‘Ramshej’ – an otherwise a very small fort situated near the city of Nashik in northern Maharashtra. Very little is known about this fort to the History. However, the fort made it to the pages of history and created a story of great valour and determination during the early years of Aurangzeb’s campaign to conquer Deccan after Shivaji’s death.
Background:
Aurangzeb descended to Deccan with a great ambition of conquering the entire Southern India by winning over not only the Maratha kingdom but also the sultanates of Bijapur and Golkonda (today’s Hyderabad) and other small Hindu kingdoms in the region. He was ambitious of establishing the sole unchallenged reign of the Mughal Empire across the Indian subcontinent – surrounded and guarded by the natural boundaries, Himalayas in the North and North-east, the Hindukush mountain ranges on the North-west and the Seas on the Eastern, Southern and Western fronts. Aurangzeb was a seasoned Statesman, a cunning politician, a well experienced military leader and a capable administrator. He had a very efficient team of spies fully dedicated to him. At times, he would follow very cruel, brutal and ruthless means of punishment, especially when it came to dealing with people who opposed him, all intended to create terror in the minds of people. Personally, he was a very hard core conservative Muslim following the Sunni sect and was completely taken up by the idea of spreading the Sunni sect of Islam - by abolishing non- Sunni Muslim kingdoms (Adilshahi and Qutub Shahi) and converting non-Muslims and forcing them to follow Islam. He would not hesitate to use force and follow ruthless methods to serve the purpose of spreading Islam. During his reign, the glory and strength of the Mughal Empire was at its peak. Aurangzeb was continuously looking for an appropriate opportunity to fulfil his ambition of conquering Deccan, however did not took a chance during the life time of Shivaji. After Shivaji’s death, he immediately saw a great opportunity offered to him by the Destiny - death of Shivaji, the instability created within the Kingdom of Maratha due to internal opposition to Sambhaji from some of his ministers and the Support offered by Sambhaji to Akbar (Aurangzeb’s youngest son who had revolted against him). What fuelled his anger were Sambhaji’s bold attacks on the Mughal territory in the Baglan area (region in northern Maharashtra around today’s Nashik district) and the looting of the premier cities of Burhanpur and Aurangabad. He decided to personally lead the campaign, and descended in Deccan in 1682 AD, barely two years after Shivaji’s death. The challenge posed to the Maratha kingdom by Aurangzeb’s campaign was no ordinary – Aurangzeb came with a huge Army and Cavalry with strength more than half a million, supported by thousands of guns and cannons, elephants, camels and enormous wealth. More to that, the rich and prosperous provinces of Gujarat and Malwa would ensure uninterrupted supplies necessary was a long drawn military campaign. To face this, the tiny Maratha kingdom was led by a young inexperienced Sambhaji, aged 25 years, who was yet to fully demonstrate his capability as a ruler. The courage, determination and strategies with which Sambhaji successfully defended the Mughal offense during the small span of 9 years as a ruler proves, beyond doubt, his capabilities as a ruler and a military leader. Aurangzeb had thought that, with the huge army and resources at his disposal, he would easily take over the tiny kingdom of Maratha in a short span of time, after which he would move further to conquer the Shea Muslim sultanates and other Hindu kingdoms in Southern India. Identifying that the strength of Maratha kingdom lied in the forts, he ordered to first take over the forts one by one, which as he rightly thought would have weaken the Maratha control over its territory and then it would have been an easier task for the Mughals to win over the Kingdom. Unaware of the strong determination in the Maratha’s mindset to fight with the Mughals till the last drop of the blood, Aurangzeb had an impression (which must have been based on his experience in previous battles with other states) that with the support of the huge battery of guns and cannons, taking over the forts would not be a difficult task.
About Baglan and Ramshej:
He ordered to start the campaign against Maratha’s by taking control over the Baglan region. One can estimate the rationale behind his decision to win over the Baglan region – this region connects the military routes between Maharashtra and Gujarat. Further, from Baglan, there were regular trade routes connecting to the Konkan region and hence it was strategically important to control Baglan. The rationale for choosing the fort of Ramshej as the first fort to be won can also be estimated. This was the fort with which Shahjahan, Aurangezeb’s father, had started his campaign to conquer the Deccan in 1635 AD (against Shahaji). After that, the Mughals at that time were successful in winning over many other forts in that area within four months. Thinking of it to be a fort of good omen due to this historical background, Aurangzeb might have decided to start his campaign too, with this fort. Little he would have imagined that the fort in fact would prove a bad omen for his entire campaign. Contrary to Aurangzeb’s imagination, what was thought to be a battle of few days, the siege of Ramshej ultimately lasted for five and a half years, and similarly his campaign lasted for more than 25 years only to end with the death of Aurangzeb. The story of Ramhshej’s siege is a great example of bravery, determination, loyalty and skilled military leadership with which Maratha’s defended the Mughals.
The Fort of Ramshej is situated in today’s Dindori Taluka of the Nashik district, about 14 km to north of the holy city of Nashik. It is at an altitude of 3273 ft from sea level and the area spread on the top is quite moderate. Very few ruins of erstwhile structures are remaining today, which makes it difficult to guess the structures that once existed on the fort.
The siege of Ramshej
Aurangzeb initially deputed his experienced and efficient generals Shahbuddinkhan (father of the famous Nizam-Ul- Mulk of Hyderabad during First Bajirao’s era) and Kasimkhan Kirmani to take over the fort (April 1682 AD). They were assisted with many brave and capable lieutenants like Rao Dalpat Bundela, Shubhkaran Bundela, Ratansingh Rajput and many others with an army of 50,000 men. The two generals decided to siege Ramshej and bring down the fort with heavy artillery firing. It is estimated that the strength of the Marathas on the fort was around 400 to 500. They were however commanded by a very brave, experienced and imaginative Killedar (Marathi term for the Captain of the Fort). Shahbuddin ordered to construct a huge wooden platform (Damdama), on which cannons and guns could be mounted. The Mughals had heavy artillery continuously firing at the forts but the most of the cannon balls fired did not even reach the fort’s height and thus were rendered quite ineffective. The Maratha’s were also defending the fort and the Mughal’s experienced a strong opposition to their offences. Dalpat Bundela was injured in one such attempt to reach the Fort’s outer walls and demolish them. Maratha’s did not have cannons on the fort. But the imaginative killedar ordered to carve out cannons from the wooden logs available of the Fort and used leather instead of cannon balls to fire from it. This proved very effective and caused significant damage to the Mughal side. A bulletin in Aurangzeb’s court refers to a letter written by Kasimkhan, in which he states that one of fortification walls had fallen due to the artillery firing. The Mughals decided to shower arrows at the fort, that would provide cover to their soldiers to reach the fort walls. They would then enter the fort and take control over it. However, as the Mughal soldiers reached the boundaries of the fort, the Maratha’s inside the fort got alerted and launched a heavy offensive on the Mughals. Many Mughal soldiers were killed in the attempt and they had to withdraw. The plan failed completely. Sambhaji Raje was receiving regular news and updates on the Ramshej siege. He then ordered Rupaji Bhosale to provide reinforcement and supplies to the Fort. However Rupaji was stopped by Karansingh during his attempt to reach the fort and in the battle, many Maratha soldiers including Rupaji himself were injured. Sambhaji Raje had also ordered the killedar of the Fort Trimbak near Ramshej to provide supplies to Ramshej’s support. The Marathas also used to regularly attempt to disrupt the Mughal supplies and the records mention that in one such attempt many soldiers on both sides were injured. Aurangzeb was getting updates on the delays in the Ramshej siege and was quite unpleased with the same. Despite lapse of two months, there was no progress on that front. In the month of May, Aurangzeb ordered Bahadurkhan to join the siege. Bahadurkhan had spent time in the Deccan and was well versed with the Deccan affairs. Shahbuddinkhan continued his sincere efforts to win the fort and maintained the siege even during the heavy monsoon. Maratha’s were also defending the fort diligently. To add the Mughal’s trouble, the Fort received a fresh reinforcement of 1,000 men from Sambhaji Raje to their support. Shahbuddinkhan was very disappointed and frustrated at his failure. Ultimately Aurangzeb ordered him to withdraw from the siege and go to Antur. Bahadurkhan was then ordered to take charge of the Ramshej front. Aurangzeb ordered Kanhoji Shirke to join him with additional reinforcement of 15,000 men. Bahadurkhan continued his efforts to win Ramshej.He once decided to carry out a very imaginative plan of action to take control of the fort. He decided that the Mughal’s would create a scene of launching a massive offensive on one side of the fort and divert the enemy’s entire attention to that side. At the same time, few selected soldiers would secretly ascend the fort, climb from the other side and launch a surprise attack on the unexpecting enemy. The killedar of Ramshej somehow got a sense of this plan, and he too decided to play a trick on the Mughals. He also ordered his men to gather in on the front where Mughals had created the scene of massive offense and shower boulders on the enemy. At the same time, he asked some selected soldiers, fully equipped with various weapons, to hide on the other side where the Mughals would secretly climb. As the first two Mughal soldiers climbed the walls, the Maratha soldiers hiding inside hit them hard on their heads. As the Mughal soldiers fell down the wall, they also took down many other climbing the wall behind them. Many Mughal soldiers were killed or severely injured in this attempt. It failed completely. As attempts after attempts failed, Bahadurkhan ultimately decided to use the means like black magic. A failed mindset can easily fall prey to superstition. One of his servants told him that he is an expert in black magic and can control ghosts. He can help the Mughals to win the fort with the help of black magic if he can be given a Cobra made of Gold weighing 100 tolas (around 1 kg). Bahadurkhan believed him and at his orders a cobra made of 100 tolas of Gold was given to the servant. At his advice, the Mughals launched a fresh offensive on the Fort and the servant carrying the Gold cobra was walking in front of the Mughal rows. Marathas were enjoying the scene from the top and did not respond initially till the enemy reached half way through the climb. Experiencing no initial reaction from the Marathas for their defence, the Mughal were overjoyed with the success of the so called black magic. As they reached half way through the climb, a stone thrown from the fort hit the servant directly on his chest and he fell down. The Mughal black magic could do no harm to the living Maratha ghosts and this attempt too failed. Aurangzeb was very upset with bahadurkhan at his failure and ordered him to withdraw. Bahadurkhan requested to be given one more chance and promised that he would conquer the fort within a week’s time. But Aurangzeb was in no mood to agree and ordered Bahadurkhan to withdraw immediately and join Ranmastkhan in Konkan region. While leaving, Bahadurkhan was so frustrated and angry at his insulting failure that he ordered to burn down the huge wooden platform constructed by Shahbuddinkhan. Kasimkhan continued the siege and with no success. Mughals had deployed a large Army, resources and spent a large amount on the siege that did not succeed. Marathas, with meagre means, continued to defend the fort with great valour, determination and loyalty. Ultimately, in October 1682, Aurangzeb ordered to suspend the siege for the time being. Sambhaji Raje decorated the killedar with honour for successfully defending the fort in very adverse situation and recognising his calibre, posted him to another Fort of more significance and importance. Unfortunately, the pages of history do not reveal the name of this killedar who demonstrated such outstanding courage.
After some time, Mughals reinitiated the siege of Ramshej but it remained undefeated till 1687. During May 1687, Ramshej was taken over by Mughal, but not by winning a battle. The fort fell due to treachery. The killedar of the Fort Mulher near Ramshej, was successful in turning the new killedar of Ramshej to Mughal’s aide with the help of a local landlord, Abdul Karim. At a bribe of Rs.50,000, the new killedar of Ramshej handed over the fort to the Mughals. For over five years, Ramshej kept fighting Mughals and thus made true the saying of Shivaji that whenever in future Aurangzeb would launch his campaign to conquer Deccan, each fort of Maratha will be capable of defending itself for a year. It set a great example in history of what outstanding courage, determination and loyalty can achieve even in utmost adverse conditions. A possible good omen thought by Aurangzeb thus proved a real bad omen for his campaign. For him, taking over the tiny Maratha kingdom was expected to be a matter of small time, in reality, it proved to be a campaign of his life time. Maratha’s lost their king and their capital fort but kept defending their kingdom with meagre means against the mighty Mughals for almost 25 years. The war ultimately ended with Aurangzeb’s death without seeing the success. His dream of establishing the Mughal Empire across the Indian subcontinent remained unachieved, only leaving his future generations to witness the convergence of Maratha kingdom into an Empire and Mughal Empire finding itself subdued to the Maratha’s might within next 70 years.
Ketav Chaphekar
References:
1) Shivputra Sambhaji - Dr (Mrs) Kamal Gokhale
2) Ranjhunjar - Dr Sadashiv Shivde
Exhaustive account of Ramshej Siege. Great article!
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