As promised in the previous chapter, we will now embark on a ride to explore the legend that was Shivaji. I know that there is so much to talk and write about this divine king; but to limit our scope, we will take a look only at the pre-Pratapgad war period.
We will do this in two parts and to begin with the first part, let us take a quick look at the extent of Shivaji's rule, the budding Maratha empire, when Afzalkhan took up the task of "taking care of" Shivaji.
Shivaji's pursuits before the arrest of Shahaji were quiet limited to the forts and areas around the estate allocated by Adilshah to Shahaji. It was only after the release of Shahaji in the year 1650, that Shivaji geared up his operations for expanding the Maratha empire.
At the outset, with blessings and guidance of his mother Jijabai, Shivaji was already governing Shahaji's estate in Maharashtra. This estate included Pune, Chakan, Supe, Shirval, Saaswad and Indapur. The nearby Bara-Maaval area was estate of Adilshah's general Randulla Khan - However, just like Shahaji, he had also appointed Dadoji Kondadev as the manager of his estate. Dadoji was a loyal ally of Shahaji and also mentor to Shivaji, and his affiliation towards Shivaji ensured that the Bara-Maaval part was also an integral part of Shivaji's kingdom.
I sometimes wonder that if Randulla khan made Afzalkhan his proxy for Wai territory, why did he not do the same for Bara-Maaval :-)
Anyways, that's the way things were and we will leave them at that.
Now, when Shahaji surrendered to Mughals and the Adilshah in Mahuli, he was a regent for the Nizamshah and had supreme authority over most of the Nizamshah's kingdom. Even while he kept his earstwhile Adilshahi territory of Pune with him, in Maharashtra, he also personally governed the regions of Baglan, Nasik, Shahgad, Junnar, Chambhargonde [Currently called Shrigonda] and 75 percent of the Konkan, which was all Nizamshahi territory.
After his surrender, he asked for retaining this entire territory as his estate. Aurangzeb, the mughal viceroy of Deccan rejected this demand.
In lieu of the regions of Nasik to Chambhargonde, Shahaji was offered an estate of similar income and size in Karnataka. This was done to keep him away from his home ground and from Nagar [prominent city in Nizamshahi] and prevent him from causing any further nuisance to the Mughals. Aurangzeb decided to retain the Nizamshahi konkan with himself.
While Shahaji followed the arrangement and went to Karnataka, Shivaji continued to apply in mughal court for governing the above mentioned earstwhile Nizamshahi territories. He also declared his complete affiliation to the Mughal empire.
While he was doing this, Shivaji also kept sending his spies and his trusted men in these areas and these men had only one agenda - to spread the awakening about independent Maratha empire in minds of the residents and to win over their trust and loyalty, which would prove useful in all future pursuits. We will talk about this tactic in details in the next part.
When Aurangzeb came to know about deteriorating health of his father, he rushed out of deccan to plan his conquest to be the Mughal Emperor. Before leaving, he gave his final decision on Shivaji's persistent appeals. Shivaji was to become governor of earstwhile Nizamshahi konkan, but he was denied any access to Nasik and other territories on Deccan plateau.
This decision shows Aurangzeb's strategy - prevent Shivaji from moving in Deccan plateau, thus reducing threat to Mughal territories there - at the same time, provide him access to konkan, and hope that he takes care of the Siddis of Janjira [who had a distant relative of Nizam and proclaimed to revive the Nizamshahi at the first chance they get]. At around the same time, Shivaji also moved swiftly and conquered the Mughal territories of Kalyan and Suvarnadurg in southern Konkan. He was also prompt to apologize to Aurangzeb for this blunder and sought permission to retain the two regions. Hopeful that Shivaji would some day help him to eradicate all deccan sultanantes and help him to establish a single Mughal Rule in entire India, Aurangzeb agreed to this request as well.
And then in 1656, Shivaji took control of Jawali province, securing his territories in Konkan and Pune and creating a continuum in his rising empire.
I found this map in a book by Major Mukund Joshi. It nicely paraphrases the entire conquest of Shivaji Maharaj, during the time of Afzalkhan's raid.
So, now we understand what kingdom Shivaji was defending against Afzalkhan and from the chapters before this, we also know about Afzalkhan and the history of traditional rivalry between Shivaji and Afzalkhan.
I think it's about time we explored the winning qualities of Shivaji. Let us do exactly that in the part II of this Chapter :-)
We will do this in two parts and to begin with the first part, let us take a quick look at the extent of Shivaji's rule, the budding Maratha empire, when Afzalkhan took up the task of "taking care of" Shivaji.
At the outset, with blessings and guidance of his mother Jijabai, Shivaji was already governing Shahaji's estate in Maharashtra. This estate included Pune, Chakan, Supe, Shirval, Saaswad and Indapur. The nearby Bara-Maaval area was estate of Adilshah's general Randulla Khan - However, just like Shahaji, he had also appointed Dadoji Kondadev as the manager of his estate. Dadoji was a loyal ally of Shahaji and also mentor to Shivaji, and his affiliation towards Shivaji ensured that the Bara-Maaval part was also an integral part of Shivaji's kingdom.
I sometimes wonder that if Randulla khan made Afzalkhan his proxy for Wai territory, why did he not do the same for Bara-Maaval :-)
Anyways, that's the way things were and we will leave them at that.
Now, when Shahaji surrendered to Mughals and the Adilshah in Mahuli, he was a regent for the Nizamshah and had supreme authority over most of the Nizamshah's kingdom. Even while he kept his earstwhile Adilshahi territory of Pune with him, in Maharashtra, he also personally governed the regions of Baglan, Nasik, Shahgad, Junnar, Chambhargonde [Currently called Shrigonda] and 75 percent of the Konkan, which was all Nizamshahi territory.
After his surrender, he asked for retaining this entire territory as his estate. Aurangzeb, the mughal viceroy of Deccan rejected this demand.
In lieu of the regions of Nasik to Chambhargonde, Shahaji was offered an estate of similar income and size in Karnataka. This was done to keep him away from his home ground and from Nagar [prominent city in Nizamshahi] and prevent him from causing any further nuisance to the Mughals. Aurangzeb decided to retain the Nizamshahi konkan with himself.
While Shahaji followed the arrangement and went to Karnataka, Shivaji continued to apply in mughal court for governing the above mentioned earstwhile Nizamshahi territories. He also declared his complete affiliation to the Mughal empire.
While he was doing this, Shivaji also kept sending his spies and his trusted men in these areas and these men had only one agenda - to spread the awakening about independent Maratha empire in minds of the residents and to win over their trust and loyalty, which would prove useful in all future pursuits. We will talk about this tactic in details in the next part.
When Aurangzeb came to know about deteriorating health of his father, he rushed out of deccan to plan his conquest to be the Mughal Emperor. Before leaving, he gave his final decision on Shivaji's persistent appeals. Shivaji was to become governor of earstwhile Nizamshahi konkan, but he was denied any access to Nasik and other territories on Deccan plateau.
This decision shows Aurangzeb's strategy - prevent Shivaji from moving in Deccan plateau, thus reducing threat to Mughal territories there - at the same time, provide him access to konkan, and hope that he takes care of the Siddis of Janjira [who had a distant relative of Nizam and proclaimed to revive the Nizamshahi at the first chance they get]. At around the same time, Shivaji also moved swiftly and conquered the Mughal territories of Kalyan and Suvarnadurg in southern Konkan. He was also prompt to apologize to Aurangzeb for this blunder and sought permission to retain the two regions. Hopeful that Shivaji would some day help him to eradicate all deccan sultanantes and help him to establish a single Mughal Rule in entire India, Aurangzeb agreed to this request as well.
And then in 1656, Shivaji took control of Jawali province, securing his territories in Konkan and Pune and creating a continuum in his rising empire.
I found this map in a book by Major Mukund Joshi. It nicely paraphrases the entire conquest of Shivaji Maharaj, during the time of Afzalkhan's raid.
So, now we understand what kingdom Shivaji was defending against Afzalkhan and from the chapters before this, we also know about Afzalkhan and the history of traditional rivalry between Shivaji and Afzalkhan.
I think it's about time we explored the winning qualities of Shivaji. Let us do exactly that in the part II of this Chapter :-)
Nice write up PD, very informative... keep flowing more..
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