The Mughal - Maratha Struggle: (An Unexampled Struggle)

3 April 1680 (Julian Date) marked the day when a great leader, the founder of a sturdy empire, a man with future vision who possessed both; the power and intelligence and with his determination and dream established the ‘Empire of Hindus’ (Hindavi Swarajya), succumbed to a chronic illness. The “Adorable God” of Hindus, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on this day breathed his last on the Fort of Raigad.

The long struggle between the Mughals and the Marathas had began quite early, but now with the sudden demise of it’s founder, the Maratha Empire was left orphaned and prone to be defeated. Chhatrapati Shivaji was succeded by his two sons, namely Sambhaji and Rajaram. But on the account of many internal conflicts the future of Maharaj’s ‘Hindavi Swarajya’ was seen weakened. As tradition has it, the last rites of one’s father is to be done by the elder son. However Sambhaji Maharaj at this time had been on the fort of Panhala as been instructed by Maharaj himself. The last rights of Maharaj were thus performed by Sabaji Bhonsle, while Sambhaji Maharaj was not informed of his father’s demise. And taking this to their advantage, Soyarabai, a woman of high ambition (Rajaram’s mother) and ministers of Chhatrapati’s era Annaji Datto, Peshwa Morpant Pingale and other senior members installed Rajaram on the throne on 21st April 1680 (Julian Date) at Raigad. 

According the Jedhe archives, ‘On 21st of April 1680 AnnajiPant Surnis established Rajaram Maharaj on the throne. Annaji along with Moropant marched towards Panhala to imprison Sambhaji Raje. In the month of May Moropant Peshwe, Annaji and Pralhadpant were arrested by Hammbirrao and taken to Panhala.” A Marathi letter of the same period speaks in a similar way. It say’s ‘Before this date (19th April 1680) Sambhaji was at Panhala. The army joined him. Sambhaji enforced economic blockade.’ Thus from these two contemporary sources we can conclude that, not only was Rajaram Maharaj installed on the throne as the future king but also there was an intrigue to capture Sambhaji so that he may not cause any future trouble. 

Even though all the care was taken to keep Maharaj’s death a secret, it could not be concealed for too long and Sambhaji Maharaj got to know about it in a very short span. All the Sardars were asked to meet Sambhaji Maharaj to clear the pending accounting and he also arrested a few individuals at Panhala whom he suspected to have joined hands with Rajaram Maharaj and others at Raigad, one among them was Vithhal Trimbak Mahadkar, who held the position of a Fort Captain. Because Sambhaji Maharaj was not informed about Maharaj’s ill health and even his death was kept a secret from him, the people by now had developed a soft corner towards him and amidst all this the news of Rajaram Maharaj being installed on the throne spread like wildfire and the public opinion now grew all the more in favour of Sambhaji Maharaj. The troops now openly supported him and the most important person among these was the Commander In Chief, Hammbirrao Mohite, who was at the time stationed at Karhad (near Panhala). Hammbirrao Mohite was a powerful man with a huge army under him, and his joining hands with Sambhaji Maharaj empowered Sambhaji Maharaj further more and this lead to a suppression of hopes for all those on Raigad. Thus as an outcome Sambhaji Maharaj declared his royalty and authority from the fort of Panhala. 

While Annaji, Moropant and Pralhadpant left Raigad in order to capture and imprison Sambhaji Maharaj, they were in the midway captured by Hammbirrao Mohite and he brought them to Panhala as ‘prisoners’. This took place around the month of May- June 1680(Julian Date). 

While all these events were taking place probably the strongest enemy of the Marathas, none other than Aurangzeb at the age of 61 was busy preparing for his campaign against the Rajput Princes. He marched towards Jodhpur against Durgadas Rathod and other Rajput Princes. He also sent a letter to his son Mohammad Muazzam (Shah Aalam) who was at the time in Aurangabad, to join him in the campaign and on his post replaced Bahadur Khan. 

By June 1680, Sambhaji Maharaj had taken into his hands most of the affairs of the state, paid an advanced salary of two months to his troops and now began his journey towards Raigad. He first visited Pratapgad (via Karhad) as to seek blessings of Devi Bhavani and a few days later on Friday, 18th of June 1680 (Julian Date) reached Raigad. He had returned ‘home’ nearly two and a half years later. But this day did not resemble to any of those spent here years ago. Today there was a big vacuum in the atmosphere of Raigad. ‘Abasaheb’ was no more. There was no one who would affectionately embrace him, not a lap on which he could cry his heart out. And there was now however no time to spare! 

While sill in imprisonment Peshwe Moropant Pingale, a loyal servant to Shivaji Maharaj and an eyewitness to many of the ups and downs and all the successful campaigns during the reign of Maharaj breathed his last on the Fort of Raigad. His son Nilkanth Moreshwar was given the post of Peshwa as a heir. Annaji Datto too was released and given the post of ‘Amatya’. Pralhad Niraji was re-established on the judicial post. Moreshwar Raghunath was re-established as Panditrao. Ramchandra Nilkanth was given the post of a Sachiv. Kavi kalash was given post of a Vaknis. Hammbirrao Mohite was re-established as the Commander In Chief of the army. With the above establishments we come to know about Sambhaji Maharaj’s strategic behaviour. All these events took place in a swift and Sambhaji Maharaj did not provide any advantage for the Mughals to interfere in these internal affairs. 

The Beginning Of A New Era : 

The formal coronation of Sambhaji Maharaj took place on 16th of January 1681(Julian Date). After having successfully solved the problem of succession, Sambhaji Maharaj now looked forward towards the administration of the Maratha land. There were numerous challenges that lay ahead and any more delay towards attending them would prove difficult times ahead. Most important amongst these was the impending danger of an external aggression. And the largest threat to the Maratha Empire was without a doubt from the Alamgir Aurangzeb himself. He would not let go of any opportunity to crush the Maratha Empire. Sambhaji Maharaj was aware of this and it was therefore necessary to organise proper defences against the upcoming threats by Aurangzeb. 

While Aurangzeb was busy in his campaign against the Rajputs, there were many skirmishes going on between the Mughals and the Marathas here in Maharastra, but nothing seemed to be getting in the hands of the Mughals. One such skirmish took place at the fort of Ahivant. Bahadur Khan surrounded the fort with his army, but a strong resistance from the Marathas caused the Mughlas to step back from capturing the fort. Along with these issues another important issue was that of the threat from enemies at the coastal region, viz. the naval powers like Portuguese, Dutch, English and the Siddhis. There was very much a possibility that these enemies would rise a huge wave of threat against the Maratha Kingdom. 

All the enemies now deliberately approached the ‘Hindavi Swarajya’ from all its directions to take their huge bites into its flesh, as insects do when a bigger one is fallen down on the ground wounded. 

Bijapur now sent out an army who attacked the fort of Nandi in the Karnatak region. Balaji Krishna on the orders of Raghunath Pandit Hanmante took charge of the fort and the Bijapur army was defeated. Sambhaji Maharaj since long had an eye on Bahadur Khan but awaited an opportunity to eradicate him along with his roots. In the month of October- November 1680, Sambhaji Maharaj split his army into three and ordered them to march in three different directions viz. Surat, Burhanpur and Aurangabad. 

The Campaign of Burhanpur: 

Thus the plan being put into execution, the Marathas attacked the capital of Khandesh i.e. Burhanpur on 30th January 1681(Julian Date) under the leadership of Hammbirrao Mohite. Burhanpur is a town situated on the west of river Tapi in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Navabpura, Bahadurpura, Karanpura, Khurrampura, Shahjungpura were the other suburbs including Burhanpur but Burhanpur was the richest of all. A famous historian Kafi Khan was at the time appointed to keep a watch on the people who crossed river Narmada to and fro. Kafi Khan writes ‘At that time the Subhedar of Burhanpur was BahadurKhan and his deputy Kakkar Khan was away on the job of collecting the ‘jizya’ tax (the tax that was laid by Aurangzeb for the Non-Muslims). Sambhaji was ravaging the territory of Khandesh with twenty thousand men. Passing further about seventy miles his army fell on the suburbs of Burhanpur. The people there had least expected any such attack, they were therefore ill prepared for any defence. The garrison of Burhanpur consisted of two hundred and fifty men. Kakkar Khan on his return did not have enough courage to give an open fight to the Marathas. The Marathas burnt various parts of the city and carried away loot worth lakh of rupees, in addition to gold ornaments, precious stones, foodgrains, glasswares etc.’ Thus as the report suggests the Marathas attacked with 20,000 men while Kakkar Khan held with him nominal 200 men. It was thus impossible to give an open fight to the Marathas. Thus the Marathas for three consecutive days looted the suburbs without having to face any kind of a protest from the other side. 

On hearing the attack by Marathas, Bahadur Khan left immediately. It is said he covered the distance of 3-4 days in a day itself. The Marathas were marching towards Mustafabad. At this time Bahadur Khan should have ideally marched by Dharangaon and Chopda to stop the enemies’ mid-way and prevent them from taking the loot away. But he rather chose to march towards Aidalabad and before he would reach Burhanpur, the Marathas via the route of Chopda had reached Salher after a march of four days. Bahadur Khan however did not proceed any further. He marched towards Babulgaon, a place 51 kms from Aurangabad and encamped there. And there he learnt about another Maratha force which was approaching towards Aurangabad via Ahmednagar. 

The Campaign of Aurangabad:

The Aurangabad district is bordered by the districts of Nashik to the west, Jalgaon to the north, Jalna to the east and Ahmednagar to the south. In the year 1626 Malik Ambar (Prime Minister of Murtaza Nizam) died and was succeeded by his son Fateh Khan who named the city as Fatehnagar. With the capture of Daulatabad the city Fatehnagar came under the possession of Mughals. In 1653 Aurangzeb (then just a Prince) was appointed the viceroy of the Deccan. He made Fatehnagar his capital and renamed it as Aurangabad. 

Bahadur Khan on hearing the Maratha’s plan to raid Aurangabad swiftly relocated his troops towards Aurangabad. Bhimsen Saxsena was at the time accompanying Bahadur Khan. He writes, “Bahadur Khan left in a jiffy and reached Aurangabad. If it had not been such a quick decisive move would have cost us a fortune. According to our intelligence report, the Marathas had camped near Baipura (?). Raja Anup Singh would not dare and move forward to face the Marathas and Bahadur Khan thus left with his army to fight the Marathas, but they had fled away to Baipura. They caused much of destruction there and ran away without fighting.” 

Bahadur Khan then moved his camp to an abandoned mansion in Aurangabad due to the arrival of monsoons. 

In the year 1681 the army sent out by Sambhaji Maharaj was confronting regions from Nashik to Govalkonda and from Varhad to Khandesh. They had moved upto Nizamabad (AndraPradesh) in the East. The Marathas tried to attack Solapur which was then located on the border of the Maratha Empire, but did not succeed as the Mughal kiledar Manohardas Gaud defended the region with great valour. 

Muhammad Akbar’s Advent: 

This can be said as a great irony in the history of the ‘Great Mughals’ that the sons of every emperor rebelled against him and tried to establish their right to succession to the throne. And so, with this as an ‘unsaid norm’ that ran in the Mughal hereditary, Muhammad Akbar too rebelled against his father and declared himself an emperor of India on 1st January 1681(Julian Date). 

A few months prior to this day Muhammad Muazamm and Muhammad Akbar were accompanying Aurangzeb in his campaign against the Rajputs. Durgadas Rathod and other Rajput Sardards who were in a continuous attempt to preserve their kingdom used Muhammad Akbar as an aid, in an attempt to demoralize the Mughals and it proved to be a successful move! 

Akbar now day- dreamt about using the Rajput power against his father and brothers to capture the entire Mughal empire. He openly revolted against his father and proclaimed himself an emperor, just about the same time Sambhaji Maharaj was coronated at Raigad. After this self-declaration, he along with the Rajput army marched towards Aurangzeb’s camp at Ajmir. But such was a politics played by Aurangzeb that caused all the Rajput troops to abandoned Akbar and they returned back. Aurangzeb wrote a letter addressing Akbar and made sure that the letter fell in the hands of the Rajputs. He in the letter congratulated Akbar upon a successive move against the Rajputs as being planned. And further instructed him to place the Rajputs on the frontier on the war field and that while he attacked them from the front Akbar would attack them from the behind, which would lead to their complete destruction. Thus upon receiving this letter the Rajput army fleed away and there was no other option left with Akbar but to run for his life before getting into the clutches of the Mughals. After an unsuccessful attempt to enter Punjab province he finally decided to move south and join hands with Sambhaji Maharaj. Durgadas Rathod was the only person who stayed loyal to Akbar and accompanied him to the south to forge a treaty with Sambhaji Maharaj. Akbar crossed Narmada on 1st May 1681. Around the same time he wrote a letter to Sambhaji Maharaj stating his move. The letter written on 11th May 1681(Julian Date) is as further, “I have decided to come to your aid by keeping in mind your courage and bravery. With the blessings of Allah I was successful at crossing the Narmada on 1st May (1681). Durgadas Rathod accompanies me. Do not keep any malevolent opinion about me. If Allah permits I would be in a short while (with your help) the emperor of Mughal kingdom and (I) shall take my moves as you please. Alamgir is a common enemy of ours and we shall destroy him together”. Akbar journeyed through Khandesh and Baglan via Nashik and Trimbak into North Kokan, arrived at Pali 40 kms north of Raigad. 

Aurangzeb on hearing Akbar’s move immediately sent orders to BahadurKhan and other officers in the south to capture Akbar. But none of them were successful in doing so and Akbar managed to elude away. Sambhaji Maharaj then decided to extend hospitality to the son of his strongest and oldest enemy. Akbar was welcomed by Sambhaji’s officers near Trimbak (Nashik) and conducted with honour to Pali (Kokan). The date was 1st June 1681(Julian Date). Akbar was accompanied by four hundred cavalry and a small body of infantry and fifty thousand camels for transport. Sambhaji Maharaj and Akbar had their first formal meet on 13th of November 1681(Julian Date). It seems this meeting was concluded with both trying to support each other sincerely through six long years, from June 1681 to February 1687(Julian Date). However history tells us that their efforts were not crowned with success. 

Aurangzeb To The Deccan: 

Aurangzeb was in search of an opportunity to move down to the south and he readily got one when Sambhaji Maharaj extended a helping hand to his son, which was very much an open move against the Alamgir. He had long dreamt of subjugating the whole Indian subcontinent, and now with Shivaji Maharaj being no more the conquest of the south appeared to him comparatively easy. He could sense the future dangers of this merging. And so he decided to travel down to the south with all his resources and crush these two merging powers. 

He thus started from Ajmir on 8th September 1681 (Julian Date)with a huge force accompanying him. With him marched his son’s, Shahjada Muazzam, Shahjada Azzam, Shahjada Kambaksh and his grandsons Muziuddin and Bedarbakht. Others who accompanied him were Julfikarkhan, Rahullahkhan, Bhadurkhan kokaltash, Gazhiuddin Firozjung, HasanAli Khan, Ranmastkhan, apart from these were Kishorsingh Hada, Ramsingh Hada and many more. Aurangzeb thus possessed with him around 3 lakh cavalry and 4 lakh infantry, harem, bungas, camels, horses, elephants and ammunition was in infinity. On the other hand the army possessed by Sambhaji Maharaj was small in number and less in power. The only people who could be trusted at the point of time were very few and measurable viz. Kavi Kalash, Hambirrao Mohite, Keso Trimal, Nilopant Peshwe, Pralhad Niraji, Manaji More, Rupaji Bhonsle and the army strength was hardly 30-40 thousand. 

Aurangzeb had complete faith in his determination and army, he had elevated the slogan of Jihad when he started his journey to crush the Maratha Empire. From Ajmir he reached Burhapur on 13th November 1681 (Julian Date)and read Kuran before the Dargah of Abddultif. From there he started for Aurangabad and reached the town on 22nd March 1682 (Julian Date). Aurangzeb now sat at the border of the Hindavi Swarajya with a big dream and determination of its destruction which he had kept suppressed at the bottom of his heart all these years. There now lay in the coming years, a long drone battle between these two powers, one fought to invade and conquer the territory and the other struggled to maintain and save their’s. 

- Janhavi Datar 

References: 

The Mughal-Maratha Relations: Twenty Five Fateful Years (1682-1707)-G.T.Kulkarni 

Raja Shambu Chhatrapati- Vijay Deshmukh 

Hindvavi Swarajya Ani Moghal – Setumadhavrao Pagadi