No More Learning



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CHAPTER
DX
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN DURING
THE REIGNS OF JAHANGIR, SHAHJAHAN
AND AURANGZIB, AND THE RISE OF
THE MARATHA POWER
To
O complete the history of Muhammadan India during the reigns
of Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzib narrated in separate chapters
it is necessary to consider briefly the relation of the southern kingdoms
with each.
At Akbar's death the shrunken kingdom of Ahmadnagar remained
nominally in the hands of Murtaza II, the representative of the
Nizam Shahs, and actually controlled by Malik Ambar the capable
African minister. The two greater kingdoms of Bijapur and Gol-
conda and the small state of Bidar remained intact, but Bidar was
annexed by Bijapur in 1620.
In September, 1609, Parviz, Jahangir's second son, who had been
appointed to the viceroyalty of Khandesh and the Deccan, left Agra
for Burhanpur; and expecting invasion Ibrahim 'Adil Shah asked
that a resident envoy from the emperor might be accredited to his
court.
Malik 'Ambar also sought alliance with Ibrahim 'Adil Shah and
obtained from him the fortress of Kandhar as a base of operations
situated at a safe distance from the frontier of the imperial province
of Ahmadnagar.
In 1610 prince Parviz, against the advice of the Khan Khanan,
attempted to invade Murtaza's territories by the eastern route, which
was little known and difficult. His supplies were cut off by Maratha
auxiliaries and he suffered a disastrous defeat. His enemies, judging
it imprudent to proceed to extremities against the emperor's son,
permitted a retreat to Burhanpur, but pursued the Mughul army
through Berar, plundering its baggage and otherwise harassing it,
while
even Ahmadnagar fell into the hands of Malik ‘Ambar's troops.
Jahangir most unjustly blamed the Khan Khanan for these disasters
and recalled him from the Deecan, but other generals had no better
success.
In 1616 Parviz, whose sloth and incompetence unfitted him for
active employment on the frontier, was transferred from the Deccan
to Allahabad and in the same year Khurram, the most active and
capable of Jahangir's sons, was appointed viceroy of Khandesh and
the Deccan. On 11 November Jahangir himself set out from Ajmer
for the Deccan in the English coach which had been presented to him
by Sir Thomas Roè.


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SHAH JAHAN'S CONTESTS WITH MALIK 'AMBAR 261
Khurram recovered Ahmadnagar and some other fortresses which
had passed into the hands of Malik 'Ambar, and opening negotiations
wiin Ibrahim 'Adil Shah accepted from him valuable gifts. The
prince was received with high honours on his return, promoted to
the command of 30,000 horse, and entitled Shah Jahan. What he had
in fact effected was the re-establishment of the arrangement origi-
nated by the Khan Khanan, which need never have been disturbed,
and a delusive alliance with Ibrahim 'Adil Shah which was construed
at the Mughul court into the acquisition of a new vassal. Ibrahim
himself regarded his action as an adroit bargain which for the time
averted danger both from himself and from his ally.
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda had died on 24 January,
1612, and had been succeeded by his nephew Muhammad Qutb
Shah, who had married his uncle's daughter, Hayat Bakhsh Begam.
Neither of these two monarchs concerned himself much with the
important struggle in the north-west of the Deccan otherwise than
by supporting Malik 'Ambar by pecuniary contributions. Muhammad
Quli Qutb Shah was occupied with the Carnatic, with Orissa and
Bastar, and with intrigues between the Foreigners 1 and the Deccanis,
the latter of whom gained the upper hand in the closing years of
his reign, and Muhammad Qutb Shah continued the policy of inter-
ference in Bastar, occupied himself with building and had not
sufficiently robust health to indulge in other pursuits. He died on
11 February, 1626, and was succeeded by his thirteen-year old son,
'Abdullah Qutb Shah.
In 1620 Malik 'Ambar took advantage of the emperor's absence
from the Deccan to attack imperial posts on his northern frontier.
Ahmadnagar was besieged, and though the Mughul officer in com-
mand of the Deccan claimed a victory he found it necessary, owing
to the scarcity of supplies, to withdraw his troops to Berar, followed
by the enemy, who ventured to attack him even there, but were
repulsed. The scarcity of supplies was again due to the tactics of the
Maratha auxiliaries of Malik 'Ambar, who was now in possession
of the whole kingdom of Ahmadnagar and of the southern districts
of Berar, with an army of 60,000 horse. Many of the imperial troops
deserted, and their commander had to retreat to Burhanpur and was
besieged there. Jahangir, infuriated by reports of this retirement,
sent Shah Jahan again to the Deccan with a large army, and himself
returned to Agra. Before Shah Jahan reached Ujjain a force of Malik
'Ambar's troops had advanced and plundered villages under the walls
of Mandu. The marauders fled across the Narbada before his
advanced guard but were pursued and many were slain.
Shah Jahan then compelled Malik 'Ambar to raise the siege of
Burhanpur but was obliged to halt there for nine days to refresh the
exhausted garrison.
* See vol m, pp. 403-4.


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262
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
Malik Ambar had now established Khirki (called later Auranga-
bad) as the capital of the Nizam Shah's kingdom. To ensure his
safety he carried Murtaza into the strong fortress of Daulatabad, only
ten miles distant. Shah Jahan marched to Khirki and "so devastated
a city which had taken twenty years in the building that it was
doubtful whether another twenty years would suffice to restore it to
its pristine splendour".
The beleaguered garrison of Ahmadnagar was relieved and Shah
Jahan reached Paithan on the Godavari, where he received emissaries
from Malik 'Ambar, who expressed contrition.
Shah Jahan now experienced a foretaste of the Maratha warfare
which brought his son to the grave. He had driven before him like
chaff before the wind an enemy who dared not withstand him in the
field; he had confined his principal antagonist within the walls of
a fortress, but his own troops were starving. By all the rules of war
he was the victor. In fact he was as helpless as his adversary, and
was obliged to come to terms, which, however, were honourable to
the empire.
Malik 'Ambar was soon relieved of the anxiety which Shah Jahan's
propinquity caused him; for early in 1622 the prince was recalled to
the capital to aid his father in meeting an attack on Qandahar by
Shah 'Abbas I of Persia, and his rebellion later in the year dissipated
for a time all apprehensions of imperial aggression in the Deccan.
When Malik 'Ambar's apprehensions had been thus removed he
marched to the frontiers of Golconda to demand payment of his
subsidy, which was two years in arrears, and having received the
sum due and a renewal of Muhammad Qutb Shah's promise to pay
it regularly in future, he attacked Bidar, expelled Ibrahim 'Adil
Shah's garrison, and plundered the town and district, the annexation
of which by Bijapur during his preoccupation with the imperial
troops he regarded as an act of bad faith. He then retired to Daulata-
bad, but in the following year returned with fifty or sixty thousand
men and besieged Bijapur.
Ibrahim 'Adil Shah had continued to act with conciliation towards
the empire and had attached a force to the Mughul garrison of
Burhanpur. He recalled these troops in his extremity to Bijapur and
begged further assistance. His appeal met with a generous response.
Burhanpur was nearly denuded of troops and the Mughul governors
of Ahmadnagar and Bir marched with many other officers to the
relief of Bijapur. Malik 'Ambar vehemently protested, claiming to
be, equally with Ibrahim, the emperor's vassal, and that the quarrel
between them related to part of the ancient territory of Ahmadnagar,
wrongfully occupied by Bijapur. His protests were unheeded, and
he raised the siege of Bijapur and retired towards his own dominions.
Meeting the army which was marching to the relief of Bijapur he
I See chap vi, p. 169.


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DEATH OF MALIK 'AMBAR
263
suddenly fell upon it, routed it and captured many imperial officers.
He then attacked Ahmadnagar but, discovering that a protracted
siege would be necessary, left a force to blockade it and marched
to Sholapur, the possession of which had been contested between
Bijapur and Ahmadnagar ever since the two kingdoms had been
founded. Sholapur fell and Malik 'Ambar sent a force to besiege
Burhanpur.
This was joined by the rebel Shah Jahan who, retreating before
his father's troops, arrived at Burhanpur. The strangely assorted
allies took the town and were engaged in the siege of the citadel when
the news of the approach of Sultan Parviz and the Khan Khanan,
who were pursuing the rebel, put the prince to flight and compelled
the troops to retire to Daulatabad.
In 1626 Malik 'Ambar died, in the eightieth year of his age.
Jahangir, in his memoirs, seldom mentions him without abuse, but
his secretary, Mirza Muhammad Hadi, who continued the memoirs,
thus did justice to his memory. “'Ambar, whether as a commander
or a strategist, was without an equal in the military art. He kept the
rabble of that country (the Deccan) in perfect order and to the end
of his days lived in honour. There is no record elsewhere in history of
an African slave attaining to such a position as was held by him. ”
In the same year Fath Khan, Malik 'Ambar's son, submitted at
Jalna to a Mughul commander. This accession to the imperial cause
was welcomed and rewarded, but it was short-lived. Fath Khan
invaded Berar with the troops of Murtaza Nizam Shah II and Khan
Jahan was sent by the emperor to defend Burhanpur.
Murtaza now appointed as his minister Hamid Khan, another
African, and fell completely under his influence. He served his master
well by inducing Khan Jahan to surrender, in consideration of a large
gift in money, Ahmadnagar and the southern table-land of Berar.
The treachery of "that faithless Afghan”, as his master termed him,
was partly neutralised by the refusal of the commandant to
surrender Ahmadnagar, which he held successfully against Murtaza's
troops.
Hamid Khan's wife, the daughter of a foreigner, was a woman of
great ability and unbounded energy. She obtained access to the
harem of Murtaza Nizam Shah II and soon became the recognised
means of communication between the effeminate and slothful king
and his subjects.
The death of Malik 'Ambar induced Ibrahim 'Adil Shah to avenge
aggressions, and he sent an army to invade Murtaza's kingdom. As
it approached Daulatabad the wife of Hamid Khan solicited and
obtained for herself the command of the army, by suggesting that if
she were victorious the enemy would hide his head for shame, while
if she failed he could only boast that he had defeated a woman. She
cajoled the officers and distributed largesse to the soldiers and in the


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264
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
end she drove away the army of Bijapur and captured all its elephants
and artillery.
Ibrahim 'Adil Shah II died in September, 1627, and was succeeded
by his son Muhammad 'Adil Shah. Ibrahim, unlike most of his
house, was a Sunni but in the later years of his reign he associated
much with Hindus, who gave him the title of Jagad-Guru, or "Spiri-
tual Guide of the World”. His Muslim subjects murmured that their
king had become an infidel, like Akbar, but a historian asserts that
he never wavered in devotion to the orthodox faith and that the
tendency to associate with Hindus was due only to love of music,
admitting at the same time that he imitated some of the superstitious
invocations of Saraswati employed by Hindu musicians.
Early in the reign of Muhammad 'Adil Shah, Hamid Khan invaded
his territories with an army, but was defeated near Bijapur and com-
pelled to retreat to Daulatabad.
On 7 November, 1627, Jahangir died, and was succeeded by his
son Shah Jahan, early in whose reign the whole of the southern
table-land of Berar was recovered by the imperial officers.
Shah Jahan had learnt something of strategy and politics in the
Deccan and clearly perceived that the key to it was the possession
of the strong fortress of Daulatabad. He had learnt also that the
canker-worm of treason and corruption which eventually destroyed
the efficiency of the imperial armies flourished in the Deccan, so
that the capture of Daulatabad required the sovereign's personal
attention. At the end of 1629 he set out for Burhanpur, and many of
the officers of Murtaza's army, learning that the emperor proposed
to command in person, ensured their future prosperity by deserting
their master.
Early in 1630 Shah Jahan sent an army to invade Murtaza's domi-
nions and Fath Khan, doubtful of his influence over Murtaza Nizam
Shah II, put him to death and proclaimed his young son, Husain
Nizam Shah III. The imperial army drove Fath Khan and Husain
III into Daulatabad but was, as often before, compelled by scarcity
of provisions to retreat.
Early in 1632 Fath Khan purchased a respite for Daulatabad by
sending his son, 'Abdur-Rasul, to the imperial court with gifts.
Muhammad Adil Shah's failure on his accession to send a com-
plimentary offering to Shah Jahan induced the emperor to invade
his dominions. The commander marched through Bidar, captured
the fortress of Bhalki, and on reaching Gulbarga occupied the city
but refrained from attacking the citadel. He continued his march,
appeared before Bijapur with 30,000 horse, and encamped by the
Ramling Tank.
The city was not regularly besieged, but combats between the two
armies, in which victory according to the historian of Bijapur rested
with Muhammad Shah's troops, were of frequent occurrence. The


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EXTINCTION OF THE NIZAM SHAHI DYNASTY 265
real policy of Muhammad was, however, not to defeat but to starve
the enemy. Negotiations were prolonged, while supplies were inter-
cepted and the Mughul army was reduced to such distress that it
was compelled to retire. It moved first to the fertile districts of Miraj
and Raybag on the Krishna, where it obtained supplies by plundering
the country and thence retired, by way of Sholapur, to the territory
held by the imperial troops in the former kingdom of Ahmadnagar.
Muhammad 'Adil Shah, as a precaution against future attacks on
Bijapur, transported the great gun Malik-i-Maidan, or "Lord of the
Plain", from Parenda to his capital, where, on 1 September 1632,
it was placed in the position which it still occupies.
Shah Jahan professed to be satisfied with this expedition, the first
to advance so far south as Bijapur, but there can be little doubt that
he was in fact disappointed by his discomfiture. Mahabat Khan,
the Khan Khanan, governor of the Punjab, was therefore appointed
viceroy of Khandesh and the Deccan.
Shahji, the father of Shivaji, who had been annoyed by Shah
Jahan's action in transferring to Fath Khan, in return for the gifts
which he had sent to court by his son 'Abdur-Rasul, some assign-
ments which Shahji had held in the former kingdom of Ahmadnagar,
had fled to Bijapur and persuaded Muhammad 'Adil Shah to send
an army to recover his lands and to capture Daulatabad. Khan
Jahan found this army in the neighbourhood of Khirki on his arrival
at that town and at once attacked and defeated it. He anticipated
no difficulty in occupying Daulatabad, for Fath Khan had promised
to surrender the fortress to him, but a common danger once more
united the southerners. The officers of Bijapur suggested that Fath
Khan should join them against the imperial troops and promised to
provide supplies for Daulatabad. A force from Bijapur which at-
tempted to bring up food and forage was driven off, but Fath Khan
refused to fulfil his promise to surrender the fortress. Mahabat Khan
now arrived and opened the siege, which lasted for more than four
months. The imperial troops were much hampered by the army of
Bijapur, under Randola Khan an African and Shahji the Maratha,
which, though unable to convey supplies to the garrison, succeeded
in cutting off those of the besiegers.
Mahabat Khan carried the outer defences of Daulatabad one by
one until he reached Balakot, the upper citadel, which was impreg-
nable by assault and impervious to such artillery as then existed.
Famine had, however, done its work, and on 28 June, 1633, Fath
Khan, who had succeeded in obtaining most generous terms, led
Husain Nizam Shah III out, and the imperial troops occupied the
citadel.
The Nizam Shahi dynasty was at an end and its dominions were
added to the empire, which now extended to the northern frontiers
of the kingdoms of Bijapur and Golconda.


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286
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
Mahabat Khan, leaving Khan Dauran with a small force in Daulat-
abad, set out for Burhanpur, but the army of Bijapur besieged Khan
Dauran in the fortress and might have obliged him to surrender,
as he was ill-supplied with provisions. They fled, however, on hearing
that Mahabat Khan was returning and he, after victualling the
fortress, resumed his march to Burhanpur.
At the end of August Shah Jahan appointed his second son, Shah
Shuja', viceroy of the Deccan, and shortly afterwards addressed
arrogant letters to Muhammad 'Adil Shah and 'Abdullah Qutb Shah,
criticising their use of the royal title, asserting a claim to sovereignty
over them, and ordering them to cause the khutba to be recited and
money to be coined in his name in their dominions. Muhammad
replied in insolent terms, but concluded by saying that he would
continue to pay the stipulated tribute.
The use of the royal title by the kings of the Deccan was always
resented by the Mughul emperors, who wrote of them usually as
"rulers” or “governors” of their dominions and addressed them as
""Adil Khan" and "Qutb-ul-Mulk". A skilful retort was made by
Abu-'l-Hasan Qutb Shah to Aurangzib's envoy to Golconda in 1685,
who rudely told Abu-'l-Hasan that he had no right to the royal title.
"Your are wrong," replied the king, “for if I am not a king how can
your master call himself the king of kings? ”
'Abdullah Qutb Shah took no overt action to relieve Daulatabad,
but he and Muhammad 'Adil Shah entered into an alliance against
the emperor.
Although Daulatabad had fallen, much remained to be done
towards the complete establishment of imperial rule in the dominions
of Ahmadnagar. In the west, towards the Konkan, Shahji Bhonsle
held much territory and resided at the fort of Pemgarh. In the
fortress of Jalodhan, sixteen miles from Junnar, some scions of the
Nizam Shahi line still remained imprisoned. Shahji obtained
possession of the person of one of these, a child, and entitled him
Murtaza Nizam Shah III.
The commander of the strong fortress of Parenda, formerly included
in the Nizam Shahi dominions, had some time before this made his
submission to Muhammad Adil Shah, on whose behalf the fortress
was now held. Shah Shuja' and Mahabat Khan were ordered to
capture it and unsuccessfully besieged it for some months in 1634
owing to the activity of the army of Bijapur, and they retired to
Burhanpur. Mahabat Khan was blamed for the failure of the enter-
prise and both he and the prince were recalled to court.
The viceroyalty of the Deccan was now divided into two govern-
ments, the Balaghat, comprising the former dominions of Ahmad-
nagar and the southern table-land of Berar, and the Payanghat,
consisting of the rest of Berar and Khandesh; and Khan Zaman was
appointed to the government of the former and Khan Dauran to
1


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TERMS OF PEACE WITH BIJAPUR
267
that of the latter. Of the rebels the most formidable was Shahji
Bhonsle, who held the forts of Trimbak, Kondhanaand Shivner
above the Ghats, besides many in the Konkan, and enjoyed the
support and protection of Muhammad 'Adil Shah.
Khan Zaman and Khan Dauran vigorously prosecuted hostilities.
The former pursued the Maratha into the rich districts of the Bijapur
kingdom on the banks of the upper Krishna, captured Kolhapur,
Miraj and Raybag, carried off their inhabitants into slavery and
devastated the country, and the latter captured Parenda, Bidar, Gul-
barga and Sholapur, and marched to the gates of Bijapur devastating
the country in all directions.
Shah Jahan visited Daulatabad in 1636 and Muhammad 'Adil Shah
was compelled to sue for peace. The emperor, who had no designs
against the two remaining kingdoms of the Deccan and sincerely
desired peace, granted him terms more favourable than he had a
right to expect. Parenda, Bidar, Gulbarga and Sholapur were
restored to him, he was allowed to retain possession of Naldrug and
eastern Kalyani, and the Konkan, as far north as Kalyan, and the
tract between the Nira and Bhima rivers, as far north as Chakan,
which had formerly belonged to Ahmadnagar, were ceded to him.
In return for these concessions he promised to pay an annual tribute
of two millions of huns, equivalent to eight millions of rupees.
Shahji's remaining forts were now reduced by Khan Zaman, who
captured and sent to Gwalior Murtaza Nizam Shah III, and the
Maratha tendered his submission and begged that he might be received
into the imperial service, but was informed that he might enter that
of Bijapur, and he was received by Muhammad 'Adil Shah.
Goiconda had suffered in no way from the hostilities between the
imperial troops and Bijapur, and had been free to wage "holy wars"
against the Hindus of Orissa, Bastar and the Carnatic-chiefly against
those of the last-named region, in which 'Abdullah Qutb Shah now
held much territory.
Muhammad 'Adil Shah, though not personally warlike, now imitated
his neighbour and for some years despatched expeditions into the
Carnatic. These undertakings, usually successful owing to the dis-
sensions between the petty rajas of the peninsula, were dignified with
the name of holy wars, but Shahji and other Hindu officers and troops
were freely employed in them and they were in fact plundering ex-
cursions. Shahji, who was second in command under Randola Khan,
obtained extensive and valuable assignments in the Carnatic.
In 1637 the two governments were again amalgamated to form the
viceroyalty of the Deccan, under Aurangzib, Shah Jahan's third son,
who was only nineteen years of age. Aurangzib's intentions and
policy towards the two independent Muhammadan kingdoms differed
widely, as his subsequent conduct showed, from his father's, but he
1 Now Sinhgarh.


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288
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
did not molest them during his first tenure of the viceroyalty. He
had, however, succeeded in obtaining from his father permission to
annex Baglan, the principality of the Rathor Bairam Baharji. The
attack on Bairam was an act of purposeless aggression. Bairam
received the command of 3000 horse in the imperial army and an
assignment of the district of Sultanpur, adjoining his late principality.
The remaining period of Aurangzib's first viceroyalty was unevent-
ful until June, 1664, when in one of his real or feigned fits of religious
enthusiasm he expressed his intention of retiring from the world
and living a life of devotion, and Khan Dauran was appointed to
succeed him.
Shivaji," the son of Shahji Bhonsle who now began to rise into
prominence, had hitherto lived at Poona. His first feat, in 1646, was
to persuade the commander of the hill fort of Torna, probably by
corrupt means, to surrender the fort to him. He sent agents to
Muhammad 'Adil Shah to explain that he had taken this important
stronghold in the interests of Bijapur, but his overtures received
no reply. A buried treasure discovered at Torna enabled him to
build, in the following year, the fort of Rajgarh, 3 miles from Torna.
The Bijapur government called his father to account and he was
censured, but merely temporised.
Shivaji then assumed the management of his father's estates, and
retained the revenues, representing the expenses of their administra-
tion to be so high as to leave no margin of profit. He obtained posses-
sion of the fort and district of Chakan and of the stronger fort of
Kondhana, which he induced the Muslim commander to surrender
to him in consideration of a bribe. He changed the name of Kondhana
to Sinhgarh, "the Lion's Fort", and made it his chief stronghold. He
then expelled his father's agents from Supa, persuaded the revenue
agents of Baramati and Indapur to recognise his authority, and
possessed himself by treachery of the strong hill fort of Purandar.
Thus did Shivaji obtain possession of the tract between Chakan and the Nira :
and the manner in which he established himself, watching and crouching like
the wily tiger of his own mountain valleys, until he had stolen into a situation
from whence he could spring on his prey, accounts for the difficulty found in trac-
ing his early rise, and the astonishing rapidity with which he extended his power
when his progress had attracted notice and longer concealment was impossible. ”
Shivaji soon passed beyond the stage of concealment. The plunder
of a convoy of government treasure destined to Bijapur, the capture
of ten more forts, and above all the arrest of the Muslim governor
of Kalyan, the seizure of that place and of all forts in its neighbour-
hood, and the appointment of a Brahman governor showed him in
his true colours and involved his father in suffering and disgrace.
Shahji, now governor of the Bijapur Carnatic, was suspected of com-
plicity in his son's rebellion. He was arrested by an artifice and con-
veyed to Bijapur, where he was confined in a dungeon by Muhammad
1 See chap. vm, p. 256.
Grant Duff, 1, 114.


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AURANGZIB ATTACKS GOLCONDA
269
'Adil Shah, who refused to believe his protestations of innocence and
threatened him with a lingering death. His peril suggested to Shivaji
a device which he afterwards employed with great dexterity—the
pitting of the northern against the southern Muslim—and he appealed
to Shah Jahan on behalf of his father. It was largely owing to the
emperor's influence that Shahji was released from his dungeon, but
he was detained at Bijapur for four years as a prisoner at large.
Aurangzib was reappointed in 1651 to the viceroyalty of the Deccan
and selected as his residence Khirki, which he extended, embellished
and renamed Aurangabad. He had at first no dealings with Shivaji,
who had hitherto studiously refrained from molesting the imperial
dominions and whose depredations in Bijapur territory were in no
way opposed either to Aurangzib's interests or inclinations.
During the period of his father's detention Shivaji had refrained
almost entirely from acts of aggression, but on Shahji's return to the
Carnatic, which had fallen, during his absence, into such disorder as
to demand the whole attention of the government of Bijapur, he
renewed his activity, murdering Chandra Rao, Raja of Javli, annexing
his possessions, and building the strong fort of Partabgarh, near the
source of the Krishna.
In 1655 events in Golconda gave Aurangzib an opportunity, which
he eagerly welcomed, of interfering in the affairs of that kingdom.
The most powerful of the nobles of Golconda was a Sayyid of
Ardistan, Mir Muhammad Sa'id, who had received the title of Mir
Jumla (prime minister) and very extensive assignments in the Gol-
conda Carnatic. He had originally been a diamond merchant, and
the experience which he had thus acquired enabled him to dispose,
to the best advantage, of the produce of the diamond mines which
his assignments contained. His wealth and his power were great,
and he maintained at his own expense a force of 5000 horse. The
dissolute and arrogant conduct of Muhammad Amin, Mir Jumla's
son, who resided at court, produced the first open breach between
the servant and his master. His offences culminated in his coming
drunk to the royal palace, throwing himself down to sleep, in the
king's absence, on the royal throne and vomiting over its rich
coverings. He was imprisoned and his father appealed to Shah Jahan
for protection. The appeal received the strongest support from
Aurangzib, and Shah Jahan directed 'Abdullah Qutb Shah to release
Muhammad Amin and to send both father and son to the imperial
court. 'Abdullah resented this attempt to interfere between him and
his servants and punished Mir Jumla by the confiscation of his
property.
Aurangzib induced his father to sanction offensive action and sent
his eldest son, Muhammad Sultan, at the head of a considerable force
towards Golconda, announcing that the prince was on his way to
Bengal to espouse his cousin, the daughter of Shuja'. The device
9


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270
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
succeeded, and the prince encamped within a few miles of Hyderabad,
before 'Abdullah understood his hostile intent. Muhammad acting
under his father's instructions neglected no means of provoking
'Abdullah to hostile action. The unfortified city of Hyderabad was
sacked, some quarters were burnt, and neither the royal palace nor
the dwellings of the nobles and the wealthier merchants escaped
pillage. The king was in the fortress of Golconda and could not
restrain his troops, some of whom slew some of the ruffians of the
Mughul army. Aurangzib was stealthily following Muhammad Sultan
with the remainder of his army. Those who had attempted to stay
the marauders were put to flight and Aurangzib joined his son.
'Abdullah was now in an agony of terror. He had already promised
to obey the imperial commands by surrendering Mir Jumla and his
son, and he sent one envoy after another, with gifts and promises,
to Aurangzib's camp, but it was discovered that he had, in this
extremity, summoned to his aid the troops serving in other districts
of his kingdom. This was made a pretext for opening the siege of
Golconda, which was carried on though negotiations were also in
train. Offerings tendered by 'Abdullah's envoys were insultingly
rejected, but instead of being returned were thriftily retained pending
the conclusion of a treaty.
Aurangzib, to his intense chagrin, received a letter from his father
directing him to inform 'Abdullah that his submission had been
accepted and to retire to Aurangabad. He dishonestly concealed
this order until he had compelled his victim to submit to his own
terms. 'Abdullah, who had no son, was reduced to the necessity of
sending his mother to Aurangzib's camp to arrange for the marriage
of his daughter to Muhammad Sultan, who was to receive, as her
dowry, the district of Ramgir and his recognition as heir to the throne
of Golconda. All arrears of the exorbitant tribute demanded by
Shah Jahan were to be paid and Mir Jumla and his son were surren-
dered to Aurangzib.
The prince contented himself with a substantial instalment on
account of the tribute due to his father, but extorted many valuable
gifts for both himself and his son, and on 27 May, 1656 retired, after
the celebration of the marriage, to Aurangabad.
Few of Aurangzib's many acts of duplicity, both before and after
his ascent of the throne, are more deserving of reprobation than his
treatment of 'Abdullah Qutb Shah, but his behaviour on this occasion
obtained for him the services of Mir Jumla, a devoted adherent,
who never grudged either wealth or abilities to the advancement of
his cause.
Aurangzib was soon again favoured by fortune. Muhammad 'Adil
Shah of Bijapur died on 16 November of this year, and was succeeded
by his son 'Ali 'Adil Shah II, a youth of eighteen. Aurangzib affected
to, regard the kings of Bijapur and Golconda as mere assignees of the


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INVASION OF BIJAPUR
271
empire, whose succession to their assignments was a question to be
decided by the emperor. They had, in fact, been independent kings
for a century and a half, having acquired that status before Babur
invaded India, and the imperial prerogative had never been suggested,
much less asserted, in the case of either kingdom.
Aurangzib,
apparently conscious of the weakness of his case, invented another
pretext for attacking Bijapur and asserted that 'Ali II was not the
son of Muhammad 'Adil Shah, and that the kingdom had lapsed to
the empire.
For this slander, which is repeated, of course on Mughul authority,
by Fryer, Tavernier, Bernier and Manucci, there is not a scrap of
evidence. 'Ali II was accepted without hesitation in Bijapur as the
son of Muhammad and is so described both in the annals of the
kingdom, where his birth, and the principal events of his childhood
in the royal palace are circumstantially recorded, and in Marathi
manuscripts. Nor was there any necessity for raising to the throne
a supposititious child of Muhammad, for Aurangzib, when he cap-
tured Bijapur in 1686, found there sixteen male scions of the house
of Yusuf 'Adil Shah. The fiction was invented to inflame the wrath
of Shah Jahan, who declared war on Bijapur.
Dara Shukoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan, dreading the un-
scrupulous ambition of his younger brother, had caused the issue of
the orders for the conclusion of peace with Golconda, and attempted
to frustrate his schemes by appointing Mir Jumla to the chief com-
mand of the army sent to invade Bijapur, but the device failed owing
to the perfect understanding which existed between Aurangzib and
Mir Jumla. The prince accompanied the expedition and Mir Jumla,
who by the emperor's orders held the chief command, was, in fact,
subordinate to him.
Aurangzib set out from Aurangabad in March, 1657, and on 12 April
took Bidar, one of 'Ali `Adil Shah's strongest fortresses, after a siege
of one day, the capture of the place being facilitated by the explosion
of the principal powder magazine. Kalyani, thirty-five miles west
of Bidar, was the next fortress attacked, but did not surrender until
10 August. Gulbarga was carried by assault and Aurangzib marched
on Bijapur. He was much harassed at first by the army of 'Ali 'Adil
Shah and might have been effectively held at one strong position
which he had to pass had not 'Ali's prime minister and commander-
in-chief treacherously allowed him to pass unmolested, though pressed
by the other officers of the army to pursue the prince. When the
commander-in-chief returned to the capital he was assassinated by
his master's order.
The siege of Bijapur was prosecuted with vigour, but Aurangzib
was once more disappointed, when success appeared to be within his
grasp, by the receipt of an order recalling Mir Jumla and all the
officers, with their contingents, who had been appointed to the ex-


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272
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
peditionary force. He then determined to march to Agra to secure
his own pretensions as successor to Shah Jahan, whose health was
failing. Mir Jumla, whose family was at Agra and in Dara Shukoh's
power, could not join Aurangzib in an act of open rebellion, but
cheerfully submitted to imprisonment in Daulatabad in order to save
appearances.
The question of peace with Bijapur presented no difficulties. All
that Aurangzib required for the present was a sufficient contribution
to the expenses of his march to the capital, with which 'Ali `Adil Shah
was not only willing, but anxious, to purchase peace. Aurangzib,
on his side, relinquished his conquests, returned to Aurangabad, and
marched to Agra. The story of his rebellion is told in chapter VII
and its results are well known. He defeated his brothers, two of whom
he murdered, deposed his father, and ascended the throne.
Shivaji had already, while Aurangzib was engaged in hostilities
against Bijapur, in May, 1657, committed his first acts of aggression
on the imperial dominions and been forgiven. Aurangzib's pre-
occupation in the north left Shivaji and 'Ali 'Adil Shah free for some
time, the one to pursue his ambitious schemes and the other to attempt
to free his kingdom from incursions. Shivaji experienced his first
serious reverse in an attempt to seize the territories of Sidi Jauhar,
an important assignee in the Konkan, but later in the same year,
1659, he obtained a signal success over the arms of Bijapur.
'Ali 'Adil Shah perceived the necessity for subduing Shivaji and
sent against him an army under the command of Afzal Khan, whose
objective was the stronghold of Partabgarh, to which Shivaji had
retired. The story of Shivaji's duplicity on this occasion is well known.
Having secretly made arrangements to entrap the Muslim army,
a measure perfectly justifiable in civilised warfare, he succeeded, by
professions of submission and by promises, the fulfilment of which
would have gained his victim great credit with his master, in enticing
Afzal Khan to a private interview at which each was to appear armed
only with a sword and attended by a single follower. Shivaji de-
scended from the fortress armed, to all appearance, with only a dagger,
but he wore armour beneath his clothes and held concealed in his
left hand the weapon known as the waghnakh, closely resembling the
claws of the tiger, from which it is named, and consisting of four
curved claws of steel, attached to the first and fourth fingers, beneath
which they are hidden, by rings. When embracing Afzal Khan, who
was clad only in muslin, Shivaji ripped open his belly with the claws
and at once stabbed him with his dagger. His secret armour turned
the sword cut which the wounded Muslim instinctively dealt him
and Shivaji and his follower soon despatched Afzal Khan's gallant
attendant. The Maratha troops, cbedient to a signal, sprang from
their concealment on the unsuspecting army of Bijapur, overpowered
and dispersed it without difficulty, and enriched their master with


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.
SHIVAJI ASSUMES ROYAL TITLE
273
its spoils, including horses, elephants, camels, treasure, arms and
munitions of war.
Shivaji now obtained possession of the forts of Panhala, Pavangarh
and Vasantgarh and ravaged the country as far as the neighbourhood
of Bijapur, but in 1660 he was besieged in Panhala by Sidi Jauhar
and compelled to seek safety in flight. ‘Ali ‘Adil Shah shortly after-
wards entered the field in person and reduced Panhala and Pavan-
garh, besides other forts already captured by Shivaji, who refrained
from taking up arms against the king in person but continued his
depredations in the Konkan and against Sidi Jauhar.
In 1661 Shahji visited his son, by whom he was received with every
circumstance of respect, and arranged between him and 'Ali 'Adil
Shah an armistice which endured until its author's death in January
1664.
This truce with Bijapur set Shivaji free to renew his contest with
the Mughuls (see chap. VIII, pp. 258 sq. ). Shortly after the death of
his father in 1664, he assumed at Raigarh the title of raia and struck
coins in his own name. He continued his depredations, both by land
and by sea, until he learnt that a Mughul force was preparing to
attack him, Aurangzib's temper having at length been aroused by
the plundering of pilgrim ships on their way to Mecca.
The imperial army attacked Purandar, and Shivaji surrendered.
One of the terms of the treaty then arranged gave him permission
to colleet chauth, a fourth, and sardeshmukhi, a tenth of the revenue
in the kingdom of Bijapur. Aurangzib probably did not understand
the meaning of the claim to these exactions which he sanctioned for
the purpose of weakening the government of Bijapur, "nor could he
foresee that they would be levied at no very distant date in the
imperial dominions, and that his feeble descendants would be con-
strained to acquiesce.
During Shivaji's absence at Delhi in 1666 Jav Singh had besieged
Bijapur, but the field army of that kingdom, assisted by a contingent
from Golconda, had cut off his supplies, rendered his pasition before
the city untenable and obliged him to retreat to Aurangabad. He
was recalled to court, but died on the way thither, and Sultan
Mu'azzam again returned to the Deccan with Jasvant Singh as his
deputv.
In 1668 the court of Bijapur purchased peace with the emperor
bv the cession of the fortress and district of Sholapur, which vielded
180,000 huns of annual revenue, and compounded with Shivaji for
an annual payment of 300. 000 rupees instead of permitting him to
levv chauth and sardeshmukhi by his own agents, and the new king
of Golconda undertook to pay him an annual sum of half a million
rupees on the same account.
'Abdullah Qutb Shah had died on 24 February, 1767. Aurangzib's
eldest son, Muhammad Sultan, whom he had, under compulsion,
18


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274
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
recognised as his heir, was a prisoner, and those whose business it
was to regulate the succession ignored his claims. 'Abdullah left two
other daughters besides the wife of Muhammad Sultan, one of whom
was married to Nizam-ud-din Ahmad, a Sayyid of noble descent, and
the other to Abu-'l-Hasan, a young man nearly related, through his
mother, to the royal family. Nizam-ud-din Ahmad's pride and arro-
gance had rendered him obnoxious to the nobles and courtiers, and
when 'Abdullah died Abu-'l-Hasan was raised to the throne, and
Nizam-ud-din Ahmad died shortly afterwards.
Abu-'l-Hasan Qutb Shah was indolent and luxurious, and imme-
diately after his accession all power passed into the hands of his
minister, Sayyid Muzaffar, to whom chiefly he owed his throne. The
king had sufficient spirit to resent his minister's dominance and, taking
into his confidence Madanna, a Brahman who was Sayyid Muzaffar's
chief coadjutor in public affairs, conspired with him to overthrow
the minister. The astute Brahman succeeded and Sayyid Muzaffar
was dismissed from his high place, but Abu-'l-Hasan gained little
by the change, for Madanna took his former master's place and ap-
pointed as his colleague his own brother Venkanna," and the two
Brahmans soon became more powerful than Sayyid Muzaffar had
been. They supported the Deccani party in the state, dismissed most
of the Foreigners in the public service, and after a time even ventured
to persecute Muslims.
During the years 1668 and 1669 Shivaji was apparently inactive,
but he was in fact organising his government and his army, and
building up an efficient civil administration. Hs rule was undoubtedly
more popular than that of the Muslim powers with the Hindu pea-
santry of the Deccan. Shivaji's careful preparations bore fruit, and
for some years the Mughul forces sent against him usually failed.
In 1672, however, his possessions on the coast suffered severely
from a combined attack by the Mughul fleet of Surat and the fleet
of Janjira, but the loss which he thus sustained was more than com-
pensated by a large contribution from Abu-'l-Hasan Qutb Shah,
which he obtained in the course of a secret visit to Golconda.
In June, 1672, 'Ali 'Adil Shah II was smitten with paralysis but
lingered until 4 December, when he died and was succeeded by his
son Sikandar ‘Adil Shah, then in his fifth year. Before his death
arrangements for the administration of his kingdom during his son's
minority had been completed. Khavass Khan, son of the traitor
Khan Muhammad, was to hold the regency. 'Abdul-Muhammad
Khan was to command at Gulbarga and in the districts contiguous
with the imperial dominions, 'Abdul-Karim Buhlul Khan was
to hold Miraj, Panhala, and the Konkan, and Muzzaffar Khan was to
command in the Carnatic. This arrangement came into brce at
Muhammad 'Adil Shah's death, but each of the four nobles who thus
1 Or Akkanna.


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AGGRESSIONS BY SHIVAJI
276
divided the management of affairs was more intent on his own
aggrandisement and on the destruction of his rivals than on the
protection of the interests of the kingdom, and Shivaji was not slow
to take advantage of their dissensions. In March, 1673, he assembled
a large force at Vishalgarh, recaptured Panhala, and sacked the
wealthy town of Hubli, where his troops took a greater amount of
booty than they had ever before taken from a single town. The
English factory was plundered with the rest of the town. The Maratha
fleet captured Karwar and Ankola, and Shivaji, in order that he
might be free to prosecute the war without interruption, made
overtures to Bahadur Khan, governor of the Deccan, suggesting sub-
mission to and reconciliation with the emperor. Bahadur Khan was
as amenable as his predecessors and readily undertook to refrain from
molesting Shivaji provided that he, on his part, abstained from
pillaging the imperial dominions.
Several places fell into his hands before the end of the rainy season,
and he opened the siege of Ponda, near Goa. 'Abdul-Karim Khan
was sent from Bijapur to recover Panhala, but a Maratha general,
by plundering the neighbourhood of Bijapur, compelled his govern-
ment to recall him, intercepted him and on some ground which was
regarded by Shivaji as insufficient granted an armistice and permitted
him to return to Bijapur. The general then, in fear of his indignant
master, led an expedition into Berar. This operation greatly dis-
concerted Shivaji
, who was concentrating his whole attention on the
war against Bijapur and was most anxious to avoid any acts of aggres-
sion in imperial territory. 'Abdul-Karim Khan at once returned to
Panhala, but was eventually routed and driven back to Bijapur.
Shivaji was unable to reduce Ponda, and raised the siege at the
beginning of the rainy season, when he returned to Raigarh, where
on 6 June he was solemnly enthroned and performed other ceremo-
nies which raised him to the dignity of a Kshatriya or Rajput.
The Mughul troops absolved Shivaji, by some acts of aggression
in his territories, from his compact with Bahadur Khan, and his troops
raided Berar from Burhanpur to Mahur. Shivaji, who had reopened
the siege of Ponda, captured that fortress, penetrated the southern
Konkan, and returned to Raigarh with rich spoils.
Bahadur Khan was now engaged in negotiations with Khavass
Khan, the regent of Bijapur, who, weary of the struggle against
contending factions, agreed that Bijapur should in future be held in
subjection to the empire and promised to give Padishah Bibi, the only
sister of Sikandar Adil Shah, in marriage to one of the imperial
princes and his own daughter to Bahadur Khan's son.
The news of this compact aroused the liveliest indignation among
the regent's enemies, led by 'Abdul-Karim Khan, who first im-
prisoned him and shortly afterwards caused him to be put to death.
1 Grant Duff, I, 225.


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276
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
The success of 'Abdul-Karim's faction produced an immediate
rupture with Bahadur Khan, and the favour shown by 'Abdul-Karim
to his own countrymen, the Afghans, bred fresh discord at Bijapur.
Afghans are notoriously quarrelsome and have an unenviable repu-
tation for treachery, and 'Abdul-Karim's enemies contrived to enlist
on their side the services of Sharza Khan, another Afghan noble, who
had for years been the prisoner of Shivaji. Meanwhile the troops of
Bijapur acquitted themselves well against the Mughuls, and Bahadur
Khan was persuaded to make peace with Bijapur.
Shivaji had taken advantage of the embroilment of Bijapur with
the empire to recover the country between Panhala and Tattora, and
to connect those two strongholds with a chain of forts. In the latter
part of 1676 he was detained at Satara by sickness, but during this
period he was revolving a great scheme for the extension of his
power, wealth and resources, and for the formation of an effective
confederacy against the empire. This scheme was the invasion of the
Carnatic with the sanction of the king of Golconda, whom Shivaji
now took in preference to the king of Bijapur as his ally against
imperial aggression. The function of the Carnatic was to supply the
sinews of war : the preference for Golconda was due to its being at
the time less immediately exposed to imperial aggression and to its
being ruled, in fact, by two Brahmans.
Early in 1677 Shivaji reached Golconda with 30,000 cavalry and
40,000 infantry. His intrigues, there were successful. The two Brah-
mans fell in with his scheme and Shivaji personally convinced
Abu-'l-Hasan Qutb Shah that Golconda's salvation lay in an alliance
with the Maratha power. In the secret treaty which was executed
Bijapur had a place. Her possessions in the Carnatic were indeed to
be divided between the Marathas and Golconda, but if she dismissed
'Abdul-Karim Khan from the regency and appointed Venkanna, the
brother of Madanna, she was to be admitted as a member of the con-
federacy. It does not seem to have occurred to Abu-'l-Hasan that this
confederacy was to be a purely Hindu alliance, in which two puppet
Muslim kings were to count for nought. Shivaji left Golconda for
the Carnatic, handsomely supplied with money and with a train of
artillery, in March. After passing Madras he persuaded the brothers,
who held Gingee. to surrender that strong fortress to him, appointed
one of his own officers to command the fort, and established through-
out the surrounding country his own system of administration. The
Tiruvannamalai district, which was held for the king of Bijapur, and
Vellore and three other fortresses were captured. All Shahji's rich
assignments in the Carnatic were occupied by Shivaji, and in the
rest of the possessions of Bijapur in the Carnatic he followed his usual
system of demanding chauth and sardeshmukhi and plundering the
country indiscriminately if they were withheld.
Bijapur had recently suffered on her northern frontier as she was


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ATTEMPTS TO SAVE BIJAPUR AND GOLCONDA 277
now suffering on the south. The truce with 'Abdul-Karim Khan,
who had risen to power avowedly as chief of the party opposed to
the imperial pretensions, was not unnaturally disapproved by Aurang,
zib, who recalled Bahadur Khan from the Deccan and instructed
Dilir Khan to attack the hostile kingdom. Gulbarga was captured
on 18 July and Naldrug on 13 August, 1677.
It was now easy for the enemies of 'Abdul-Karim Khan, who was
notoriously on friendly terms with Dilir Khan, to represent that he
had betrayed the kingdom, and the governor of Adoni visited Gol.
conda and begged Abu-'l-Hasan Qutb Shah to intervene for the sake
of saving Bijapur from the Mughul. Abu-'l-Hasan summoned 'Abdul-
Karim to Golconda to confer with him on the measures to be taken
for saving the two kingdoms, and when he obeyed the summons
upbraided both parties at Bijapur, but specially that of 'Abdul-Karim,
with betraying the kingdom by their dissensions. He convinced
'Abdul-Karim Khan that he had lost the confidence of all the friends
of the southern kingdoms and persuaded him to make way for
Mas'ud Khan. 'Abdul-Karim Khan raised a difficulty regarding the
payment of his troops, to whom he owed 500,000 rupees, but Abu-'l-
Hasan made himself responsible for the sum. An agreement having
been reached Mas'ud Khan and 'Abdul-Karim Khan were reconciled
and returned together towards Bijapur, visiting Dilir Khan at Gul-
barga on their way. Dilir Khan accepted the arrangement with the
addition of one condition, the marriage of Padishah Bibi to Sultan
A'zam, the emperor's third son. To this stipulation Mas'ud Khan
perforce agreed and, peace having been concluded, Mas'ud Khan and
'Abdul-Karim Khan continued their march towards Bijapur, but
'Abdul-Karim Khan fell sick and died, on 2 January, 1678, at Hirapur,
and Mas'ud Khan returned alone to the capital. He paid 'Abdul-
Karim Khan's infantry, but either would not or could not pay the
cavalry, who dispersed, some joining Shivaji and some . the Mughuls.
The betrothal of Padishah Bibi was so unpopular at Bijapur that it
was only by promising that this condition should not be observed
that Mas'ud Khan could restore tranquillity.
Shivaji, having made arrangements for the administration of the
Carnatic, set out, late in 1678, on his return to his own country. He
ceded nothing to Abu-'l-Hasan Qutb Shah, who dared not openly
resent Shivaji's breach of faith. On his return march Shivaji and
his officers made further annexations.
Mas'ud Khan was not permitted to evade his promise to send
Padishah Bibi to Delhi and Dilir Khan was ordered to march on
Bijapur to enforce the fulfilment of this condition. A mob assembled
in the streets of Bijapur to oppose the surrender of the popular
princess, but she herself, believing that she could yet save her brother
and his kingdom, insisted on leaving for Dilir Khan's camp. Her
sacrifice eame too latė. . Dilir Khan sent an escort with her to


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278
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN,
Aurangbad, but continued his march on Bijapur. Mas'ud Khan
implored Shivaji's aid, and the Maratha, while he hesitated to attack
the imperial army in the field, attempted to create a diversion by
harrying with fire and sword the imperial domains in the Deccan,
from the Bhima to the Godavari, leaving the inhabitants homeless
and the villages in ashes, and plundering even Jalna and Auranga-
bad, where the prince was residing.
These operations failed of their principal object, and Dilir Khan
maintained the siege of Bijapur with vigour. Mas'ud Khan begged
Shivaji to relieve the city and he set out for Bijapur, but on the way
learnt that his son Shambhuji had fled from Panhala, where he was
under restraint owing to his dissolute conduct which had culminated
in an attempt to violate the wife of a Brahman. He escaped to Dilir
Khan, who welcomed him with honour, his object being to widen
the breach between father and son and to divide the Marathas. The
Maratha army continued its march to Bijapur, while Shivaji himself
returned to devise a scheme for recalling his son. This, however, was
no easy task, for Dilir Khan flattered the youth's vanity by recogni-
sing him as Raja of the Marathas and captured for him one of his
father's fortresses; and the Maratha army sustained a severe defeat
near Bijapur. In the north, however, Moro Pant Peshwa overran and
ravaged Khandesh, and cut off Dilir Khan's supplies, so that he was
obliged, at the end of the rainy season, to raise the siege of the city.
He was resolved, however, to chastise the kingdom, and plundered
and ravaged it till the Maratha troops in the northern Carnatic
attacked and drove him northwards. Aurangzib, disapproving of
Dilir Khan's Maratha policy, ordered him to send Shambhuji as
a prisoner to Delhi, but he connived at the young man's escape and
Shambhuji rejoined and was reconciled to his father, who however
confined him to Panhala. At the same time Sultan Mu'azzam was
recalled from the Deccan and Bahadur Khan was reinstated as
viceroy.
For the assistance which he had rendered to Bijapur Shivaji de-
manded the recognition by that state of his sovereignty in the
districts of Koppal and Bellary and in all the territory which he had
conquered in the Carnatic, and when Mas'ud Khan had complied
with his demand he secretly visited him in the neighbourhood of
Bijapur and took counsel with him on the subject of the further
resistance to be offered to the imperial troops. In April Shivaji fell
sick at Raigarh, and died on 2 April, 1680. He was in his fifty-third
year.
A slight sketch of Shivaji's character has already been given, and
is supplemented by the chronicle of his life. It is difficult to decide
whether to admire more the courage and high resolve which proposed
an object so lofty as the restoration of a Hindu empire in India or the
singleness of purpose with which that object was pursued. He had to


## p. 279 (#313) ############################################

CHARACTER AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF SHIVAJI 279
contend with a mighty empire and two kingdoms, but he took the
fullest advantage of the narrow and purblind policy of Aurangzib,
which divided the Muslims. The emperor learnt too late to appreciate
his antagonist. For years he despised “the Mountain Rat” as the
chief of a gang of mere brigands, but after Shivaji's death he con-
ceived a juster opinion of his genius and admitted that he was a
great captain. “My armies”, he said, “were employed against him for
nineteen years, but nevertheless his State has always been increa-
sing. " A Muslim historian thus does justice to his memory. "He
persisted in rebelling, plundering caravans, and troubling mankind;
but he was entirely guiltless of baser sins, and was scrupulous of the
honour of the women and children of the Muslims when they fell
into his hands. ” This is high praise from one whose religion made
matrons, virgins and children taken in war the legitimate prey of
their captors.
Shivaji's object was never attained, for his line produced no second
Shivaji, but his nation overflowed the Deccan and overran the whole
of the empire. His dominions at his death were extensive. They
comprised the Konkan, a tract between the sea and the crest of the
Western Ghats, from the fifteenth to the twenty-first parallel of north
latitude, excluding the Portuguese, African and English settlements
of Goa, Janjira, Chaul, Bombay, Salsette, Bassein and Daman, and
southward of the Konkan the two isolated settlements of Karwar
and Ankola were included. Above the Ghats, between Chakan and
Kolhapur, his territories extended eastward into the tableland of the
Deccan to the confluence of the Bhima and the Nira and nearly to
the confluence of the Krishna and the Varna. On either side of the
Tungabhadra they included the districts of Koppal and Bellary, and,
farther south, Sira, Dod-Ballapur, Kolar, Bangalore and Hoskote :
the north-eastern districts of the modern Mysore state. Eastward of
this tract the fortresses of Vellore, Arni and Gingee with the districts
surrounding them, and southward of these again the whole of the
present district of Tanjore, formed part of his domains. “The terri-
tories and treasures, however, which Shivaji acquired, were not so
formidable to the Muhammadans as the example he had set, the
system and habits he introduced, and the spirit he had infused into
a large proportion of the Maratha people. ” 1
On Shivaji's death his widow, taking advantage of her husband's
mistrust of his elder son, who was still imprisoned at Panhala,
exerted herself to secure the succession for her son Raja Ram,
Shambhuji's half-brother, and enthroned him, but a strong party in
the state favoured the claims of the legitimate heir and Shambhuji,
who inherited a portion of his father's energy, succeeded, after some
vicissitudes, in securing the throne and put his stepmother and her
leading partisans to death in circumstances of great cruelty. In 1680
1 Grant Duff, 1, 254.


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280
THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN
he received the fugitive prince Muhammad Akbar, who was in
rebellion against his father, the emperor, and Aurangzib, after con-
cluding an undignified peace with the Rana of Udaipur, with whom
he was then engaged in hostilities, marched southwards for the
accomplishment of a task which he had set himself before his acces-
sion-the subjugation of the Deccan.
The history of the Deccan during the next twenty-six years is that
of the later years of the reign of Aurangzib, and will be related in the
next chapter.


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CHAPTER
X
AURANGZIB (1681-1707)
T HE flight of his rebel son Akbar to the Maratha king forced a
complete change on the policy of Aurangzib and hastened the fate
of his empire as well. It became necessary for the emperor to go to
the Deccan in person and to assemble there his best troops and
generals and practically all the resources of his realm. The centre
of gravity of the Delhi empire was shifted to southern India for the
next twenty-six years, while north India, its real seat of strength, fe'l
into neglect and decay. In Hindustan the administration rapidly
deteriorated, peace, prosperity and the arts decreased, and the entire
Indian civilisation fell backwards. The defence of the north-western
frontier was neglected, and the material resources of the empire
dwindled till they ceased to suffice for its needs. The vast annexations
effected by Aurangzib in the Deccan—Bijapur, Golconda, eastern
Carnatic and Maharashtra-were all illusive. Instead of adding to
the strength and wealth of the empire, they brought down economic
ruin upon it and destroyed its army as an instrument of power. In
fact, the Mughul empire now became too large to be administered
by one man or from one centre, and its disruption began which was
to make the history of India in the eighteenth century one "great
anarchy".
After patching up a peace with Mewar (June, 1681), Aurangzib
despatched his son A'zam with a large army to the Deccan (31 July),
and soon afterwards he himself hastened there, arriving at Burhanpur
on 23 November and at Aurangabad on 1 April, 1682. His main
occupation now was to watch and check Shambhuji, the new Maratha
king, and his protégé the rebel prince Akbar.
Shambhuji had gained his father's throne on 28 June, 1680, ten
weeks after the death of the latter and in the teeth of strong opposition.
His succession had been disputed, a hostile faction at the capital
having crowned his step-brother Raja Ram, a boy of ten, who was too
weak to maintain himself when Shambhuji appeared in force at the
capital. But for more than a year afterwards Shambhuji's position
continued to be insecure and it was only in October, 1681, after
ruthlessly crushing a second plot by Annaji Datto against his life and
liberty, that he could gain undisputed supremacy in the state. Under
him the Maratha army continued Shivaji's policy of setting out on
plundering expeditions every year on the Dasahra day (October) at
the end of the rainy season. In the winter of 1680-81 they raided
north Khandesh, and then passing farther east looted the suburbs
of Burhanpur for three daysunmolested (9-11 February, 1681),


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282
AURANGZIB (1681-1707)
taking an enormous amount of booty. The surprise was complete and
none of the people could conceal or remove their property. Many
respectable men slew their wives and children to save them from
outrage and slavery; many houses were set on fire after being ran-
sacked. The governor was powerless. In November, 1681, an attempt
to surprise the fort of Ahmadnagar was defeated.
Prince Akbar, who had been sheltered by Shambhuji in the village
of Pali (six miles east of Nagothan), gathered a small force of 2000
men with the jewels he had brought away with himself, and kept
up the pageant of an emperor, issuing letters in the royal style dated
in his regnal years! Shambhuji promised to support him with a
Maratha army in gaining the Delhi throne, but nothing came of
these promises. Aurangzib's wise strategy blocked all the paths out
of Maharashtra. Early in 1682 he began a vigorous offensive against
the Marathas; one division under Sayyid Hasan 'Ali Khan descended
into the north Konkan and occupied Kalyan (c. 9 February), with-
drawing in May next to avoid the heavy monsoon. Another, under
Shihab-ud-din Khan, invaded the Nasik district and besieged Ramsej,
but after a six months' siege and the failure of three assaults the
attempt was abandoned in October. Ruh-ullah Khan and Shah
‘Alam were sent to guard the Ahmadnagar district, while prince
A'zam was despatched towards Bijapur to prevent aid coming to the
Marathas from that state. In fact, the emperor's spirit was now up;
as the Karwar factors wrote: "He is so inveterate against the Raja
that he hath thrown off his pagri and sworn never to put it on again,
till he hath either killed, taken, or routed him out of his country. ”
Khan Jahan gave the Marathas a long and hot chase from Nander
and Bidar to Chanda and the Qutb Shahi frontier. A'zam campaigned
for one year in the north Bijapur territory, capturing Dharur. In his
absence his camp was attacked by the Marathas, but, inspired by his
heroic wife Jahanzib Banu, the Hara Rajput guards repulsed the
enemy, though losing 900 of their own men.
But nothing decisive was achieved by the Mughuls in 1682, and all
their detachments were recalled to the emperor's side in April, 1683.
His distrust of his sons and generals led him to follow a barren
policy of waiting and vacillation. “The king's mind. . . is continually
wavering and he is extraordinarily peevish and uneasy because of
Sultan Akbar. Sultan A'zam, (his) Begam, and Dilir Khan degraded
for even nothing but only suspected, without any grounds, of being
kind to Akbar" (Surat Factory letter).