the national bero to a mere puppet. The supreme merit of Mr. Kincaid's work is his enthusiastic and unreserved admiration of the Maratha people.

Prof. Jadunath Sarkar's " Shivaji and His Times " is the last of this triad.1 It is a noble work marred with strange flaws. Mr. Kincaid's History and Prof. Sarkar's tShivaji stand at two opposite extremes of historical \nethod and style. The one is romantic in conception and uncritical in method, the other is hypercritical in method and sceptical in its intellectual outlook. The merits of Sarkar's work are great. He has had access to a wealth of Mahomedan and British sources and authorities, the very existence or which had not been previously suspected. The fundamental fault of the work is that it appears as an overflow of the vast amount of historical material he had collected for his monumental work upon Aurangzeb. His sympathies are with the Moguls and the commanders of the Mogul empire. His sympathies are with the British factors at Surat and Bajapur. His sympathies are anywhere except with Shivaji and his gallant companions. Shivaji has fallen into the

1 Since *his Preface went to the press, another monograph on Shivaj: has been published by Mr. S. V. Raddi, B A., which appears to be based- chief ly on the works of Prof. Sarkar and Mr. Kincaid.

VII

"back-ground. Sarkar's paeans of praise are poured forth in unstinted measure, now in honour of Shaista Khan, now in honour of Jay Singh. He conducts his reader into the Mogul camp, he brings him in the wake of the Mogul armies and the Mogul standards. Shivaji is at best patronised here and there with a nodding familiarity and spoken of as a familiar underling with the name of " Shiva ". This is not intended, but such is the effect produced. The critical estimate of Shivaji's character and work in the last seven pages of this work is an appreciative review of the character and life-work of the great King and is, strange to say, quite at variance with the hyper-critical denunciations expressed in the fourteen pages that immediately precede it, and on the whole gives the lie direct to many of the generalizations which are found interspersed in the earlier part of the work. By far the most valuable service rendered by Prof. Sarkar is his vindication of Shivaji from the charge of murdering Afzul Khan. Again he has not fallen into the error of exaggerating the influence of Eamdas Swami upon Shivaji. Indeed he seems to have gone to an opposite extreme and failed to recognize, in anything like a proper estimate, the intense spirituality of outlook which distin- guished Shivaji among the nation-builders and rulers of India. Finally, it must be said of Prof. Sarkar's work that it is arranged in too scrappy a manner to suit the purposes of a serious biography and hence arise the contradictions which are noticed above.

In the present work Shivaji is depicted as the director and entrepreneur of the greatest movement for the aeserticu of national liberty and independence that India has known in pre-British times. His character, his institutions and the greatness of his work are set forth at length in the 24th and in the concluding chapters. The prejudices against Shivaji on the part of the Mahomedan chroniclers are here shown to be of the same sort as those with which the student of Roman History becomes familiar when he finds Roman authors like Livy and Cicero passing uncalled for

strictures upon Hannibal. There is indeed a close parallel* between these two heroes. Both strove hard for the liberty and independence of their country from foreign aggression. Bjth were endowed with the most brilliant talents and genius, In both their powers of invention and resource- fulness baffled the understanding and vigilance of their enemies. Both have been denounced by biassed historians for their imaginary acts of treachery and cruelty. But the contrast between the environments of these two conquerors brings out the superior mettle of the Maratha hero. Hannibal had not to make an army, much less to make a nation. Shivaji had to make everything for himself in order to build the Maratha nation. And that he did build a nation and found an empire which lasted longer than the power of Carthage did after the death of Hannibal, is no little testimony to the superiority of the Maratha hero over that of Carthage. It has been the fashion in some quarters to compare Shivaji with great conquerors like Csesar, Alexander or Bonaparte, and a tendency is seen now and then to compare him with ardent but obscure patriots like Viriathus, Vercingetorix or Caractacus, or at best with King Alfred, Robert Bruce, or William Tell. But the fact is that he combined in himself the righteous purpose and patriotic fervour of leaders like Bruce and Alfred and Vercingetorix with the superior military genius and statesmanship that characterized the world's great heroes like Caesar, Alexander, Hannibal and Bonaparte ; and in so far as these two different sets of qualities characterizing the two groups are found to unite together to a certain extent in the character of Hannibal alone, the latter seems to be the one unique military genius of the ancient world with whom we may compare Shivaji with an approximate measure of accuracy. But the truth is that the character and the life-work of the Maratha hero were both alike so unique, that it is idle to make any comparison.

The present work is an attempt to give a faithful likeness of Shivaji and an estimate of his grea t work,

IX

chiefly based upon the indigenous bakhar chronicles of the Marathas. Nearly all the Maratha chronicles have been laid under contribution, together with other authorities, which will be found cited in the foot-notes, Most of these foot-notes are of a critical kind, supplementing, illustrating, and giving the authorities for the statements made in the text. The works of Mr. Kincaid and Prof. Jadunath Sarkar have been of great use, and the latter is freely quoted, especially as regards his citations from the Factory Records in the India Office, which are not otherwise avail- able in India. Of great use have been the writings of Mr. V. K. Raj wade and Rao Bahadur Parasnis, the reports of the Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandali of Poona, the Jedhe Shakaivali or Chronology published by the late Mr. B. G. Tilak, and the Itihas Sangraha.

Attention may be invited to the following features in the present work : —

(a) It gives a complete account of the career of Shahaji and a critical exposition of his attitude towards Shivaji.

(6) It gives a re-constructed version of the Chandra Rao More tragedy.

(c) It clears Shivaji from the charge of murdering

Afzul Khan.

(d) It re-arranges the chronology of the events of

Shaista Khan's invasion, in the light of the Jedhe Chronology and the Mahomedan chronicles.

(e) It examines the relations between Shivaji and

Dadaji Kondadev and between Shivaji and Ramdas Swami in the light of modern authorities and discoveries.

(/) It throws new light upon the naval battle o£ Khanderi, from British Factory Records and Correspondence, hitherto not handled by any previous historian of Shivaji.

(#) It re-constructs the military career of one o£ Shivaji's great commanders, whose services have fallen into an unmerited oblivion, — Anandrac Bhonsle ( Appendix II ).

(7i) It re-constructs the career of one of Shivaji's great plenipotentiaries at the Mogul Court-Raghc Ballal Korde-wrongly charged with murdering Chandrarao More (Appendix IV).

(i) It vindicates Shivaji from the charge of cruelty and treachery, by proving that the Mogul commanders were more guilty than Shivaji.

(j) It gives a new explanation of Shivaji's so-called plundering campaigns.

(&) It discusses the various theories of the late Justic& Eanade, Raj wade, Kincaid and others about the origin of the Swarajya movement, its author- ship, the relation of the Bhagwat School towards Swarajya and kindred topics.

I have to express my thanks to all the authors mentioned above for the assistance derived from their works, as also to Principal G. C. Bhate, Principal Rawlinson, Mr. G. S. Sar- desai, R. & O. Strachey, Mr. S. Dev, Mr. S. Sen, Mr. Vasudev Shastri Khare, and a host of others whose works have been quoted or made use of, in different parts of this book. I have especially to thank the Rev. Dr. N. Macnicol, M. A., D. Litt. of the United Free Church of Scotland Mission, a distinguished scholar and a sympathetic critic, for kindly revising and correcting the MS. and the proofs and for the many valuable suggestions he made which have greatly advanced the usefulness of this biography. The sympathetic " Foreword " which he has so kindly contributed to this work may be taken not only as index of his genuine interest and sympathy in all Indian aspirations, but as a noble tribute to the greatness of our great national hero.

MLKANT S. TAKAKHAV,

THE PUBLISHER'S NOTE

THE Publisher's cordial thanks are due to Prof. N. S. Takakhav, M. A., for having readily undertaken thie- very difficult and arduous task. He as a student of history was not content with the original Marathi text. He went to the very sources cf information from which it was compiled, and brought under contribution almost all the recent researches and discoveries regarding the life story of our national hero. In his hands the work has assumed a highly -critical and exhaustive form and is calculated to dispel many groundless and uncharitable notions about our hero which have hitherto, almost un- challenged, gained currency in the historical literature concerning our land.

The value of this work has been enhanced by the fact that the Revd. Dr. X. Macnicol M.A., D. Litt., a distin- guished missionary scholar of the United Free Church of Scotland Mission, was gracious enough to revise the MS. of this work and go through the proofs as the work passed through the press. His kind and appreciative Foreword appended hereto is a noble tribute from a high-souled and sympathetic friend of India. For this noble and generous act the publisher owes him a deep debt of gratitude.

The MS. of this work was lying for several years with the publisher for want of funds to put it through the press. He was helped out of this difficulty by Shrimant Major Sardar Maloji Xarsingrao Sitole of Gwalior, who advanced a large loan at the instance of Shrimant Sadashivrao alias Khasesaheb Powar, Home Member, Gwalior State and Rao Bahadur Khaserao Bhagwantrao Jadhav of Baroda. But this fund was soon exhausted and the publisher was again in a fix, from which he was helped out by his esteemed friend Rao Saheb Harischandra Vishram Rajwadkar, J. P., who advanced another large loan. For this financial help the publisher is very grateful to these generous gentlemen.

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His thanks are also due to the Proprietor and Manager of the Manoranjan Press for the great care and interest with which he has printed this work and afforded him all reasonable facilities to bring it out in this very decent and acceptable form.

The work is now before the English reading public and it is earnestly hoped that all who love fair play and wish to see a true image of Shivaji, not distorted by racial or sectarian prejudices, will be generous enough to patronize this patriotic attempt.

FOREWORD

MR. K. A. KELUSKA.R has asked me to write a brief foreword to the English edition of his Life of Shivaji Maharaj, and I have consented to do so because of the high regard that I have for him both as a man and as a Marathi scholar and because of our long-standing friendship. I have no other claim than these give me to take it upon myself to introduce this book to the public. At the same time I feel that it is only fitting that this story should be told by one who is sprung from the same robust and manly stock to which the great Maratha soldier himself belonged, and I feel that, if that be so, there is no one so well able to tell the story with sympathy, with knowledge and with critical judgement as Mr. Keluskar. Shivaji belongs to no class or caste ; he is a national possession. He may be said indeed to have come to rebirth in the hearts of his countrymen, not of Maharashtra alone but of all India, in the national awakening of the last twenty years. But at the same time it is inevitable that some aspects of his life and work can be best understood and appreciated by one whose kinship with him is not of race or nation only but of caste as well. The rivalry between various classes, seeking to prove that their ancestors had a share in the accomplishment of the task of this Maratha Liberator, — a rivalry that stirs wide and vivid interest at the present time, — is indeed a testimony to the inspiration that his memory and example bring to his fellow countrymen still. Perhaps an element of class jealousy, not yet wholly extinguished, embitters sometimes these disputes and renders an impartial judgement difficult. But the growth of a critical spirit in the young historical students of to-day, among whom the translator and editor of this book has a distinguished place, as well as the influence of a wider patriotism, will speedily exorcise this evil and enable India to view her great son as he actually was, unobscured by either depreciation or flattery.

XIV

The view of Sir William Hunter that affirms that Shivaji won his supremacy " by treachery, assassination and hard fighting " is as unhistorical and as partial as that which exalts him to the position of a super-human being. Both views do injustice to the foresight, the statesmanship, the tenacity of purpose of the king himself and to the loyalty and the courage of his subjects. One of the hateful aspects of war is, as a Greek historian has said, that it takes away your freedom and puts you in the region of necessity. That fact makes it only fair that we should judge a soldier, not only in the 17th century but even to-day, by a lowered standard. When we remember this we must agree that Jndia has every right to set the Maratha warrior-king in a high place among those whom she remembers with gratitude and pride.

N. MACNICOL.

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X Chapter XI Chapter XII •Chapter XIII

Chapter XLV Chapter XV 'Chapter XVI Chapter XVII Chapter XVIII Chapter XIX •Chapter XX Chapter XXI

Chapter XXII •Chapter XXIII •Chapter XXIV

Chapter XXV

•Chapter XXVI •Chapter XXVII Chapter XXVIII Chapter XXIX Chapwr XXX Appeuoiz to 1 Chapter XXX J

CONTENTS.

Page.

Ancestry ... ... ... 1

The Career of Shahaji ... ... 16

The Childhood of Shivaji ... 53

The Education of Shivaji ... 68

The Preparation for Swarajya ... 84

The Beginnings of Swarajya ... 91

Development oi Swarajya ... 109

Shahaji Entrapped ... ... 129

Relations with the Moguls ... 130

The Capture of Javli & Other Events . 137

The Tragedy of Afzuikhan ... 150

Adilshahi Nobles Discomfited ... 178

The Bijapur Government on its

Knees ... ... ... 194

Reunion of Father acd Son ... 204

Sea Power ... ... ... 213

The Campaign of Shaista Khan ... 220

The Sack of Surat and Barselor ... 237

The Invasion of Raja Jay Singh ... 247

Shivaji at the Mogul Court ... 270

Recouquests ... ... 298

Renewed Campaign against the

Moguls ... ... ... 313

Bijapur Wars Renewed ... ... 337

The (Jr owning of Shivaji ... 348

The Wheels of Government ... 370

Renewed Wars with Bijapur and the

Moguls ... ... ... 411

The Kamatic Campaign ... 421

The Final Campaign* ... ... 466

The English and the Abyaisiniana ... 486

With Saint and deer ... ... 514

The End ... ... ... 545

Shivajt'a Wives and Daughters ... 554)

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Chapter XXXI Chapter XXXII Appendix I Appendix II

Appendix III Appendix IV

Shivaji's Fortunes and Possessions ... 557 Character ... ... ... 565

Maloji and Shahaji ... ... 625

Anandrao Bhonsle and Hambirrao

Mohite ... ... 628

The Battle of Khanderi ... 634

Raghunath Ballal Korde ... 636

LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

CHAPTER I ANCESTKY

SHIVAJI MAHARAJ, the illustrious founder of the Maratha, Power, derived his descent from the renowned Bhonsle family. This noble Maratha house claimed an ancient Kshatriya origin. It is said that the family was transferred to the uplands of Maharashtra by a Rajput warrior, Devraj Maha- rana by name. The family tradition tells a long tale of chequered adventures and vicissitudes. In what is now known as the modern province of Oudh, there ruled for cen- turies the ancient princes of the royal Sesodia family. They claimed descent from the mythical Solar Race, which along with the Lunar Race comprises the genealogy of every Kshatriya family in the land. One of these Sesodia princes crossed the Narbada and became the founder of an indepen- dent principality on its southern banks. The fortunes of this family were, however, destined to wane before the ris- ing glory of the famous Shalivan, who inaugurated a new Hindu era, which is still current south of the Narbada. The ruling Bhonsle prince of the time was defeated and his kingdom annexed. At this crisis the afflicted queen of the prince escaped with her young son of five or six years across the Narbada and sought shelter in the inhospitable re- gions of Mewar in the vicinity of the Vindhya Mountains. There she, found an asylum in a poor Brahman family, her son keeping the Brahman's kine. Once while out engaged on his cow-herd duties the boy discovered a hidden treasure. This he disclosed to his patron and acquainted him with the story of his origin and fall. The Brahman listened with sympathy and encouraged and exhorted him to endeavour to recover his royal power, giving him to that end every L.S. 2.

•2. LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

assistance within his means. It was a mountainous region in the possession of the Bhils, with whom they had to fight. When the conquest of the country was completed, they erec- ted a fort upon those mountain heights under the shadow of a temple of the goddess Bhawani. This fort they named Chitrakote. They restored the ancient temple of Bhavani and built another within the fort in honour of Eklingji Shiv. The descendants of this prince are said to have reigned at Chitrakote for about five hundred years. This fort of Chitrakote became afterwards famous in his- tory as the fort of Chitore.

Then followed the establishment of Mahomedan power at Delhi, and the interminable wars between the Mahome- dan emperors and the Rajput princes. Many Hindu kings had to acknowledge defeat and become vassals of the Maho- medan emperors. These rulers carried on% constant wars with, the Rajput state of Chitore, but with little success to boast of. The Chitore princes defended their kingdom and independence very bravely. About 1275 the Maharana Lakshman Singh succeeded to the throne of Chitore. The affairs of the administration were in the charge of his uncle, Bhim Singh. This Bhim Singh had for his consort one of lihe greatest beauties in the land, Rani Padmini1. This princess is said to have come from Ceylon. Her great re- putation for beauty reached the ears of AllauddinKhilji, the -emperor of Delhi, who conceived an unholy passion for her. With an immense army he advanced upon Chitore and laid siege to the fort. The Rajputs fought with the valour for •which they are famous; they beat back the enemy in all their advances, but still Allauddin would not raise the siege. He had invested the fortress on all sides with very- powerful forces. The garrison had now exhausted all their resources. Driven to desperation the Rajput king resolved at the head of his whole army to make a sudden sortie upon the enemy and meet a warrior's death on the field of battle. All the

i Some chronicles describe the Rani Padmiui as the wife of the .Maharana Lakshman Singh.

ANCESTRY S

Rajputs to a man applauded the plan. But surely it was not desirable that the whole race of the Sesodias should be extirpated from the earth, and means must be found to perpetuate it. The king had twelve sons. They all vied with each other in the desire to sacrifice their lives upon the battle-field. But the second prince Ajay Singh was the special favourite of hisroyal father. The Raja explain- ed to him, how undesirable it was that his royal race should be totally extinguished and commanded him to be- take himself to an inaccessible part of the Aravalli Moun- tains, known as Kailwada, and save himself. This advice was by no means palatable to a prince of the courage of Ajay Singh. But overcome by the urgent entreaties of his father he was obliged to acquiesce in this plan, and according to his father's wishes escaped to Kailwada1. Thereupon at Chitore, the Raja with his followers and kinsmen dashed forth upon the enemy, and nearly four- teen hundred of them were cut to pieces. The fort fell into the hands of the Mahomedans. The whole place was pillaged and plundered; not even the royal insignia were saved ; the gigantic war-drum and the massive gates com- posed of an ingenious amalgam of five metals, celebrated throughout the land, fell into the hands of the enemy.

When, as related above, Ajay Singh made his escape, he took with him Humbir Singh, the minor son of his eldest brother. He then rallied the remnants of his people and again formed a fairly large principality. As Huuibir Singh grew in years he proved himself a brave and capable leader. Ajay Singh was a man of a very pious disposition and loved his nephew with a father's love. He crowned him king of his forefathers' realm and himself took charge of the administration. They built the fortress of Rajnagar and made it their capital. For they had sworn not to

1 Chitnis's chronicle gives a different version to the effect that ab Lakahman Singh's desperate sally his queen escaped to the Bhil country with two princes, who subsequently propagated the race.

4 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

return to Chitore until they had retrieved from the enemy the royal drum and insignia. Until they had curbed the insolent pride of those hostile bands who 'had decimated their race and desecrated the capital of their hereditary kingdom, they were resolved not to carry their war-standards before them, and to deny to themselves the luxury of palate and couches, and not even to trim their beards. This hatred of Islam they transmitted to their posterity. They made new conquests; they built new forts and consolidated their power; and at last with Udaipur as their capital, they established their independence.

On the demise of Ajay Singh, his son Sajan Singh thought it unwise to quarrel with his cousin for a parti- tion of territory, and considered it more glorious to win new realms for himself. With this design, this brave prince advanced southwards. The territory of Sondhwad was conquered by him, and there he made his capital. Among his descendants we read the names of Dilip Singhji Maharana, Singhji Maharana, Bhosaji Makarana, and Devrajji Maharana in succession. All these constantly fought with the Mahomedans and preserved their kingdom. But at length Devrajji, quite exhausted with the frequency of the Mahomedan invasions, gave up his kingdom, and coming down to the south maintained a precarious inde- pendence as a polygar in the valleys of the Krishna and the Bhima. On coming to the Deccan he changed his name for fear of the Mahomedans and assumed that of Bhosawant Bhonsle. His object was, if possible, to lay the foundations of a new sovereignty in this land. But the Mahomedans carried everything before them and his high ambition was not destined to be realized. At last he had to content himself with the Patelship of Singnapur.

His descendants afterwards obtained by purchase tha Patelships of various places, such as, Khanwat, Hingnsi Begdi, Dewalgaon, Verul, Vavi, Mungi etc. In the line of direct descent from Devrajji we have Indrasen, Shubhkri-

ANCESTRY 5

shnaji, Rupsinghji, Bhumindraji, Dhapji Barhatji1, Khalaji* alias Khalkarn, Karnaeinghji alias Jayakarn, Sambhaji and Babaji alias Shivaji. The last named Babaji was born in 1533s. Babaji was a man of piety and char- acter. He had two sons, Maloji and Vithoji. Maloji was born in 1550 and Vithoji in 1553. They were both men of ability and character. When they came to years df dis- cretion and began to look after their estates they had many land disputes with the agriculturists of Dewalgaon. They, therefore, came and settled at Verul (Ellora), near Dowlata- bad. But agriculture is at best an Varida nutrix, "and gives little scope for the free play of genius. They began to look out for an employment which might better develop their virtue and talents. This they found by enlisting themselves in the service of Lukhji Jadhav of Sindhkhed in the humble ranks of the " bargir *' infantry. Lukhji Jadhav, a scion of the ' Yadavs' of Devgiri, was Deshmukh of Sindhkhed. Under the Nizami Dynasty of Ahmednagar he held a mansab or command .of 12,000 horse and he had

1 Chitnis gives the name aa Barbatji.

2 Elsewhere given as Kheloji.

This genealogy chiefly follows the account in Chitnis's Bakhar or Chronicle history. It agrees in all particulars with the genealogy prepared by the Rajah Pratapsinh of JSatara. The latter has been printed and pub- lished at Kolhapur under the auspices of the Maharajah of that state. Col. Tod in his History of Rajasthan refers to a genealogy of Shivaji which ha had obtained from the Bhats or troubadours of Mewar. This genealogy agrees generally with the one followed in the text with a few variations. While referring to the above mentioned genealogy CoL Tod remarks that it was reserved for the house of Sajan Singh eventually to produce a hero, who would overthrow the Mahomedan powers, and that this was realized by Shivaji, the founder of the Satara dynasty. It may be remarked that many discrepancies and variations from the story followed in the text are to be found in other Bakhars or chronicle hristories, as for instance in the, famous bakhar of Shivaji called the Shivadigvijaya or Triumph of Shivaji. This is not to be marvelled at, as many of these bakhars contain various tradi- tional tales indifferently strung together. rVlr. Keluskar in hia original note gives the variant versions of other cnronicles. The name " Bhonsle " is derived by most chroniclers from " Bhosi " or " Bhosavant ", a fortress near Chitore. Khafi Khan gives some legends about.the meaning of'Bhonsla'* ( Vide Elliot VII, 255).

6 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

ajahgir made over to him for the maintenance of his forces. He had great influence in the councils of the Nizami Gov- ernment, and there were indeed very few generals in that state who could compare with him in bravery and power. Jadhavrao was delighted to welcome Maloji and Vithoji into his service, offered them a salary of five hons (pagodas) each? and ordained that thej' should keep him company at table* THE CAREER OF MALOJI.

Maloji was strong and burly in figure, so that few horses could bear his weight on a prolonged excursion. He was therefore chosen to mount sentry at the outposts. With his talents and brilliant parts he soon won the favour of Jadhavrao, who introduced him to Murtezashaha Nizam and recommended him to the royal favour as a man of in- tegrity and honour. The Sultan was pleased with him and retained him as a "sniledar" or cavalry officer in his service Henceforth Maloji served the Nizam at the head of his own foot and horse, but seems to have still remaine 1 a dependent of Jadhavrao.

Maloji was married to Dipabai, the sister of Jagpalrao Nimbalkar, the Deshmukh of Phaltan. After his admission into the Sultan's army his rise was rapid. His brother, Vithoji, had also been promoted to the position of Shiledar. Vithoji had eight sons but Maloji as yet had no children. This was a source of great affliction to his wife Dipabai. True to Hindu sentiments the pious pair made endless vows to the gods and practised many a rite of religious merit that their home might be blessed with children. At length he made a vow at a celebrated shrine at Nagar, that of the Pir Shaba Sharif. Every Thursday Maloji used to give alms and doles to fakirs. This he practised continually for six months. At last Dipabai had the good fortune to get her heart's desire, being delivered of a son in 1594. Deeming the birth of the child as an act of benefaction on the part of the Pir, Maloji named the child, after the Pir, Shahaji. After some time he had a second son, whom he named Sharif ji

THE CAREER OF MALOJI 7

Shahaji was a handsome boy, and with his sprightly ways, no less than with his sweet childish prattle and pre- cocity, he made a most favourable impression upon all people. There was a peculiar charm in his manners, gait, and voice. Jadhavrao conceived a great fondness for the bo}\ He often took him home, decked him with clothes of vari- ous styles and embroideries, and indulged him in all his boyish whims. Now Jadhav had an only daughter two or three years of age, with whom Shahaji used to play and romp for hours. Thus the two grew up together, playmates and companions almost from their cradles. Thus Shahaji grew to five years of age ; and now onae it happened that Jadhav was celebrating the Hindu festival of the Shimga. On the day of the Rang-Panchami, he had invited all his friends and relations to his house. Among those who had received the invitation was Maloji. He attended the social function, which was a kind of durbar, with his son. Jadhav- rao called the youngster towards him and seated him on his lap.. Soon after his daughter, Jija, came running from the inner apartments of the house and sat down on the other knee of her father. Both the children were so pretty and handsome and equally matched in age, that it was nothing strange that Jadhav addressing the young girl asked her in jest whether she would have the boy for her husband and, turning to the company, exclaimed that they would be a proper pair indeed! Scarcely had he spoken when the children, snatching handfuls of the red powder which was standing near in a plate, began to throw it upon each other. The company present were much amused at this display of childish fun and spirits and laughed out- right exclaiming that they were indeed a pretty match. At this, Maloji and Vithoji stood up, and, "Listen, gentle- men," they exclaimed, "from this day, Jadhavrao and our- selves have become related by betrothal. Jija is now our daughter-in-law. You have just heard what Jadhavrao has said. His resolution is made. Great men never recede from a declaration made in public." Thus calling all the

-8 LIFE OF SH1VAJI MAHARAJ

company to bear witness to what had oocurred, they sat down. The spectators assented. Jadhavrao was astonished at this scene. He had never imagined that any one would place such a construction upon words uttered in jest. But he made no reply.

The next day Jadhavrao invited his friends to dinner. Maloji also was invited. But he in return replied in these terms : "We are now to be related by the marriage of our children ; the wedding will be the proper time for us now to feast together ; kindly do net invite us till then." When Jadhavrao's wife, Mhalsabai, came to learn of these proceed- ings, she resented this impertinence of Maloji. That a common Shiledar like Maloji should dream of a marriage alliance into the house of a rich mansabdar of the rank of Jadhav was in her eyes the height of folly and insolence. Mhalsabai remonstrated with her husband for his unguarded words in the assembly. "It was wrong of you," she exclaim- ed, "to have uttered those words; more wrong still not to have replied when Maloji stood up and spoke. Maloji is a dependent of ours. It will never do to give our daughter into his house. What will the world say, if we pass over eligible youths from the houses of the Mahadiks, the Shirkes, the Nimbalkars, our equals in rank and wealth- Mansabdars and Deshmukhs — , and stoop so low as this house of Maloji ? Yes! what will the world say?" Thus she fumed in spite of all the efforts of Jadhavrao to console her. "I spoke in jest," he declared, "I don't think I am any way bound in honour.'' Then he sent a peremptory message to Maloji : "A truce to this talk of a marriage union ! Our people cannot entertain it. What I spoke before the assembly was merely in jest. It is preposterous to construe it into a solemn declaration. Do accept the invita- tion. The gods alone know the future." Maloji retorted upon this, " A pronouncement made in presence of so numerous a company — how could it be void ? We claim an affiance with your house." Jadhavrao was very angry at this insolent reply. After the feast he summoned his clerk

THE CAREER OF MALOJI 9

to him and ordered him to make up the accounts of Maloji and Vithoji, pay up the arrears due to them, and discharge them immediately from his service, with notice to quit his territory at once, bag and baggage.

Thus the two brothers now lost the high positions of command so nobly earned and were forced to return to their paternal homestead at Verul, again to become farm hinds and till the land.

This was a great insult to the haughty spirit of Maloji. He felt the degradation all the more keenly, because he saw that Jadhavrao had dared to treat him thus only because he was a dependent without wealth and rank ; and he now firmly resolved to make every effort to retrieve his fortune. This now became the one desire of his life and he dedicated his nights and days to the realization of his lofty aim. To a man of his spirit and character death itself seemed better than the ignominious repudiation by Jadhav of what he considered a solemn avowal of betrothal in the presence of the assembled chiefs and nobles, the elite of Maratha society. The sense of dishonour rankled in his heart. In this agi- tated and disconsolate frame of mind, the two brothers went out one night to watch their crops. It was the full moon night in the month of Magh. They kept watch by turns. At first Vithoji went to sleep while Maloji remained watch- ing. There was an ant-hill at the spot where he had sta- tioned himself. After a little while, he saw a bright and lustrous hand like that of the goddess Bhavani, bejewelled with armlets of gold, coming out of the ant-hill and beckon- ing to him, and after waving once or twice it vanished out of sight. Maloji awakened his brother and described to him the vision he had just seen. "It is all an illusion," cried Vithoji, and he undertook to watch himself and asked Maloji to sleep. Now as soon as he was asleep he had a wondrous dream. He saw in his dream the goddess Bhavani standing before him, draped in silver white, with the red- powder mark on her brows, and decked with the richest

10 UFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

jewels. He thought she stroked him on the back and awoke him, and addressed him in these terms: "Behold, oh mortal, I have of mine own accord become propitious and lavish my favours on thee. The snake thou wilt find haunting this ant-hill is nought but my divine self in another guise. Be it thine to salute the snake and dig up the ant-hill ; and take thou the gold thou shalt find therein, but harm not the reptile, for it shall go its way. Twenty-seven of thy descendants in the direct line shall reign in;the land ! "Maloji awoke from his dream and described the marvellous vision to Vithoji. The two brothers now resolved to test the truth of the wonderful prophecy and began to dig the ant-hill. They found in it a great quantity of gold and precious gems. They brought it home and buried it safely, in the yard behind their house1.

This unexpected windfall gave a new stimulus to Maloji's energies. He caused a rumour to be circulated among the people that the goddess Bhavani had been pleased to be specially propitious to him and had put him in possession of an untold amount of gold, and had given her divine promise that there would be born in their house an invincible hero, who would inaugurate a new era in the land. They then deposited their money at the house of a great banker at Shrigonde, Shesava Naik Pande by name. They had an old family connection with Shesava. With his help Maloji purchased a thousand horses and enlisted many bargirs and shiledars in his servioe. From the beginning be had been known for his piety, and this new accession of wealth which he attributed to divine favour only served to accentuate his natural predilection for religion. He resolv- ed to devote a great part of his acquisitions to objects of benevolence. He made bountiful presents to deserving

1 Grant Duff thinks that Maloji must have acquired his riohea by plunder. But the imputation is quite gratuitous. It was nothing strange in those exciting and revolutionary times to discover a hidden treasure, and it was the common practice to bury precious things under ground as the only effectual way of saving them from the hands of the spoilers.

THE CAREER OF MALOJI 11

Brahmans upon the farm which had been the scene of the discovery of his treasure, and he erected a beautiful temple upon the site of the ant-hill. There is in the Satara Dis- trict the famous hill of Shambhu Mahadev. On the top of this mountain there used to be held every year a great reli- gious fair in the month of Chaitra. No less than 500,000 persons used to gather at the fair at this time, but they suffered from a great scarcity of water. The devout pilgrims had to provide themselves with water from a distance of over five or six miles. With a view to mitigate this grievance, Maloji built a great reservoir of water upon a suitable site. He spent freely upon this work. On the comple- tion of the raservoir, he gave a great feast to Brahmans and liberal alms to fakirs ; he also erected some dharmshalas at this place. He restored the dilapidated temple of Krishna at Verul and built a reservoir near that town. In the same way he built tanks, wells etc. at different places and spent much in charity at the various shrines.

By the performance of these and other similar acts of religious merit so congenial to the sentiments of orthodox Hinduism, Maloji earned a great reputation for wealth and munificence. He now commenced to put into practice the great scheme of his life. It has already been mentioned how he had begun to maintain a cavalry force of ten to twelve hundred retainers. He went on adding to his •retinue, and when he found himself well established he renewed his demand for the daughter of Jadhav. But Jadhav would not upon any terms consent to this proposal, which he could only regard in the light of a mesalliance. Maloji now began harrying the territory under Jadhav's military control and opened communications with the Nimbalkars to the effect that they should co-operate with him with a reinforcement of two thousand horse and curb the insolence of family pride which had caused Jadhav to break his promise. These negotiations proved successful and Maloji now concerted a systematic war of invasion and.

12 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

depredation upon Jadhav's jahgir. But nothing that Maloji could do to molest him would make Jadhav swerve from his decision. Then Maloji had recourse to a strange stratagem. At the head of the cavalry force of the Nimbal- kars, Maloji and Vithoji marched up to Shrigonde. Leaving behind them their heavy baggage and artillery at this place, they poured down the pass of Nimbdevara and crossed the Godavari past the village of Nevase. There they killed a couple of pigs and threw the carcases into the mosque at Dowlatabad, having previously tied round their necks letters enclosing a petition to the Nizam Shahi Sultan of Ahmednagar. The petition recited the grounds of these disturbances, how Jadhavrao had forsworn himself in deference to the whims of the ladies of his house and had basely discharged the Bhonsle brothers from his service, and how they had sought shelter with the Nimbalkars and taken revenge with their encouragement and support. The missives concluded with threats of further disturbance and desecration. When the news of this desecration came to the ears of Nizam Shaha his anger knew no bounds, but it was curiously directed against Jadhavrao, whom he sum- moned to his presence and threatened wit.h menaces. He told him that it was most improper on his part to have made a declaration of a betrothal and then to have broken it off, and declared it was owing to his headstrong obstinacy that a sacred mosque of Islam had been desecrated so. He expostulated with him on the folly of protracting a private dispute at the expense of the public weal and ordered him peremptorily to put an end to it by conciliating Maloji and signalizing the event by giving his daughter into the Bhonsle house. Jadhavrao replied that his objection to the match was based on the inequality of social position between the two houses ; otherwise they stood related by ties of race and blood, and that his people desired that his daughter should be given into a house of the same fortune and standing as his own.

THE CAREER OF MALOJI 1J.

On hearing this reply the Sultan reflected that the high honours enjoyed by Jadhav had made him insolent, and that the only way cf making him eat humble pie was to exalt Maloji to rank and honour, by conferring a high man- eab, or military command, uppn him. Strange that the Sultan should have thought of this kind of friendly treat- ment towards the Bhonsles ! In truth Maloji and Vithoji had been guilty of an atrocity which outraged public opinion and Islam sentiment, and which under ordinary circum- stances would have instantly called forth the retribution it deserved. But the Nizam Shahi State of Ahmednagar had fallen on evil days. The Emperor Akbar was endeavour- ing to overthrow the kingdom and absorb it within the ever widening bounds of the Mogul Empire. The Mogul armies were every hour gaining ground inch by inch into the sultan's realm, and the only breakwater capable of keeping off the accumulating tide of invasion was the solid and united front of the Maratha nobility. If at this critical time the state were to embark on a policy of fomenting dissension, among the Marathas, it would have been fatal to the best interests of the ruling dynasty. The disaffected Maratha chiefs were sure to go over to the enemy's camp, and every accession of strength to the Mogul meant a corresponding loss to the Mahomedan prince of the Deccan. Thus the sultan had to think deep before committing himself to a hasty step, and his final decision was the rather startling proposal to conciliate and heap honours upon men who had given him mortal offence. He invited Maloji and Vithoji to the royal presence and received them with courtesy, conferring upon each a mansab of 12,000 horse and the title of "Kajah" upon Maloji1, together with the forts of Shivneri and Chakan and the adjoining territory for his maintenance, and the districts of Poona andSupa in jahgir.2 This event took place in March, 1604.

1 Other accounts mention a mansab of 5,000 for Maloji only.

2 The Shiv -Digvijaya gives a longer list of jahgir lands which would, include some parganas oi Foona, Nasik, Ahmednagar and Khandesb.

14

Now that the sultan himself had espoused the cause of Maloji and had given him an exalted rank at his court, Jadhav could no longer withstand the demand. The sultan ordered both the parties to bring their families and relations to Dowlatabad; and the nuptials were celebrated with great pomp and eclat in the royal presence. The fact that the sultan himself attended the wedding and took a personal interest in it was sufficient cause for all the Omrahs of the court to attend it without exception. Under such auspices was celebrated the marriage of Shahaji and Jijabai. Maloji grudged no amount of expense on this great occasion, which, in truth, was the crowning glory of his life. He gave a grand banquet to the Omrahs, and distributed large sums in charity to Brahmans and fakirs. This wedding took place in April 1604. Maloji had not only won his object, but had secured a mansab and the title of Rajah into the bargain.

After the marriage, the Rajah Maloji, now a mansab- dar or commander of the Nizam Shahi kingdom did very useful service to that government in those troublous times. Py his bravery and talents he soon gained an overwhelming ascendency at that court. He earned the gratitude of the state for his success in the most difficult operations of war and his services both civil and military. It soon became apparent that though the high command was originally conferred upon Maloji merely on account of the sultan's displeasure at Jadhav's obstinacy, the recipient was well worthy of the honours lavished upon him. The state officials now consulted him in all questions of moment. Besides by his conciliatory and courteous manners he always kept on terms of the utmost cordiality with the high officers of the court. Shahaji used to attend the court in company with his father. His fine figure and noble bearing, his penetration and sagacity, his habitual courtesy and persua- siveness scon won for him the golden opinions of the sultan and the court, He became a "persona grata" with all the

THE CAREER OF MALOJI 15

great Omrahs and courtiers. After enjoying his great mansab and prosperity for fifteen years with ever increas- ing influence in the state, Maloji died in 1619. The Nizam Shaha conferred his jahgirs and honours upon the Rajah Shahaji.

CHAPTER II

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI

AT the time when Shahaji succeeded to the manszb, the renowned Malik Ambar was at the head of the Nizam Shahi State. It is indispensable at this stage to have some general notion of the state of Ahmednagar, on the eve of its extinction. The town had fallen into the hands of the Moguls about 1600, and the illustrious Chand Bibi Sultana, whose noble defence of it had excited the admiration and envy of the Mogul conquerors, had been stabbed by one of her own perfidious sardars. The infant prince she had placed upon the Nizamshahi throne was now a captive in Mogul hands, being immured within the prison-fort of Gwalior. The capital was gone, the prince was lost, but this did not daunt the noble heart of Malik Ambar, who rallied the Ahmednagar chiefs and again presented a united front to the invaders, having proclaimed. an infant prince who stood next in succession under the name of Murteza Nizam Shaha IP. He transferred the new king's court to

1 Most, of the chroniclers call this Nizamshahi Sultan as Sultan Murteza Nizam Shah II, and the puppet prince set up by Shahaji at the extinction of the dynasty would then be recognized as Murteza Shah 111^ However there is much confusion. Meadows Taylor speaks of the puppet supported by Malik Ambar as Murteza Shah II and the Sultan reigning at the time of Khan Jehan Lodi's rebellion as Murteza Shah III. Prof. Jadu- nath Sarkar in his article on Shahaji in the Modern Review ( September 1917) calls the prince supported by Malik Ambar by the name of Buran Nizam Shaha, against the authority of Ferishta who calls him Murteza II. This prince reigned over a long period, 1601 to 1632. At any rate Murteza II, the protege of Malik Ambar was a grandson of Buran Nizam Shah I, and might have been known as Buran Nizam Shaha before succeeding to the throne. Grant Dufl and other historians including the Marathi chronicles have concurred in calling him Murteza II. The puppet set up by Fatten Khan •was Hoosein Nizam HI, though Prof. Jadunath Sarkar speaks of him both under this name and as Bahadur Nizam Shaha. It may be here noted that the Jedhe chronology, ( see Bharat-Itihas-Sanshodhak Mandal, Chaturth Samrnelanvritta, page 178) states, under Shaka year 1553, that Fatten Khan put to death the Sultan Buran Nizam Shaha.

The gist of the article of Prof. Sarkar above referred to is thai Shahaji came to greatness only after 1630-32, and that entirely owing to the BJjapur

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 17

-the strong fort of Dowlatabad and again unfurled the de- fiant standard of the house of Bheiry. This led to a con- centration of all power in the hands of Malik Ambar, and the Abyssinian element in the state, which was Malik Ambar's party, now had it all their own way. The Maratha nobility resented this and factions arose. The leader of the Maratha party was Mian Raju, who had co-operated with Malik Ambar in recovering a great part of the territory conquered by the Moguls. Now Mian Raju kept in his own hand all the recovered territory north of Dowlatabad upto the limits of Guzerat and south- wards down to Ahmednagar. The country further south remained under Malik Ambar.* Both outwardly professed allegiance to Nizam Shaha, but had no desire to surrender their power. Murteza Nizam Shaha was kept in the fort of Avsha, and the revenue of the territory adjoining the fort was ceded for the expenses of his court.

Some time afterwards we find Mian Raju making peace with the Moguls and waging war with Malik Ambar. In this contest victory at last smiled upon Malik Ambar, and Mian Raju himself was soon a prisoner in his hands. The Maratha nobility had now to give up their opposition and acknowledge the supremacy of Malik Ambar. After over- throwing all opposition Malik Ambar devoted all his atten- tion to the reorganization of the state. He had in a short t;ime restored order to the different departments of the state, but the crowning glory of his administration was his reform of the revenue system. By this reform he at once made a name throughout Maharashtra. Later in 16.0 he founded a new town, Khadki, afterwards more famous under the

ministers K.hawas Khan and Murarpant, and he states that the tall of his

patron, Fatten Khan, and the murder of his father-in-law Lukbji Jadhav-

rao were crushing blows to him. The latter of these statements is opposed

?o all Marathi Chronicle authorities; nor can any justification for it be seen

in the reet of Prof, aarkar's article, which would appear to contradict itself

in terms by giving us the further information that between 1690-30 Jadhav-

• ought under the Moguls, that is against Ahmednagar and

h Khan, the patron of Sh«\haji.

L.S. 3

1$ LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

name Aurangabad. This he now made the capital of the Nizam Shahi Kingdom. He waged endless wars with the Moguls, many of them with conspicuous success. He re- captured the town of Ahmednagar, which had passed under the Moguls. While Malik Ambar was thus waxing in re- sources and chastising one Mogul army after another, Jehangir, the then Mogul emperor of Delhi, sent his son Shaha Jahan with a great army to the Deccan to reconquer the Nizam Shahi dominions (1617). A desperate engage- ment took place between Malik Ambar and the Mogul forces in 1620. The Maratha nobles foyght with great bravery, and it was in this battle that the bravery and generalship of the Rajah Shahaji were first recognized. Malik Ambar was indeed defeated and had to retire, still the Rajah Shahaji, undaunted by any reverses, made raid after raid on the Mogul camp and tired them out. For ithis. perseverance and valour he received great honour at the Nizamshahi court. No one had now a doubt left about his bravery or proficiency in the tactics of war. He at once rose in the high esteem of Malik Ambar.

Shaha Jahan saw that as long as the Nizamshahi was supported by the solid strength of the Maratha power, it was impossible to subvert it. He, therefore, began to sow intrigues. He corrupted Lukhji Jadhav and other nobles and drew them over to the Mogul side. These nobles were already disaffected with Malik Ambar and had no great scruples about deserting a sovereignty of which he was the mainsiay. It is said that Jadhavrao received a mansab of 24,000 horse from the Moguls, and that many of his relations got mansabs in their own right1. This occurred in 1621*.

1 tiome of the /tartar-writers attribute the defection of Jadhavrao to - his envy of the sudden rise of bhahaji in the Nizamshahi state. They like- wise assign to it a date subsequent to the death of the Sultan Murteza II. According to them Shahaji being practically appointed as vizier and guar- dian to the reigning Nizumi prince who was only an infant, Jadhavrao did . not like to dance attendance upon Shahaji, and therefore went over to the Moguls. As to the total t>moUDj of the mansab obtained by Jadhavrao, see prol. Jadunath Sarkat's article in the Modern Review, ( September iyi7, , page 249 and Elliot VII, [ aje 11.)

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 19

The Rajah Shahaji was the only one of the great Maratha nobles, who was proof against this corruption. He still adhered to the party of his patron, Malik Arubar.

After this wholesale desertion of the Maratha nobility, Malik Ambar saw there was little prospect of success in stemming the tide of Mogul invasion, and was content to make peace by a large cession of territory. A little later events compelled Shaha Jahan to return to Delhi. Malik Ambar seized this opportunity to expel the remnant of the Mogul garrisons and reconquer the ceded territory. Shaha Jahan soon returned to the scene of these war operations. The old fields were fought again and the territory so recently recovered by Maiik Ambar again came under the rule of the Mogul Empire. Malik Ambar had now exhausted all his resources. Shahaji still kept loyally supporting his chief. But all his efforts proved vain before the greit military resources of the Moguls. Malik Ambar now thought it proper to make his submission and save the remnants of the territory for his Nizam Shahi master rather than to stake all upon the uncertain chances of a decidedly unequal war. He soon found a favourable oppor- tunity for overtures of peace. This honourable peace he observed till the last day of his life. He did not live long after this. He died of a sudden malady in 1626 at the age of eighty.

Immediately on the death of Malik Ambar the Moguls renewed their hostilities with the active support of Lukhji Jadhav. Shaha Jahan had to return to Delhi about this time, on account of the death of his father, the Emperor Jehangir. He marched to Delhi, leaving but a small Mogul force to co-operate with Jadhavrao. At this time the sultan Murteza Nizam Shaha was at Mahuli, and Shahaji was in attendance upon the Sultan. Jadhavrao laid siege to Mahuli with all his forces. Shahaji defended the fort with great valour for six months, bub with all his efforts he did not succeed in forcing the enemy to raise the siege. However

20 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

*ie was resolved never to give in to the enemy. Shahaji was indeed the last of the loyal officers still left in the service of the Nizamshahi who combined in himself the will and the capacity to save the Nizamshahi kingdom. But the good fortune of the state seemed to have forsaken her for ever. For as misfortunes never come singly the state lost the services of a good and loyal servant, on .account of a strange prejudice that Murteza Nizam Shaha's mother now conceived against Shahaji. This was due to an intrigue which Lukhji Jadhav had set on foot, under the pretence of reconciliation and peace, but in reality to extinguish the Nizami power. Shahaji saw the changed aspect of affairs, but he could only regret it. When the sultan had himself lost heart and was bent upon submis- sion at the sacrifice of every idea of honour and advantage of what avail was it, he reflected, for himself to continue the opposition single handed, perhaps at the risk of his life ? His loyal and devoted service to the state seemed to have been rendered in vain. Why should he now, when the state was being blindly driven to the brink of ruin, incur the gratuitous odium of hastening on its fall ? Far better for him to turn his back upon the impending destruction ! With •these counsels, he prepared for his departure from the beleaguered town, having previously apprised the sultan and his mother of his intention. He sallied out of the fort one night with a small band of loyal veterans and broke through the besieging lines. This is just what Jadhavrao •wanted. He pursued him and continued the pursuit for several days with great earnestness until the barriers of Phaltan were reached. There the vengeful Jadhavrao had to stop his relentless chase of his son in-law. For he knew of the old alliance of the Nimbalkars and knew well too that were Shahaji, re-inforced with the militia of the Nimbalkars, to turn upon him, he would have little diffi- culty in dispersing his pursuers.

At the time that the Rajah Shahaji burst forth from the fortress of Mahuli he was accompanied by his wife

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI. 21

Jijabai and his little son Sambhiji, who was then only three or four years of age. Jijabai herself was far advanced in pregnancy. Hard-pressed by their pursuers, the fugi- tives had to make forced marches and Jijabai had to be conveyed on horse-back. A few miles' journey sufficed to cause her intense sufferings, so that Shahaji was reluctantly forced to find an asylum for her on the way1. Now Junnar was the stronghold of a certain Shriniwasrao, an indepen- dent chief with whom Shahaji had a long standing alliance. Under his promise of protection the lady Jijabai was placed for shelter in the fort of Shivneri, and Shahaji detached a small body of cavalry from his slender retinue to defend her from harm. No sooner had Shahaji left the place than his pursuers arrived. With difficulty could Jadhavrao be persuaded to yield to the importunate pleading of those who argued that whatever grudge he might have against Shahaji in person, his own daughter Jijabai was an innocent party and that public opinion required it of him to take measures for her safety. Whose would be the disgrace if the Jadhav- rao's daughter were to fall into Mogul hands? This last argu- ment carried weight with the haughty warrior. He pitied the forlorn state of Jijabai and went to see her. The meeting between father and daughter was very painful. She re- proached him for his lack of generosity and of a father's love and exclaimed that, now that she had fallen into his hands instead of Sahaji, ho was welcome to wreak his revenge on her instead of her husband. His heart was touched and he endeavoured to comfort her saying: "What the gods had ordained has taken place ; the bitterness of after-regrets is of no avail." He tried to persuade her to accompany him to Sindhkhed, the seat of the jahgir he had received from the Moguls. But she steadfastly refused, and Jadhavrao, see- ing that nothing would shake her resolution, detached fron.

1 Some bakham represent Shahaji to have been forced by necessity to leave Jijabai on the way with a small escort and attribute her removal to the fort of Shivneri to Jadhavrao, who detached a force of 500 horse-soldiers for her protection.

22 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHA.RAJ

his army an escort for Jijabai's protection and went forward. Thus did the high-minded Jijabai continue to dwell in the place chosen for her by her husband. That her father, of all persons in the world, should prosecute these hostilities against her husband was an offence she could never forgive. Notwithstanding all the tumults of war that were raging all round her, she persevered in staying at Shivneri, and never more in after life did she set her foot in her father's jahgir.

Meanwhile Shahaji did not slack his flight till he reached Bijapur. He had previously sent a trusty officer, Balkrishnapant Hanumante, to the Bijapur Durbar, on a political mission, as soon as he had got the first inkling of the intrigue meditated by the mother of the Nizam Shaha at Mahuli. The principal statesmen of the Bijapur state, Murar Jagdeo and Randul'a Khan, knew the ability of the Rajah Shahaji. The Adil Shahi Sultan received him with honour and cordiality, promised to co-operate with him in his labours to preserve the Nizamshahi dynasty from utter extinction and re-inforced him with a small complement of Bijapur forces.

In the meantime a great revolution had taken place in the affairs at Ahmednagar. On the death of Malik Ambar, his son, Fatten Khan, succeeded to the viziership. He possessed none of the ta,ct and ability of his father, or the courtesy and considerateness by which he had won over the gentry and nobility towards himself. He waged arduous wars with the Moguls, but seldom with success. The Mogul general Khan Jahan Lodi was in charge of military opera- tions in the south. A timely peace concluded with him by Fatten Khan gave a new lease of life to the Nizam Shahi.

Not long after the Nizam Shahi sultan had .reason to resent the insolent and arbitrary ways of Fatteh Khan, who possessed all the autocratic tendencies of his great father without his genius. Takrib Khan was accordingly appoin-

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 23

ted to supersede him as vizier1. This change of ministry induced Jadhavrao to return to his allegiance and the service of the Nizamshahi; and with this end in view ha started overtures for a reconciliation. But the Nizam Murteza Shaha was a man who was led by the impulses of passion. With him desire for revenge weighed more in the balance than counsels of prudence; and against Jadhavrao he had conceived the bitterest hatred and animosity. It did not occur to him that the exigencies of the state might not permit him to nurse his grudges. A great general of the ^empire was coming back in sack-cloth and ashes. True statesmanship required the sultan to forgive and forget the past, to receive the repentant general with open arms, to unite him to his interests and make him a pillar of his state. But these thoughts were too noble and too generous for his pusillanimous spirit. He chose to work in darkness and intrigue and return treachery for treachery. Resolved to •revenge himself on Jadhavrao for his past desertion, he invited him to a personal interview in the fort of Dowlatabad. In reply to the invitation Jadhavrao attended by his son. Achloji, came to the Nizam's durbar. Soon after they had been ushered in, the sultan left the audiance hall, on the pre- tence of a secret consultation with his ministers, and three Mahomedan nobles, in accordance with a previously concerted plan of treachery, drew their swords, fell upon the unsuspect- ing Jadhavrao and his son, and in an instant deprived them of their swords. Alarmed by this treachery both father and son drew their daggers and fought with bravery, but the odds were against them and they were cut to pieces.2 The

1 Khftfi Khan says that Hamid Khan, an Abyssinian noble, who had risen bo power on account of the fascination of his wife's beauty upon the sal tan, succeeded Fatteh Khan as vizier.

3 Modak's history of the Adilahahi kingdom (Marathi) gives quite a Different version of this story. It represents that a feeling of unrest had sprung up in the mind of Jadhavrao and the Maratha nobles generally on account of the incarceration of Fatteh Khan. He intrigued to secede to the Moguls, and the sultan's suspicion being once roused he determined to apprehend and keep him in custody. Then follows the story of the trea-

24 LITE OF SHIVAJ1 MAHARAJ

wife of Jadhavrao was encamped with a small force at the reservoir outside the 'town. When the story of the treacher- ous murder of her husband and son reached her ears, she at once escaped with her little army to Sindhkhed. In reply to her petition, the Mogul court transferred the mansab and jahgir of her husband to hie brother, Bhotaji- rao. This branch of the Jadhav family remained true to the Mogul sovereigns to the last day of the empire and rendered distinguished and loyal service to their Mogul masters.

The Rajah Shahaji was then at the fort of Parinda and having conquered the adjoining territory reigned there an absolute master. When be heard of the treacherous circum- stances of his father-in-law's murder, he saw that it was useless any more to try to get reconciled with the Nizam Shaha or lead the Nizami standards, as he had done on many a battlefield in the past, in the impending struggle with the Moguls. He was convinced that Murteza was an irredeemably treacherous and vindictive man. Shahaji accordingly resolved to conquer whatever territory he could and make himself independent. In consequence of this plan he reduced all the country from Sangamner to Poona under his personal sway and captured all the forts in the neigh- bourhood. In the confusion of these conquests, certain parts of the Bijapur kingdom came in for a share of his acts of violence. It was but natural that the Bijapur authorities should resent his encroachment upon their dominions, and eend a general at the head of a large army to chastise his audacity. This general conquered some of Shabaji's districts and captured Poona, consigning to flames Shahaji's mansion in that town. Shahaji did not yet feel himself strong enough, to challenge the large Bijapur army. He, therefore, again

chery in the durbar. The Easctfin-i-Salatin relates the story of Jadhavrao V murder in full, and this version agrees with the one followed in the text. Some chronicles change the name of Bhotaji into Vithoji or Nathuji, perhap? fche same as Jagdevrao. Vide Abdul Hamid in Elliot VII, page 11.

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 25

had recourse to the friendly aid of Shrinivasrao of Junnar. When the tide of the Bijapur invasion had ebbed away, Shahaji once more emerged from the hospitable walls of Jnnnar, on a new career of adventure. He found the fort of Pamegad in an utterly dismantled and abandoned condi- tion. He repaired and fortified this fort, named it Shamgad and made it his head-quarters1. From this fort he re- covered in gradual succession nearly all his old fortresses and possessions, assembled a force of five or six thousand and subjugated all the territory from Junnar and Sangamner to Ahmednagar and Dowlatabad. He also captured the Baleghat district. %

About this time the redoubted Mogul commander, Khan Jahan Lodi, had suffered an eclipse of the imperial favour. He had deserted from the service of the emperor Shaha Jahan and found shelter with the government of Ahmednagar. A mighty army was sent after him from Delhi. Khan Jahan found many warm partisans among the lauded gentry and nobility of the south, the deshmukhs and jahgirdara of the Ahmeduagar kingdom, who espoused his cause and made it their own. This was the beginning of a prolonged war with the Moguls. Shahaji took up his cause and rendered him such valuable assistance that for a long time the Mogul armies made little head-way in the field. When the news of these events reached the ears of Shaha Jahan, he at once perceived that the sinister conjunc- tion of the Nizamshahi sultan and the Maratha nobility with the forces of Khan Jahan Lodi portended disaster to the Mogul crown, and nothing but an immediate annihila- tion of the forces of Khan Jahan and his confederate partisans would avert the danger. With this conviction he marched to the Deccan in person and issued a proclama-

1 The names are variously given as Bhimgad for Pamegad and Shaha- gad for Shamgad ( BascUin-i-Sal(ttin,-p&ge 441). This confusion or variation of names is found in nearly all the chronicle authorities. Bhimgad or Pame- gad was the fort where Shahaji ruled afterwards in the name of the puppet prince he had set up.

_'t; LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

tion that whosoever aided or abetted or sympathised with Lodi would be considered by him his personal enemy and would be utterly extirpated by the Mogul army. He then despatched his army in three divisions, under three differ- ent commanders, against Lodi and his 'confederates. Lodi was too weak to withstand these tremendous forces and fled southward, imploring the assistance of Bijapur. But that state held wisely aloof. Lodi directed his flight again northwards in the direction of Dowlatabad and was re-inforced by the Nizam Shahi sultan. The result was a pitched battle between the Mogul and Nizami armies, in which the former were victorious. Thus with his hopes frustrated on all sides, Lodi with his chosen horse, deter- mined to make his way to the north and escape to Kabul. The Mogul armies pursued him so relentlessly that at length driven to utter despair, Lodi turned upon his pursuers with a handful of his loyal supporters and fell fighting bravely.

Upon the destruction of the forces of Khan Jahau Lodi Shahaji was in extreme terror lest Shaha Jahan should carry out his threats and turn the vanguard of the Mogul army upon his possessions. He found but one expedient to save himself from such a dire contingency, and that was to tender his submission to the Mogul Court, procure an amnesty for his offences in the past and offer to take service in the Mogul army. He began his overtures for peace on these lines, through Azim Khan, a nobleman of the Mogul court. He memorialized the emperor to the effect that he was ready to join the Mogul service, and if a promise of pardon and safety were vouchsafed to him he would throw himself on the emperor's mercy. Shaha Jahan had already received personal proofs of Shahaji's valour and bravery. He also thought that the active co-operation of a powerful ohief and practised general like Shahaji would be of the highest advantage in the accomplishment of: the great object of his life, namely, the extinction of the Ahmednagar kingdom. He, therefore, acceded to Shahaji's request and

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 27

giving him his royal promise of pardon invited him to a -conference. Shahaji went to meet the emperor with his corps of two thousand horse. He was received with great honour and a mansab of five1 thousand was conferred upon him. in addition to which he received some districts2. Shaha Jahan went so far as even to give mansabs to the relatives and dependents of Shahaji, among them to Kheloji, the son of his uncle Vithoji, who attended Shahaji on this occa- sion, This event took place in 1629. The districts of Junnar and Sangamner now came under Shahaji.

About this time there was a great famine in the Deccan, the greatest severity of which fell upon the inhabitants of the Nizam Shahi state. To the horrors of famine were added the ravages of cholera. People died literally in thousands. Whole districts were depopulated. On the top of these horrors came the furies of the Mogul war. The Moguls deposed many jahagirdara and mansabdars in the Nizam Shahi kingdom ard installed their own officers in their places. Amid all these disasters, the Nizam Shaha now felt that his sceptre was falling from his grasp. Many of his greater nobles had openly gone over into the camp of the enemy, the loyalty of many others was open to question ; all had been tampered with. In his despair he began to re- flect upon the causes of these evils. He somehow persuaded himself that his new vizier was at the bottom of his present misfortunes. He accordingly proceeded to depose this vizier, released Fatteh Khan from his captivity and again placed him at the head of affairs. The deposed vizier

1 Some of the Marathi chronicles describe Shahaji's mansab as a com- mand of twenty. two thousand horse, and Khafi Khan rates it at 6000 per- sonal and 5000 horse. (Llliot Vll. 15.)

2 These districts probably include Ahmednagar to which Shivaji at a later date laid claim. Some Bakhars state (and this is supported by the Badishahinamah) that Kheloji mentioned in this connection was later on apprehended and executed by Aurangzeb. It would seem that the Marathi chronicles have exaggerated the value of the mansabs. According to the Badishahinamah, Shahaji's mansab amounted to five thousand horse, but his

•relatives were given separate mansabs in their own right.

28 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

Takribkhan was not a man to brood over his degradation in silence; he openly joined the enemy. The Moguls appointed, him a commander of 6000 and retained him in their service for the operations of the war.

No sooner had Fatteh Khan been restored to the vizier- ship than he began to concert a plot to revenge himself upon the sultan for his heartless ingratitude towards him- self. He caused a rumour to be circulated that the sultan- had gone mad and had him placed in confinement under this pretence. The sultan thus placed at his mercy was secretly strangled to death. This atrocious deed was fol- lowed by the simultaneous massacre of some twenty-five of the prominent nobles, who were partisans of the king. By such infernal plans did Fatteh Khan endeavour to concen- trate all authority in his own hands, and in order to secure permanently to himself the absolute power which he had thus usurped, he petitioned the Emperor Shaha Jahan, stating that in doing what he had done he only wanted to give a practical proof of his anxiety to remain and be reckoned upon as a loyal vassal of the empire, and that for the present he had placed on the Nizam Shahi throne a puppet prince of ten years, the son of the late sultan, and requested the favour of the emperor's orders in the matter. Shaha Jahan was a shrewd and astute statesman. He could at once read between the lines of this petition what the secret aims and objects of Fatteh Khan were. He reflected that most of the provinces of the Nizam Shihi kingdom were already in his grasp, and only a few hill-forts, more or less strongly fortified, remained to be taken. He thought he could get Fatteh Khan to play into his hands so as to secure all his objects. With this view he sen* orders to Fatteh Khan that the imperial pleasure was that all the state jewels from the Nizam Shahi treasury and the state elephants should be sent to the imperial camp, that all the territory which still remained with Ahmednagar should, remain under the rule of the young Nizam Shahi king, and

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 29

that special lands would be assigned to Fatten. Khan in jahgir. Fatten Khan was at fir»t very indignant at the imperial demands. He could by no means make up his mind to send away the state jewels and elephants. Shaha Jahan sent a large army to overawe him into submission. Fatteh Khan had no resources to maintain a contest with the Moguls. Alarmed at this measure, he bad no alternative but to bow to the imperial pleasure, to undertake to cede all the valuables demanded of him without protest, and to crown all, to pay an indemnity of eight lakhs of rupees in cash and agree to pay an annual tribute in future. 'When these demands were complied with, Shaha Jahan gave him permission to carry on the administration of the INizam Shahi state in the name of the young sultan, in the restricted territories assigned to him, and also completed the grant of a personal jahgir made to Fatteh Khan. In -this grant of jahgir-lands were included some districts which had been before assigned to Shahaji. At this Shahaji .took umbrage and again meditated a renunciation of the authority of the emperor and set about to carve out an independent principality for himself1.

The first step in this direction was to make his peace with the Bijapur State. He succeeded in conciliating to his interests Murarpant, the chief minister to the vizier and indeed the pillar of the Adil Shahi State, and through Mm conducted his negotiations. He drew the attention of the Bijapur Government to the absolute anarchy reigning in the Nizamshahi government and the public distrust in the administrative acts of Fatteh Khan, and urged how easy it was at the present juncture ot affairs to conquer that kingdom and even to capture its capital, tho fort of Dowlatabad itself. The garrison of the fort had lost their faith in the government; and the control of its defences was never more lax. If the Bijapur government thought it proper, now was the opportunity to send its armies against

> Abdul Hamid in Elliot Vil, 06, 37.

30 LIFE O* 8H1VAJI MAHARAJ

that fort, and Shahaji undertook in person to serve the Bijapur interests and carry the fort with that bravery and strategy that never failed him in the midst of war. The Bijapur government approved of this plan. The sultan of Bijapur thought that the accession of a powerful and experienced commander like Shahaji to his fortunes would be of inestimable advantage in confronting the Mogul armies. The Adilshahi sultan placed his army under the command of Shahaji and ordered him in concert with Mnrarpant tc advance against Dowlatabad1.

The consternation of Fatteh Khan knew no bounds, when he learnt that Shahaji having made friends with Bijapur was in full march upon Dowlatabad at the head of the Adilshahi army. He scarcely had the strength to challenge a conflict with them. He tried negotiations with the Moguls and promised to yield to them the fort of Dowlatabad, if only the state were saved from the Bijapur invasion. Shaha Jahan ordered Mohabat Khan to march to the aid of Fatteh Khan. This Mogul general came up- with the invading hosts of Bijapur and a hard fought con- tent followed. Shahaji put forth all his arts and bravery in withstanding the imperial forces, but was at length beaten back and forced to retreat on account of their over- whelming numbers2.

Shahaji and the Adilshahi ministers now thought to gain by craft what they had failed to gain by arms. Nego- tiations were secretly opened with Fatteh Khan, and he was warned that in making over the fort of Dowlatabad to the Moguls he was digging his own grave. On the other hand the Bijapur government was ready to conclude a defensive and offensive alliance with him and to keep up the friendly relations between the two states, if he placed

J Abdul Hamid's Badishahnamali ( Elliot VII, 23, 28 ) saya that the chief minister at Bijapur was then Khawas Khan, originally a slave and Kalairant (jnusician ) named Daulat. Murarpant was Khawas Khan's confidential friend and counsellor.

2 Elliot VII, 3".

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 3,

the fort of Dowlatabad in their hands and indemnified Shahaji for the losses he had sustained. Fatteh Khan was- quite won over by these promises and had the hardihood to break with his Mogul overlord. The Mogul army was lying encamped in the plain dominated by the fort. With- out any provocation he opened fire with his artillery upon the exposed army from the height of the fortress. Shahaji leading the Bijapur troops soon appeared on the scene in aid of Fatteh Khan. The battle was hotly contested. But Shahaji could effect little against the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. Victory at length declared itself in favour of the Moguls, whose general Mohabat Khan carried the fort of Dowlatabad by storm in ] 633 A. D1.

Fatteh Khan's fortunes were now at their lowest ebb. Deprived of every means of resistance, he had to surrender himself to the Moguls. He was divested of all authority and influence and compelled to retire into private life with a fixed annual pension. The puppet prince whom he had raised to the insecure throne of the Nizamshahi state was relegated to the prison-fortress of Gwalior, as was the fate of most political prisoners, and the remnants of theterritory of that state were now permanently annexed to the Mogul Empira Thus the year 1633 was the last year of the Nizamshahi dynasty of Ahmednagar. Its conquest had been the life-dream of Shaha Jahan. He experienced all the thrill of a gratified ambition. As far as the Deccan

o

went, his cares and anxieties were now at an end. Thus thought the exultant emperor. Little did he dream that the now vanquished Shahaji would again rise from his fall and attempt to revive the extinct monarchy. Little did he dream that the same old battles would have to be fought over again.

During the last campaign the Mogul commander had tried his utmost to bring Shahaji into difficulties. While the Mogul siege-lines were lying round Dowlatabad, Shahaji

* Vide: Abdul Hamid's Badishahnamah in Elliot, VII, 36, 37.

32 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

caused constant diversions amongst them by his nightly attacks and surprises. In order to wreak revenge upon Shahaji for these constant incursions, Mohabat Khan hit upon the unchivalrous plan of surprising Shahaji's wife Jijabai at her residence at Byzapur, and by fair or foul means bringing her a captive to the Mogul camp. Now, as fortune would have.it, the governor of a Nizamshahi fort had just deserted to the Mogul camp and wanted to transfer 1iis services to the emperor. As an earnest of his good faith •and loyalty he was ordered to effect the arrest of Jijabai at Byzapur, and he was asked to trust for all the rest to the imperial favour should he be so fortunate as to pass this test. These conditions were accepted by the commander. He exhausted all his ingenuity and ultimately succeeded in capturing Jijabai and bringing her down into the Mogul Camp. But the brother of Lukhji Jadhav was in the Mogul service and was indeed present in the camp itself. He was naturally much irritated at what had just occurred. He interceded with the general, urging as was well known that the families of Jadhavrao and Shahaji were at daggers drawn with each other and that on this account Shahaji had aban- doned his wife and son and bad two or three years previously married Tukabai, a daughter of the Mohite family. In consequence it was urged that Jijabai and Shahaji ~\vere very much at variance with each other, that the arrest of his wife was in no way an injury to Shahaji, but on the other hand, as she was a daughter of the Jadhav family, it would be a gross affront and insult to that noble family. This argument carried weight with the Khan and he made over Jijabai to the protection of the Jadhav, who sent her back in safety to Kondana, one of the hill-forts under Shahaji. Thus was a great danger averted from the infant career of the great empire-builder who is the subject of our biography1.

1 Byzapur or bezapur is 25 miles west of Aurangabad. Aa may be

inferred from Abdul Uamid (Elliot Vlf, 15, 17} it came into Shahaji's

occupation after Junnar and Sang-unner, perhaps as part of hia jahgir from

be Moguls when he left Khan Jehan Lodi and was co-operating with Azam

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 33*

Repulsed in the manner described above the Bijapur troops were forced to retire, and Shahaji also had to retire with them. But he did not lose heart under this defeat and disappointment. His ardour and enthusiasm were as fresh as ever; his defeat served to enkindle them all the more. He resolved to restore the Nizamshahi dynasty that had just been extinguished by the Moguls. The task he had pro- posed to himself was not a light one. It meant a deadly- encounter with a formidable foe like the Mogul. Instead of returning to Bijapur with the retreating army, he left it on the way and marched from Nasik to Bhimgad. This fort had all along been in his control. He mustered an army in its mountain fastnesses, aud whttnhis muster had swollen considerably in numbers, he pro^»ded to wrest from the Moguls all the districts from Poonlnind. Chakan to Balaghat. In this way he went on carrying one Mogul outpost after another. Tb^t Mogul officer iu charge of the garrison of Dowlatabad, Iradatkhan by name, sought to devise some way to put an end to these encroachments of Shahaji. Shahaji's uncle Vithoji had a son of the name of Maloji Bhonsle. He formed a friendship with this man, and by his mediation he opened communications with Shahaji. He offered again to bestow on Shahaji from the emperor the old mansab of twenty-two thousand. This

Khan and other imperial generals (Vide Prof. Sarkar's article on Shahaji in the Modern Review, September 191.7). The story of Jijabai's abduction is omitted in Sarkar's Life of Shivaji, though the story of a similar abduc- tion of Kheloji Bhonsle's wife is related by him. The abduction of Jijabai is described by moat of the Marathi chronicles, and the story of the abduction of Kheloji's wife lends probability to the abduction of Jijabai. Mr. Kincaid relates the story in his History. Mr. Sardesai ( Marathi Riyasat) while relating the story avers that Jijabai was staying with her mother's relations at Byzapur. But since- Shahaji had seized possession of Nasik, Trimbak, Sangamner and other lands which he had held under the Moguls, even after defying their authority, it might well be that Byzapur was one of these places and Jijabai was living there as one of the places in her husband's possession, aud not with her mother on account of estrangement with Shahaji at his second marriage.

L. 8. 4.

U4 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

•was not acceptable to Shahaji. The time was gone when •such an offer would have brought him over1.

Shahaji maintained at this time a force of eight to ten thousand and had already won back a portion of the Nizam- shahi provinces that had fallen into the hands of the Moguls. He knew well enough that he must prepare for an attack by the great Mogul armies. He knew likewise that he was not strong enough to meet them single-handed. He saw that with- •outthe active co-operation of Bijapur his high ambition could .not be realized. The chief minister at the Bijapur court was a nobleman named Khawas Khan. Through the good •officfts of Murarpant, Shahaji opened overtures for an alliance with Bijapur, promising to revive the fallen Nizamshahi and restore the fortunes of the House of Bheiry2. Many statesmen of Bijapur doubted the expediency of this plan ; but Shahaji answered all their objections and dispelled their doubts. They wero soon assured of the -wisdom and the generosity of his plans, and subscribing to these views they undertook to render him every assistance. Between both parties a covenant was entered into to the effect that Shahaji should select an eligible descendant of the Nizamshahi family, instal him on the throne and con- duct the government of the Nizamshahi districts in his name. True to this covenant, Shahaji released a young prince of the name of Murteza who was on parole at Shri- vardhan, and crowned him king at Bhimgad, the new capi- tal. This event took place in 1634. This prince having been proclaimed as the king of the Nizamshahi state, Shahaji

1 Modak's history of the Adil Shahi Dynasty (Marathi) gives a different! version representing that the proposal here referred to emanated from a coble of the Bijapur kingdom and that a treaty was struck between Shahaji and the Bijapur Durbar by which Shahaji was to receive a mansab of 22000 liorse, and the territory of the Nizamshahi state recovered by the jointo co-operation of Shahaji and the Bijapur forces was to be equally divided hetween the two parties.

2 Bheiry or Bahiry was the nickname of the founder of the Nizam* ehahi dynasty of Ahmednagar, who ia said to have been originally a Brah- man converted to Islam.

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 35

v««

•continued the reconquest of other forts and . provinces. Admiring his pluck and daring, and pleased with his zealous allegiance to the sultan's family, the hereditary supporters of the Xizamshahi, the loyal gentry and nobility, now came over to Shahaji. The disbanded soldiery of the Nizamshahi state, who had for some time been roving over the country in search of adventures flocked to Shahaji's standards. Thus from day to day did his party wax in strength and his mili- tary resources continue to augment. Shahaji now subdued all the Konkan country which had once been under the Nizamshahi, all the territory upto Ahmednagar on the east •and the country from the Nira to the Chandor mountains in the south. Shahaji's next move was upon Junnar. .Shrinivasrao ruled there in independence. He was, as we have seen, a great friend of Shahaji. But Shahaji saw that the Nizamshahi kingdom could not regain its fallen power and prestige until the recalcitrant nobles who had declared themselves independent were brought back under its alle- giance. He, therefore, tried to conciliate Shrinivasrao into an acknowledgment of his Nizamshahi suzerain. But Shri- nivasrao was entirely governed by selfish plans. He refused to unite his powers with those of the sultan. He declined 'to accede to Shahaji's terms. Shahaji was obliged to resort to an ungenerous stratagem. He gave out that he was -desirous of entering into a marriage alliance with him, and demanded the daughter of Shrinivasrao for his son Sambhaji. Under pretence of arranging about the espousals, Shrinivas- rao was invited to a feast at Shahaji's mansion, and when he came there in answer to the invitation, he was put under arrest. The towns of Junnar, Jivdhan, Sounda, Bhorag and others which were under Shrinivasrao were now captured. The young sultan was brought up from Bhimgad to Junnar. Shahaji next proceeded to bring under his power the Abys- sinian chief, Saya Saif Khan, who like Shrinivasrao ha.d become independent at Bhiwandi and was raiding tha neighbourhood, and likewise the Abyssinian Ambar, who was pursuing the same tactics at Janjira.

36

When the emperor Shaha Jahan heard of these events- in the Deccan and learnt that the Nizamshahi dynasty had. been restored and its territory all but reconquered by Shahaji, a great army was launched against him. A great battle took place at Perinda between the Mogul army and the forces of Shahaji who was aided by Bijapur. The Mogul army was overthrown. Then the emperor ordered Khan Dowran and Khan Jeman to start with a large army and crush the insurrectionary attempts of Shahaji. But tnese commanders also were much harassed by Shahaji, who- was well supported by Randulla Khan and Murarpant of the Bijapur kingdom and had besides considerable forces of his own. This enabled him to defeat all the attempts of the Moguls against himself.

Shaha Jahan was naturally quite exasperated at the failure of these two expeditions, and what stung him especially was the support lent by Bijapur to Shahaji. Shahaji had in a short time proved the Mogul triumphs over the Nizamshahi and the extinction of that dynasty to have been a mockery. Affairs stood now in exactly the same posture in which they were at the commencement of the protracted war, and the emperor was all the more incensed when he saw that he had now to deal with an adversary of more mettle and superior powers of enterprise. In the height of his fury he declared his resolution to take the field in person with a mighty host, to crush Shahaji and force him to rentore all the territory and, if occasion arose, to extinguish the Mahomedan dynasties of Bijapur and Golconda. With this comprehensive programme before him, the Mogul came down upon the Deccan with his invading hosts.

His first manoeuvre was to separate Mahomad Adil- snaha of Bijapur from the alliance with Shahaji by threats. He sent an ambassador to Adilshaha requiring him to surrender the Nizamshahi fortresses that had been taken by him, to return the famous piece of ordnance called the

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 37

which had been transferred from the fort of Perinda to Bijapur, and not to lend any assistance to Shahaji and his partisans, with a promise that if these conditions were complied with, the emperor would make over to Bija- pur all that portion of the Konkan which had once been under the Xizamshahi, with the fort of Sholapur and all the territory within its influence. At the same time the emperor threatened to extinguish the Adilshahi Kingdom if these demands were not instantly obeyed. The sultan of Bijapur paid little heed to these demands, since Randulla •Khan and the rest cf the influential nobility were inclined to continue the alliance with Shahaji.

Seeing that this plan was frustrated, Shaha Jahan determined upon punishing the two powers together, and dividing, for this purpose, his vast army into four columns he ordered two of them to march against Shahaji and the other two to advance against Bijapur. In command of the first column against Shahaji was Shaista Khan, whose charge was to subdue Chandor, Nasik, Sangamner, and other towns and the outlying districts and forts which were under Shahaji. The other, consisting of twenty thousand horse, was under the command of Khan Jeman. His orders were to engage with Shahaji in the plains, and put him to flight, and reducing the Konkan hill-forts leave him no •rallying-ground in any part of the Nizamshahi territory.

i The name "JfcUik-i-Maidan" means "the Lord of the Field." This marvellous piece of artillery is believed to have been cast by a Constanti- nople mechanic at Ahmednagar by order of a Nizamshahi sultan. The weight of this cannon is estimated by an English military officer at 32,000 pounds avoirdupois. It is usually given as 60 candies. It is nine feet eight inches in length. The bore is so wide that it is said that a person may be easily seated in it and in that posture be able to fold his scarf into a turban round his head. This gun is reported to have been made use of in the fateful battle of Talikot which resulted in the death of Ram Rajah and the extinction of the Vijavanagar kingdom. Aurangzeb had an inscription engraved upon it in commemoration of his capture of Bijapur in 1685. The East India Company proposed to present it to King George IV in 1823, but* expert advice having proved the impracticability of hauling and transport- ing it to the coast, the plan had to be given up. The superstitious people of *he place worship the gun and call it by the name of the goddess, Mahakali.

38 LITE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

Thus at one and the same moment Shahaji had to bear the- brunt of attacks by two large Mogul armies on two different fronts. But his courage did not waver for an instant. His re- solution had been made to fight without flinching or yielding an inch of ground, and he persisted in this noble resolve to the end. He put forth all the arts of a redoubted warrior and general. His consummate strategy ,the rapidity of his move- ments, and unerring tactics drew praise even from his bitterest foes. He did his best to harass the Moguls, but their great advantage of numbers began to tell in course of time, and he had to face defeat in different directions. The Moguls took twenty-five of his forts in the districts of Nasik and Chandor. All the territory between Sholapur and Bedar slipped away from his hands. Many outposts in the Konkan were seized upon by the Moguls. Repulsed from the Konkan, Shahaji had to move to Ahmednagar and wait in ambush, Both the Mogul columns now effected a junction and inarched together upon him. Driven to great straits, he made good his escape from between their battle lines, by a most dexterous movement, and fell back upon the districts between Chambhargonde and Baramati. When the enemy followed on his rear into those parts, he diverted his flight to Kolhapur and Miraj. Receiving new reinforce- ments from Bijapur, he now turned back against the pursuing Moguls and began raiding their army and intercepting their fodder supplies. They had no energy left to give battle or to pursue Shahaji any further.

When the news of these events reached Shaha Jahan, be sent orders to Khan Jaman to let Shahaji alone, since his pursuit was attended with such severe losses to the imperial armies, and to concentrate his forces against the Bijapur territory, as on the fall of that kingdom it would take little time to subdue Shahaji. In accordance with these orders, three Mogul generals invaded the Bijapur dominions, canning havoc in all directions. Many forts and towns fell before them, and thousands of the inhabitants

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI' 2»

were taken prisoners and sold into slavery ! A large Mogul army marched straight upon Bijapur. The Sultan Adil- shaha was seized with panic. He had no power to resist. and opened negotiations. A peace was soon brought about between the two powers, on terms rather favourable to Bijapur. It was arranged by the treaty that the Adilshahi Dynasty should retain possession of the forts of Perinda and Sholapur, together with the territory between them \. that the same sultan should continue his authority over Bidar, Kalyani, and Naldurg to the east of Sholapur, and should retain the Malik-i-maidan, the famous gun for which a demand had been made before the war ; that the- parts of the Konkan that had once been held by the Nizam- shahi kings should be transferred to the Adilshahi sultan ; as also the country watered by the Bhima and the Nira upto the fort of Chakan. In return for all this territory the Adilshahi sultan was to pay an annual tribute of 12: lacs of hona (pagodas) to the Mogul emperor, and the Rajah Shahaji with his followers was to receive pardon on condition of surrendering all his forts and cannon and munitions of war. Should he not do so he was not to- obtain any shelter within the limits of the Bijapur state, who were to look upon him as a public foe of their own no less than as an enemy of the Mogul Empire.

By this treaty the kingdom of Bijapur extricated itself from its difficulties1. Shahaji now lost his great ally and was quite isolated. Undaunted by this change of circum- stances, he still held on. He was bent on fighting it out with the enemy. By the treaty with Bijapur, Shaha Jahan's armies were now free to move. They were concentrated against Shahaji. They dogged bis footsteps. Shahaji availed himself of an opportunity to descend into the Konkan, and put his remaining fortresses in readiness for a long war. Soon after the Mogul armies poured down

1 The mthleasness of the Mogul campaign can be seen from Jaduuatb. Sarkara Life of Aurangzeb, Vol. I page 37. Prof. Sarkar gives the terms of the treaty at length in the same volume, pages 38 to 40.

40 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

into the Konkan and took possession of the hill- forts one after another. A contingent from Bijapur under Randulla Khan co-operated with the Moguls. Shahaji soon found himself in great extremity, from which there was no escape possible except by submission. He petitioned the emperor for pardon and offered his services to the imperial army. His request was not complied with. In his reply the emperor reminded him of the mansab or military command that had once been conferred upon him, and how notwithstanding this he had declared hostilities with the empire, and had brought upon it immense losses by his rebellion. He could no more expect employment under the Mogul empire ; but he was free to enter the service of Bijapur. On receipt of this reply, Shahaji purchased his peace by surrendering to the emperor the puppet sultan whom he had raised to the Nizamshahi throne at Mahuli, and with the rest of his followers came down to Bijapur. ( 1637 ).

SHAHAJI IN SERVICE UNDER BIJAPUR. Shahaji was received with great honour by the Adil- shahi sultan and the statesmen of that court like Randulla Khan. He was retained in the service of the court with "his great retinue. They indeed considered the accession of such a brave, daring, and experienced general a peculiar piece of good fortune to the Adilshahi State. By the recent treaty with the Moguls, Shabaji's jahgir lands had passed over to the Bijapur kingdom. Out of these, Poona and Supa were now continued to him in jahgir1. The charge of administering these jabgirs was entrusted by Shahaji to a capable and faithful Brahman minister, named Dadaji Kondadev, and a force of a thousand cavalry was kept with 'him for defence of the jahgir2. In command of this cavalry force was Hilal, an Abyssinian officer.

* The Rairi Bakhar represents this grant to have been made by Marar- pant, on Shahaji's return from the siege of Dowlatabad.

2 Dadaji Kondadev was Patwari of Multhan, a Mouza- of Poona Prant. Afterwards he is mentioned in records as " Subhedar, FortKondana" or «« Muzumdar, Junnar Subha " (Rajwade: Vol. XVIII, 19 and Chitnis, 19).

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 41

The Bijapur state had entered on the task of restoring order to the province between the Bhima and the Nira, which had been made over to it by the Moguls. That -government got Shahaji to accompany their general, when he set out for this province, as Shahaji knew the district so well Shahaji rendered him very valuable assistance, for he was as good a politician as he was a brave general. The governor1 highly appreciated the manifold talents of his gifted assistant, and the appreciation soon ripened into a close friendship. On his return from this duty he highly •extolled Shahaji's abilities and urged the sultan to make much of an officer who combined in himself the virtues of war and peace in such an eminent degree. He recommended the sultan to reward his services by every mark of the royal favour and encourage him by all means in his power to remain loyally with the master with whom he had now staked his fortunes.

Some of the Bakhara mention the following anecdote of the ingenuity by which Shahaji had won over the favour of the Adil Shahi minister, Murarpant. The story belongs to the period when at the suggestion of Shahaji the Bijapur army was sent against the fort of Dowlatabad under the command of Murarpant. While the army was on the march it happened that there took place an eclipse of the sun2. Murarpant was then encamped at Nagargaon at the con- fluence of the Bhima and the Indrayani; and true to Hindu superstition he made the eclipse an occasion for dispensing

1 According to the Marathi chronicles Shahaji's first campaign under Bijapur took place as an assistant to Murarpant (1637). But Prof. Sarkar has proved in his article in the Modern Review (Sept. 1917), that Murar was executed about 1 635 or 36. Prof. Sarkar bases this story on a passage in the Ba^atin-i-Salatin.

2 This eclipse took place in Shaka year 1555 (1633 A. D.) on new moon day in the month of Bhadrapad (September). An account of this event is given in the Bharat-Itihas Sanshodhak Mandali's Year Book for 1912, page 69.

42 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

various kinds of charity1. Among other acts of charity,. Murarpant thought of weighing his elephant against silver and distributing the treasure among Brahmans. But then arose the perplexing question, how to weigh the elephant. No one could make a practical suggestion until it came to Shahaji's turn, who hit upon the following method to weigh the unwieldy beast. Shahaji suggested that the elephant, should be embarked on a boat, and a mark should be made of the extent to which it sank in the water under the weight of the beast. Then the elephant should be removed and the boat filled with large stones until it should sink in the water to the same extent as before. Lastly the stones should be taken out and severally weighed, and the total arrived at would give the weight of the elephant. This simple expedient, which, however, because of its very simplicity perhaps occurred to no one else present, won him great admiration from Murarpant, who, when the weighing ceremony was done, gave to the Brahmans lands worth the weight of the silver.

After returning from this expedition, Shahaji did not make a long sojourn at Bijapur. Immediately in the following year, the Adil Shahi sultan determined to subjugate the various Hindu polygar chief sin the Karnatic and thus to extend his dominions. Randulla Khan was placed in command of this expedition with the title of Sir LashJcar (Chief Commander), and Shahaji was sent with him as his deputy. In order that Shahaji might devote himself entirely to this cause in co-operation with Randulla Khan, the sultan promised to give him a jahgir out of the conquered territory. By Shahaji's enthusiastic co-operation, the expedition was crowned with success. The war with the polygars lasted for two or three years, and many of them were utterly defeated. The bakhara mention one or two of these contests. They speak of a certain Raya

1 Thia village ( viz. Nagargaon) received in commemoration of this elephant weighing incident the name of Tulapur. The story that Aurang- zeb gave this name to the place is therefore a myth.

THE CAREER OF SHA.HAJI 4fc

Rayal, who was probably a distant survivor of the royal' family of Vijayanagar, otherwise known as Shri Ranga Rayal. He was raising his head in the Karnatic and harassed the districts there that had been conquered by Bijapur. Shahaji defeated him in two decisive engagements and conquered the districts of Akalkote,Bagalkote, Bangalore, Vaskote, Balapore and Shirta from him. By these conquests Shahaji earned the high favour of Randulla Khan, who, on the return of the expedition, frequently extolled his services in the presence of the sultan. The sultan was pleased with Shahaji's valour and gave him the conquered provinces in jahgir. Not long after, the districts of Ratanpore, Deogad, Kanakgiri, and Rajdurg were added to his jahgir, and his Maharashtra jahgir likewise received the addition of Indapar, Baramati,. and Maval. In addition to all this, the deahmukhi of twenty- two villages in the Karhad district was conferred upon Shahaji.

Thus in the service of the Bijapur state, Shahaji had at last found a good arena for the display of his talents,, and, to his credit be it said, the sultan showed high appreciation of Shahaji's virtues. The sultan was con- vinced that Shahaji was one of the most competent and loyal of his servants. It was no mean task to restore order and establish a good system of administration in the Kar- natic and Dravid parts that had been so recently brought under the Bijapur kingdom. The sultan also saw that none but the most capable and devoted of his governors would be able to administer the newly acquired territory. The lead- ing politicians of the state concurred in the opinion that Shahaji was the most competent officer for this high post, and Shahaji was duly appointed and sent to this new pro- vince The province, having been but lately annexed to the Bijapur kingdom, was full of disorder and anarchy. It was the task of the new governor to extirpate the ele- ments of disorder and misrule and establish the authority of Bijapur on a sound basis. In a short time Shahaj i

44

achieved these objects. Anarchy and misrule melted away before him. A new revenue settlement was introduced in the province, which, while it made the people happy and properous, resulted in a substantial addition to the royal treasury. In order to maintain the finances in order, Shahaji brought over from Maharashtra a battalion of Brahman finance-clerks or karkuns. The descendants of these men brought over to the Karnatic in the times of Shahaji are still to be found there bearing the various office names of Deshmukh, Deshpande, Kulkarni, Shirestadar etc. Shahaji had learnt his lessons in finance at the feet of Malik Ambar, and the true disciple of such an illustrious master was not to be dismayed by the finance problems of the Karnatic. What is truly to be commended in him is not that he did not harass or oppress his Karnatic subjects, but that in all his endeavours, he made it a particular point to cultivate their love and friendly sympathy. He was care- ful to send regularly to Bijapur the annual quota of revenue from the Karnatic and to retain a substantial surplus with himself.

On going down to the Karnatic, Shahaji at first resided at Bangalore. When tranquillity was restored to the country he made Balapore bis headquarters. At that time a powerful prince of the name of Vijay Raghav reigned at Tanjore. He was at enmity with the Rajah of Trichinopoly. The latter made an alliance with Shahaji against Tanjore, offering to make a united war against Tanjore and conquer its territory, and promising to contri- bute five lakhs of rupees to Shahaji for his war expenses and all the booty. Shahaji invaded the principality of Vijay Raghav. The prince was defeated and fell on the field of tattle. Tanjore fell into the hands of Shahaji, who found an immense treasure there. Shahaji saw that Tanjore was indeed a fertile and wealthy country and determined to retain possession of it. He gave the Rajah of Trichi- Jiopoly to understand that he meant to keep Tanjore and

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 4cT

he need not make any payment for the expenses of the war. The Rajah was irritated at this reply and declared war. He was defeated, and his principality too fell into Shahaji's hands. The Bijapur government confirmed him in posses- sion of these new territories1.

When we survey these events of the career of Shahaji, a question that naturally and inevitably arises in our mind is how a spirit, so war-like and heroical, could choose to remain humbly contented with servile vassalage tq the throne of Bijapur. How could he, who was not dazzled by the pomp and splendour of Mogul power, and who set at nought the much vaunted strength of the imperial armies, forget his own worth, set aside his own ambitions and be content to attach himself to the waning fortunes of the Adil Shahi dynasty? The explanation is to be found in Shahaji's charac- ter. He was a cautious and far-sighted statesman. He was not a man to be misled by a passing caprice, or to be betrayed into a rash or irrevocable act by passion. The true statesman must at all times act with circumspection. He mast weigh time and circumstance. Situated as he was Shahaji had constantly to trim his sails according as the wind blew in order to save his fortunes from destruction. When the Nizamshahi dynasty was extinguished by the Moguls, he strove to re-kindle its dying splendour with the help of Bijapur. But the emperor separated Bijapur from this coalition by tempting offers and the vanquished Nizam- shahi dominions were divided between the two powers. This conjunction of powers had proved too strong for the single-handed resistance of Shahaji. He could count upon no support. Further resistance or endeavour to re-conquer the lost territory would bring down the united Mogul and Bijapur hosts upon himself. To enter upon a conflict with

1 Jonathan Scott and the author of the Bundela Memoirs (Naskha-i- Dilkasha) give a different account. According to these authors the quarrel was between the Rajah of Tanjore, whose name is mentioned as Panchi Rangu, and the polygar Naik Janjappa of Mudgal, the latter of whom, enlisted the assistance of Shahaji and the occupation of Tanjore by Shahaji led to a subsequent war between him and the chief of Mudgal.

46 LIFE OF SHIVJI MAHARAJ

such mighty powers was to invite his own destruction. Under the circumstances it seemed far more to his own interest to acquire a permanent jahgir and watch future events. It was no doubt with such motives that he had •entered the service of the Bijapur Government.

When he had earned the favour and confidence of the Adilshahi sultan and obtained the governorship of the Karnatic, Shahaji began gradually to develop his higher ambition. 'Some historians confidently assert that it was his object to lay the foundation of an independent princi- pality in the Karnatic1. His object in endeavouring to earn the popularity and grateful affection of his people was that he might confidently rely upon their zealous co-opera- tion should he ever come into a collision with the Bijapur sultan. That his conduct was shaped by some such motives becomes evident, when we consider that the deeds of grants and other aanads that he issued, some of which are still extant among the people of the Karnatic, make no mention of their proceeding from the higher authority of the sultan, but record the gifts as emanating from the durbar or court of the Eajah Shahaji Bhonsle. There is another piece of evidence bearing on his latent ambition. When Shivaji began to raid the Bijapur territory, the noblemen of this court began openly to murmur that Shahaji must be in collusion with his audacious son, and the sultan wrote to Shahaji on the subject, requiring him to bring back his rebel son to a sense of his duty. Shahaji replied to the court that lie had renounced his first wife and her son and married another, and that for some time he had no kind of Communication with them. The government was at liberty to take against them such steps as they liked. It seems that the Adilshahi sultan was at this time quite satisfied with this reply and did not in any manner proceed against Shahaji. It is quite clear, however, that this reply was a mere subterfuge. For, if Shahaji had really been out of sympathy with the daring and adventurous career which i Wilks's History of Mysore. (Vol. I, page 75 et aeq)

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 47

Shivaji had just embarked upon, it was within both Shahaji's power and interest to put an end to his michievous enter- prise. But in excusing himself, under the pretext that he had nothing to do with his son and in refusing responsibi- lity for his acts, he only masked his real feelings under a cloak of disapproval. But it should be transparent to every student of history, that in reality he thought Shivaji's acts to be in agreement with his own deeper projects1.

In course of time Shivaji's rebellious attitude became more pronounced. The Bijapur kingdom could put up with it no longer and determined that it was time to punish the father for the acts of the son. Notwithstanding the assurances of Shahaji their suspicions were re-awakened. The durbar was the more inclined to suspect collusion in view of the practical independence achieved by Shahaji himself in the Karnatic and the measures he was pursuing for the accomplishment of his object. The Bijapur autho- rities entrusted the task of arresting Shahaji for punishment to Baji Ghorpade, chief of Mudhol. To defeat Shahaji in the open field and take him prisoner was no easy task ; for a general like the Ghorpade it was well-nigh impossible. He, who had so often eluded the Mogul armies and baffled the .most renowned of Mogul generals, was not likely to fall easily into the hands of a second-rate officer of the Bijapur state. Ghorpade never dreamt of achieving such a feat. He resorted to stratagem. He invited Shahaji to an entertainment and had him arrested as an unsuspecting guest2. When his capture was thus made by treachery,

1 Shahaji has aptly been called a king-maker; but the fact that his greatness was eclipeed by that of his greater son has been partly the cause of his claims to greatness not receiving the proper acknowledgment. It is only now that his real greatness is beginning to be realized even among the Mara*.hag. Vide Mr. Sardesai's "History of Modern India" part II, Vol. I, page 157, second edition. (iJarathi).

2 The account in Modak's History differs widely from the generally accepted story given in the text. According to Modak's account Shahaji, having made himself independent of Mustapha Khan, his colleague in the Karnatic, was suddenly fallen upon and apprehended by Baji Ghorpade,

48 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

Shabaji was lying encamped at Jirawady near Chandawar ( Jinji ). How Shivaji at the command of his father retaliated upon the Ghorpade for this act of treachery will be described at the proper place.

When Shahaji was thus arrested and brought to Bijapur, the sultan meditated his execution. After much discussion it was finally resolved that he should be confined in a stone dungeon, which was entirely closed in except for a small aperture; and it was threatened that if within a certain time Shivaji should not make his submission the aperture would be for ever closed and he be buried alive. The details of this story will be given in their proper place in a subsequent chapter1. Suffice it to say here that the Adil Shahi sultan must have had some substantial grounds for entertaining such a suspicion and peremptorily threatening the execution of such a valiant and influential officer as Shahaji. Shivaji extricated himself from this dilemma by negotiations with the Moguls2. Although on account of this interven- tion of the emperor the sultan did not dare to execute Shahaji, still he decided not to send him again to the Kar- natic, but to detain him as a prisoner at large at Bijapur. During this period Shivaji made no disturbance in the Bijapur territory. Shahaji won over the politicians of th&

under the orders of Mustapha Khan. Shahaji's party was taken by surprise and Shahaji himself was captured in an attempt to mount and ride off from, the scene of the unexpected encounter. The Jedhe Chronology (Bharat- Itihas-Sanshodhak Mandal, Chaturtha Sammelan Vritta, page 179) says that Shahaji was arrested near Jinji by Mustapha Khan, which would mean, that Ghorpade acted as Mustapha's agent.

1 Vide Chapter VIII.

2 According to some Bakhary Shahaji's deliverance was due to the intervention of his tried friend Randulla Khan. The Rairi lakhar improves upon the story by a romantic account of Shahaji's impending execution already decreed by the sultan (who had prepared dispatches to that effect addressed to Baji Ghorpade) being averted by Bandulla, threatening to turn fakir and leave the court service for a pilgrimage to Mecca. In this way by his adroitness he is said to have obliged the sultan to yield to his wishes, •nd thus saved the life of his veteran comrade.

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 4»

Bijapur state and, re-establishing confidence in his good faith, recovered his governorship and was again sent to the Karnatic.

Thus relieved from immediate danger. Shahaji kept up ostensibly the most loyal and cordial relations with Bijapur. But to the end of his life he never abandoned his plans of aggrandizing his power so as to declare one day his independence. Of the further events of his life no historical records are available. The accounts of the Bijapur wars in the Karna+ic given by Mahomedan historians are very meagre, and here and there we meet with occasional references to the brave services of Shahaji. The jahgir he had received in the Karnatic from tUjMiiapur government he enjoyed for life and it was consid^lK* augmented from time to time. We have already nan ited the circumstances under which he had got possession of Tanjorejiad-Trichino- poly. In addition to these places, he exercised sovereignty over the fort of Ami, Porto Novo, and other towns.

Away from far-off Maharashtra tales were brought from time to time of the successful endeavours of his son Shivaji to lay the foundations of an independent monarchy. vhahaji. was exceedingly gratified with these early indications of a noble career and had a vehement yearning to embrace such a valiant son. But the activities of Shivaji lay on the western outskirts of the Bijapur kingdom, and Shahaji had no opportunity for a long time to gratify his desire. Fortu- nately a few years later, a truce was effected between Shivaji and Bijapur, and the suspension of hostilities gave Shahaji an opportunity to visit his home in Maharashtra with the permission of the sultan and to meet Shivaji1. Shahaji might have complied with Shivaji's urgent wishes and stayed in Maharashtra for the rest of his life. But when'he received the sultan's permission to visit Maharashtra it was on the dis- tinct understanding that he was to return to the Karuatio and on no account to unite with his son. Had he broken

i Vide Chapter XIV. 1*8. I

•50 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHABAJ

this covenant, the sultan would certainly have confiscated his possessions in the Karnatic. Shahaji had no desire to Jose the fruits of his toils, and so returned to the Karnatic.

Shahaji did not live long after this visit to his son; he died within two years. The story of his death is as foltows: Two polygars of Bednore, Bhadrappa Naik and Shivappa Naik harassed the Bijapur dominions. The sultan com- missioned Shahaji and Sarja Khan with the duty of subduing these chiefs. Shahaji defeated Bhadrappa Naik and forced him to come to terms. He surrendered the territory he had conquered from the Bijapur kingdom and became a vassal of Bijapur with certain jahgir lands. The Adil- shahi sultan was pleased with this last service of Shahaji, wrote him a congratulatory lotter upon his victory and presented him with a robe of honour, horses, elephants and other ornaments and marks of the royal favour. The politicians of the state, each in his turn, sent congratula- tory epistles. While engaged upon these operations, Shahaji one day went out on a hunting expedition to a village named Bandekir1. He was hunting a hare, and while riding impetuously after the game, his horse's hoof was caught in a fissure, and both horse and rider came to the ground. Shahaji was kicked by his horse and immediately killed. His followers came searching for him and seeing him dead, brought up his son Venkoji, who performed 'his funeral obsequies. Shahaji was seventy years of age at his death, which took place in January 1664. The sultan sent to Venkoji a letter of condolence and robes of honour confirming his succession to his father's position. A tomb was erected on the place where Shahaji died and under a sanad or charter of the Bijapur state the revenues of the village were get apart for its maintenance.

Shahaji had three sons, of whom the eldest, Sambhaji, was born at Dowlatabad in 1623 to his first wife Jijabai, during their residence at that fort. Shahaji loved him very affectionately and always had him in his company. In 1653

* On the Tungabhadra; elsewhere called basavapattan.

THE CAREER OF SHAHAJI 51

Sainbhaji was killed in an assault upon, the fort of Kanak- giri. The chief of Kanakgiri had long been guilty of aggression upon the district of Balapore, one of Shahaji's possessions. Sambhaji was deputed by his father to pro- ceed with a force to punish this refractory prince. Sambhaji laid siege to the fort of Kanakgiri and opened a cannonade upon its walls, but himself fell a victim to a cannon shdt.1 His death was a great shock to Shahaji. His desire for vengeance was stirred to its depths. He himself headed a force against Kanakgiri, utterly defeated the chief and took the fort by assault. On this occasion the chief of Kanak- giri had been secretly aided by Afzul Khan, a distin- guished officer in the Bijapur service. Shahaji had a great desire to avenge himself upon Afzul Khan, but, . dreading the displeasure ol the sultan, abstained from this step. Little did he dream at that moment that Afzul Khan was destined to expiate this deed with his life and that the death of Sambhaji was shortly to be avenged by his youn- ger but greater brother2.

The circumstances uncjer which Jijabai was left behind at the fort of Shivneri, at the critical period when Lukhji Jadhav was in hot pursuit of his son-in-law have already been described at tho beginning of this chapter. Shivaji, the subject of this history, was born here in 1627. This vwas the second son Shahaji had by Jijabai. In 1630 Shahaji married Tukabai of the Mohite family. By her he had a son, Venkoji, who was born in 1631. On tho

1 According to another account Sambhaji held a jahgir in his own right from the Bijapur state and was done to death by poison administered by the

• queen of Mahomed Adil Shaba, familiarly known as the Bari Saheba. The '•Shivdigvijaya" bakhar slightly differs from the account followed in the text, in that it says that Kanakgiri was part of Shahaji's jahgir, but the forb was usurped by the chief Appa Khan.

2 The date 1653 assigned in the text as the year of the death of Sambhaji ie bised on the authority of Grant Pnff and the Marathi chronicles. But on the authority of certain stone inscriptions discovered in the Karnatic the question is raised whether he did not live up to the year 1063. Vide Paran- oia' a "History of the Tanjore Dynast}" in his "ItihaJt S&ngraha" 1912, foot, note at page 23-

52 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

conquest of the district of Chandawar, Shahaji kept Tukabai and Venkoji there. On the death of Shahaji, Venkoji succeed- ed to the entire jahgir in the Karnatic. Some years after- wards Shivaji marched upon the Karnatic for a share of the paternal jahgir, but the history of this expedition will; be chronicled at the proper place.1 It is said that on his return from Shivaji's realm, the aged Shahaji called his younger son and addressed to him words of advice as follows : "Thy elder brother," exclaimed Shahaji, "has by his heroic enterprise secured a kingdom for himself. Thou art to succeed to my possessions in these parts, and as such thou shalt look after the family of my uncle, Vithoji, and my brother Sharif ji. Thou shalt govern thy possessions with justice and mercy. It is the grand plan of thy elder brother to be a world-conqueror and if by God's grace his noble ambition is realized, he will be the protector of all our family. But if by mischance he should meet with any vicissitudes of fortune, remember, my son, that I have acquired for you both this jahgir, with the full consent and sanction of the sultan. Remember that I leave it in trust for you both, though thou shalt have its immediate usufruct. Remember thou art my favourite son and the brother of the valorous Shivaji. Hearken to the advice of my chosen and trusty servants and thy path shall be thorn- less in this world."

Vide Chapter XXVI.

CHAPTER III THE CHILDHOOD OF SHIVAJI

WE have already described in the last chapter how Jijabai far advanced in pregnancy was left behind at the fort of Shivneri, while Shahaji was being pursued by Lukhji Jadhav past the confines of the Nizamshahi king- dom. To look after his wife, Shahaji had detached from his secretarial staff three officers noted for their personal devotion towards himself. These were Balkrishnapant Hanumante, Sharnrao Nilkant and Raghunath Ballal Korde.1 The Jadhav had also on meeting his daughter at Shivneri deputed some men from his staff for her protection. She also seems to have found a watchful protector in Shrinivas- rao of Junnar. Though we find ker thus living in compa- rative safety amidst the troublous storms that were beating about her on all sides, a secret sorrow and anxiety seem to have preyed upon her mind as to the fate of her husband and her first-born, a child of three or four years, whom she had been compelled to part with at a time when they were fugitives before the vindictive rage of her father. Amidst these tormenting cares and anxieties, she made a solemn vow to Shiwai, the guardian divinity of the fortress, that if by her favour the gloomy clouds should be dispelled from Shahaji's fortunes and she delivered of a male child she would christen him after the goddess's name, as the fruit of her divine favour. The founder of the Maratha Empire was born on the 10th of April 1627 ( Monday, the -5th of the first half of Vaiahakh of the Shaka year 1549).*

1 In Malhar Ramrao'a bakhar Hanumante's name is given as Krishna] i Hanumante. Instead of Shamrao Nilkant some chronicles give the name Sbankraji Nilkant. Malhar Ramrao mentions a fourth officer Sonopanb Dabir. Sabhasad in his well known bakhar says that these officers were sent with Jijabai from Bengalore.

2 There are discrepancies about the date in the various bakhars. Malhar Ramrao and Shivadigvijaya give the second of the first half ot Vaishakh aq the date and Thursday as the day of the week. But the date

and day d o not seem to agree. The Rairi'a bakhar giving the same date and -day as in the text gives the year aa S^aka 1648. Here again the date and

54 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

The birth of this child, reserved by the call of heaven for such momentous events in the history of the Indian Empire, took place at a time of great political upheavals in the Deccan. He was born, however, in the comparatively secluded and at that time neglected neighbourhood of Poona. Shivneri is within fifty miles of that town. This was an. event of great rejoicing in the little colony of exiles and refugees at Shivneri, and was celebrated with such pride and pomp as their present means and the humble circum- stances of the place afforded. Women from the neighbour- ing villages coming to the fort with provisions were enter- tained with hospitality in honour of the joyful event aud presented with gifts at their departure. Shahaji who was then at Bijapur had the news sent to him by special messen- gers, who received handsome rewards from the delighted father for the joyful tidings they had brought to him. The child was christened Shivaji after the goddess Shivai, m consequence of the vow made to that effect by Jijabai.

Jijabai spent three years at this fortress in company with her son. She was probably transferred to Byzapur from this place, for it will be remembered that in 1633, as described in the last chapter, she was captured by the Mogul army at Bijapur. On her release from the Mogul camp she was removed to the fort of Koudana by Jagdeorao Jadhav, and she seems again to have passed a part of her life at Shivneri and the fort of Mahuli. It does not transpire where she found safety during the tumultuous period of the interminable contests between the Moguls and Shahaji which then set in. So much at any rate is clear that she

day cannot agree. In Wilks's History of Mysore and the Chronicle called the bakhar of the Maratha Swarajya the same date is followed as in the text. Calculations of an astronomical character upon certain data furnished by Mr. Kashinath Krishna Lele to the Kavyetihas >5angraha are in accord with the time followed in the text here. Vide Rajwade's "Marathyanchya Itihasachi Sadhane" (Materials for the History of the Marathas, Section IV.) The Shedgaokar bakhar gives Saturday the 3rd of the first hall of Vaiehaih, Shaka year 1549 as the birth-day, while the Jedhe chronology dates the event in shaka year 1551, Falgun, which would be February. 1630 A. D.

THE CHILDHOOD OP SHIVAJI 53

never sought shelter under the roof of her relatives on her father's side, in order to save herself or her child from the wrath of the Moguls. There is not a shred of evidence to show that she ever sought refuge with tha Jadhav family. It must also be considered that the Jadhavs were vassals of the Mogal emperor with whom Shahaji was at open war and it would have been extremely hazardous for the wife of Sha- haji to throw herself upon the protection of a family which had entirely passed under the Mogul domination, nor would Shahaji have ever approved of such a step. It follows, therefore, that Jijabai and her son led an isolated life in the midst of great political hazards and turmoils, moving from fortress to fortress within the sphere of Shahaji's influence. Shahaji did what he could from his head-quarters to ensure the safety of his wife and son. Had Jijabai indeed desired the protection of the Jadhav family-she, who had spurned the offers of her vindictive father in the delicate situation in which she was when she first came to Shivneri-that occasion had surely presented itself, when she was taken a prisoner to the Mogul camp. That she did not choose to accept the hospitality of Jadhav at that time of necessity and distress is a sufficient proof to show that she had no desire for any protection at the hands of her paternal relations. One might well imagine to himself the dreadful cares and perils to which her life was exposed in these days. Flying from fort to fort, in imminent danger of being surprised by the enemy, she had to look helplessly on at the dreadful politi- cal drama that was being played out, the most conspicuous figure in which was her own gallant husband, whom the numerous Mogul hosts were closing in upon from all sides. It reflects the highest credit upon the spirited Maratha lady that during all this time of stress and strife her confidence in her husband's courage and bravery and her own refined sense of dignity as a mother did not falter even for an instant. The annalists make no mention of the manner in which Jijabai conducted the education of her son Shivaji. It is, however, clear that during this time he seems to have

made considerable progress in riding and horse management, archery and marksmanship, the use and exercise of the patta, the national Maratha javelin, and other warlike exercises, as also in reading and writing.

When Shahaji became a vassal of the Adilshahi sultan he took his wife and* son to Bijapur. Shortly afterwards he was confirmed in the possession of his old jahgir by the Bijapur state, and was deputed to the province of the Karnatic as second in command to Randulla Khan. Upon this occasion he entrusted an experienced and faithful Brahman secretary, Dadaji Kondadev, with the administra- tion of the family jahgir* and placed Jijabai and Shivaji under his guardianship. The education of Shivaji was entrusted to his care. Dadaji Kondadev brought mother and son with all their retinue to Poona and had a spacious man- sion raised for their residence. In the following year Dadaji had to travel to Bangalore to submit to Shahaji the accounts of the jahgir. Dadaji was accompanied on this occasion by Shivaji and Jijabai, who again returned to Poona in his company.

On Shahaji's return to Bijapur from his successful campaign in the Karnatic, he wrote to Dadaji Kondadev expressing his desire to bring Shivaji to Bijapur and cele- brate his marriage there. Shivaji replied that as Bijapur lay purely in a Mahomedan atmosphere, he preferred to have his marriage celebrated at Poona, where the ceremonies of the Hindu religion could be performed unobstructed with due pomp and solemnity. Such being the wishes of Shivaji, Dadaji Kondadev obtained Shahaji's consent to have the marriage solemnised at Poona. In consequence of this arrangement tbe marriage of Shivaji took place at Poona in 1640, with great pomp and eclat. The bride chosen was Sayibai, a daughter of the distinguished Nimbalkar family.

In 1641, Shahaji invited Shivaji and Jijabai to Bijapur, and seems to have kept them with him for two or three years. As the boy watched the persecution and sectarian

THE CHILDHOOD OF SHIVAJ1 57

•bigotry of this Mahomedan capital, the purpose began to form itself in his mind of overthrowing the supremacy of Islam.1 The rudiments of that political wisdom and sagacity, which afterwards evoked the ungrudging admiration of the whole of the Indian continent, were also instilled into his mind during this period.

He was only fourteen, but already at that early age he was fairly advanced in all the arts of war. Handsome and endowed with great muscular strength he was most agile in his movements. With this he combined unique powers of observation. From infancy he was fond of examining the qualities of horses and elephants and visit- ing military depots and magazines. He behaved with remarkable courtesy towards persons eminent for their wisdom, learning or experience, and endeavoured to acquire knowledge and to win their favour by the tactful and respectful manner in which he inquired into the various subjects or studies they had mastered. He hated vice and luxury. He treated age and .experience with the honour they deserved. These qualities soon won him the high regard of the nobles and gentry in the neighbourhood.

The nobles were so fascinated by the young Shivaji's manners that on one occasion they spoke of him with great enthusiasm in presence of the sultan, who at once expressed a desire to see a youth of such promise. It was, therefore, decided to introduce Shivaji to the court. But Shivaji was by no means pleased with the prospect of a meeting with the sultan. He pleaded with great modesty and submission that he was not inclined to flatter or to prostrate himself before the Mahomedans or their king, since they were so mean and insolent in their ways. He could not, he pleaded, tolerate the scant respect with which his religion and the Brahman expounders of that religion were generally treated in Mahomedan courts.

1 The Baaatin-i-Saiatin gives details of the repressive policy of the Adilehahi sultans towards the Hindus, even in the halcyon-days of Sultan Mahomed Adul Shaha.

58 LIFE O* SH1VAJI MAHARAJ

When he passed to and fro in the streets, he constantly came across the hideous spectacle of cow -slaughter, and his blood boiled in his veins, and he could scarcely restrain the impulse to destroy the slayer of the kine. But out of regard for the feelings of his elders he had restrained his impulses. However he submitted that he could not contem- plate calmly the prospect of visiting or paying court to Mahomedan nobles or princes or in any way coming in contact with them. When such a meeting took place, he could not breathe freely till at least he had changed his clothes !

Strange fancies these in the case of a youth of four- teen! It was pointed out to him by the officers in- the service of Shahaji that his ancestors had risen to greatness by doing service to Mahomedan princes, that under the circumstances it was not becoming in Shivaji to hate the Mahomedans, and that in doing so he did not show proper reverence towards his elders. This sort of persuasion was also practised upon him through the mediation of his equals in age. Jijabai herself strove to persuade him to change his stubborn attitude, but without success. At last Shahaji called him to his presence and addressed him in this strain: "The Mahomedans" said he "are rulers of the land. What is the harm in serving them, while keeping the observances of one's own faith? It is a divine ordinance that in these unhappy times we should eke out our daily bread by serving the Mahomedans. If God had not decreed this, why should the Hindus have waned in power and the might of Islam waxed ? I have risen to my pre- sent position and power by steering my bark according to the times, and to keep and continue what I have attained, it is but fair that you should seek to win the favour of the sultan." To all these remonstrances Shivaji, with all due deference and submission, returned but one answer: "I bow down," he exclaimed, "to the word of command, but I pro- test, I cannot look on a passive spectator of the cruelty towards kine and the desecration and degradation of our shrines and priesthood ! "

THE CHILDHOOD OF SHIVAJI 59 •

It is plain that no one could have more regretted than Shabaji the anti-Mahomedan sentiments which had by this time taken root in the mind of Shivaji and already threat- ened to overshadow other considerations. But he did not deem it prudent to chastise with severity or crush under the weight of authority the impulses of such a promising youth. Not that he was himself a blind admirer of Mahomedan excesses, but it had always been a part of his policy to conciliate the followers of Islam, and thus to accomplish his objects in life. He does not seem to have much resented the obstinacy of Shivaji. But by constantly speaking upon the subjest and by skilful appeals to Shivaji's filial obligations he succeeded in inducing his stubborn son to consent to accompany him to the durbar. Shahaji had instructed his son about the court etiquette of saluting the sultan by bowing down to the ground, as soon as he came into his presence. But Shivaji only made a slight 'salaam: and seated himself by his father. The Sultan, observing that Shahaji was accompanied by a boy, inquired whether it was Shahaji's son, and was told that it was so, and that it was the first occasion for young Shivaji to come to the durbar. This answer was given lest the sultan should be pro- voked at the scant salaam made by Shivaji, unaccompanied as it was by the courtly prostration. The sultan presented jewels and robes of honour to the young jahgirdar as a mark of his favour. But as soon as Shivaji returned home, he discarded the courtly dress and, as though it had been a contamination, had an expiatory bath.

After this Shivaji often accompanied his father to the durbar, but on every occasion he made only a slight salaam and took his seat in the hall. This conduct naturally excited a suspicion in the mind of the sultan, and doubting whether this was done on purpose to affront him, the sultan once called Shivaji aside and questioned him point-blank about it. But Shivaji replied with great presence of mind that though constantly reminded to make his salute according to the etiquette of prostration.

•60 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

at the critical moment he forgot it and made the usual salaam. He could only make an apology for this and beg that the salaam might be taken to stand for a pro- stration. Besides he made no difference between the sultan and his father, and until he learnt there was a difference he would continue to make the salaam. The sultan burst -into a fit of laughter at this witty reply.

On the way to the court, there were butchers' shops, •in which were set out for sale beef and heads of slaughtered

o

cattle. In the same manner hawkers sat in their booths with cooked flesh for sale opposite the palace gates. Shi- vaji was much offended at the loathsome spectacle and could scarcely restrain his indignation. But he had to restrain his angry feelings for a long while. Once it happened that while Shivaji was on the way to the palace, he came across & butcher in the act of slaughtering a cow. Shivaji instantly fell upon the offending butcher, belaboured him with blows and delivered the cow from the axe. This event was much talked of in the bazaars and even reached the sultan's ears but on account of the weight of Shahaji's •influence, no inquiry was made into the matter. Shivaji was now quite disgusted with the constant scenes of cow- slaughter. He could bear it no longer, and thought to leave the Adilshahi capital for ever and never more visit the state durbar. With this resolution formed, he entreated his father not to press him any more to accompany him to the durbar, as he could not bear to look upon the cow- flesh booths on the way, that if as a servant of the state Shahaji was obliged to connive at these things, there was no such obligation upon him and that until this cruel slaughter and traffic in cow-flesh was put a stop to he could not think of attending the court. Shahaji was in great perplexity. For the sultan was sure to remark the absence of his son, and what answer was he to give ? In this per- plexity Shahaji consulted Mir Jumla, an old and tried friend at the court. After some deliberation, it was decided that Shivaji might stay at home for the day and that they

THE CHILDHOOD OF SH1VAJI 6*

should broach the subject with the sultan if they found him- in good humour.

Accordingly the two nobles, one a Hindu and the- other a Mahomedan, attended the durbar and, seeing that the sultan was in very good humour, submitted their views in the audience-hall. Mir Jumla reminded the sultan that he was the father of his people, both Hindus and Mahomedans. The royal favour was bestowed equally upon all his subjects. There were both Hindu and Mahomedan officers in the service of the state, and it did the state great honour that it allowed its servants to follow each his own religion. According to the ideas of the Hindu religion, it was a gross sin to kill kine and to traffic in cow-flesh. But cow-slaughter openly took place in the thoroughfare round about the royal palace, and flesh- booths lined tho palace road. This was a mortal affront to the Hindu servants of the state, and to none more than to Shahaji, one of the sultan's most tried and honoured servants. But he did not dare, submitted Mir Jumla, to Jay the com- plaint before the sultan. His son had not attended the court that day, as he could no longer put up with the abo- mination of cow-slaughter, and had quarrelled with his father upon the subject. It was for the sultan to restrain this license. The sultan listened calmly to this petition of Mir Juinla's and thought a good case was made out rf quir- ing his immediate intervention. He forthwith issued an injunction against cow-slaughter in the vicinity of the palace and forbade the sale of cow-flesh within the city- limits. No one doing this in defiance of these orders would receive any redress for any retaliation or chastisement he might have at the hands of the Hindus. A proclamation was made to this effect and the slaughter-houses were re- moved out of the city, to an isolated place to the south. The butchers were ordered to migrate in a body to this place. When these orders were carried out, Shivaji began again to attend the durbar in company with his father. The sultan was struck with his lofty spirit and address,

o2 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

and occasionally signalised his favour with presents of robes and other marks of honour.

As ill-luck would have it, one day a butcher with a basketful of cow-flesh was squatting at the city gate to sell his wares, just as Shivaji with a band of his chosen friends was coming out on horse-back. To glance at the butcher, to draw his sword and to cut him down was the work of a moment. The butcher's wife filled the air with lamentations and went to lodge a complaint at the court, and called the gate-keepers to swear to the truth of her complaint. The sultan, however, defended the d«ed as a condign punishment for breach of his edict on the subject. He paid her a small sum for the expenses of her husband's funeral and fixed a small payment for her maintenance.

This event was naturally much talked of. Murmurs arose on all sides that in a Mahomedan capital the Maho- inedans had no hononr. Had the Mahomedan rale already become a dead letter? Strange that an infatuated king should allow such things to be done in the light of day ! And by whom ? By one who refused to make obeisance by prostrating himself as a vassal before his lord. And to humour this insolent subject, this same figure-head of a monarch deported the honest butchers from the town- limits, to the great inconvenience of loyal Mahomedans. What depths of madness ! This son of Shahaji's had lost all restraint and balance. He was running amuck among innocent Mahomedans. There was something rotten in this state of Bijapur.

Such mutterings could • be heard in all the thorough- fares, by no means disguised ^or measured in language ; and no doubt there was truth in this incoherent strain of impotent rage and abuse. These murmurs soon came to Shahaji's ears and filled him with dismay. Adroit man of action that he was, he could not help contrasting the lofty virtues and talents of his son with these erratic and wayward acts of violence. Was the noble life, of which such earnest was given by Shivaji's youthful brilliance,

THE CHILDHOOD OF SHIVAJI 63

to be after all destroyed by the violence of his bigotry and race-hatred ? Had he made so much of his shining virtues and placed him on the high road to fortune and prefer- ment, only that he might by such a puerile indiscretion not only wreck his own career, but drag his father and the achievements of a life-time into ruin ? These thoughts flashed across Shahaji's mind and filled him with dismay. His wide experience of men suggested to him how he should deal with this case. He saw that mere rebukes or punishment would have the most undesirable effects upon a mind so proud and impetuous as that of Shivaji. The advice must be seasoned with an appreciation of his noble qualities and a lively appeal to his dutiful instincts. Armed with this resolution he is said to have addressed himself to Shivaji in Jijabai's presence to the following effect: "You are still in your teens, young man, and have no experience of life. It does little credit to your understanding to fly into a passion and commit excesses without pro- vocation. "Not to bow down before the Mahomedans to put your hand to your sword at the slaughter of a cow, — is this the sort of conduct by which you can achieve success in life ? If we are to serve the Mahomedans, we must be prepared to submit humbly to them in these matters. Had I fallowed such a course of action, where in the world should I have been ? It was by serving the Mahomedans, young man, that your ancestors rose to greatness from the humble rank of a peon in the infantry to the highest eminence ! Need I describe the hardships and perils through which I have passed, in attaining to my present greatness ? Reflect upon the trials and tribulations of your father in the uncertain times of the Nizamshahi dynasty, and count the steps by which, when I had emerged from those clouds, I have risen to the full height of my position in the service of this Adilshahi state. It is natural that I should desire you to tread in my foot-steps, please and conciliate the powers that be and extend your fortunes. Nothing can exceed your happiness and glory, if following your father's

64 LIFE OF SHIVA.) I MAHAKAJ

example, you behave with prudence and circumspection-. Continue in these wild pranks and fancies, and the heavens themselves will not be able to pave us. We shall be sent away in exile and disgrace, despoiled of our fortunes and possessions. That such a catastrophe has thus far been averted is due to the intervention of our influential friends at the court. But if we have friende, we have enemies, and the moment they get an opportunity of injuring us, it is but the question of an hour to bring down upon us the royal displeasure and drive us away into exile. I appeal then to your own sense of duty and prudence and self- interest, and trust you will at once amend your ways.'' Shivaji listened in silence and replied not a word.

Shahaji did not rest here, but got Jijabai to advise the young man in the privacy of her apartments with her own tender and persuasive eloquence. She dwelt on the respect for elders, the virtue of obedience and the gratefu co-operation with the ambitious labours of a father like Shahaji. She appealed to the high traditions of his ancestors, and conjured him not to stain the noble escutcheon, coming down from a long line of illustrious ancestors. Shivaji listened to these words of love and replied that the least wishes of his parents were sacred commands to him and he was always ready to act according to their wishes. "But in this matter," he protested, "I cannot alter my nature. I cannot reconcile myself to bend my knees before Mahomedans or to tolerate cow-slaughter and other insults to my religious instincts. Forgive me, but when my -^ea fall upon such atrocities, my passions rebel in my breasV"&fl<j I am no longer myself; I am helpless. Whatever may be the inscrutable dispensation of Providence, it is clear I cannot continue to eat the bread of a Mahoroedan prince. Something tells me it is pollution, a falling oft* from heaven, an obstacle to my religious ideals To save me fn<m Mich deeds in future let me be sent away, I pray,, far oft' from this place, yes, far beyond the barriere of any Mnhomedan state. If I say this, in all sincerity and

THE CHILDHOOD OF SHIVAJI 85

frankness, it is not in a spirit of rebellion and disobedience,, but from a perfect knowledge of the feelings and passions in my breast, I entreat and implore you to grant my prayer."

Jijabai communicated these wishes to Shahaji and pointed out the undesirability of punishing the boy for this sort of eccentricity, though otherwise so humble and docile and obedient. His mysterious hatred of Mahomedans, she- thought, agreeably to the feelings of a Hindu woman, must be a legacy inherited by him from a former birth. It was clear he could not be happy doing service to Mahomedans, and there was no use to seek to change his nature. She suggested that the best plan under the circumstances was to place him at a distance from the Mahomedau capital. If from love to his son he should keep him any longer, there was risk of his fortune and reputation being ruined. Shahaji bighed to hear this opinion of Jijabai and upon consultation with a few nobles who were in his confidence came to the same conclusion. About the same time, Dadaji Kondadev happened to come to Bijapur to submit the jahgir accounts, and he was ordered to escort Jijabai and Shivaji back to Poona.

Before leaving for Poona, Shivaji married a second wife- at Bijapur. It is said that this second marriage took place at the express desire of the sultan. Once, when according to his custom Shahaji attended the durbar with his son, the sultan asked Shahaji whether his son was married. Shahaji replied that Shivaji's marriage was celebrated at Poona. The sultan ridiculed the marriage as celebrated in the absence of the father and far from the court and insisted that he should be married again in presence of the court with all the pomp and circumstance befitting his rank. In deference to the sultan's wishes Shivaji was wedded to his second bride chosen from the select Maratha nobility. All the omrahs of the court and the sultan himself attended the wedding, at which great festivities and exchanges of bridal presents took place. This second wife of Shivaji was named Soyarabai.

L. s. 6.

-,;6 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

As described above Shahaji had to bid farewell to his wife and son, who came back to Poona, in the company of Dadaji Kondadev. This parting was final : they never lived again under the same roof either at Poona or Bijapur. The fact is that Shahaji soon afterwards marched to the Karnatic and had no .occasion any more to reside at Poona or Bijapur. Upon this slender foundation, some historians have raised a fictitious story of a quarrel between Shahaji and Jijabai, and the old quarrel between Shahaji and Lukhji Jadhav has been brought under contribution to lend a plausible colouring to this theory. But a close observation of the events as they have been thus far chro- nicled in these pages will show the absurdity of such a theory. For the first ten years after the birth of Shivaji, Shahaji was involved in such political complications that he had no leisure whatever to give to family life. Nor can the second marriage of Shahaji lend countenance to this view. For the custom of polygamy was much in vogue among the Maratha families in those times and still prevails among them. Hence a second marriage does not necessarily mean estrangement from the first wife. When Shivaji began his attacks upon the borders of the Bijapur territory it was natural that Shahaji tried to relieve him- self of all responsibility by giving out that he had no connection with Shivaji and Jijabai. But this at best was a, transparent pretext. Had there been a real cleavage between husband and wife, Shahaji would certainly not have taken his wife and son to Bijapur, as he did, as soon as his fortunes were well establishsd in the service of the Bijapur state.1 If in 1643 again Jijabai and Shivaji were permanently stationed at Poona under the care of Dadaji Kondadev, we mu^t credit Shahaji with having done so, on account of the insuperable difficulty of keeping Shivaji at

1 Grant Duff ( Ch. Ill ) seta forth the theory of a disagreement between Shivaji'a parents. Ranade (Ch. IV) assumes it as trne.*Mr. Sardesai assumes the theory of her disagreement with her husband but praises her •or not seeking for shelter with her father's people ( Marathi Riyasat, I» page 159. )

THE CHILDHOOD OF SHIVAJI $7

Bijapur. It is clear Shahaji was convinced that Bijapur was no congenial residence for a young man obsessed by a virulent hatred of Islam. Judging by these circumstances, we find no reason to accept the theory of a family feud to account for the divergence of the fortunes of father and son and of husband and wife, which commences from this stage. Jijabai's elder son, Sambhaji, always remained with Shahaji, a sharer in his toils and supporter of his ambitions. From this it does not follow, however, that Shahaji's love and affection for Shivaji were in any way less,

A GREAT career is determined by favourable circum- stances for tbe growth of genius. It is also shaped in a great measure by a good education. Both these influences played a great part in moulding the mind and character of Shivaji. vThe first ten years of his life were spent in his mother's company, an influence of most vital character on the life of a man. It is the age when the mind is most tender and plastic, and the impressions then formed are the very founda- tion of life. The months and years as they roll on in their course only serve to render these early impressions more deep and vivid, their full development only requiring a train of favourable circumstances and events. Whether these early influences are to be productive of good or evil depends mainly on the character of the father and the mother, more especially on the latter. The virtues and disposition of the mother are strained and filtered into the character of her child, and the goodness or evil of the one depends on that of the other. We can see the foundation of Shivaji's greatness in the circumstances in which he was born. When the future hero was yet in the womb, Jijabai lived through a time of great stress and revolution in the state, and in that revolution her husband and herself played a conspicuous part. Living in the midst of constant alarms, with her husband.once the mainstay of the Nizamshahi state, in flight and exile, and the ungrateful Nizamshahi sultan blindly in league with her husband's and his own enemies, her own scorn and disdain of the puny Mahomedan powers, her contempt of their pusillanimity and grovelling in- capacity and her indignation at their impotent cruelty and barbarities were at that most delicate period of psychical excitement reflected and transfused into the mind of the future hero. Here then is some explanation of that mysterious and all absorbing anti-Mahomedan passion which possessed Shivaji from his earliest years. Nor was this all. The first ten years of Shivaji'u life were passed in the midst of

THE EDUCATION OF SHIVAJI G9

constant alarm and fear of treachery, and naturally enkindled a relentless hatred against those-the Mahomedan powers-who were the authors of these atrocities. Add to this Jijabai'a proud and independent spirit, her personal ambition and self-reliance, her strong intellect and penetration. With these intense predisposing causes and influences constantly at play, is it a wonder that the smouldering discontent in Shivaji's breast burst into a flame in the form of an uncompromising anti-Mahomedan passion ?

It follows then that Jijabai was the most powerful influence on the youthful genius of Shivaji. Jijabai was born of a family that had once wielded the sceptre at Devgiri, the same that acquired the name of Dowlatabad on the fall of its Jadhav ( Yadav ) sovereigns. The once mighty family had fallen upon evil times. It had to serve its Mahomedan lords in those very scenes which had witnessed its power and grandeur. The children of the Jadhav family were not the sort of men to forget its noble past and the grandeur of its traditions, least of all Jijabai, a woman of a haughty and indomitable spirit. The treacherous murder of her father and brother by the vindictive Nizamshahi sultan served to add fuel to the flame of her hatred of Mahomedan rule. Nor was she likely to forget that it was the Mahomedans *hat had quenched the light of the Sesodia Bhonsle family. Xater on for a time by his brilliant genius and valour, her husband Shahaji endeavoured to revive a Hindu sovereignty from the wreck of the Mahomedan state of Ahmednagar, but with all his valour and resources, he was forced to yield to overwhelming odds and remain content as an honoured vassal and feudatory of the Bijapur state. And how nearly had he succeeded ! With the puppet of a Nizamshahi prince in his grasp, Shahaji had destroyed one Mogul hosb after another and stirred up the living remembrances of a not quite forgotten past in the depths of hia loyal wife's heart. But inexorable fortune had stood in the way of his ultimate success, and the chagrin and disappointment occasioned by the failure was the crown of all her sorrows.

SO LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

And then the family tradition to which Haloji had given currency ,-that the House of Bhonsle would produce a •world-compelling hero — ever flashed across her mind, — a prophecy which Shahaji's temporary success had all but verified. Despite her crushing disappointment and suffer- ing, this tradition kept all her passions and aspirations awake. She believed in it with the faith of a woman, with a religious heart, and she looked forward wistfully to its accomplishment.

What though Shahaji had at last failed and seceded to the Mahomedan dynasty of Bijapur? Had not his tem- porary success proved that the defeat of the Mahomedane was no mirage, no idle phantom flitting before a fevered mind, but a tangible thing within the range of practical accomplishment ? This was the subject to which she con- stantly recurred in her conversation with her son. She poured forth into his eager ears the story of the fall froir royal power of both the Jadhav and Bhonsle Houses and pictured to him their former greatness, with the inevitable contrast of the inglorious present that could not but ob- trude itself upon his sensitive mind. Again by repeated recitals of the story of Shahaji's heroic achievements, she sought to enkindle in his heart the same noble ambition and love of heroic enterprise. In her daily discourses she ever laid stress on the inherent degradation, however great the worldly splendours, of service to an alien Mahomedan power, the steps of whose rise had been marked by the overthrow of many a Hindu sovereignty and whose pro- gress was attended with the slaughter of kine, the pollu- tion of temples and shrines and the violation of the Brah- mans, — cruelty and treachery in all forms and guises. To these were added readings from the puranaa and the sacred texts, the main theme of which is the struggle of virtue and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Shivaji from his earliest infancy developed a strong taste for these read- ings, listening with rapt attention to the recitals. It wae these readings which infused in him an overpowering sense

THE EDUCATION OF SHIVAJI 71

of piety, religious zeal, and enthusiasm. His eyes kindled and his breast throbbed with religious fervour as he listened to the tales of ehivalry and self-sacrifice from the Ramayan and the Mahabharat. and he followed every tone and undulation of hia mother's voice, as she related the inspiring legends. It was as if she had said in so many words: "Go thou and do likewise". The seed was not cast upon rocky soil, for, from the time he began to understand things, these repeated counsels and exhortations began to take root, and by imperceptible degrees, a strong passion was kindled in his breast to emulate not only his father's exploits, but the epic chivalry of the puranas.

By nature Shivaji was a man of great intellectual strength and alertness. His powers both of understanding and memory were of a high order. Jijabai was a woman, of great earnestness and courage, and the instinct for honour and esteem was the great motive force in all her actions.. By daily contact and conversation with his mother, Shivaji had assimilated these noble virtues in all their perfection. She watched over him with all her maternal solicitude and was careful to see that he followed the best example, moved in good company and kept away from the snares and bland- ishments of vice in all its forms. From early boyhood, she made provision for his military education. Thus the highest impulses of life and human character were evolved in Shivaji's heart by his close contact with this noble matron, — bravery, enterprise, courage, love of truth and religious fervour. But more important than all the rest, there was one impulse that came to him from his mother, — an impulse upon which all his greatness was founded, and which will for ever obtain for him a niche in the temple of fame and an honoured place in the world's great roll of patriots -his unquenchable thirst for liberty. He never faltered in. his opinion of the intrinsic unworthiness of the highest glory and honour that a servile allegiance to a Mahomedau prince could bring to a man, that indifference and ingrati- tude were the invariable return for the most loyal and

72 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

devoted service to the sultan, and that an alien despotism like that of the Mahomedan states stood for all that was mean, vindictive and tyrannical. Of this the days of his own childhood had given him sufficient proof. Personal experience combined with maternal exhortation to inflame him with a passion for freedom. In boyhood already he had made up his mind to defy foreign domination even if it should cost him his life. It is well known how Dadaji Kondadev endeavoured to turn him aside from his determined course, but we find no account in any of the the extant chronicles of any attempt to dissuade him on the part of Jijabai. This very circumstance strengthens the view that it was Jijabai herself who was primarily instrumental in inspiring Shivaji with the enthusiasm and enterprise of revolting from the domination of Islam and unfurling the standard of Maratha liberty. That Jijabai endeavoured at Bijapur to persuade Shivaji to suppress his anti-Mahomedan senti- ments does not in any manner militate against this conclu- sion, nor need her conduct upon that occasion be taken to stand as an indication of her real opinion upon this subject. As a Hindu wife, to whom devotion and obedience to the husband is the highest dower, she had to carry out the instructions of her husband and become his mouth-piece, whatever her feelings on the subject might be. In short, it was due to the rare combination of a mother, who with her noble convictions and ideals could inspire and dominate her son's future, and of a son, who while allowing himself to be stirred to the noblest moods and passions could lead and impress the world with the resources of his master- mind, that the record of a career was made possible, by which the Hindu population of peninsular India was libe- rated from the yoke of Islam.

In 1637 Dadaji Kondadev was entrusted with the ad- ministration of the jahgir lands by Shahaji, and the charge of young Shivaji's education was also made over to him. From this time forth, therefore, the burden of Shivaji's education fell upon Dadaji, and his mother's influence be*

THE EDUCATION OF SHIVAOI 73

came secondary. This does not of course mean that Jijabai ceased altogether to look after the upbringing of her son. He was all in all to her, the prop of all her hopes and ambitions. The mysterious instincts of the maternal heart had enabled her to foresee his future greatness. In her impassioned moods, she often thought with ecstacy that Shivaji might be just the man to whom the restora- tion of the Jadhav and Bhonsle sovereignties had been reserved by fate, the hero whom the divine prophecy current in the family had ever been beckoning on to the task of national emancipation. She, therefore, continued to watch over him in spirit, with all the zeal of maternal solicitude. It was left, however, to Dadaji to initiate Shivaji in those arts and sciences and that practical knowledge which was essential to a person in his position.

It will not be out of place to give a brief account of the great man to whom the education of Shivaji was thus confided. It is not known at what period Dadaji Konda- dev entered into Shahaji's service. Shahaji was early satis- fied with his tact, abilities and uprightness and appointed him to the management of his jahgir estates at Poona, Supa, Baramati, Indapun and the Maval tracts in Maharashtra. These districts he administered with great efficiency. The long wars of the Moguls and the Deccan Mahomedans had reduced these parts to mere wildernesses. To this were added the horrors of a most terrible famine in the year 1630.1 Dadaji re-populated these districts and reclaimed them for cultivation by holding forth the inducement of immunity from the land-tax for a succession of years. There was at once an influx of cultivators from the adjoining districts, and the lands in a short time had changed their forlorn aspect. The people were contented and happy. Bumper crops swelled the granaries. Dadaji then instituted a survey and classification of the land and introduced the revenue system of Malik Ambar, the essence of which was

This terrible famine is referred to in Jedbe's Chronology (page 178) and in the Padiahahnamah of Abdul Hamid.

74 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

that the revenue dues were to be based on the ascertained crops of the year. This gave a great stimulus to agricul- ture. The settlements made with the agriculturists gave them permanent proprietary rights subject to the payment of revenue, and a large residue of the income after the deduction of revenue still remained for the enjoyment oi the prosperous peasantry.

The district of Maval was inhabited by a poverty- stricken people called the Mavalis. Even by toiling day and night these semi-civilized people found it difficult to earn enough to provide food and clothing. Dadaji saw the fidelity and industrious habits of these people and assiduously set to work to ameliorate their condition. He encouraged them to till their rocky and barren soil by granting remissions of revenue taxes. Many of them he enlisted in his service as peons or soldiers and engaged them in the collection of revenue. They were satisfied with the most meagre pay, one or two rupees a month, and a bushel or two of the coarsest millet, such as nachni or vari. It was a mountainous country infested by wild animals. To put an end to the mischief they caused from year to year, Dadaji maintained a corps of Mavali javelin-men and gave them a reward for each tiger or wolf that was slain. Many wild beasts were exterminated in this way, and the country became more settled.

The country was also infested with brigands. Dadaji endeavoured to minimise the evil by establishing watches and a sort of rude police.1 He encouraged the plantation of fruit-trees and orchards. Groves of mango and other trees grew on all sides. He kept the fortresses under Shahaji in an excellent state of repair, installed suitable garrisons in each of them, and recruited a small army of Maval is for general defence. In this way Dadaji adminis- tered the jahgir and considerably augmented its income. All the balance, that accrued to Shahaji's credit after pay- ment of the different charges, such as salaries of peons and

1 Vide Chitnis, page 29 and the Tarikh-i-Shivaji (page 9 (a) ).

THE EDUCATION OF SHIVAJI 7

soldiers, clerks and executive officers and other incidental expenses, was faithfully remitted to Shahaji's head-quar- ters. An anecdote illustrating Dadaji's extraordinary sense of duty and uprightness has been recorded by the Maratha chroniclers. It is said that while Dadaji was going one day in the company of Shivaji through one of Shahaji's orchards he happened quite casually to pluck off a mango from its stem. Instantly it occurred to his mind that what he had done was a misdemeanour, and he commanded his attendants to mutilate the hand with which he had committed the offence. Shivaji replie'd that his reasoning wrts not correct, that he. had cultivated the park and was its master. On hearing this reply he shortened one of the sleeves of his robe and to the time of his death he wore a shortened sleeve1.

Dadaji was then a man of extraordinary integrity; and devotion to his master was the ruling passion of his life. He was already advanced in age and experience when Shahaji nominated him to the jahgir. He was very pure in his morals and pious in the observances of his religion, It was an article of faith with him that his personal in- terests and prosperity were identical with those of his master. It was natural that Shahaji felt not the slightest misgivings in his heart in giving over his son to the tute- lage of such a man, who united with a most exalted sense of righteousness a complete devotion to his master's person and interests. Needless to say that Dadaji acquitted himself of the trust beyond the most sanguine expectations of his master.

He spared no pains to see that Shivaji and Jijabai should labour under no privation. He thought that a warrior's son should have the best military education obtainable, and

1 The Rairi bakhar gives a slightly different version of the story, b\ making the mango the property of a peasant cultivator. Shahaji is reported to have heard of the incident and marked his sense of appreciation of Dadaji'a integrity by a present of 700 pagodas and urged him to wear his sleeves as usual. The version followed in the text is that of Chitnis- (P. 29. )

"76 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHAEAJ

provided every facility towards this object. He made him go through a regular system of drill and physical disci- pline. Jijabai had laid the foundation of this discipline. Dadaji carried it forward with great zeal. Besides physical culture Dadaji arranged for a course of intellectual discipline1. This too had been anticipated by Jijabai and was promoted with greater zeal by Dadaji, on the mother and son coming to reside at Poona. Shivajimade considerable progress in Urdu and Persian and had made a beginning in the elements of the Sanskrit language3. It is said that certain devotional odes composed by Shivaji contain a number of Urdu words. Dadaji's religious temperament served to foster Shivaji's own instincts for piety. He got many opportunities to listen to religious lectures and rhapsodies from the puranas. His natural enthusiasm for religion was stimulated by Dadaji's example.

The seed of all this had already been sown by Jijabai. But there was another departmant in which Dadaji was a past master, and that was finance. He knew the art of keep- ing the peasantry happy while doubling and trebling the revenue. He had the tact and courtesy to extract the best work from his servants without wounding their feelings. He excelled as a judge, and his decisions were conclusive and impartial. He took a paternal interest in the welfare

1 Vide Chitnis's bakhar (page 28). While it may be admitted that the account in the Shivdigvijaya is too extravagant for credence, it is not too much to assume that if the warrior class of the time of the puranas could successfully unite an all round intellectual culture with the military eraft, a boy brought up with such an absorbing admira- tion of the puranic lore might have received a fairly good literary education.

2 Vide Mr. Raj wade's work in Marathi, entitled "Materials for the his- tory of the Maratha ', Vol. IV,page 74. The same author in a learned article on the subject of Shivaji's literary education contributed to the Marathi Magazine, "Saraswati Mandir" ( Vol. 5, No. 5 ), has completely exploded Grant Duffs hypothesis of Shivaji's illiteracy. Most of the Maratha nobility contemporaneous with Shivaji, as also those who preceded or followed him in point of time, knew the simple arts of reading and writing. This is the contention of Mr. Bajwade, and the present author hag no hesitation in endorsing that opinion.

THE EDUCATION OF SHIVAJI 71

of the people. Shivaji studied with close and minute observation these arts of administration under Dadaji. Shivaji's faculty of observation was very early developed. His questions were at times very trying even to the experts in the various subjects. He paid to Dadaji the honour due to his position and experience and made it a point to acquire from him his varied knowledge of affairs. Now there were some affairs which Dadaji used to transact without Shivaji's knowledge. Shivaji took this to heart and one day expressed himself rather frankly upon this subject. " What though I am young \ " said he, " Your duty it is to acquaint me with all affairs, that I may acquire experience under your guidance. For are you not to me in the position of a father ? How could I otherwise learn wisdom ? " Dadaji admired this boyish curiosity and consulted him thereafter upon all affairs. Young Shivaji discussed the pros ^nd cons of every question with the gravity of an elder. Dadaji trained him to give decisions in disputes, where the most complicated issues were involved. With . his wonderful, grasp and penetration the most complex problem could never elude his judgment, and he could use these precedents in dealing with similar questions that recurred from time to time. It was thus under the kind guidance of Dadaji that Shivaji mastered the various subjects of finance, agriculture, the discipline of hia infantry and cavalry, and supervision over ths various grades of servants in his service. This early knowledge and experience, it is needless to say, was of immense service to him in the near future.

But there was one subject upon which there was the greatest divergence of opinion between Dadaji and Shivaji, and that was the attitude of Shivaji towards the Mahomedan rulers. The hatred of Islam which he had almost literally sucked in with his mother's milk, and his ambitious plans of the restoration of a Hindu sovereignty were never approv- ed of by Dadaji. Dadaji was not a man who could even dream of the great ambitions of his ward. He never possessed that wide outlook of vision. His was a philosophy

78 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHA.RAJ

of simple contentment. He thought, and from the ordinary stand-point of human prudence rightly thought, that his duty was in the first place to behave with submission and humility towards that power, owing to whose favour and benevolence, his master enjoyed his jahgir, and in the second place to protect and administer the jahgir to the highest advantage of his master. To incur the wrath of the Mahomedan rulers-were it only by seeking to expand the jahgir-was too audacious an enterprise for the placid mind of Dadaji to think of. Soon after the return of Shivaji and Jijabai from Bijapur in the company of Dadaji Konda- dev, Shivaji communicated his ambitious plans to the trusty confidante of his father. " I do not consider it proper," said Shivaji, " to live as an underling of the Mahomedans on the wealth my father has earned in their service. I am resolved to carve out my fortune with my own right hand. What good is it to have been born in the Bhonsle family, if I add no new honours to the family escutcheon ? The worth of a manly life, what is it to be found in, if not in a life of toil ? Not surely in fortune's smiles ? Do you not see how the Mahomedan domination has crushed the life out of Hindu society and religion? Kine and Erahinans, gods and shrines have been polluted and desecrated in all the land, and no champion has sprung forth from the groaning soil. I have pondered deep over this subject and have resolved to devote my life to this object of reviving our independence and our religion. I cannot recall the past ; but the future is in my hands." Dadaji was astonished at the proposal and tried to divert his mind from the project. "How impossible", he exclaimed, "is the task you speak of and how dreadful '. The whole land lies panting under the oppression of Islam. All forts and positions of strategic value are commanded by them. Their armies man the garrisons. Enough for you to have and keep what your father has wrested from the general wreck. Try to think of aggrandising your fortunes and that moment you will be declared a public enemy, and you will involve your father in your ruin.

THE EDUCATION OF SHIVAJI 79

Just think of your father and his fiery valour ! Even he had to bend before the Mahomedans. "

Later on when Shivaji began to realize his plans of forming an independent Hindu state and in pursuance of the same to make expeditions against the Bijapur territory, Dadaji was filled with consternation. He called Shivaji and began to expostulate with him in the most vehement terms. " You have embarked, " he said to Shivaji, " on a most hazardous enterprise, which will one day bring you and your jahgir to ruin. On the four sides of the continent, the great Mahomedan sovereignties are holding undisputed sway, each in the plenitude of its power and glory. What are you and your puny resources before their power ? Don't you see that you are only jeopardising your father's position ? He is there in the midst of the enemy, in the power of the sultan. For your rash acts the sultan is sure to retaliate on your father. You will be evicted from your jahgir and will be a bye-word in the land. It is to your own interest to maintain loyal relations with the Adilshahi dynasty, if indeed you value your estates. " This chilling advice was repeated from time to time. Shivaji, as was his wont, always listened in calm silence, but to the eternal good fortune of all Maharashtrians, he did not allow himself in the least to be swerved from his glorious enterprise.

It is said that when Dadaji saw how ineffective all his counsels to Sdivaji upon this one subject were, the upright man was filled with dismay, not knowing what to do. Shivaji's conduct preyed upon his heart, and the good man could only think of the counsequences with a shudder. The boy had been confided to his care, to be brought up as a youth of character and noble promise. But he had con- ceived this wayward passion and lent countenance to law- less acts. The excesses of the son were bound to recoil upon the innocent head of the father. And had not Shahaji the right to ask of him how he, of whom he had expected so much, had allowed his son to run wild, governed by a frenzied passion for liberty? Yes, the blame would rigLtly

80 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

fall on him, and not all his past services would avail tc> atone for it. With such remorseful thoughts the good man sickened and slowly pined away.1

Dadaji indeed did the only thing he could do under the circumstances, to shield himself from blame, and that was to inform Shahaji of the strange passion for liberty now awakened in Shivaji's breast, warning him to take the proper steps to suppress it in time. Shahaji did not take particular notice of the warning and ordered uo change whatever in Shivaji's discipline or mode of living. The truth is that Shahaji knew the true state of affairs at Bijapur better than any man of his time, and he was himself secretly preparing for the inauguration of an independent sovereignty, of which more will be said at its appropriate place. The conclusion, therefore, which thrusts itself inevitably upon our minds is that the glorious thoughts of founding a new Hinda dynasty were not implanted in Shivaji'e mind by Dadaji Kondadev, who on the other hand laboured hard to counteract them ; and indeed had Dadaji to deal with a common man without insight, the current of those thoughts would have been stopped for ever. The real, impulse then came from Jijabai. How true is it that one sweet and loving word from the lips of a mother makes a deeper impression on the heart than ten thousand speeches!

Filled with the ambition to do great deeds, Shivaji did not hearken to Dadaji's advice. But this disobedience only affected his master passion. In other regards nobody could be more docile. Shivaji honoured him like a father, did whatever he commanded him and always remembered in. his actions that Dadaji was the trusted friend of Shahaji. Dadaji sought to wean Shivaji from his violent enterprise by occupying his mind with other subjects. He took him round the different jahgir villages, explaining the revenue

1 In the bakhar, called the Bakhar of the Marathi Swarajya ( Chro- nicle of the Maratha Empire ) Dadaji ia represented to have resorted to poison and committed suicide, being unable to withstand thia consuming, anxiety. The Tarikh-i- Shivaji tells the same story.

81

systems and the forms of administration. He entrusted many of his duties to Shivaji who executed them with great skill and enthusiasm. But this did not divert his mind from his cherished schemes. It only brought him into immediate contact with the revenue officers, admini- strators and other persons of rank within the limits of the jahgir and created in him a greater sense of confidence for administrative work.

Dadaji's spirit groaned in him to see that nothing could stop or stem Shivaji's violent ambition. He was agitated with a devouriug anxiety, which shortly affected his health. Jijabai and Shivaji attended him with assiduity. Shivaji was always by his bed-side They tried all remedies that were suggested to them But medicine and attendance notwithstanding Dadaji kept steadily sinking. When the moment of death was at hand, Dadaji chadded the keys of the treasury to Shivaji and described the management of the hill-forts, the districts and the army, exhorting him to deal kindly with the officers, and expatiating on the merits of every individual. He also had the clerks and officers brought into his presence and with his dying voice exhorted them to serve Shahaji with loyalty and devotion, and making them clasp young Shivaji's hand he adjured them to look upon him as their master. Having settled these public duties, he is said to have exhorted Shivaji to look after his family and dependents and to have expressed a cordial wish for his happiness and glory and the fulfilment of his noble vow to inaugurate a new state, for the protection of cows and Brahmans and the higher glory .of his religion. With these words on hi* lips, the loyal Dadaji Kondadev expired. He was seventy years old at his death.

We have so far described two sources of Shivaji's education, the one being Jijabai and the other Dadaji Kondadev. But there was a third source, and that was Shahaji himself. True, the period of the operation of this educative force was brief, but, brief as it was, it was of the.

L. 3. 7

:82 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

highest value in its effect upon Shivaji's career. In his short

sojourn at Bijnpur Shivaji had endless opportunities to

watch the working of the various departments of the Bijapnr

government, the methods of administration, the etiquette

of the court and the manners and fashions of the nobility.

Shahaji commanded great influence at the Bijapur court and

was on terms of cordiality with many of the leading

Jtlahomedan and Maratha nobles, and Shivaji, instead of

idling his time like the sons of the other nobles, turned these

opportunities to good account. He frequently visited and

made constant observation of the cantonments, the w^r-horses,

the artillery paiks and the batteries, and, constantly making

inquiries of expert officers, he resolved his doubts and

registered all vital information upon the tablets of his

memory. Shahaji himself was gratified at his son's desire

to learn and indulged him in these pursuits. Shahaji had

often his son beside him when arguing subtle questions of

war or diplomacy. He had him in his company when

attending the durbar, where his remarkable faculties of

comprehension and observation found active exercise. All

this produced two general effects: first, by being always in

the company of his father, he got much useful information

of vital influence upon his subsequent career ; and secondly,

his disgust of Mahomedan rule was accentuated and embittered

by all he had witnessed, and became the master passion of

his life.

Such was the discipline by which a great career was moulded and made possible. It was more or less a moral and an administrative discipline. As to whether, in addi- tion to this, he made a systematic study of any great authors or not, we have no information in the authentic chronicles. The account in the chronicle called the Shiv- •digvijaya is very much exaggerated and is not supported by any other sources of information. From the praises of '.Shivaji by such saintly poets as Vaman, Tukaram and Eamdas, among his contemporaries, it might be inferred that he had a fair acquaintance with books. But it is plain

THE EDUCATION OF 8HIVAJI 83

that the biographers of Shivaji, being more or less men of action, set little store by bookish knowedge and scarcely, if ever, refer to it. And the life of this great man has to convey, among others, this lesson that practical wisdom is often times a more efficient factor of success than lite- rary knowledge.

CHAPTER V THE PREPARATION TOR SWARAJYA

THE Marathi chroniclers are silent upon the early preparations of Shivaji in furtherance of his ambitious plans. That ambition in its essence comprehended the deliverance of his country from a very unbearable Mahomedan tyranny, the raising of the fabric of an in- dependent national government, and the expulsion of Mahomedan bigotry from the land. The scanty material available on the subject has been laid under contribu- tion but with extreme caution and reserve in the account that follows.

On his return to Poona, as described in the last chapter, Shivaji went out on various reconnoitring expeditions over the surrounding mountain tracts under pretence of a personal inspection of his jahgir. Attended by persons who from birth were familiar with the geographical condi- tions of the upland parts of the Western ghats, and form- ing acquaintance with the chiefs and men of position in every town and village, he surveyed all those inaccessible regions with a close scrutiny into the mountain fortresses and places of military advantage. He examined the routes of communication, the by-paths and mountain defiles, the glens and tne valleys. His companions admired the ardent zeal he manifested in informing himself about the topogra- phical conditions of these mountains. It was natural for them to be astonished that this young heir of a rising jah- girdar bhou Id expose himself to sun and shower, surmount- ing ascents and precipices, defying the attacks of wild beasts and a hundred other dangers, apparently with no other motive than an insatiable thirst for geographical iniormation. Young Shivaji spent whole days and nights, wandering from foieso to forest and mountain to mountain, with the swiftness of foot and gliding movement peculiar to the aboriginal tribes of these mountains. It was not easy for his companions to conceive how necessary these tours of

THE PREPARATION FOR SWARAJYA 85

inspection were to the career to which the young chief felt himself to be called as it were by the voice of duty. While making these explorations he was silently achieving another object of equally great importance, that of winning over a loyal body of followers and supporters.

There was a kind of personal magnetism by which young Shivaji attracted every heart towards himself. A few moments' conversation sufficed to draw with a magic fascination thd highest and the lowest persons in the land to follow his least inclinations. In conversation with young Shivaji every man instantly forgot all the restraints of reserve and laid bare before him his most secret thoughts and the innermost impulses of life. Shivaji put all men at their ease with such magic tact and courtesy that all thought they were pouring out their hearts to one who was their equal. He listened to their tales of sorrow and anguish and won them over to his heart with the closest bonds of affection, friendship and gratitude. His purse was alwaya at the call of these companions of his early boyhood.

This lavish generosity entailed a large expenditure which considerably exceeded his slender allowance. Dadaji remonstrated with him for this drain on the jahgir reve- nues "You are, of course, the master," said Dadaji, "and I am bound to make any payment to anybody you want on your account. But when you exceed your allowance, it must be at the expense of the annual remittance to be sent to Shahaji, and I shall have to account for the shortage. You must there- fore get your allowance increased, and I shall have no objec- tion to your extravagance. " Shivaji retorted it was not for Dadaji to be anxious about his prodigality, and he would procure his father's sanction for the expenses beyond his fixed allowance. Dadaji was quite mystified at this reply. He did not see that there was rhyme or reason in Shivaji'e mad extravagance. He had no wide range of thought or outlook upon affairs. His practical wisdom and philoso- phy was directed to the one absorbing task of procuring

86 LIFE OF SH1VAJI MAHARAJ

the largest possible revenue for Shahaji from year to year.

Thus did Shivaji go on forming a large circle of clients and dependents, every one of whom was imbued with a thorough faith in his master's nobility of heart. Their enthusiasm kindled into a loyal devotion and self-sacri- ficing passion towards the person of Shivaji. It was a strange attraction they felt towards him. In this circle of dependents, a large number of those who had won the entire favour and confidence of Shivaji were the Mavalis. These were rude and semi-civilized people, with an aspect any- thing but prepossessing. But under their rude exteriors, burnt hearts the most faithful and upright amoung Shivaji's followers. They had a strong faith in the unerring wis- dom of their master and executed his most difficult orders with a display of sagacity and agility for which no one could have given tnem credit. They were brought up in the creed of passive obedience and unquestioning service. To them once a master always a master. Inured to poverty and frugal in their living, the employer who provided them with the means of coarse subsistence and clothing earned fro-n them such a gratitude that they would court the greatest dangers and sacrifice their lives in his service. Dadaji Kondadev was the first to detect the sterling vir- tues in the heart of these rude mountaineers, and he main- tained a corps of them in his service. Sbivaji did not take long to ascertain their qualities. By his affection and generosity towards these humble people he made them his own. These mountaineers lived in the highlands of Shivaji's jahgir. They obtained a precarious living from the roots and shrubs in the mountain forests. They fwere quite at home in the zig-zag paths and mountain defiles over these woodlands. When Shivaji went on his tours of inspection he took these men as his guides. He soon became their idol. Only in him had they found in their experience of centuries one who was not repelled by their rude rusticity and sylvan manners, but who on the contrary treated them with courtesy and affection. This conviction bred in them

87

a great pride and enthusiasm for their master, for whose prosperity they would renounce their fortunes, the ties of personal affection and life itself. Their spirit of self-sur- render was many a time put to the proof, and no adversity, however great, could turn them away from the feet of the master. The leaders of these Mavalis, occupying the rank of deahmukha among their tribes, were the earliest and closest of Shivaji's friends. The names of three of them have become famous in Maratha history. These three were Yesaji Kunk, Tanaji Malusare1 and Baji Fasalkar. These three men commanded great influence among the Mavalis. They had a share from the beginning in all the young ambitions of Shivaji, and as the exigencies of his statecraft developed themselves in course of time, they performed the most glorious feats and exploits, sacrificing even their lives on the altar of personal friendship and devotion.

Although Shivaji's ambitious designs received scant encouragement from Dadaji Kondadev, he succeeded in winning over all the assistant staff of that loyal financier. When the deshmukhs or procurators of revenue, from the various towns came on business to Poona, Shivaji was for hours closeted with them, setting forth his projects, asking their opinions and pleading for their adherence; and such was the fascination exercised upon their minds by his speech and courtesy, that the conversation invariably terminated in a league of enduring friendship. When Shivaji himself went in person on his tours of inspection over his paternal estates, he allowed no opportunity to elude him of inter- viewing the various deshmukhs and drawing them into his alliance. Such of the Maratha nobility and gentry in the neighbourhood as had occasion to visit him at Poona were entertained in such a lavish and magnificent st}le, that they invariably departed his fast friends and sympathisers. Much as they might criticise his comparative youthfulnest

1 Tanaji Malusare however was not strictly a Mavali deshmakh. He was a deshmukh of Umrathe in the Konkan lowland? baneath the

S8 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHABAJ

and inexperience, they could not help testify ing to his courage and enthusiasm, or acknowledging the practicability of the schemes he submitted to their approval. Their assent was promptly given, and their cordial sympathy and co-operation was secured to the cause. There was indeed a singular persua- siveness in the youthful hero, which, along with the cordia- lity of his offers, his religious enthusiasm and the unmis- takable ring of sincerity in his hatred of Mahomedan rule, made even the most self-centred of them partake of his enthusiasm, reciprocate his feelings and embrace his pro- posals. They had besides the object-lesson of Shahaji's great triumphs; and the conviction was easily bred in them that the son of such a father would certainly lead them forth to victory and deliverance from the thral lorn of Islam. Thus they became willing partisans in the causr ; and the few who hesitated or refused soon had occasion to repent of their error.

It is time to review very briefly the influences which seemed to favour a id for the restoration of the national independence of Maharashtra.

The first asset in the cause of the national regeneration that Shivaji possessed was the example of his father. He had the great example before him of the defender of the Nizamshahi dynasty against the Moguls, and the reviver of that sovereignty after its extinction. It was plain that the ultimate discomfiture of Shahaji could only be ascribed to the overwhelming armaments of the Mogul invaders. The curtain had fallen upon these early activities of Shahaji, only to disclose a new scene of almost regal pomp and splendour in the Karnatic. The experiences of Shahaji, both in his victories and failures, had established the fact that with a proper band of disciplined followers it was not only possible but easily practicable to overthrow the Maho- medan power in Maharashtra and to establish an inde- pendent Hindu sovereignty in its place. Fired with a desire to outshine his father's greatness, Shivaji had the sagacity to perceive and to remedy the defects in his system.

THE PREPARATION FOR SWARAJYA 89

He often openly expressed hia regret that Shahaji should have thought it necessary, after his distinguished career against the Moguls, to take service under Bijapur and shine by the reflected light of the Adilshahi dynasty.

Another circumstance which confirmed Shivaji in his ambitious resolves, was the discontent of many of the local chiefs and procurators of revenue or deshmukhs, with the Mahomedan government.1 Emboldened by the prevailing disturbance and misrule, the inevitable precursors of revolu- tion and change, these men carried on an uncertain war and brigandage among themselves. It was indeed a time of "betlum omnium contra omnes," and the Bijapur govern- ment exercised little of the rights of a sovereign state over these parts. It was almost an impossible feat to unite to- gether these warring chiefs under a common standard or to give their bellicose spirit a higher purpose. Shivaji suc- ceeded in the seemingly impossible task, healed the scars of private feuds and concentrated their powers to be brought into action for the higher ideal of a national enterprise.

The third circumstance, which it is necessary to advert to, is the fact that the districts of Poona. Supa, Maval and other tracts had for a long time been under the Nizamshahi state of Ahmednagar, and the troublous times of the Mogul invasions and the rapid vicissitudes through which the Ahmednagar state had passed had produced a general laxity of administration, with next to no supervision on the part of the central government. It is true indeed that these districts had at the time of the final partition and territorial adjust- ment passed under the Bijapur flag, but this change was so recent and the transfer had created such complications, that the Bijapur government had scarcely felt its way to bring under its direct authority these frontier parts of its dominions. There was a marked insufficiency of the military garrisons and equipments in the hill- forts, and the

1 A good deal of light has been thrown upon the eocial, political and economic conditien of the Maval deahmukha by Mr. Raj wade in the later volumes of hia work ( Vol. 15 to 18).

SO LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

growing dissensions in the Bijapur council were not calculated to improve the situation. But the government of Bijapur had lulled itself into a belief in its security by continuing these districts in jahgir to Shahaji, who had held them from time to time since the times of Maloji. Dadaji Kondadev had administered the jahgir with great bkill and wisdom. The people were happy and prosperous under a practically Hindu regime and had no desire to pass under the direct authority of the sultan. What wonder then that when they saw a noble spirit like Shivaji, himself the son of an approved leader like Shahaji, embarking upon the ambitious plan of a revived Hindu sovereignty and marked his never- failing genius and enthusiasm in all his operations, they came forth to acclaim the hero and devote themselves unreservedly to his cause and service ?

That Shivaji had the ability to conduct the affairs of a new monarchy from its very foundation has been amply shown by the original administrative reforms he introduced as a ruler, the rudiments of which he had learnt at homet in listening to the conversation of Dadaji Kondadev, Jijabai and the jahgir officers. To this was joined the experience he had gained during his short residence at Bijapur. On account of the pre-eminent position of Shahaji at that court, Shivaji was able to watch the despatch of public business on some of the most momentous questions then engaging the attention of that state. Shivaji's followers therefore had no misgivings on this ground. Nor on tha other hand was there much fear to be entertained on the ground of the arduous nature of the task and the inadequacy of the means for its fulfilment. The peculiar facilities for the undertaking of such an enterprise, which were offered by the political situation of the time, Shivaji had seized upon with an intuitive judgment that well qualified him for the duties of a ruler. More than this could not be expected and surely was not needed for a general of such natural talents and abilities, stimulated as his ambition ever wan by the impulsive zeal of his mother and the glory shed on the Bhonsle name by his father.

CHAPTER VI THE BEGINNINGS OF SWARAJYA

IN THE last chapter a brief sketch was attempted of the early preparations of Shivaji for the realization of his ambition : the exploration of mountain fastnesses and hill- forts mountain paths and defiles, and the mustering toge- ther of a band of devoted friends and supporters. In this chapter we propose to trace his earliest activities as parts of a premeditated aggressive programme.

At the outset we meet with a heresy to which certain historians, the principal of whom is Mr. Raj wade ( Vol. IV, page 73 of his "Materials for the History of the Mara- thas" ), have given currency. These historians maintain that the beginnings of independence were made not by Shivaji but by Dadaji t Kondadev and his officers at the instance of Shahaji himself, and that at a time when Shivaji was barely eleven or twelve years of age. In support of this contention, Mr. Raj wade quotes the chronicler, Sabhasad, to the following effect: "Immediately on the return from Bangalore to Poona, Dadaji captured the twelve Mavali glens and slew the Mavali deshmukhs who were raiding the country."

It does not however follow from this statement that the idea of an independent Hindu state had been already conceived and its execution entrusted to Dadaji Kondadev by Shahaji. The context of Sabhasad's statement makes it clear that the districts of the twelve Mavals, with Bara- mati and Indapur, were added to S* a' aji's jahgir for his eminent services in the Karnatic, and that in 1638 on his return from Bangalore, Dadaji Kondadev in pursuance of the orders he had received from Shahaji proceeded to take posses- sion of the recently ceded districts by a war of conquest and the defeat of the local deshmukhs. Shahaji was just feeling his way to a permanent position at the Bijapur court, and he was not likely to contemplate any act of rebellion against Bijapur at the imminent risk of wrecking his new-built

92 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

fortune. As a motive for this imaginary plan of forming an independent monarchy in the Maval districts, in. concert with Dadaji Kondadev Mr. Raj wade points to the private enemies of Shahaji in the Karnatic, such as Afzul Khan, Maloji Ghorpade and other nobles of Bijapur who looked askance upon his rising power in the Karnatic. Such pri- vate enmities had probably no existence in point of fact so early as 1638. The animosities between Shahaji and Afzul Khan and other nobles of Bijapur began eight or ten years later. The history of Bijapur at this earlier period of Shahaji's career in the Karnatic makes scarcely any allu- sion to Afzul Khan and the other enemies of Shahaji of a later time. And if Dadaji had ever concerted with Shahaji a plan for establishing an independent power in the Maval districts, it is difficult to conceive why seven or eight years later the same individual should have entered such emphatic protests against Shivaji's designs. Such a position would have been quite ridiculous for a prudent man of affairs like Dadaji to take up in dealing with the enterprising pro- gramme conceived by Shivaji and is entirely at variance with the received tradition that the pertinacity of Shivaji brought Dadaji to an early grave, or, as is sometimes asserted, made him commit suicide by resorting to poison. Nor was an experienced statesman like Shahaji likely to entrust such a serious charge to Dadaji's insignificant force of a thousand men or thereabout when he had whole regiments at his command in the Karnatic. Nor is there any shred of evidence that a large army was ever sent under Dadaji from Bangalore to .Maharashtra. Lastly there is this con- sideration: why should Shahaji have ever confided an enterprise of such gravity and consequence to another, when he was himself the greatest military leader of his time in all the Deccan ? In short, the best that can be said for this theory is that it is an inconsiderate attempt to cast a shadow upon Shivaji's greatness by transferring the origi- nality of his design to a lesser personage. Our line of argu- ment is quite consistent with the view that Shahaji himself had his own designs of independence, a subject which we

THE BEGINNINGS OF SWARAJ YA «,

have sufficiently adverted to in a foregoing chapter. The crux of the question is whether upon Shahaji's advice a plan for a campaign of independence in Maharashtra had ever been conceived. If such an attempt had really been made, what circumstances conspired to put an end to it And why should Dadaji have shown seven years later such a total change of front on the subject ?

As against our line of argument an objection may be raised somewhat to this effect. If Shahaji harboured no designs for independence in Maharashtra, it may be argued, why shouldT he not have taken steps to punish Shivaji,- nay even expel him from his jahgir, — when complaints were made by Dadaji Kondadev, and when the Bijapur government itself took him to task for it ? It is easy to reply to this objection. By the time Shivaji began his aggressions against Bijapur, Shahaji's authority was well rooted in the Karnatic, his jahgir possessions had been ex- panded on all sides, and nis will was supreme law in the south. The Bijapur governmept was rent by party fac- tions, and he had profited by the confusion to place his authority on a sort of autocratic basis. It was at such a time that the complaints against Shivaji came to him, a time which Shahaji felt was eminently favourable for such an attempt. With a secret approval of his son's designs and a belief in their practicability, and yet wishing to have no interruption in his chosen paths to independence, he disavowed responsibility for Shivaji's actions and professed a sort of time-serving neutrality upon this subject. His conduct clearly shows that the thoughts of liberty were in his heart, nor was he so debased or perverted as to prefer a gilded servitude to true independence. But there is nothing in his conduct to lend countenance to the view that he had begun to defy the Bijapur government so early as 1638. It is true that in the latter part of his career he was practically independent in the Karnatic. But never did Shahaji like his BOD openly defy the Bijapur govern- ment.

»4 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

Shivaji Raw the Mogul and Mahometan power spread over the western ghats, but he was shrewd enough to see, as others were not, that the foundations of the Mahome- tan power over the ghats were not rooted deep enough to defy either the assault of a foreign power without or of rebellion within. It was apparent that the Mahomedan powers had always made little of these mountain fastnesses and had never troubled themselves about strengthening their outposts on the frontiers or garrisoning the hill-forts with sufficient forces for defence l He therefore resolved

i From papers published by Mr. Rajwade (Vol. XV*of his ''Materials for a History of the Marathas") some evidence of Shivaji's pioneer attempts for independence, dating already as early as i645, is now iorth-coming. From a letter of Shivaji in reply to the Prabhu Deshpande, kulkarni of the vale of Rohida, in which the name of Dadaji Kondadev is mentioned as being privy to certain intrigues between this deshpande and Shivaji himself, an attempt is made to represent Dadaji Kondadev as not merely the promoter but the inspirer of Shivaji's plans. Dadaji's work in the conquest of the Maval? was however a part of his administrative duty as the procurator of Shahaji's jahgir, and was probably made in pursuance of bis general orders for the settlement of the district. Whatever the original compact with this Prabhu family might have been, it is clear from Rajwade (Vol. XV pp. 272-73) that they undertook to devote themselves to the prosecution of Shivaji's designs for the achievement of Swarajya and espoused his cause, though the enemies of their fnmily carried tales to the local Bijapur authorities at Shirval. The Jedbes, who were the desh- mukhs of Rohida, very early espoused Shivaji's cause. They had originally been in the Bijapur service, but about the time when Randulla Khan and Shahaji marched against the Moguls ( 1635 A. D. ), they joined Shabaji ( Jedhe Chronology, p. 178 ) probably with a view to enlist his support against the Khopde family who disputed the deshmukh rights over that particular district. The result of this intervention was that at a later date we find the Khopdes on the side of Afzul Khan, while the Jedbes and most other Maval deshmukhs or at least their followers remained on the aide of Shivaji, whom they also assisted in the war with the Mores of Javli (Jedhe Chronology, pp. 180 and 181 ). Another enemy of the Jedhe family was Bandal of Hirdas Maval who had usurped their lands. Dadaji Kondadev marched agaist Bandal. but was defeated (Rajwade's Vol.XV,316, 393 ) and had to retreat to his head-quarters at Shivapur. In the end with the help of Kanhoji Jedhe, Dadaji Kondadev made his peace with Bandal and brought about a good understanding with the leaders of the twelve Mavals, excepting the Khopdes, and after the death of Dadaji we find them co-operating with Sbivaji in all his operations. In 1648 we find Jedhe Naik was with Shahaji in the South and was arrested along with him by

THE BEGINNINGS OF SWARA.JYA 95

io direct his first operations against the ghat country, subjugate the hill-forts and carry the adjoining tracts of mountain land along with them. He knew that, do what the Mahomedan powers could, they would nf ver get per- manent control over hia highlands, unless and until the Hindu population itself chose to put themselves entirely in their hands. The first part of Shivaji's programme therefore was to make his own what the Mahometans had so long failed to dominate, and use the hill-forta both for purposes of defence and offence, as strategical positions commanding the entire ghat country and compelling the 'adherence and allegiance of the deshmukhs in the neigh- bourhood. On nearly all the hill-forts there were nominal garrisons maintained by the Bijapur government, who were practically like mounted sentinels keeping watch. It was not to Shivaji's interest, nor was it then in his power, to declare open enmity with them. He resolved to carry his point by stratagem. About twenty miles, to the south- west of Poona, lay the fort of Torna. Shivaji despatched Yessaji Kunk, Tanaji Malusare and Baji Fasalkar to open negotiations with the governor of the fort, asking him to make over the fortress for the present to Shivaji, who, it was represented to them, was in communication with the sultan for the purpose. By these insinuations, reinforced by persuasive gold, the fort of Torna fell into Shivaji's hands in 16461.

Mustapha Khan. After his liberation Shahaji thanked him and exhorted him thenceforth to anchor his fortunes with those of Shivaji at Poona and support him with all his power. Thus it was that the Jedhes, the Silim- kars and even the Bandals co-operated with Shivaji enthusiastically in the wars with Chandrarao More and Aizul Khan ( Vide Jedhe Chronology pp. 179,-lSO). This is clear proof that fchahaji not only secretly sympathised with the plans of Shivaji but did hia best to promote them by furnish- ing hia son with the services of a most loyal body of auxiliaries. It will be eeen that in his petty wars Dadaji Kondadev only foiled out the policy of Shahaji, the eventual complications of which that able administrator did not probably foresee.

1 Khafi Khan eaye that the first fort captured by Shivaji was 'Jhtndanwaodan.

96 LIFE OF 3HIVAJI MAHARAJ

This was the first overt act of spoliation against Bijapur, and to lend it an ostensible colouring and retain possession of his prize, Shivaji promptly despatched his deputies to Bijapur, representing to that government that the taking over by Shivaji of the fort of Torna was entirely in the interest of the government, tht*t a loyal servant like him bad better be in charge of a sequestered fortress like Torna, in preference to adventurous officers,and that in virtue of his new position as governor of the lort, he would be able to compel the deshmukhs to render true accounts of revenue to the state, thus saving immense sums of money annually to the government. Asa practical proof of his good intentions, he undertook to pay over to the government a far larger revenue than the average of the last ten years. The govern- ment took a long time to draft a reply to these representa- tions, which was just what Shivaji wanted, for in the meanwhile his agents were lavish with presents and bribes among the officers of the court and secured a favourable reply to the petition. Meanwhile the fortifications of Torna were being radically overhauled and renovated, and when completely restored the name of Prachandgad was given to it. In course of these operations Shivaji had the good luck to unearth a quantity of buried treasure among the debris of the fort. Shivaji ascribed the find to the favour of the goddess Bhawani and caused a rumour to be spread that this was A proof of her favourable interest in his enter- prise This made his cause a popular cause, and the enthusiasm of the multitude knew no bounds. Shivaj devoted the treasure to the purchase of arms and ammuni- tion and the erection of a new fort of his own.

To the south-east of Torna fort, at a distance of about three miles there was a barren mountain called Murbad,1 of considerable strategical value. This Shivaji resolved to transform into a fortress-town with impregnable defences. The mountain spurs projected on three sides. They were also

1 Variously called Mudrodev and Durgadevi Mount by other chro- niclers. The Shedgarkar uakhar calls it Mnsaldev ( p. 19. )

THE BEGINNINGS OF SWARAJYA 97

strongly fortified with ramparts. The central fort wa* christened Rajgad and it was adorned with a spacious palace. The projecting redoubts were named Suvela,. Sanjivani, and Padmavati respectively. The Shivadig- vijay states that only the projecting forts were the crea- tion of Shivaji. The central fort existed before and was won by a stroke of diplomacy. Dadaji Kondadev had reclaimed the dense jungh around the village of Khedber between Poona and Shirval and by the careful culture of mango groves in this wilderness converted it into a thriving centre, under the name of Shivapur, after the name ot his master Shivaji. This new town was peopled by inhabitants from the Maval and Konkan regions, who gladly acknowledged the authority, of Shivaji. At Shivapur he £uve laws and heard cases, civil and criminal.

O

While the entrenchments of fort Rajgad were ii> progn ss, a report of these doings of Shivaji reached the Bijapur government. The sultan immediately issued orders to Sliivaji to put a stop to the fortifications and demanded explanation of these acts from Shahaji in the Karnatic. That warrior replied that neither had Shivaji consulted him in these things, nor was he doing anything upon his father's advice; but he and his family were loyal vassals of the Adil.-hahi state, and that being so, whatever Shivaji was doing in the way of fortification must be for the improve- ment or safety of his jahgir. The Bijapur state possessed no reliable fortress in the neighbourhood of his jahgir, and Shivaji ini^ht have thought of curing this defect. In this Shivaji could not be said to be doing any disservice to the Bijapur state. S'ich was the purport of Shahaji's reply. At the same time he wrote to Dadaji and Shivaji protesting against the-»e acts of his son and exhorting him to reform his ways. Dadaji had already notified Shahaji of the latest doii»i/s of his son and exhausted his eloquence in vain to bring back S »ivaji to the piths of worldly wisdom and easy security, — with what effect, has already been* described.

L. S. 8

H

Soon after followed the death of Dadaji Kond-idev, and Shivaji took up personal charge of the jahgir, administer- ing it in the name of his father. Shortly after, Shahaji's agents came to demand the arrears of the jahgir revenue. Shivaji dismissed them with the curt reply that the produces of the sterile fields scarcely sufficed for the cost of adminis- tration, and as the Karnatic estates of his father were both extensive and fertile, he had better maintain himself on that source of revenue. Shahaji does not seem to have resented this answer. It would seem that he was gratified with the early promise of a great career in the resourceful conduct of his son. Some time later he voluntarily made over to Shivaji the entire charge and usufruct of the Maha- rashtra jahgir, with au expression of delight at the skill and statesmanship of which his son had already given unmistakable evidence. And wisely indeed was this step taken by Shahaji. There were civil dissensions at Bijapur and anarchy reigned in all departments of government. The wiser plan for Shahaji was to watch events calmly, with a firm grasp upon his Karnatic possessions. Shivaji's progress in Maharashtra was also fraught with grave danger to his personal security. By keeping a distance between himself and Shivaji and putting him in full authority over his Maharashtra interests, Shahaji might be free at any moment to renounce any responsibility for his daring acts. With this prudent counsel, Shahaji now settled for good in the Karnatic.

Now it happened that among these jahgir estates was the district of Supa, which hitherto had been administered by Baji Mohite, the brother-in-law of Shahaji, being in fact the brother of his second wife. He was also in charge of a squadron of 300 horse. On the death of Dadaji, Shivaji wrote to him to bring the squadron and the jahgir accounts personally to Poona. Mohite did not obey this order and, instead of replying to the message, expressed his astonishment to the bearer of the despatch that Shivaji should play the landlord in the life-time of

THE BEGINNINGS OF SWABAJYA 99

his father, whose great position alone had hitherto screened him from condign punishment . for his acts of lawlessness and rapacity within the Bijapur territory. He wound up this solemn denunciation with an .expression of alarm for :he safety of Shahaji, should his. son persist in his hare- urained enterprise, not forgetting to give the gratuitous counsel : ne sutor ultra crepidam. The messengers made a faithful report of these utterances to Shivaji, and one can well understand how his blood must have boiled in his veins at this representation of his acts. His revenge was swift and sudden. The Shimga festival coming on, Shivaji called on this refractory step- uncle with a small guard of Mayalis, under pretence of asking and receiving the customary Shimga presents. The trick succeeded. Mohite was taken prisoner, his territory and horse captured and the jewels and treasury seized.1 Mohite was treated as became his rank and relation with Shahaji. Shivaji tried his best to persuade him to side with him. But per- suasion had no force with Mohite, who with his followers was at last sent to Shahaji in the Karnatic, with a proper escort.

A small event this, but it had great influence upon the minds both of supporters and strangers. They saw the sort of man they had to deal with. A man who had acted so sternly towards the brother-in-law of his father, and withal a faithful and zealous officer of Shahaji, was cer- tainly not a person to be trifled with. The circumstance aroused a sense of responsibility and fear among his followers.

The fort of Chakan lies to the east of Poona. It com- manded the line of communication between Poona and the Deccan plateau. The possession of this fortress went a great way towards securing the sovereignty of the country. The fortress had recently been the scene of important events

1 other bakhars speak of a midnight raid upon Supa resulting in the capture and imprisonment of Mohite and hie followers. The Jedhe chro- nology gives a very late date to this event, viz. 1656. Sabhasad calls him. Sambbaji Mohite.

1*0 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

in the career of Shahaji. That redoubted warrior had first obtained it in jahgir from the Nizamshahi sultan. When Shahaji had to fly the country from the vindictive pursuit of Jadhav, the possession of this important fortress passed, into the hands of two turbulent polygar chiefs, Martand Dev and Honappa Deshpande. These chiefs were reduced and taken prisoners by Shahaji's friend, Murar Rao Jagdev of Bijapur, who made over the fortress again to its legiti- mateowner, Shahaji. Dadaji Kondadev, in his administrative capacity as Shahaji's minister of affairs, had a ^pointed Firangoji Narsala as havaldar, or garrison commander of this fort. On the death of Dadaji, Firangoji made him- self independent at Chakan. Shivaji opened negotiations in a conciliatory spirit and induced him to surrender the fort. Firangoji submitted quietly and was rewarded with a continuation of the garrison command of the fort in Shivaji's service. The old officers under Shahaji threw in their lot with Shivaji, excepting an old cavalry officer, Bilal Pagya, whd was permitted to revert to his old allegiance at Shahaji's head-quarters.

In course of time, Firangoji Narsala captured the fort of Shivneri and planted Shivaji's flag upon his birth-place. Fir&ugoji was entrusted with the command of this fcrt, in. addition to his former command, and it was left to him to introduce , Dadaji Kondadev's improved revenue system in the neighbouring villages.

Shivaji now turned his attention to the fort of Kondana, in the immediate vicinity of Poona. With his innate mili- tary instincts, .he at once saw how indispensable the posses- sion of this fort was for the permanent security of Poona. The seizure of this fort would strengthen Shivaji's jahgir possessions around Poona. But it was no light task to capture this fort. The Bijapur government maintained a strong garrison upon the fort under a Mahomedan officer, Shivaji was not yet powerful enough to advance openly to an encounter with such a force, an event which would have been the prtlude to a larger movement on the part of the

THE BEGINNINGS OF SWARAJYA 10 i

Bijapur government. An open war with Bijapur at this stage of his career would have been a suicidal act. Shivaji therefore made up his mind to win over the fort by bribing the commander, and in this he had immediate success. The fort was no sooner won than Shivaji proceeded to overhaul its fortifications. With its new entrenchments and muni- tions of war, the fort entered upon a new career of vigorous activity under the name of Sinhagad, or the Lion's Fort.

The fort of Purandar and the neighbouring territory was in the charge of a capable Brahman officer, Nilkant Haibatrao, who held the fort and lands in inam from the defunct Nizamshahi dynasty. When the Nizamshahi terri- tory came in course of time to be annexed to the widening Mogul Empire, Nilkant succeeded in carving out an in- dependent for tune "lor himself within the secluded fastnesses of fort Purandar. He maintained a friendly attitude towards Shivaji and Dadaji till his death, which occurred within a short time after that of Dadaji. He left behind him three sons, of whom the eldest Nilopant succeeded in swallowing up the entire patrimony, regardless of the interest and birth-right of his younger brothers, Pilaji and Sankraji, who not unnaturally maintained that they should all have equal rights to the succession and command of the fort. The family bickering had been in progress for some time, when Nilopant observing what strides Shivaji was making in the expansion of his power cultivated his friendship. Shivaji was much perplexed over this fort, the acquisition of which seemed essential for the success of bis enterprise. Open hostilities were impossible on account of the ties of alliance which had descended from sire to son. Public opinion was sure to be outraged by a declaration of hostilities. But for the efficient military control of his jahgir districts of Baramati, Indapur and Supa the acquisition of Purandar became an act of imperative necessity. Shivaji saw the accession of military strength the fortress was bound to bring to his possessions, and the insecurity to his own inter- asts that the passing of the fort into hostile hands was sure

102 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

to bring in its train. 'This, at any rate, he was resolved tc prevent.

While the fraternal dissensions were at their height, Shivaji, with a chosen band of his Mavalis, entered the Purandar territory, with the ostensible purpose of a tour in the Supa district. No sooner were the two younger brothers apprised of Shivaji's approach than they sent to invite him to fort Purandar to arbitrate upon the dispute.1 Upon this Shivaji made a halt and quartered his men at the temple of Narayan under the fort. A sudden march upon the fort might rouse Nilopant's suspicion, and this Shivaji wanted to avoid as much as possible. On the other hand the younger brothers had no courage to descend and openly join Shivaji. In this uncertainty, the soldiers and officers of the garrison began to reflect upon the growing evils of the fraternal strife. Things were drifting they could not see how and might end in the seizure of the fort by an outsider. Far better they thought if the fort were to pass under Shivaji, their ueighbour, than under an utter stranger. Shivaji owned the surrounding country and was fast becoming the lord of the hill- forts round about. Under his iron hand anarchy was impossible. What leader more valiant and chivalrous could they ever hope to serve ? Such thoughts were passing through their minds. They concerted their plans and deter- mined to invite Shivaji to the fort. They represented tc the dissentient brothers the wisdom of cultivating friendly feelings between their family and that of Shivaji, and that the valiant leader being under the walls of the fort and the time being that of the Divali festival, the most festive time of the year in the Deccan, it would be but an exercise of common courtesy to welcome him to partake of the hospitality of the fort. They further advised the brothers to lay their mutual complaints befor Shivaji and abide by

1 The author of the Rairi bakhar says that Shivaji asked for and obtained from Nilopant permission to spend the autumn at the foot of fort Purandar, and upon this Shivaji came into the country under the fort in company with Jijabai.

THE BEGINNINGS OF SWARAJYA 103

bis decision. Thus persuaded, the three brothers descended from the fort with the object of according a warm welcome to Shivaji and invited him in the most cordial terms to accept their hospitality in the auspicious season of Divali. Shivaji protested that he wag not alone and could not indeed leave his followers in the season of festivity. Upon this the welcome was extended to the whole party, and for three days they enjoyed the hospitality of the fort. During this time, it io but due to Shivaji to say that he used all per- suasive arts to pour oil upon the troubled waters, but nothing that he could think of could heal the feuds in the family. The arts of reconciliation were tried in vain. The two younger brothers pleaded that they had no hopes of justice at the bands of their brother and offered to put themselves under Shivaji's protection. On the night of the third day, while the company were conversing, Nilopant feeling drowsy retired to sleep. Shivaji suggested to the younger brothers that they should seize this opportunity and imprison a brother who turned a deaf ear to all con- ciliatory proposals. The brothers eagerly fell in with this proposal. Shi/aji called his Mavalis and enlisted the sympathy of the garrison forces for a concerted coup de main with the mutual help of his own soldiers and the garrison. Nilopant was surprised while asleep and put under arrest. The three brothers were marched out of the fortress, which itself was taken possession of by Shivaji's men. Their inam lands were equally divided among them, and they were ordered to reside on the lower heights under the fort. In course of time they were given offices in Shivaji's government and prospered in his service. Thus was the fort of Purandar captured without a drop of blood, with the result of a great accession of military strength to Shivaji's districts of Supa and Indapur.

Soon after this event, Mankoji Dahatonde captured the fort of Visapur under Shivaji's orders. An Abyssinian officer of Shahaji, Sidi Bilal the Abyssinian, was in autho- rity at this fort, and Shivaji intended at first to continue

^04 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHAEAJ

him in command. But when the proposal was made to him, the Abyssinian replied that Shivaji was a lawless adven- turer, his career one of unrestrained violence, his course ultimately bound to end in ruin: he would not take service under Shi vaji's flag. Shivaji showed no resentment at this scathing criticism on the part of a veteran officer of his father. Without the least insult or indignity to his person, but rather with many marks of esteem and laden with a profusion of favours, the veteran was allowed to return to Shahaji.

In this manner did Shivaji proceed to reduce the nume- rous hill-forts bordering upon his jahgir and render his position as secure and impregnable as possible. Upto this period he had had no occasion to court open hostilities with Bijapur. True indeed, two or three forts, such as those of Torna and Kondana, were seized directly from the military authorities of the Bijapur government ; but they had been taken without shedding a drop of blood, and there was this excuse in their case, that they lay immediately upon his jahgir estates. While their maintenance in the highest state of efficiency was naturally more possible from the fact of their being vested in Shi vaji's hands, and on the retention of them to a great extent depended the permanent security and tranquillity of his jahgir, the turbulent deshmukhw, or revenue lords, of the neighbourhood would now be under greater control, and what was of far greater moment, they would no longer be able to avoid paying their contribution of the government dues. The forts of Chakan, Purandar and several others had passed under usurping chiefs who defied the government. In reducing these restive chiefs, Shivaji could maka it appear that he was in reality doing a service to Bijapur. It was therefore quite natural that the Bijapur government made little of this apparently insignificant movement of Shivaji. How could they be induced to believe that young and inexperienced as he was, the son of a loyal veteran like Shahaji could ever lend himself to *he prosecution of any seditious designs against the state ?

THE BEGINNINGS OF SWARAJYA 105

His schemes must of necessity, so they thought, be in the interest of the sfoverument. Another circumstance contri-

O

buting to the same result was the fact that the reigning Adilshahi sultan ( Mahomed Adil Shaha 1626-56 ) was absorbed in the erection of monumental edifices, the archi- tectural beauties of which still redeem the ruins of the Bijapur capital. His political programme comprehended the subjugation of the whole of the Karnatic country, in the prosecution of which enterprise Shahaji had already rendered such splendid service. The sultan must have thought that to confiscate Shahaji's jahgir and take stringent measures against young Shivaji's present career would lead to unnecessary irritation and unpleasantness in his relations with a gallant officer who had already rendered such meritorious service to the state. It is needless to expatiate at large upon Shivaji** objects and purposes at this btage of his career. Suffice it to say that he was lay- ing deep the firm foundations of that imperial edifice under whose arch the people of Maharashtra were able to breathe freely the spirit of liberty and independence. The moun- tain forts were the keys that opened up before him the dominion of the surrounding territory. Under the shadow of their rocky walls, his own realm could thrive in pros- perous security, in spite of all the alarms of war.

In this manner Shivaji brought under his rule the whole territory from Chakan fort to the Nira. Each fort was re-entrenched as it was captured and kept in a state of high efficiency under a garrison of his faithful Mavalis. The deshmukhs of the districts around paid in their dues of land revenue without a murmur. Tne revenue system of Dadaji Kondadev was introduced everywhere. Favour- able settlements were made with the ryots, with the result of great regularity in the payment of revenues; and a desire to improve the land was bred in their minds by reason of the sense of security they began to feel about their estates. Shivaji actively promoted this instinct for im- provement, and bin efforts made him the idol of the people. The Hindu cultivators in all directions hailed him as an

106 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

ideal sovereign. His officers admired his wisdom and sagacity. Admiration and gratitude ripened into a feel- ing of reverence. Among the Mavalis this sense of reve- rence was most intense. They looked upon him not only as their king, but almost as their father. They were ready to sacrifice their lives for his glory. They were resolved to carry out his behests, regardless of consequences.

Not less important than the efficient management of his territorial possessions was another part of his policy, which was the retention in his service and favour of as large « number of followers as possible, and of men of ability both military and civilian. There was an emulous zeal to join his service. Shivaji was an extemely good judge of character and ability. He was deft in assigning the right duty to the right man, and wherever possible this was done by Shivaji in person. He never let slip an opportunity of extending his patronage to a brave soldier or a capable civil officer. Men of honour and ability swarmed round him from all parts, and Shivaji left no stone unturned to infuse his own spirit of enthusiasm in them, and convert them into efficient instruments of the great cause looming before him in the future.

In a short time, he was at the head of ten thousand Mavalis and three thousand horse, including the scattered cavalry left behind by Shahaji, which was now mustered together. There were civilian officers deputed by Shahaji and others nominated by Dadaji Kondadev, who still con- tinued under Shivaji and rendered him every assistance. They were nerved to action and fired with enthusiasm by the exalted spirit with which they saw their master dash forward for the glorious stake of national independ- ence. They recognized that talent for enterprise and genius for invention which swayed Shivaji's comparatively youthful form. They obeyed his least wishes. Shivaji on his part was not slow to honour and appreciate, where honour and appreciation were due. Acknowledgments of merit and promotion followed in quick succession. For the

THE BEGINNINGS OF SWARAJYA 107

present, Shivaji was resolved that the idea of Swarajya or independence should be commensurate with the boundaries of his jahgir, and with a view to instil this idea, and as a fore- taste of the future, he appointed Shamraj Nilkant Rajekar (Kanzekar)1 to the rank and office of Peshwa or prime minister, Balkrishna Dikshit to that of Muzumdar, (acoun- tant general), Sonopant to that of Dabir (foreign secre- tary) and Raghunath Ballal Bokil to that of Sabnis ( pay- master ). Besides these, Yessaji Kunk, Tanaji Malusare and Baji Fasalkar were appointed to the command of the Mavali troops, Shivaji himself being the commander-in-chief of his army. The honour of Sirnobut ( marshal of the royal drum) had not yet been conferred upon any indivi- dual, though some chronicles describe the appointment as having been made as early as this period.2 In short, though Shivaji's power had not yet extended beyond the natural boundaries of his jahgir, the foundations were laid and the machinery of self-government was already in motion, to work with an added impetus, when the outline was more fully filled in and the entire superstructure was complete in all its parts..

1 The Shivdigvijay gives 1643 as the date of the appointment, and this seems to have been accepted by Mr. Raj wade; but such an early date does not seem probable. In the bakhar of Chitragupta the name of the Peshwa is given as Sankraji. Raghunath Ballal Sabnis was probably Raghu- nath Ballal Korde.

3 According to Sabhasad and Chitragupta, the Maratha commander of the Supa district, Tukoji Ghor, had the honour of the Sirnobut conferred on him. But the same authorities record a little later that the honour was conferred upon Mankoji Dahatonde ( alias Dutonde, alias Datavda ).

FOOT XOTE TO PAGE 91:— The passage from Sabhasad referred to by Mr. Rajwade occurs at page 7 of that bakhar. It literally seems to mean that "the Maval deshmukhs were bound and subdued and the lawless raider? amongst them were killed." But the passage has been differently inter- preted, the word "bound" being interpreted as "bound Co the cause," or "united." The twelve Mavals referred to in the passage are in the neigh- bourhood of Poona. They are little valleys generally named after the rivulet irrigating the mountain declivity in each case. They are (1) Rohid- khore, (2) Velvand, (3) Muse, (4) Muthe, (5) Jor, (6) Kanad, (7)Shivthar (8) Murrain, (9) Powd, (10) Gunjan, (11) Bhor and (12) Pavan. There were

108 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

similarly other Mavala in the neighbourhood of Junnar, such as Shivner, Bhimner, Ghodner, Parner, Jamner etc. (Vide Sardesai'a Marathi Riyasat, 1907, p 166). These Mavals have the characteristic suffix khore or net*. Aa to the fact of Shivaji's seal being found impressed on a document published by Mr. Raj wade in his volume XV and dated as early as the year 1639 A. D. , and the inferences drawn from the date and the language of the motto of the seal ("This is the seal of Shivaji, the son of Shahaji, whose glory waxes over the world like the cre&cent glory of the moon") by historians like Messrs. Kincaid and Sardesai, it seems to us that the use of such a seal even at so early a date cannot be taken per se aa an evidence of a set purpose to inaugurate an independent kingdom, since it was customary for every jahgirdar to have his own seal; and the language of the motto might he taken as a piece of conventional extravagance How- ever it is important in the light of other circumstances as furnishing an index to the hidden motives in the mind of Shivaji, and possibly also of SLahaji, viz; the irrepressible desire for jounding aa independent) monarchy. Beyond this there is no warrant to infer that the empire- boilding actually began as early as 16?9.

CHAPTER VII DEVELOPMENT OF SWARAJYA

IN the last chapter we attempted to trace a faint out- line of the pioneer labours of Shivaji as the founder of a sovereign power. In this chapter we shall follow the further expansion and development of his boldly conceived plans.

The country enclosing the jahgir domain of Shivaji was, as we have already observed, in the hands of ambiti- ous nobles, who owed more or less a sort of hereditary alle- giance to Bijapur, but for the most part were engaged in adventurous warfare among themselves. On the southern bank of the Nira, as far to the east as Shirval and south- wards up to the mountains that- skirt the upper courses of the Krishna, a petty deshmukh of the Maval regions. Bandal by name, held despotic sway. His head -quarters were the fort of Rohida. He harboured an ancient grudge against Shivaji and envied his rise. He always maintained the defences of his fortress in a condition of high effici- ency and had a strong garrison. When fort after fort fell before Shivaji in his victorious career, Bandal was resolved that his fort at any rate should form an exception. He looked moreover with greedy eyes upon the fair fields around the fort of Purandar. When Purandar was surren- dered to Shivaji, Bandal was naturally all the more anxious for the safety of his fort.

The uplands of the western ghats, from the Krishna to the Warna, acknowledged the' rule of Rajah Chandra- rao Mo/e. Javli was the head quarters of this chief and the fortress of Hashamgad was in his power. Shivaji's arts of conciliation were not likely to succeed with him. With his large feudal forces he defied everybody.

Wai was under a mokassadar of the Bijapur govern- ment, who also had Pandavga.i, Kamalgad and other forts tinder him. Another great Mahomedan officer had charge of Kolhapur and the important fort of Panhalla in its neighbourhood.

110 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

Kalyan had once been under the Nizamshahi kings of Abimednagar. By the treaty made with the Moguls in 1636, Bijapur had acquired possession of this strategical position. The district was divided into two parts and administered by separate officers. The northern half ex- tending from Kalyan-Bhiwandi to Nagotna was under a Mahomedan noble of high family, Mullana Ahmed by name, whose head-quarters were at Kalyan-Bhiwandi. This was an extensive tract of land and comprised many of the hill forts on the ghats and the lowlands beneath. These fortresses were as a rule rarely kept in an efficient condition. The southern half of the province was under the sway of an Abyssinian nobleman. It was, indeed, in some sort, a jahgir which his Abyssinian forefathers had enjoyed from the Nizamshahi government, in acknow- ledgment of the services of the naval contingent main- tained by them for the defence of the commerce on the western sea and the conveyance of Mecca pilgrims to and from the Red Sea. Not that it was a hereditary jahgir in its origin. The best naval officer of the Abyssinian corps in the service of the Nizamshahi state generally enjoyed this jahgir with the style and title of vizier. This high admiral had a staff of officers and sailors, who were generally of Abyssinian origin. Thus it came to pass that in course of time there arose a small but powerful colony of these Abyssinians on the Konkan littoral. The head- quarters of the Abyssinian naval squadron was Daiida- Rajpari. There was a little island off this harbour, which was strongly fortified. This island became famous under the name of Janjira. At the time under review Fatteh Khan was the high admiral of the Abyssinian corps. He had many forts under him, the principal of which were those of Tala, Ghosala and Rairi. These forts were all in charge of Maratha officers.

The Bijapur government had for a long time ruled over parts of the Konkan. That government had ceded considerable districts in jahgir to the deshmukhs of the

DEVELOPMENT OF SWARAJYA 111

Deccan and the jahgirs had been handed down from father to son. They absorbed the major part of the revenue among themselves. The chief command of the harbour towns of Dabhol (Dabul), Anjenwel, Ratnagiri and Rajapur was however 8till centred in the hands of government officers, who collected the revenue in the surrounding territory. Predominant over the rest of these deshmukhs was the Sawant family of Wadi. This Deshmukh was virtually master of the mountainous regions on the frontiers of Goa, which owned the rule of the Portuguese. Next in power under Sawant was Surve, the deshmukh of Shringarpur.1 On account of the isolated state of their jahgir the Surves were comparatively independent like the Mores of Javli.

Such was the political condition of the neighbouring jahgirs and fiefs, when Shivaji launched forth upon his venturous enterprise of enlarging his dominions, and under the circumstances it was perfectly natural that %he should direct his first energies against these fief- holders. As for the ghat-matha regions and the lowlands beneath, Shivaji was already, thanks to the co-operation of his Mavali friends, in full possession of all the requisite information and had made the deshmukhs his own. For a similar purpose in order to sound the views of the Konkan desh- mukhs and governors of forts, as also to make reconnais- sances in that region and announce his general intention of declaring his independence of the Mahomedan government, Shivaji despatched Brahman and Prabhu officers of acknow- ledged merit as diplomats. They traversed the Konkan in its various parts and conciliated the sympathy and adherence of several deshmukhs and Maratha nobles.

Shivaji had by this time a very large following and several more were ready to throw in their lot with him. The difficulty was how to maintain this steadily growing number of followers. The revenues accruing from the terri-

A Grant Duff gives Dalvi as the family name of this chief. Chietni, Sabhasad and Chitragupba style him Surve. We think Surve was the cognomen and Dalvi an agnomen of this family.

112 LIFE Ok SH1VAJI MAHARAJ

tory already in his possession fell far short of his growing requirements. Prompt payment is the secret of military obedience. A large increase of cavalry und infantry was a sine qua non to the enterprise he had entered upon. The forts recently captured entailed a vast expenditure for their defence, while their safety from future assault on the part of the enemy depended on a large supply of food and pro- visions being constantly maintained for the emergencies of war. All this meant monwy, and it was essential that the scarcity of specie should no longer come in the way of his aspirations. Shivaji therefore set about to procure money. He commenced to borrow on a large scale from wealthy capitalists, and against those, who would not willingly part with their gold, compulsion was resorted to. There is no denying the fact that there was a grave injustice in (his. But Sbivaji believed that the great cause he had embai ked upon was to the advantage of all and rendered imperative a large accumulation of capital.

While in this anxiety he received news that Mullana Ahmed, the subhedar of Kalyan, was forwarding a large sum of money to the Bijapur government by way of Wai, through the Konkan. Resolved to intercept this prejious treasure and divert it to his own ambitious purposes, Shivaji set off with 30 horse and the flower of his Mavali infantry and falling upon the convoying party dispensed them in no time, transferring the precious treasure immedi- ately to the fort of Rajgnd.1 The con voting force deputed by the subhedar was by no means contemptible, for lha subhedar had every reason to fear the emergency of the treasure being cut off by Shivaji or the marauding chiefs of the neighbourhood. In the contest that ensued, Shivaji lost about ten of his followers and had something like 25 men wounded. On Mullana's side about 25 were killed and a hundred wounded. With nis wonted liberality, Shivaji rewarded the gallant soldiers who had rendered him this

1 According to the Shivdigvijay the convoy waa looted by Yessaji Kunk and Tanaji Malusare under ohivaji'a orders.

DEVELOPMENT OF SWARAJYA 118

•useful service and devised means for the maintenance of the families of those who were killed or wounded. This fresh proof of his liberality still further enhanced his popularity.

This event was followed by the outbreak of open hosti- lities with Mullana. Abaji Sondev who was despatched against him captured Kalyan by a surprise attack, seizing all its forts, and taking . Mullana prisoner. No sooner did Shivaji hear the joyful news than he proceeded in person to Kalyan, and liberating Mullana sent him with all honour to Bijapur. Now in the assault on the fort, Abaji had seized upon the daughter-in-law of Mullana.1 Abaji informed Shivaji that he had made prisoner a woman of distinguished beauty and prayed that Shivaji might accept her as a fit person for his zenana. Shivaji bade him introduce her in open durbar; and when the beautiful lady was introduced, apparelled in the loveliest raiment, Shivaji smiled and exclaimed, " Would that my mother had equalled her in beauty, for then he who was born of. her might have been as beautiful!" These words caused great amaze- ment in the assembly. To those gathered there such self-restraint appeared truly marvellous. Shivaji conti- nued his speech: "It is written that he who hankers after victory, should beware of love's meshes and other people's women. It was this which brought low the proudest towers of strength like Kavana of Lanka. What then of poor mortals like ourselves ? Let the king look upon all persons as his children/' These words of wisdom created a great impression upon the assembly. No circumstance could have stamped more vividly upon their minds an idea of tne • magnanimity and high worth of their master. The truth dawned upon their minds that they had to deal with a man whose rectitude would never swerve an inch, and in whose service no act of iniquity on the part of his followers would ever find countenance. Shivaji treated the lady with great

1 The version of the Shivdigvijay is that she was a daughter o£ Mullana and had been openly made over to Abaji by her father for a sum of money. The text follows Chitnis, page 34, which is corroborated by the> Tarikh-i-Shivaji, page 14 (a)

L.S. 9.

114 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

consideration, presented her with ornaments and robes of honour befitting her dignity, and sent her with a proper escort to her father-in-law at Bijapur.

Abaji Sondev having earned the grateful acknowledg- ment of his generous master for the conquest of Kalyan was rewarded with the governorship of that important province. The reformed system of revenue was speedily introduced here, and the ryots oppressed under Mahomedan misrule now breathed a new atmosphere of hope and confidence. The old village organizations and institutions that had disappeared during years of confusion and anarchy were revived. The annual grants once conceded to temples and Brahmans were restored, and those which had remained despite the adverse circumstances were confirmed. The poor Hindu subjects were gratified at this beneficent and auspicious commencement of Shivaji's regime, and his fame as a merciful and benignant ruler spread far and wide.

This was the beginning of Shivaji's great triumphs. A spirit of noble exaltation and emulation now entirely possessed the hearts of his followers. .Mullaua having been so cheaply got out of the way, Shivaji's further career was signalized by the capture of fort after fort. The officers of the different forts were won over where possible ; if they proved obstinate in tKeir opposition, a surprise attack followed, leading inevitably to the capture of the fort. The Mavalis and warrior chiefs under Shivaji were as a rule armed with full information concerning the intricacies and vulnerable points of the different fortresses, and where this information was lacking, it could be procured from local experts. The sentinel guards of the hill- forts could be corrupted where other means failed, or the local contractors of supply outside the fort, who undertook to provide the thatching and roof-material against the expected monsoon for the buildings within, could be won over to the side of the assailants against the garrison who employed them. In this manner Shivaji's warriors could enter a fort, carry- ing on their heads bundles of hay, under which their

DEVELOPMENT OF SWARAJ YA 115

swords were concealed, and with the assistance of the senti- nels who were already in the secret, they could make an onslaught on the rest and conquer the fort. By this plan of operations, the forts of Kangari, Tung, Tikoni, Lohgad. Rajmachi, Kuwari, Bborup, Ghangad, Kelna, Mahuli and others were captured. The deshmukhs in this territory who were a perennial source of oppression tc the ryots were reduced to allegiance, either by conciliation or by force, and the Maval region was delivered finally from their tyranny. The Hindu population of these districts hailed with delight the advent of a capable Hindu ruler, who put an end to the rule of Islam and the reign of terror and license that had accompanied it. They had a foretaste of freedom under Shivaji's banner and rejoiced in the unre- strained exercise of their religious rites.

The Hindu inhabitants of the southern half of the pro- vince of Kalyan which was under their Abyssinian ruler now envied the happier lot of their brethren in the northern half of the province. There were at the time two Maratha officers of the rank of Jamedar, Sodawlekar and Kodaw- lekar, in the Abyssinian service. They sent word to Shivaji that they were quite tired of their dependence on their Abyssinian oppressors and undertook to give over the for- tresses of Tala and Ghosala to Shivaji, should he be pleased to make an expedition into the Konkan. They held out the prospect of a large accession of territory with the conquest of these forts and the secession of a large number of Maratha combatants from the service of the Abyssinians. Under the-e favourable auspices, Shivaji turned his attention in that direction, with the result that the fortresses above mentioned fell before him. With them was conquered the neighbouring fort of Surgad and the low-lands commanded by its guns. It was however difficult to maintain his firm hold over this conquest, for the Sidi or Abyssinian ruler was a powerful chief. On this account, Shivaji erected new fortifications, the chief of which was at Birwadi, uponaspot prospected for the purpose. The fortifications of Rairi were

i!6 - LIFE OF SHIVA JI MAHARAJ

also strengthened, and the fort of Lingana was built there- upon. This fort was afterwards further entrenched and became famous under the name of Baigad. In all these forts Shivaji maintained his own garrisons.

It was in this campaign that Shivaji obtained his famous sword Bhavani. As Shivaji was returning from a visit to the temple of Harihareshwar, he was told that there was a famous long sword worth 300 hons ( pagodas ) with a chief, Gowalkar Sawant by name. It was suggested to Shivaji that he should wrest this sword by force. Shivaji's -reply was characteristic. He said, "A brave man should never covet what belongs to another. You will remember the puranic legend about that precious stone called the Syamantmani. The feuds that arose from the theft of that diamond required all the energies of the Lord Shri Krishna to settle. We poor mortals had better not raise such storms for trifles. ' Impressed by his austere attitude his people kept silence. Now while these conversations were going on in Shivaji's camp, the Sawant received independent advice from his ministers to seize the opportunity for conciliating Shivaji and seal the compact of amity by making him present of the precious sword. The Sawant saw the wisdom of this proposal and seeking an interview with Shivaji presented him with the sword. Shivaji was highly gratified with the gift and in return presented to the Sawant, as an earnest of his good will, a purse of 300 hons and a robe of honour, and also received him into his service. Shivaji, it may be said without exaggeration, simply adored this «word. He never started on an expedition without it. He gave it the name of his tutelary deity Bhavani. From the time of the acquisition of this sword, he never knew defeat in any campaign. This he attributed to the sword, and he loved and adored it as something divine. During :he nine days preceding the Dasara, dedicated to the wor- ship of the goddess Bhawani, he placed the sword on the consecrated altar next to the image of the goddess and worshipped it as a visible favour from Heaven. On the

DEVELOPMENT OF SWABAJYA HI

tenth day, the auspicious festal day of the Dasara, he used to take it up devoutly from the altar and with this Bhavani blade in his hand set out upon his campaign.

In the course of the Konkan campaign, Shivaji attacked Rajapur. This was a town under the Abyssinians. Shivaji established a strict blockade and prepared to pillage the town. On the other hand the kamavisdar or civil commis- sioner in charge of the town made some show of resistance, but being thoroughly worsted had finally to yield. Shivaji levied contributions from the rich merchants and wealthy citizens of the town. But no material wealth Shivaji found in this town could compare with that sterling speci- men of humanity, the loyal Balaji Avji, whose accession to Shivaji's side dates from this expedition against Rajapur. The father of Balaji Avji was Abaji Hari Chitre, once a de-wan or minister under the Abyssinian chief. In a fit of passion occasioned by a trifling offence the Abyssinian put Abaji Hari and his brother to death and ordered the women and children in their family to be transported to Muscat and sold into slavery. This dire sentence was on the point of being executed. However, Abaji's wife, the mother of Balaji, was a woman of remarkable prudence and sagacity. She won over the sailors of the ship which was destined for Muscat and induced them to take them to Rajapur and in the mart of that town sell them as slaves. At Rajapur was her brother, Visaji Shankar, a merchant of great local influ- ence. Yisaji bought them without letting the sailors know that they were his relations. The eldest son of this lady was Balaji and the other two were Chimnaji and Shamji. Visaji gave a good education to these three children. Balaji was a karkun or clerk under a revenue officer in charge of a kasha. On hearing the news of Shivaji's arrival in the Konkan, he wrote to him detailing the tragic misfortunes of his family. Shivaji was filled with admiration at Balaji 's hand- writing as exhibited in that letter and wrote in reply that he would with pleasure entertain Balaji as a karkun in his service

118

Upon this Balaji replied that he laboured under considerable obligations to his uncle and until that debt was cleared he could not think of joining Shivaji. On Shivaji's arrival at Rajapur he inquired after Balaji Avji and ordered him to be brought into his presence. Balaji was accordingly brought before Shivaji. Balaji's mother, unable to conjec- ture the cause, was filled with terror and came with maternal solicitude before the conqueror, prostrating her- self before him and narrating the tragedy of her life. Shivaji was overwhelmed 7?ith deep emotion at the recital of this narrative, so full of pathos, called up her two younger sons, and gave her an assurance as to their safety, entreating her to look upon himself as a fourth son, and to send them all to try their fortunes in his service. The good opinion that Shivaji had formed about Balaji from his hand-writing was greatly heightened by the personal in- terview. Pleased with his brilliant talents and the honour- able precedents of his family he appointed Balaji to the post of Ghitnis or Private Secretary. Chimnaji being versed in accounts was appointed to the Audit Depart- ment, and the youngest of the three, Shamji, was placed in charge of the stores at fort Raigad.

Balaji Avji was in the highest favour with Shivaji. He was the first person in his confidence and the repository of the most secret of his plans. This confidence was the well-merited reward of his unimpeachable loyalty and uprightness. Despatches of the greatest consequence and significance passed through his hands. Possessed of great activity of mind and considerable literary ability,he could at once grasp the vaguest thoughts floating in the mind of his royal master and express them with a lucidity, apposite- ness and precision that was simply astonishing. An anec- dote told about him, whether true or false, is very charac- teristic of the man. In the course of a busy campaign he had received orders from Shivaji to write despatches on gome affair of moment. Balaji's time was somehow occupied with other urgent affairs, and until night-fall he

DEVELOPMENT OF SWARAJYA 119

found no leisure to carry out the mandate. At night Shivaji summoned him to hia presence and inquired whether the des- patches were ready. Balaji was in great perplexity. He was quite aware that if he were to confess his fault., Shivaji would make an example of him for inadvertence and negligence as regards his express orders. He thought he must somehow tide over the present difficulty, and with- out any sign of dismay replied in the affirmative. Shivaji's next order was that he should read it aloud. Balaji opened his desk and, taking out a blank piece of paper, pretended to read out the despatch from the blank paper, and he did this without halting or stammering for a word. Shivaji was pleased with the supposed despatch and praised him for the deftness and skill with -which he supposed him to have executed it. But this was too much for the torch-bearer who was holding up the light on the paper. He burst into a fit of laughter, and on Shivaji's inquiring the cause, he let the cat out of the bag. Balaji had to confess his fault and explain how he had no leisure to write out the despatches. Gratified with the marvellous proof of Balaji's powers of memory, Shivaji for once excused this dereliction on the part of his trusty secretary.

FOOT NOTB to page 116:— The Bhawani was a "firemg" i. e. a sword of European (Portuguese or Spanish) make. It was a Jong straight-bladed . word, probably from the famous armoury of Toledo in Spain.

CHAPTER VIII SHAHAJI ENTRAPPED

THE disturbances caused by Shivaji in the Bijaput territory had been overlooked for two or three years ; but the Kalyan affair was the last straw, and even that apathe- tic and indulgent government had now to bestir itself. For the plunder of the royal treasure on the way to the capital, the conquest of Kaiyan and the out-lying forts, and the rumours that were now bruited abroad about Shivaji's future projects had caused great consternation and raised an out-cry against the lethargy of the government. The sultan^ Mahomed Adil Shaha, hastened to the wrong conclusion that the master mind of Shahaji must be at. the bottom of this affair. Nor was this suspicion quite unreasonable. On the retirement of Randulla Khan from the Karnatic, Sha- haji had succeeded to the government of that province, and having in a short time won popularity and affection from the grateful population both by his conciliatory spirit and consummate statesmanship, as described in the second chapter, he was now half way towards the establishment of an independent sovereignty, under nominal allegiance to the Adil Shahi dynasty. Added to this was the fact that the country which was the scene of Shivaji's incipient activities was one which in quite recent times had owned the practically absolute authority of Shahaji. It was natural under these circumstances that Mahomed Adil Shaha should have jumped to the conclusion that Shahaji was the real author and inspirer of his son's rebellion.

But for a time the Adil Shahi sultan could do nothing more than nurse his suspicion in secret. To declare open hostilities against Shahaji was really not in his power; but to despatch a sufficient force against Shivaji was under the circumstances quite as inexpedient. Such an overt act of hostility against his son might possibly precipitate th<* growing ambition of Shahaji into active defiance, and Sha- haji's defiance might, between the Mogul on the north and

SHAHAJI ENTRAPPED 121

the rebellious chieftains in the south, jeopardize the very foundations of the Adil Shahi empire. The sultan there- fore decided that the only way open to him was to make peaceful overtures to his powerful vassal and pointed out to Shahaji how regrettable it was that the son of a loyal vassal like him should turn traitor, fall upon the sultan's forts all round his jahgir in Poona, and end with the atrocious seizure of Kalyan. He enjoined him in his own interest to see to it that Shivaji was adequately chastised for such rebellious conduct and compelled to give up h,is marauding career and make submission as became a loyal citizen and vassal of the Adil Shahi state. This injunction culminated in threats of reprisals against Shahaji in person and his son, and a hint that if Shahaji was not able to manage his son, he should hand him over to the Bijapur government.

Shahaji replied that Shivaji was no longer in his power. He was not responsible for his evil ways. He was himself a loyal servant of the state and had no art or part in Shivaji's doings. Should any direct charge be made against him, he would come to the sultan's presence to answer in person. It was open to His Majesty to move hi& forces against Shivaji, put him under arrest or wreak his royal will in any manner upon him. He would not oppose it. It was for His Majesty to reduce Shivaji to allegiance, and he had nothing more to say on the subject. Such was the tenDr of Shahaji'a reply, but it brought no con- viction to the sultan's distrustful mind. He sent secret despatches to Baji Ghorpade of Mudhol to procure the arrest of Shahaji by stratagem. Only thus he thought he could bend Shivaji to his will.

Such is the traditional account of the cause of Shahaji's incarceration as handed down to posterity by Chitnis and other Marathi chronicles, and as accepted by all leading historians from Grant Duff to Kincaid. But the Jedhe chronology ( page 179 ) says with characteristic brevity that Shahaji was arrested near Jinji, along with the

122 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

Mavali deshmukh Kanoji Naik Jedhe o£ Bohida by Mustapha Khan. The Basatin-i-Salatin states that Shahaji was arrested by Baji Ghorpade and Yeshwant Rao Asad- Khani by treachery under orders from Musbapha Khan for disobedience. It would seem from these authorities that the neighbourhood of Jinji was the scene of the arrest and that Mustapha was in authority, and got Baji Ghorpade to arrest Shahaji for non-compliance with his orders. Prof. Jadunath Sarkar quotes a Bijapur chronicle, the Muhammadnamah ( pp. 371-372 ) to show that Mustapha was the Adil Shahi commander-in-chief in the south and that Shahaji was in charge of siege-operations around Jinji. Shahaji wanted to retire to his own country leaving the siege- works incomplete and said he would do so without writing for permission, when Mustapha got him arrested and had him sent to Bijapur. As will be seen from a foot-note at page 47 in the second chapter, this version is also followed by Modak in hin History of the Adil Shahi Dynasty (Marathi). Modak constantly copies the Basatin-i-Salatin and the Adil Shahi chronicles like the Muhammadnamah. But the Jedhe chronology is an altogether independent piece of evidence. However if Baji Ghorpade acted treacherously upon the orders of Mustapha Khan, it is just possible that the latter acted upon the orders of the sultan.

Whatever the original reason for the arrest of Shahaji might have been, the sultan treated the captive as a hostage for the submission of his son. Naturally, therefore, have the Marathi chronicles represented the whole event in this light Incidentally it may be remarked that here is pre- sented to us an array of facts that establishes beyond doubt the attitude of Shahaji as regards the movement his great son had entered upon. There is first the presence of Mavali chiefs in Shahaji's camp. There is the fact that at this particular time of his career Shahaji wanted to retire to his country in. defiance of orders from his superiors. There is lastly the fact that immediately after his liberation he

SHAHAJI ENTRAPPED 12*

'bound the Jedhe family ( Vide Jedhe chronology, pp. 179- 180 ) by solemn oaths to serve Shivaji in all his wars, even against the Mogul and the Adil Shahi armies.

How Ghorpade effected his treacherous object has al- ready been described in the second chapter. Shahaji was 'brought to Bijapur and enjoined to put a stop to Shi vaji's re- bellious acts. Other nobles of the court were asked to exhort Shabaji to the same purpose. But to all of them Shahaji returned a reply in the same strain as before. At length the sultan compelled Shahaji to compose in his royal presence an urgent letter to Shivaji, calling upon him to come straight- way to' Bijapur and make a complete restitution of all forts and territories seized from the government, and apprising him of the forlorn condition to which he had been reduced by Shivaji's disobedience.

The receipt of this letter and paternal mandate pre- sented a great dilemma before Shivaji's mind. On the one hand it was unfilial to disobey his father and desert him in the perilous situation in which he found himself. On the other hand obedience to his father's command meant disgrace, forfeiture and surrender. To surrender the hard-won forts and territories, to declare submission and vassalage tD the Mahomedan despots of the Deccan, to leave his great designs half-executed were proposals from which his nobler instincts recoiled. And what could he gain in exchange ? That, the hatred of which had been the main spring of all his actions, a state of sordid and servile de- pendence upon the powers of Islam ! In this disconsolate frame of mind he was observed by his wife, Sayibai, who inquiring into the cause and learning the reason, replied to Shivaji's request for advice that it was not for a woman to advise in affairs of such moment, that Shivaji indeed had

• captains and ministers more qualified to give an opinion, but so far as her home-spun wit as a simple woman went» she thought it nobler to pursue the great design of liberty and independence and freedom of worship. She asked

) him to act with unshaken faith in Providence ; that pri-

124 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

vate affections must give place to political forces ; and that; Sbahaji himself would have applauded such a plan, were he not an exile on foreign soil This was some re-assurance to Shivaji's perplexed mind. His mother, ministers and officers concurred in this line of reasoning. Strengthened by these re-assurances Shivaji replied to Shahaji's letter that his coming in person to Bijapur would serve no useful pur- pose and he was not prepared to surrender the conquests he had made. They must follow-the father and the son -the divergent lines of fortune ordained for them by inevitable destiny.

This letter was submitted by Shahaji to the Adil Shah; sultan, with fresh importunities that he might be now set at liberty, and that the sultan might take such action against Shivaji as he deemed proper. But the sultan was not satisfied with these representations of Shahaji and per- sisted in the belief that Shahaji was the secret instigator of his son's rebellion. He thought that the direst punishment in his power must be inflicted to curb his obstinacy. The sultan ordered a wall to be built with a stone niche just large enough to accommodate a person seated. Shahaji was confined in this niche, which was all but built in, except for a single opening, and he was threatened that even this opening would be permanently closed in with masonry, if Shivaji did not make his submission within a given time. Twice during the day he was released for a few minutes from the niche and again confined in that living tomb.

The news of this horrible punishment inflicted upon his father by the enraged sultan came to Shivaji's ears and filled him with sorrow. The thought that the impending death of his father should be due to his acts was most maddening ! His high ambition and enterprise ha d thus far not provoked any censure from his father, and this he had so long interpreted as a mark of his acquiescence and even of his approval. Inspired by this silent sympathy and approbation, he had zealously carried forward his designs, never dreaming they would lead him to suck

SHAHAJ1 ENTRAPPED 125

a tragic issue. For he was sure of the great prestige of -iis father in the Karnatic and never imagined that he would ever be at the sultan's mercy. The treachery of Ghorpade had led to this unexpected denouement.

It is critical occasions like these that test the mettle of a truly heroic spirit. The crisis brought forth the most eminent qualities of Shivaji's character. His unswerving filial devotion was in the first instance put to a glorious proof. Had he been merely selfish and greedy of power, he might have recked little of the safety of his father. For in the very age in which Shivaji lived, Aurangzeb waa soon to exchange' a father's love for a throne. Had Shivaji been governed by a similar strain of ambition, why think of voluntarily surrendering a power and sovereignty built up with such patient toil from the debris of an alien empire, merely to rescue his father from his impending fate ? But Shivaji was not a man of such sordid ambi- tion. Another great virtue of Shivaji that was tried on this occasion was his iron determination not to leave half done what he had so well begun, for all the dangers and obstacles in his way. His filial duty and affections and his ambitious labours for the political emancipation of his countrymen now seemed to be at cross purposes. One seemed to demand the sacrifice of the other. It was left to Shivaji's statesmanship and resourcefulness to steer straight between Scylla and Charybdis, without the least detriment to his ambition or the pious affection due to his father.

Up to this time Shivaji had maintained the most friendly relations with the Moguls. One obvious reason for this was the fact that it was highly inexpedient to be at war simultaneously with two Mahomedan powers. Besides the provinces on the Mogul frontier were well-secured and iortified. The Mogul emperor himself must have thought fit in the interest of expediency to have friendly relations with Shahaji, of whose valour he had a foretaste, and with his son Shivaji. Lastly Shivaji must have looked upon

126 . LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

this power as an asylum in reserve for any extreme emergency.

Apprised of the intentions of the Moguls with regard to the Deccan powers, Shi vaji saw that the temper of the Mogul emperor was such that any aid he might solicit against Bijapur would be granted without demur. With this knowledge of the currents of political thought, Shivaji decided to assume a supplicatory attitude towards the padi shah, invoking his patronage and instant aid against the danger Shahaji ran of being immured in the fortress wall, and offering, both for himself and Shahaji, to enter inta the Mogul service. Shivaji petitioned that the part Shahaji had formerly played in arresting the onward march of the Mogul standards in the Deccan might be generously forgiven and urged that in saving the life of such a distinguished general the emperor would strengthen the foundations of the Mogul power in the Deccan and couid count upon the grateful assistance of Shahaji and himself. Shahajahan had personal proofs of Shahaji's dash and daring and from time to time had heard favourable reports of Shi vaji's valorous enterprise. Such towers of strength he thought he could not afford to despise in his future plans against Bijapur and Golconda. With these views, he graciously complied with. Shivaji's request.1

The Emperor Shahajahan accordingly sent peremptory orders to the Bijapur durbar that the Rajah Shahaji Bhonsle be immediately set at liberty.3 Shivaji was informed that

did nob negotiate directly with the emperor at Agra, bub •with his son Prince Murad, governor of the Deccan. This ia amply borne out by the Parasnis MS. and Appendix A at page 149 of Mr Kincaid's history, where by a strange mistake a letter under the seal of Murad is described as Shahajahan'a letter to Shahaji. From one of the letters of the Mogul authorities it is clear that Snivaji sent Kagho Pandit i probably Raghunatb Ballal Korde) to treat about the restoration of the deshmukh rights over Junnar and Sangamner which had been formerly granted to Shahaji v Vide note oh page 2V, Chapter II).

2 Prof. tSarkar thinks that notwithstanding these Mogul promises the Mogul government did not probably in the end actually intercede for tihahaji.

SHAHAJI ENTRAPPED 127

the imperial court had forgiven Shahaji's pa8t offences and were prepared to admit him again to military service under the empire, and as to Shi vaji himself they were prepared to grant him a mansab or command of 5000 horse. The Adil Shahi sultan dared not despise the peremptory mandate of the Mogul. The tenure of his power was precarious and depended on a recent treaty between himself and the Moguls. In displeasing the latter power, he was sure to incur the gravest, risks to his independence. Shahaji was, therefore, released on his giving sureties for his loyalty in the future, but he WHS oriered to remain at Bijapur as it were on parole.1 This event took place in 1649. For four years thereafter Shahaji remained in enforced inaction at Bijapur. He tried every expedient to get permission to march to the Karnatic, and his friends tried to intercede for him, but the sultan was inexorable. At length after four years when it became obvious that the slackening of government control in the absence of the powerful grip of Shahaji had encouraged all the elements of anarchy and unrest in the province of the Karnatic to come to a head, and it was felt that none but a brave and experienced commander like him could be safely trusted to deal with the rebellious naiks and deshmukhs of the south, he again received orders to march to the scene of his power and greatness. But before proceeding southwards he was com- pelled to pledge his word that he would in no way molest the treacherous Ghorpade of Mudhol or his jahgir. The sultan did not content himself with this promise; but further to reconcile them to each other and induce them

1 borne of the bakhars attribute tbe credit of Shahaji's eliverance to the intercessory aid of his friends Randulla Khan and AJurarpaufc. It is said that these veteran ministers represented to the sultan that the cruel execution of such a tried and experienced commander would redound to the discredit of the state and cause disaffection among the sultan's vajsals. There is no ground to believe such a story, for both these ministers seem to have been dead by this time. The tradition of the strange device by •which Randulla Khan attempted to intercede for his friend ia referred to in a foot-note in the second chapter. Prof. Jadunath Sarkar ia inclined to think that Malhar Kamrao Chitnis ia right when he ascribes the release of ji to the mediation of Kandulla Khan.

128 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

to let bygones be bygones, he got them to make an ex- change of their inam and jahgir lands. In accordance with the terms of this exchange, the Ghorpade gave to Shahaji all his jahgir in the Karnatic and received from him all his rights and titles in the district of Karhad.

But Shahaji did not bury the past in oblivion. No sooner did he reach the Karnatic than he sent word to Shivaji that as a true son of Shahaji it was left to him _io wreak vengeance on Baji Ghorpade. In fact this was an unnecessary spur to a willing horse. Shivaji hated the Ghorpade with more than a mortal hate and was only waiting for an opportunity to avenge on him his dastardly conduct towards his father. But he had to wait for nearly eight or nine years for this consummation of his wishes. About 1661, the chiefs of Sawantwadi, Khem Sawant Desai and Lakham Sawant Desai, called for the help of Bijapur against Shivaji, and upon that occasion the services of Baji Ghorpade were lent to them by the Bijapur govern- ment. Ghorpade marched from Bijapur into the Konkan at tha head of his forces, but before descending to the sea-board he paid a visit to his jahgir town of Mudhol. No sooner did Shivaji hear tidings of these movements of Baji Ghorpade than he swooped down from Vishalgad and by forced marches suddenly presented himself before Mudhol. A desperate encounter took place between Shivaji's and Ghorpade's forces and in the melee Ghorpade was slain. Mudhol was laid waste with fire and sword. All the kith and kin of Ghorpade perished or were seized and executed. The massacre is said to have reached three thousand.1 Never before or since did such cruelty stain Shivaji's wars. Savage as the punishment meted to the

1 A son of Baji Ghorpade, named Maloji, managed to make his escape during this crisis. This Maloji afterwards rose to great eminence and succeeded to the paternal jahgir. At a subsequent date Shivaji attempted to conciliate him and in a letter addressed from Bhaganagar ( Hyderabad ) made overtures to him to unite with the Bhonsle power and jointly turn the scale against the Mahomedans. But Maloji remained obdurate and to the end served his Adilshahi sultan.

SHAHAJI ENTRAPS D \29

Ghorpade family was, it illustrates the price Shivaji con- sidered must be paid for the treachery which had all but ex- tinguished before its time the glorious career of Shahaji. It illustrates above all his keen sense of filial duty.1

During the period of five years, 1649 to 1653, when Shahaji was at Bijapur on parole, Shivaji abstained strictly from any act of hostility against Bijapur, Nor was it possible for him to take the offensive against the Moguls, whose friendship had so recently stood him in such good stead, and an estrangement with whom was again likely to endanger the life of Shahaji. He had indeed to con- gratulate himself that the Bijapur Government was so far cowed by the threat of Mogul intervention that they did not insist on his surrendering the conquered forts and pro- vinces as they might have done by fresh threats to Shahaji. who, while he lived on parole at Bijapur, had constantly this sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Shivaji turned this period of enforced quietude to good account, overhauling the conquered fortresses and completing the revenue settlements in his new provinces. The Bijapur government seems at this period to have been under the impression that any further protests against Shivaji would directly have the effect of making him throw in his lot with the Moguls and with their active support or conni- vance renew his depredations upon their territory on a still more extended scale.

* From a letter of Shivaji to his father ( Vido Kincaid voJ i, it would seem that the latter gave a clear mandate for vengean * againsb Baji Ghotpade. It was Shahaji himself who informed Shivaji about the proposed movement of Baji Ghorpade to carry succour to Lakham Sawanto and Khem Sawant of Wadi.

i» an

CHAPTER IX KELATIONS WITH THE MOGULS. 1650-57

THE alliance between Shivaji and the Moguls wag- destined to be a deceptive move in Shivaji's game of poli- tics. By this diplomatic stroke he had cut a gordian knot which might have proved too serious for the resource- fulness of any statesman of the time. His readiness to enter the Mogul service was a feint that had deceived both the Bijapur and the Mogul governments. In reality he desired nothing of the kind. When the deliverance of his father vras once achieved, his ardour for the Mogul service at once cooled. While tempting the Padishaha with this offer, he •was resolved to remain true to the vow of his earliest youth: never to do service to a Mahomedan ruler whatever the gains or emoluments.

But Shahajahan, through his viceroy, Prince Murad, continued his demands that Shivaji should according to the terms of his promise enter the Mogul service and receive a mansab or command in the military forces of the empire. Shivaji met these proposals with great tact. He sent an envoy to the imperial governor, Prince Murad, alleg- ing that his family possessed the hereditary rights of sirdeshmukh over the provinces of Junnar and Ahmednagar, but for some time these dues had been withheld from them. He should, therefore, be restored to the enjoyment of his family rights over these provinces.1 Shahajahan did not acknowledge these demands at the time, but replied that when Shivaji came to the imperial court his rights would, be duly considered. In this manner Shivaji put off to a future date the question of entering into the service of the empire.

In 1657 Shahajahan deputed his son Aurangzeb and the experienced general Mir Jumla to lead an army against

1 Vide Parasnia'a MS, and Kincaid, Appendix B. page 149, where Murad acknowledges the demands of Shivaji made through . his envoy Ragho Pandit (Raghunath Ballal Korde (?) and replies that the same would be considered when he reached the royal camp in person.

RELATIONS WITH THE MOGULS 13t

Bijapur for the express purpose of conquering and annex- ing that kingdom. They carried in rapid succession the barrier forts on the frontiers of that kingdom, such a» Kalyani, Bedar and others. Shivaji, ever watchful for the preservation of his interests, wrote to Aurangzeb that he owed service to the head of the empire and was prepared to render all possible assistance to the Mogul generals in their present campaign, on condition that the secure possession of the Bijapur forts and territories already under his power was assured to him. He on his part would be quite willing to co-operate with the Mogul forces in the conquest of Dabhol and other positions on the Konkan sea-board. It was quite in the nature of things that the imperial commander knowing Shivaji's worth should close with this proposal. Aurangzeb assured Shivaji that ho did not meditate any interference with the Bijapur territories already under his sway and informed him that he should by all means turn his victorious arms to the Bijapur possessions in the Konkan low -lands. 1657 A.D.1

Such was the purport of Auragzeb's letter to Shivaji. Aurangzeb seems to have been anxious to have a personal conference with Shivaji and urge upon him the expediency of his making common cause with the Moguls against Bijapur and the numerous benefits that might accrue to him from such an alliance. Aurangzeb at a later date wrote to Shivaji upon this subject. His desire was to yoke Shivaji to active service under the empire. But Shivaji was too astute a statesman to swallow the alluring bait. He kept up his repeated assurances of loyalty and service to the padishaha, but always managed to avoid the abject dependence of an imperial courtier. Thus playing adroitly upon Aurang- zeb's wishes and fears he secured the peace and tranquil- lity of his possessions from the grand Mogul's invading hordes. With the Mogul and Bijapur forces engaged in a deadly conflict, he set about concerting measures for the expansion of the Maratha power.

1 Grant Duff, I, 161-62, and Prof. Sarkar's Aurangzeb, II, 261-09.

132 LIFE OF'SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

It will be remembered that Shivaji had often asserted certain hereditary claims upon Junnar and Ahmednagar. The former was reputed a wealthy town in those days. The emperor had so far turned a deaf ear to Shivaji's claims. Shivaji determined to retaliate by surprising these towns. With this plan he suddenly fell upon Junnar by a night attack and sacked the town. He carried away the richest spoils to Poona, about 300,OUO pagodas, 200 horses and other valuables. The booty was safely transferred to Rajgad by officers deputed for the purpose. Shivaji made a similar attempt upon Ahmednagar, but did not succeed here so well as at Junnar.1 For while he was plundering the suburban parts and the business quarters of the town immediately after the first onslaught, the city forces poured down in sufficient strength from the citadel and stopped the spoliation. However the first shock had already yielded a considerable booty, including 700 horses and four elephants. Shivaji carried them off in triumph through the ranks of. the garrison forces, though not without many casualties in his gallant little army.

With these additions to his treasury, Shivaji resolved -apon enlarging his cavalry forces. The sack of Junnar and Ahmednagar had as above described resulted in the capture of many horses: These he supplemented with his own purchases, and besides maintaining his own bargirs* he began to entertain in his service many a willing shile- dar. The general in command of the cavalry force which

1 On the authority of Kambu's Amal-i-talib, Prof. Sarkar says the attack on Ahmednagar was made by Minaji (Manaji) Bbonsle and Kashi. Was this the same Minaji Bhonsle who as a Mogul mansabdar is said to have treacherously surrendered the fort of Mahuli to Shahaji (Vide Abdul Hamid's Bidthanamah in Elliot, VI 1, page 57). The same authority states that at the time when Shahajahan gave a mansab to Shahaji, the emperor also gave a mansab to his son Samaji (Sambbaji) and his brother Minaji, while the Marathi chronicles generally state that an imperial mansab was conferred upon Kheloji, the eon of Vithoji Bhonsle.

2 These represent two classes of cavalry soldiers, the shiledar main- taining his own horse and being a sort of cavalier, the bargir uoing a horse lent by the state.

RELATIONS WITH THE MOGULS 133

up to thib lime had served under Shivaji was Mankoji Dahatonde, who had received the title . of sirnobut or lord of the royal drum. Mankoji was an old veteran who had seen service in the stirring times of Shahaji's fights with the Moguls. He had maintained Shivaji's cavalry in the highest state of efficiency. On his death, the brave Netaji Falkar was appointed to succeed him. Palkar commanded great influence among the Maratha gentry, many of whom now eagerly sought to obtain commissions as shiledars in Shivaji's cavalry.

Meanwhile the Moguls were inflicting defeat after de- feat upon Bijapur, and this augured very unfavourably for Shivaji's future career. For it was plain that the ex- tinction of the Bijapur kingdom would turn the Mogul conqueror upon Shivaji himself. Anticipating this exigency, Shivaji sought to conciliate Aurangzeb, submitting himself and his fortunes to the Mogul protection and offering an humble apology for the spoliation of Junnar and Ahmed- nagar. With a petition couched in these terms he sent his envoy Baghunathpant Korde, a trusty officer well versed in the diplomacy and finesse of Indian courts, to the imperial camp, that he might add verbal assurances to the entreaties for pardon made in the petition.

Fortunately for the future of Shivaji's enterprise, Aurangzeb received a confidential report of Shahajahan's illness from the princess Roshanara, who watched over his ambitious interests at the capital, and the imperial general concluded a hasty peace with Bijapur and with as large a force as he could collect in the southern subha, he imme- diately set out for Delhi. Emboldened by the sudden diversion of the imperial forces to the north, Shivaji forth- with sent another embassy representing his regret for the necessity that had led to the spoliation of Mogul territory by his forces, offering to place a large force of cavalry at the service of Aurangzeb, and undertaking the defence of the imperial territory in the south during Aurangzeb's enforced absence. In return, Shivaji prayed, he might

184 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

be reinstated in the hereditary rights and privileges he claimed over certain territories that had passed under the Moguls, as also the jahgir lands of his family which had now come under the imperial power and the commission of deshmukh or zamindary rights over the districts of Juunar and Ahmednagar. The restoration of these rights and dues would be an ample return for his proffered service to the imperial crown. In conclusion he pointed out that the government of the Konkan districts had long been neglected by the Adil Shahi power and represented that the transfer of this province to himself would be of very great advantage to the empire.

These were serious demands couched in the adulatory language of court etiquette, but the great excitement in the Mogul camp did not leave to Aurangzeb sufficient leisure to indulge in resentful feelings. He rather chose for the present to leave Shivaji in a state of expectancy with re- gard to his demands and encourage him to continue his disturbances in the Bijapur territory, for in this the wily prince discerned the only means of preservation for the Mogul conquests in the Deccan during the strenuous civil wars which were now impending and were certain to jeopardize the security and integrity of the empire Resolved to pursue this line of conduct Aurangzeb made answer in the most guarded manner possible. In the first place, while censuring Shivaji's conduct, he was pleased to extend to him that royal mercy which he craved. Secondly, he granted permission to Shivaji to turn his attention to the con- quest of the Konkan. Lastly Shivaji was desired to depute Abaji Sondev to a conference where Shivaji's hereditary ;rights and perqu: sites would be duly considered, and pend- ing a final adjustment of these claims Shivaji was required to send 500 horse to the assistance of the Moguls and keep his forces in a state of readiness and efficiency for the maintenance of peace and security in the Mogul province.1

These negotiations led to no tangible results in the

1 Parasols M S

RELATIONS WITH THE MOGULS 135

•«nd. It was only a make-believe sort of alliance on either side. In fact there was no time to seal a conpact of per- manent friendship. Aurangzeb was too much occupied by the stress of the civil wars that followed. It was his unnatural task to fight, slay, or execute his unfortunate brothers and to imprison his father in his helpless dotage, literally wading through slaughter to an inauspicious throne. That was just what Shivaji wanted. Bight well did Shivaji know that the demands which he had made were too ambitious for the haughty prince to grant. On his part it was only a ruse to gain more time to pursue his ambi- tious plans in a leisurely manner.

Tradition has it that on reaching Delhi, when Aurang- zeb finally resolved to usurp the throne and imprison, his helpless father in his palace, he wrote to the Deccan nobles to come to his assistance, and that among others Shivaji too received such an invitation. Whereupon it is said that Shivaji shuddered at the contents of the letter and openly expressed his horror of the unnatural crime formulated by Aurangzeb in such a cold-blooded fashion. Nay, the story goes that he spurned the poor courier who was the bearer of the proposal and drove him from his presence and had the traitorous missive bound to the tail of a mongrel cur to be dragged over the mire and filth of Poona. On hearing of the contemp- tuous manner in which this proposal was received by Shivaji, Aurangazeb is said to have burst forth into a passion and vowed to avenge the indignity. But this plan of revenge he never had the opportunity to carry out, and it would even seem that his resentment must have been of short duration. For shortly afterwards when the news of the death of Afzul Khan at the hands of Shivaji reached Aurangzeb's ears, he congratulated the Maratha warrior by letter and presented him with two or three hill-forts on the borders of Bijapur. Not content with this he advised Shivaji to continue this plan of aggression against Bijapur and promised to confer on him tax-free

136 LIFE OF SHIVAJi MAHARAJ

all the lands he might succeed in wresting from the Bijapur government. It is obvious that in all this Aurangzeb was inspired by thoughts of his future dealings with the Adil Shahi dynasty, reflecting no doubt that Shivaji's pioneer work in the dismemberment of that kingdom would render his programme all the easier of accomplishment. .As to the ultimate defeat of Shivaji he took it as a matter of course. Little did he then dream, with all his political sagacity, that the most stubborn problem of all his life, reserved as the crowning wreck and disgrace of his declining years, would be just this— the war with the newly founded Maratha power.

CHAPTER X THE CAPTURE OF JAVLI AND OTHER EVENTS

1654-58

AFTER the complete liberation of Shahaji from the Sultan's watch at Bijapur and his return to the Karnatic. Shivaji revived the aggressive policy he had slackened in the interim. His object was now to win over from the sultan the entire region of the Konkan and the uplands of the ghats, and to round off these possessions with the conquest of new hill-forts. The news of these freshly awakened activities threw the Bijapur durbar once more into consternation. For they were in the dilemma that if they were to move their forces openly against Shivaji, he might in all prcbability enlist the sympathy of the Moguls and demand their protection, and thus they would only accelerate their downfall. Thoughts of public hostilities could not therefore be entertained, but a force of a thousand horse was entrusted to a nobleman, Baji Shamraj by name, who undertook the arduous task of sur- prising Shivaji and making him prisoner. Shivaji was then encamped at Mahad. Baji Shamraj with the active support of Chandrarao More of Javli formed an ambuscade in the defile of the Parghat, lying in wait to fall upon Shivaji unawares and apprehend him. But Shivaji was apprised of this plot of Baji by his faithful scouts, and the result was that far from Shivaji falling into the trap, Baji Shamraj's party itself was suddenly attacked and dispersed in all directions. Shamraj returned to Bijapur defeated and crest-fallen.

The active support lent to his enemies by the More family naturally rankled in Shivaji's mind, and he now set about to teach them a lesson they would ever remem ber.1 Ghandrarao More held sway in the districts which formed the watershed of the Krishna and the Warna. He entertained more than a thousand Mavalis in his

1 Chandrarao More was the hereditary title of the fief-holders of Javli. The feudal lord of Javli at the time was Kriahnaji Baji. (Parasnia: Itihas Sangraha, Sphuta Lekh I, 26.)

138 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARA J

service and was one of the principal feudal lords under the Bijapur durbar. The payment of the annual tribute left him an ample surplus upon which the family had thriven and prospered for centuries. He was the lord of many a hill-fort and mountain defile, his principal position being Hashamgad. Several times before this Shivaji had tried to win over this mighty chief and bind him to his interests, and had represented that he might either stop the tribute paid to Bijapur and divert it to Shivaji or might enjoy all the revenue to himself, on no other condition than that of helping him with a force of 5000 in time of need. To these proposals the loyal More had systematically turned a deaf ear.

Now it was quite apparent that this little world of hill and dale under the rule of the More family stood in the way of Shivaji's complete domination over the zone of the highlands of the Western Ghats. It comprehended many a mountain fastness, the keys to the mastery of fields and pastures in the valleys. Shivaji's ultimate plans to strike at the Mahomedan power required that he should be first safely ensconced among these rocky wilds as the undisputed master of the Western Ghats. This must in- evitably bring him into collision with the More family. But the More's was an ancient name, and he had thousands of brave Mavali retainers in his service, and many a gallant warrior and chief strove night and day for its prestige. Among them Suryarao, the brother of Chandrarao More, and Hanmantrao, his private secretary, were men of acknowledged military genius. To put his forces against those of the More family in an open encounter was in Shivaji's opinion likely to prove a bloody experiment with- out much probability of ultimate success. Shivaji, therefore, according to the traditional bakhar account, had to act with circumspection and avoid any act of overt hostility. With this object in view, he got two of his officers, Raghunath Ballal Korde and Sambbaji Kavji, with a small escort to proceed to the principality of Javli to reconnoitre the place

THE CAPTURE OF JAVLI AND OTHER EVENTS 189

and report on its hill-forts and positions of strategic value.1 To facilitate this plan, Shivaji's officers feigned as an excuse for their intrusion that they had come on an embassy to negotiate a match between Shivaji and Chandrarao More's daughter. Relying upon this assurance More gave orders to arrange for the comfort of his guests. Now More was much addicted to drink. He had not the least suspicion of the ulterior intentions of these alleged ambassadors. These men on the other hand were scrutinizing everything they saw or heard. Raghunath Ballal did not take long to discover the reckless security in which the drunken More lived and the dissensions that existed in his garrison. Con- ceiving the plan of surprising and assassinating the un- guarded chief within the walls of his own fort, he consulted his comrade Sambhaji Kavji and with his concurrence wrote to Shivaji that they had it in their power to settle the last account with More, provided Shivaji advanced with his army in the vicinity of Javli and at a given signal appeared on the scene. Shivaji descended from Bajgad with a small army and came by forced marches to Mahabaleshwar by way of Purandar. He arranged his troops in the forest and remained on the alert for further developments, having notified Raghunathrao of his arrival. Having set the trap ready, Raghunathrao proposed a con- fidential conference with Chandrarao and his brother Suryarao. In the course of the conversation he found an occasion to draw his dagger and killed the brothers on the spot, and set forth straightway to descend the castle with the band of his followers, who were drawn up all ready for the start * But they were interrupted by the

1 According to Chitnis, Sabhasad, and Shedgaokar Raghunath Bolla! Sabnis was sent upon this mission, with a few soldiers. According to Shedgaokar Bakhar. Sambhaji Kavji was later on sent to Hamantrao and murdered him.

2 According to the verdion in the Shivdigvijay, Ragho Ballal came to an interview with More's secretary, Hanmantrao, on pretence of a marriage alliance, and finding him off his guard killed him by treachery. Upon this Shivaji marched upon Chandrarao More, defeated and slew him in the field and captured Javli. The Rairi bakhar gives nearly the

140 LIFF OE SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

sentry mounted at the gate who had meanwhile received word of the murders committed within. Shivaji's men forced their way at the sword's point through their ranks and made good their escape into the forest. The retainers of More made little serious attempt to pursue the treacherous guests. For the lord of the castle having himself fallen, who was there to rally the pursuers and keep up their spirits? Shivaji now descended from Mahabaleshwar by the Nissan ghat, or Pass of the Stairs, to Javli and blockading Hashamgad on all sides gave battle to the More hosts. Chandrarao's sons Bajirao and Krishnarao and the minister Hanmantrao fought with the energy of despair. But at length Hanmantrao fell dead on the field and More's brave sons were wounded and made prisoners.1 These brave warriors with the ladies and children of the More family were kept in confinement upon fort Purandar. Shivaji intended to confer a suitable jahgir on the heirs of More so as to keep up the prestige of an ancient name. But they were detected in a traitorous correspondence with Bijapur for arranging a flight to that court. This cor- respondence was intercepted and put in evidence against them. They were found guilty of treason and executed. The ladies of the family were then set at liberty.

Such is the traditional account of this event, as it has come down to us from the pens of the leading chroniclers. As regards statements of details they differ muoh from one another, as will oe seen from the foot-notes. Let us put together these divergent statements, and they lead to one

same version with this addition that Hanmant was first overtaken and alain in a battle at Mahabaleshwar and next Shivaji advanced againat Chandrarao More and defeating him conquered Javli and Mahabaleshwar. 1 There are other versions: — ( 1 ) According to dabhasad this Hanmant- rao was a brother of Chandrarao More. On the conquest of Javli he retired into the Konkan and set up a small principality there. Fearing he might return and repeat hia attempts for the recovery of Javli, Shivaji sent Sambhaji Kavji on a diplomatic mission to Hanmantrao. The envoy opened the discussion of a marriage alliance between Hanmant and Shivaji and despatched the unsuspecting chief with his dagger. (2) Chitnis omits these gruesome dataila and only says that Sambhaji killed. H anmantrao.

141

conclusion, that there was an offer of a marriage alliance, that under pretence of such an offer, either Chandrarao More himself or his captain and kinsman, Hanmantrao More, was treacherously slain, either by Raghunath Ballal or by Sambhaji Kavji. For it is too much to believe that Eaghunath Ballal proposed a marriage alliance to Chandra- rao More and stabbed him, and at the same time to believe that after this murder had taken place Sambhaji Kavji made a similar proposal to Hanmantrao and murdered him. We hold that if Chandrarao More was deceived and murdered, Hanmantrao, who is described as a brave and wise man, the actual administrator of Javli and the only pillar of strength to the More family, was too shrewd a man to fall into the same trap. The probability is that if the one was murdered, the other was not. Hanmantrao would not be deceived by offers of a marriage alliance { Shedgaokar bakhar, 81), if Chandrarao More had been done to death by a similar treacherous proposal.

The Jedhe Chronology tells us plainly that the fight- ing with the Mores was a prolonged affair and not to be settled by the murder of one man or another. This chro- nology gives no account of treachery, it speaks only of fighting. The struggle lasted for above five months, from December 1655 ( Pousha of Shaka 1577) to at least April or May 1656 ( Vaishakha of Shaka 1578 ). Under the first entry ( December 1655 ) we are told that Shivaji captured Javli with the help of the Jedhe deshmukh and the followers of Bandal and Silibkar (Silimkar) and other Mavli chiefs, and we are distinctly told that with their help Shivaji fought and took Javli. Before proceeding to the second entry, we will remark that this first entry confirms the statement of the bakhar account published in Parasnis's Itihas Sangraha, Sphuta Lekh I, 26, where we are told that after mutual recriminations and chal- lenges, Shivaji sent an ultimatum to Chandrarao ( presum- ably through Raghunath Ballal Korde ) and descending from Mahabaleshwar by the Pass of the Stairs ( Nissan

142 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

ghat), laid siege to Javli for a month. This account further states that at the fall of Javli, Chandrarao More escaped to Bairi, seized it from Shivaji's men and fought the fort for three months, at the end of which he was forced to capitulate. Now these statements ( Itiha* Sangraha Sphuta LeJch I, 26-^9; II 11, and Parasnis's Mahabaleshivar, 19-21) are supported by the second entry in the Jedhe Chro- nology ( pp. 180-81), which is undoubtedly an independent authority. This entry, under the month of Vaishakh, Shake 1578, reads as follows: — "In Vaishakh the Rajah Shivaji took ( recovered ) Rairi. Along with him were Kanhojz Jedhe deshmukh, of Taluka Bhore, and Bandal and Shilib- kar deshmukhs, and a force of Mavalis. Haibatrao and Balaji Naik Silibkar ueed their mediation and Chandra- rao descended the fort. The Itihaa Sangraha account further states that Chandrarao More was pardoned and re-established in some of his old possessions and honours as a fief-holder under Shivaji, until he opened an in- triguing correspondence with the Ghorpades of Mudhol,. when he was executed at Chakan, perhaps along with his sons, and then the glory of Javli came to an end. On the other hand the Jedhe entry concludes with a statement that Shivaji rewarded the services of Haibatrao Silibkar in bringing about a reconciliation with Chandrarao and that the territories of the latter were divided between him and his brothers. There is nothing contradictory between this- and the Itihas Sangraha account. They mutually confirm one another. The Shedgaokar bakhar says expressly that the quarrels of the brothers wrecked the realm of Chandra- rao. Reconstructing the whole story, we may proceed to state, as related in some of the bakhars, that Hanmantrao More still continued to defy Shivaji after the submission of Chandrarao, that Sambhaji Kavji was therefore sent to him ( Sabhasad 10 ) perhaps under pretence of a marriage alliance ( Sabhasad and Shedgaokar ) and that under some such pretence he stabbed him to death ( Chitnis, Sabhasad and Shedgaokar ). When it is considered that Hanmantrao belonged to the More family and that

THE CAPTURE OF JAVL1 AND OTHER EVENTS 143,

Chandrarao More was only the hereditary title of the fief-holders of Javli, it seems possible that the Marathi chronicles describing tho events full two generations after they had occurred would make a muddle of the whole affair and some of them proceed wrongly to state that Javli was taken by tricking Chandrarao More into a proposal of marriage. There is nothing improbable in such a reconstruction of the whole event, which is the only in- telligible form in which it commends itself to our accept- ance in sympathy with the general tenor of the conflicting versions. Prof. Sarkar ( Shivaji, 54 ) might well have spared his gibes against recent "discoveries" of "old chronicles", for it is not necessary to press upon the reader the acceptance of that part of the Itihas San- graha narrative which asserts that Chandrarao More had attempted to seize Shivaji by treachery and had intrigued with the Ghorpades of Mudhol against him. This attempt to represent that event in a retaliatory light has unneces- sarily provoked the ire of Prof. Sarkar. That intrigue was probably the last incident of the tragic tale. It led to executions and .reprisals, and the practical extinction of the More family ( Shivdigvijay, 131) though, as Prof. Sarkar shows, some of the members of the More family unquestionably escaped and attempted to avenge themselves by co-operating with the Rajah Jaysingh at a later date.

In this manner was effected the conquest of Javli and the fortifications comprised in that demesne. Shivaji's flag was now flying over all its hill-forts. The large trea- sures in gold and specie accumulated by many generations of the More family fell intact into Shivaji's hands. Under the auspices of the Mores a Brahman named Babaji Kondadev had waxed in power in the valley of Shivthar. This man now constituted himself into a sort of indepen- dent ruler, plundering the neighbourhood and defying Shivaji's authority. He was arrested and though under ordinary circumstances he would have been straightway executed for his arrogant defiance, his character as a member

144 LITE OF SHIVAJI MAHAKAJ

of the priestly class excited commiseration in Shivaji's eyes. Instead of inflicting the extreme penalty of the law, Shivaji ordered his eyes to be put out.1

The deshmukh of Hirdas in the Maval region, Bandal by name, was another of these turbulent chiefs whom Shivaji had long meditated to bring under his allegiance. He had hitherto evaded Shivaji's peaceful proposals. His head- quarters were the mountain-fort of Rohida. Accord- ing to Chitnis, about this time, Shivaji concerted a success- ful night attack upon this forb and Bandal found himself overwhelmed on all sides. Bandal knew well that he had little hope of safety, being so completely hemmed in by Shivaji's forces. But he was resolved never to yield and launched a violent attack on Shivaji. Both parties put forth their utmost efforts. Bandal himself rushed over the field, sword in hand. He was at length defeated and fell mortally wounded. The few surviving followers of Bandal made their submission, the chief among them being Bandal's minister, Baji Prabhu Deshpande. Shivaji, pleased with Deshpande's bravery, treated him with great generosity, confirming him in his privileges and estates. When Shi- vaji had received further proofs of his loyalty, he got him to enlist in his service. He was placed in charge of a battalion of infantry. What signal services he rendered to Shivaji, and in bow heroical and self-sacrificing a manner, will be seen in the sequel.2

1 Sabhssad gives a different name, viz. Baji Kodanerao, and the Shedgaokar bakhar names him Dadaji Mahadev ( pp. 20, 21. )

3 Chitnis's version is followed in the text as regards the conquest of Hirdas Maval. On the other hand the Jedhe Chronology, as mentioned before, says that Bandal deabmukh, or at any rate his followers, co-operated with Shivaji, in capturing Javli. Prof. Sarkar remarks that the twelve Mavals were completely conquered by Dadaji Kondadev, and rejects this version of Chitnis. But Prof. Sarkar seems to contradict himself when he states that the fort of Rohida (Rahira) was gained some time after wards (Prof. Sarkar: Shivaji 39, Foot-nota and 41). Moreover the name of Baji Deshpande is not mentioned before this event. It would seem that Bandal made war and peace according to his convenience, and hence these discrepancies among our authorities. (Vide Foot-note (1) in Chapter VI).

THE CAPTURE OF JAVLI AND OTHER EVENTS 145>

After the extirpation of Bandal and his party, Shivaji's- rule over the Maval region knew no check or interruption. The elements of discord being exterminated, the peasantry became secure and fearless and in coneequence happy The- introduction of a regular system in the collection of thfr land revenue contributed greatly to their prosperity. The settlements were neither arbitrary nor oppressive. Th& people's interests and wishes were everywhere studied and consulted. Those who were willing to serve in the field had ready access to Shivaji's army, as new recruits were being; constantly picked up wherever they could be discovered. Shivaji admitted a large number of Here's brave retainers to serve in his field force.

In order to consolidate his conquest of Javli and the ad- jacent parts, Shivaji resolved to erect a central fort among the mountains at the sources of the river Krishna and entrusted the building operations to Moro Trimal Pingle. Pingle was a gallant officer who had accompanied the Rajah Shahaji upon his first expedition into the Karnatic. He had received his training in finance and war under the expert guidance of his own father and the Rajah Shahaji, in the disturbed times which had marked the early vicis- situdes of Shahaji's life. From the Karnatic he returned to Maharashtra about 1653 and took service under Shivaji. He won the confidence of Shivaji by the loyalty, zeal> and ability he displayed in the execution of every duty entrusted to him. He carried out the building of the fortifications quite up to Shivaji's standard. The fortress was christened Pratapgad. The old temple at Mahabal- eshwar was re-modelled and repaired. A new temple, with a massive court and walls, was erected next to the fountain head of the Krishna. An image of the tutelary goddess Bhavani was here set up in imitation of the ancient Bhavani of Tuljapur. Shivaji adorned the templo with rich ornaments and made frequent pilgrimages to this shrine.

A little later Aurangzeb marched southwards and

L. S. 11.

145 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

defeated Bijapur and concluding a new treaty retired to North India. We have already seen the precautions Shivaji had taken to ensure his possessions from the ravages of the Moguls. By professions of humility Shivaji had succeeded in deceiving a past master of state-craft like Aurangzcb and obtained permission to have his own way in the Bijapur territory. On Aurangzeb's retirement to ^the North, Shivaji turned his attention to the conquest of •the Konkan. In ' quick succession the sea- board towns of Ratnagiri, Vijaydurg, Suvarnadurg, Salsi and Kharepatan fell before Shivaji.

About this time a troop of 700 Pathans came to Shivaji to seek employment in his army. They had been dis- banded by the Bijapur Government after the last treaty with the Moguls. They came straggling to Poona and applied to Shivaji for employment submitting that they had been attracted to him by the fame of his name and the martial renown of Shahaji Bhosle. Shivaji was much •at a loss whether to entertain or not a corps of Mahome- tan soldiers in his service. Some of his intimate followers distrusted them and represented to Shivaji that they might be in a secret league with Bijapur or the Mogul -camp and sent on purpose to sow sedition in his army, and might turn traitors at any moment. But among the trusty officers of Shivaji was a havaldar, Gomaji Naik Pansambal, who had seen service under the redoubted Lukhji Jadhav and had coine over to Shahaji in Jijabai's •escort at the time of her marriage. He had shared in all the -vicissitudes of Jijabai's career and served in Shivaji's earliest enterprises with undeviating loyalty and courage. Shivaji had raised him to the rank of havaldar, having appreciated his zealous loyalty towards himself and his services in the development of his ambitious plans of in- dependence. This veteran counselled Shivaji to secure the services of these strangers who had been drawn to him •by the glory of his military exploits and argued that for .the final triumph of his cause, the establishment of an in-

THE CAPTURE OF JAVLl AND OTHER EVENTS 147

dependent power, it was essential that his realm should be an asylum to all men of worth and talent, irrespective of the religion they professed. "The true ruler," exclaimed this honest soldier, "shall be equally impartial to all castes and creeds. He shall give freedom of religion to all his subjects and vassals, and shall recruit his servants from all races and classes of men, worth and valour being the sole tests of selection." In this way the gallant haval- dar prevailed over Shivaji's wavering mind, with the re- sult that the latter summoned the strangers into his pre- sence, and having by a close scrutiny and cross-examination satisfied himself as to the sincerity of their profession and the genuineness of their desire to enter into his service ordered them to be enrolled. 1Ragho Ballal Atre was placed in command of this Pathan Division. After this incident Shivaji began to enlist Mahomedans both officers and sepoys.on a large scale some of whom are known to have risen to great eminence by their zeal, loyalty and bravery.

The Abyssinians at Janjira were now the only con-

-siderable power that impeded Shivaji's progress towards

the reduction of the entire Konkan coast under his hecre-

O

mony. The Chief of Janjira2, strong in his naval resources,

• time and again harassed Shivaji's possessions in the Konkan.

•Perceiving that his conquests there could not have even

'the shadow of security till this foreign ruler wassubjugatedf

Shivaji determined to concentrate his forces upon the

reduction of this enemy. Resolved to carry out this part

of his programme without delay, Shivaji ordered Shamraj-

pant, the Peshwa, to move his forces against Jaujira. Fatten

Khan was the Abyssinian chief then bearing sway over

Janjira. This chief knew that Shivaji's intentions towards

-Janjira were by no means friendly and had prepared him- self for an encounter. Between Fatteh Khan and Sham-

1 This officer's name must not be confounded with that of ttagho Ballal iKorde who figures in the tragic story of the capture of Javli.

2 The word " Janjira " means an island-fort or sea-fort, and the is- land of Zanzibar off the coast of British East Africa is said to have been ao

• called from its being an island-fort under its Moorish masters.

148 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

raj pant several skirmishes took place near Danda-Rajpur^ . and the Peshwa got the worst of these engagements. Shivaji's forces had to retire before the skilfully concerted military movements of Fatteh Khan, and numbers of the Peshwa's expeditionary force perished. Shamraj had to return home disgraced and dispirited. This was the first considerable reverse sustained by Shivaji's arms, and he took it ill to such an extent that he discharged Shamraj pant from his office of Peshwa and entrusted Baghunathpant with the campaign with a considerably re-inforced army. The office of Peshwa was conferred upon Moro Trimal Pingle, who exercised, the duties of this position of trust for the rest of his life. Among other transfers of office Nilo Sondev was given charge of the duties of Muzumdar, ( accountant-general }s Gango Mangaji those of Waknis ( record-keeper ) and Yessaji Kunk was appointed to be the commander-in-chief of the infantry force, with the title of sirnobut.

In the course of this war with the Abyssinians, the chief of Sawantwadi came to learn of the great arma- ments embarked by Shivaji upon the conquest of the Konkan coast. The Sawantwadi chief had little of internal resources to stem the tide of the expected invasion. The chief owned the hegemony of Bijapur and had hitherto paid little heed to the rise of Shivaji. But the annihilation of the power and prestige of the great More family, the discomfiture of neighbouring feudal chiefs and the surren- der of numerous hill-forts and positions of vantage without any successful resistance on the part of Bijapur, added to • the utter paralysis of inaction and dissension which had overtaken that state after the last Mogul invasion, opened the eyes of the Sawantwadi chief to the utter futility of any expectation of aid in the hour of peril and the advisa- bility of entering into an understanding with one whose atar was unmistakably in the ascendant. A treaty ^followed, by which it was agreed that the Sawant should cede, half his revenues to Shivaji, who was empowered to collect his moiety by his own agency. The Sawant was to enjoy the.

THE CAPTURE OF JAVLI AND OTHER EVENTS 149

of the revenue with all the rights and prerogatives of -deshmukhi or zamindari lordship over Sawantwadi with- out let or hindrance. In pursuance of this plan the Sawanfc chief was to discontinue payment of the time-honoured tribute to Bijapur, to maintain his garrisons all over the forts, and keep an efficient infantry force of 3000 to be placed at Shivaji's service on demand. In effect, the chief disowned the hegemony of Bijapur and acknowledged that of Shivaji.

The treaty thus entered into was plainly not the out- come of the Sawant's free will, and in a short time he repented of the step to which he had rashly committed himself. It was too galling to his spirit to submit to Shivaji's domi- nation which he soon made shift to change for that of Bijapur. How Shivaji visited this fickleness on the Sawant'a head will be described in a later chapter.

Meanwhile the forces sent against the Abyssinians had met with foemen worthy of their steel and the monsoon netting in made the protraction of the struggle impossible. In the following campaign the command was entrusted to ihe Peshwa Moropant assisted by Netaji Palkar. The cam- paign was interrupted by the monsoons, which began rather earlier than usual. Meanwhile a new crisis threatened to overtake Shivaji's fortune which made a pause necessary in the Maratha enterprise and required the exercise of all their concentrated resources. This was the invasion of Afzul JKhan.

CHAPTER XI THE TRAGEDY OF AFZUL KHAN, 1659

THE Bijapur government bad been waiting with patience; Fort after fort, district after district bad passed from* tbeir inert grasp into tbe grip of the Maratha warrior. Their feudal vassals were being seduced to defection, the zealous Mores of Javli had paid for their loyalty with death and ruin, the Sawants of Wadi had been seduced from their allegiance to their traditional suzerains, the province of Kalyan dissevered for ever from the Bijapur monarchy, and their Abyssinian admirals beset on all sides and all but forced to withdraw from the Konkan. These events were too serious each of them to be lightly passed over, but taken together they would have roused to action, the most lethargic government that ever bore sway in any part of India. It is said that no less than forty of the Bijapur fortresses were by this time in Shivaji's hands.1' The government had seen all, heard all, but had not moved. One remedy indeed they had tried. They had incarcerated Shahaji. They had hoped to tame the son by threatening the life of the father. They had hoped in vain. They had not fully counted upon Shivaji's resourcefulness. They had yet to fathom the depths of his diplomacy. They were bitterly undeceived. Their attempt had recoiled on themselves. It Had drawn Shivaji into a league with their Mogul spoilers and given the support of the imperial autho- rity to his excesses. They had served him as a shield against the wrath of Bijapur. He had become the Mogul* poniard in the bosom of the Adil Shahi State. Once more after the liberation of Shahaji, they had tried to entrap the quarry they dared not bring to bay, but they had been, signally disappointed in Baji Shamraj. Then the Mogul cavalry had suddenly invaded their land and drenched it with blood The peace at last made with the Moguls and the absorption of Aurangzeb in the fratricidal war in the- north allowed them now to breathe freely for a while^

1 Modak'a History of Bijapur.

THE TRAGEDY OF AFZUL KHAN 151

This interval of peace with the Mogul emperor they hoped to turn against ShivajL

Ali Adil Shaba II then held the sceptre at Bijapur. He was a mere youth, without experience, about twenty- one years of age. His mother, famous among native histo- rians under the popular name of the Badi ( Bari ) Saheba or the queen dowager, carried on the affairs of state in person with the assistance of the able minister, Khawas Khan. One day calling all her ministers and generals to an audience, she ordered them to put the state armies in motion and capture the rebellious Shivaji alive and at the conclusion of her harangue inquired who would take the glorious task upon himself. No one offered to risk the undertaking. They had heard enough of Shivaji's valour to feel that it was better to keep well out of his way. They all dreaded a rencontre with him.1 But there was one amongst them in whom vanity outweighed his discretion. This was Afzul Khan.2 He was elated with pride. What a noble chance to play the hero ! He would not flinch or waver. Let the queen but give the word, he would make Shivaji dance to the tune of his sword. This language of bravado filled the queen dowager with elation. She knew he .was a general of high eminence in the state. She pre- sented him with robes of honour and bade him start on his campaign with 12,000 horse and a goodly number of infantry with a suitable complement of artillery, rockets, and war material in charge of a camel corps.3 It is said that the

l Sabhasad, 3; Shedgaonkar, 24.

9 He is said to have originally belonged to the caste or profession of a cook-shop keeper,- bhatari, and to have risen to greatness and the rank of a commander by his talents. His name is said to have originally been Abdulkhan. He is referred to by this name in some of the bakhars and powadas i. e. the ballads of Maratha minstrels/.

3 The figures are variously given. Grant Duff mentions 5000 horse and seven hundred foot. Chitnia puts down the whole invading army at 30,000, while Chitragupta exaggerates the number to 70,000. The powadas limit the number to 12,000 horse. The English Factory Records, Raja- pur, give the strength of his army as 10,000 horse and foot, and it is said that because this number was so small, the queen told Afzul Khan to pre- tend friendship with Shivaji, and seize or slay him by treachery.

152 LIFE OF SHIVAJI MAHARAJ

provisions and war-material were plentiful enough to have lasted for three campaigns. Besides these forces Afzul Khan was provided with a corps of two or three thousand Mavalis. These he had entertained knowing well how in- dispensabl