AURANGZEB’S EXPEDITIVE CAMPAIGNS

The fall of Maratha’s new capital Jinji proceeded in RajaramMaharaj fleeing back to Maharashtra and establishing a new capital here in Satara. Meanwhile Aurangzeb for the past 4 years was stationed at Brahmapuri, on the Southern banks of the Bhimariver. His state of mind for the past few years had always been perplexing. His plan to capture Jinji can be said to have been only a temporal success as his prime goal to capture RajaramMaharaj turned out to be a flaw. He was aware of his army growing lethargic day by day and it was the need of the hour that something be done which would boost their morale. Aurangzeb’s age at this time was around 82 years and he knew there was little time left to bring his long cherished dream into a reality. He still had a long way to go and had to bare ascending difficulties on his path. Aurangzeb left Brahmapuri on 19th of October 1699 with a new enmity on his mind. 

Aurangzeb led his army towards the city of Miraj. Along with him marched some of his most experienced sardars viz. ZulfikarKhan, RahhulahKhan, SarjaKhan, IkhalasKhan and FateullahKhan . Mir AtishTarbiyatKhan brought with him a huge battalion which further increased the strength of the Mughal army. While stationed at Miraj Aurangzeb discovered that RajaramMaharajhas left Satara and is moving towards Jalna. His army included potent sardars like DhanajiJadhav, NemajiShinde, RamchandraPantAmatya, KanhojiAngre and many more. Aurangzeb at once realized that this campaign by RajaramMaharaj is a counter act against him and that his aim is to attack and conquer the Northern Mughal provinces. 

Thus, ordering Zulfikarkhan and Bedarbahkt to go against RajaramMaharaj, Aurangzeb himself marched towards the Satara province. His foresight was now fixed upon a small fort that stood a few miles away from river Krishna and the village of Masur, this fort was in the hands of the Marathas and known by the name of Vasantgad! 

The Fall Of Vasantgad: 

Aurangzeb ordered TarbiyatKhan to surround the fort with his army. RatanRao was the Commander of the fort. The Mughals commenced attacks on the fort. A great counter attack was observed from the Marathas. The Marathas couldn’t sustain the fort for long as the granaries and ammunition started to empty. The Marathas surrendered the fort on fourth day of the siege. The date was 25th November 1699 (Julian Date). Aurangzeb renamed it as ‘KilideFateh’ (meaning a key to success). There is no obscurity that this success brought a rejoice in Aurangzeb’s army, keeping in mind their experience of the long drawn strenuous battle of Ramshej that had lasted upto five years. Thus, this quick win over Vasantgad was seen as a great fortune and boosted the morale of Aurangzeb’s dispassionate army. 

The army then commenced its march towards the Satara province. On 8th of December 1699 (Julian Date) the Mughal army clustered around the capital fort of Satara. The fort of Satara was wisely chosen as the capital by the Marathas, for it was a mighty fort that stood 900 feet tall with two main doors facing towards North and South respectively. PrayagjiPrabhuPhanse was the commander of the fort. Aurangzeb stationed his men (with their respective armies) around the fort. The Mughal cannons started growling with all their might on the walls of the fort but all in vain. Not a single chunk of the fortification seemed to fall off. In the words of MustaidKhan , “The fort of Satara stands strong with stone pelted walls. The fort hosts a large number of grains and ammunition. The water reserves on the fort never dry up, not even in the summers. The men appointed on the fort display great valor and would not think twice before laying down their lives……….The Marathas fired upon us with all types of destructives they could lay their hands upon.” While one batch of the Marathas from the fort fought with all their might, the other made the situation even worse for the Mughal army stationed at the base of the fort. They would burn down the surrounding areas of their camp and raid their granaries which stopped the food supply for the infantry and cavalry. Such skirmishes continued for two months and Aurangzeb turned restless day by day. 

Amidst all this on goings, Aurangzeb’s men delivered him the news of RajaramMaharaj’s death! Aurangzeb was stunned! Not on the grounds of dismay of course, but on the grounds of great ecstasy. According to Aurangzeb’s order Zulfikarkhan and BedarBakht had stopped RajaramMaharaj from entering the Northern Mughal province. The Maratha army had thus moved to Brahmagiri. RajaramMaharaj however found the strain of camp life unbearable and his health had further declined. He became ill during his march and had to be carried in a palanquin at a time when Satara was being besieged by the Aurangzeb. He was thus moved to Sinhagad where he expired immediately upon arrival, completing just 30 years of his life. The date was 2nd March 1700(Julian Date). Aurangzeb couldn’t believe his luck. He saw this as Allah’s endorsement towards him and thanked him. He now couldn’t see any prime person in the Maratha kingdom who could lead this battle against him. But there was! There was a woman, strong and though who pledged to lead this war further against the Alamgir. Tararani; was the spouse of RajaramMaharaj. After the death of her husband she crowned her son Shivaji II as the new Chhatrapati of the Maratha kingdom. This quiet and quick crowning ceremony took place on the strong fort of Vishalgad. Tararani then commenced the working of Maratha affairs on behalf of this young Chattrapati. 

The Fall Of Satara: 

It was now four months since the siege of the fort of Satara. The death of RajaramMaharaj didn’t seem to have brought about much of a change in the Maratha demeanor. They were reciprocating with the same determination and valor under the able leadership of PrayajiPhanse. Aurangzeb now turned restless. He wanted a hold over Panhala at any cost. He asked his men to dig burrows at the base of the fort to be blasted when the time was right. It would serve a dual purpose; the strong stone pelted fortification would collapse allowing the Mughals to enter the fort and would also kill many of the Marathas on the fort. As decided, on the morning of 13th April 1700 (Julian Date) the burrow was blasted. PrayagjiPhanse and his men were stationed near the fortification.The strong force from the blast seemed to have easily blown up the fortification and as expected killed many of the Marathas, exposing the entrance into the fort. However PrayagjiPhanse miraculously escaped this attack. The Mughals started to ascend the fort while the second explosion took place, this time however killing over thousands of Mughals. Seeing this as a favorable opportunity Prayagji decided to launch an attack on the already baffled Mughal force. He ordered his men to attack them from all kinds of ammunition they could find. There was nothing left in the hands of the Mughals but only regret. This so called burrow experiment brought a huge loss not only to the Marathas but equally to the Mughals. Taking this as a good opportunity Aurangzeb sent his son Muhammad Azzam to persuade the Marathas to give up the fort. The Marathas had lost many of their men. They thus decided to give away the fort saving the lives of the rest of the force. They surrendered the fort on 21st April 1700. Aurangzeb renamed it as “Azzamtara”. Whatever the outcome of this battle may be, PrayagjiPrabhuPhanse shall always be remembered for his unmatched display of valour and persecution. 

Aurangzeb’s army had been succeeded at conquering two important forts from Marathas within the time period of 5 months. Aurangzeb now didn’t want any kind of a hindrance from his mission. The next target was already set in his earnest mind. He made sure luxuriance wouldn’t settle down on his army, thus, not providing them much time to relax, he ordered Fatehullah Khan to march ahead with a handful of army and surround the fort of Sajjangad! 

The Fall Of Sajjangad: 

Situated in the district of Satara, this fort is surrounded by the village of Parali. ShivajiMaharaj captured this fort from Adilshahi in the year 1763 (Julian Date). Sajjangad is a well know fort, for it was the final resting place of ShivajiMaharaj’s trusted spiritual, political and warfare guru; SamarthaRamdas Swami. SambhajiMaharaj is known to have established Ramdas Swami’s Samadhi here. 

Sajjangad stands taller and stronger in comparison to the fort of Satara. Aurangzeb appointed RahullahKhan as the General for this tough mission who reached Parali with his army on 30th April 1700 (Julian Date). Two courageous and ingenious men were guarding the fort during this time viz. GovindMahadevGodbole accompanied by BhikajiJadhav. When the Mughals launched an attack, these men with their respective batch of army stood at the entrance of the fort with the sheer determination of not allowing a single Mughal to enter the fort. All the men under the able leadership GovindGodbole and BhikajiJadhav displayed an epitome of fortitude and valiance. They succeeded in their mission. Not a single Mughal could surpass their strength and enter the fort. Over 60 to 80 Mughals got killed in this skirmish. The Mughals retreated. The fort was saved, for the time being! 

RahullahKhan and FatehullahKhan too displayed a good and able leadership. However the Marathas and the monsoons of Sahyadris didn’t seem to credit their hardships. The monsoon rains lashed upon them mercilessly. All the paths around Mughal camps were blocked. The granaries started to empty and many animals died of starvation. If this was any bit of a distressful situation, it was made worse by the Marathas. They would sneak out at night and attack the Mughal camps. Steal away any of the remaining grains, kill as many people as they could and disappear into the dark rainy night. FatehullahKhan then decided upon a courageous move. He led his army to the nearby cliff. His plan was to upload cannons over the cliff and attack the fort from there. However situation got out of hand when they were attacked by the Marathas who used guns to drive them off the cliff. Many men of FatehullahKhan’s army died in this skirmish. Both Aurangzeb and the Maratha Generals weren’t ready to give up. Aurangzeb finally used the weapon he knew best; the weapon of treason! He ordered Azzam to offer a bulk amount of money to the Marathas and that is how he finally won over, rather procured the fort from Marathas and renamed it as ‘Navrastara’. 

It was 26th of August 1700 (Julian Date). Aurangzeb sat in his personal tent (Gulalbar) looking over a map. The detailed map showed a strategically located fort looking over a pass in the Sahyadri mountain range, exposing all its boundaries, the prime as well as deadly routes of the Sahyadrighats that surrounded it. This beloved fort of ChhatrapatiShivajiMaharaj was named as Panhalgad or Panhala. Within 18 days of assassination of the Bijapur General Afzhal Khan in 1659 ShivajiMaharaj captured Panhala. Henceforth it was a witness to some of the paramount events in the Maratha history…… 

i) The first great escape of ShivajiMaharaj from the deadly clutches of Siddhi Jauharsuccededby the battle of Pavankind in the year 1660. 

ii) A failed attempt to recapture Panhala followed by dismissal of NetojiPalkar in January 1666. 

iii) The attack from the Marathas led by KondajiFarzand to recapture the fort from Adilshahi in year 1673. 

iv) The imprisonment of SambhajiMaharaj and his escape in the year 1678. 

On 16th September 1700 (Julian Date) Aurangzeb sent his grandson BedarBakht and his trusted General Zulfhikarkhan towards Panhala ordering for its siege. A few days later he sent Mir AtishTarbiyatkhan with his ammunition to join them. Aurangzeb reached Panhala on 9th March 1701 (Julian Date). Within two months Panhalgad was captured by the Mughals, again by the weapon of treason. 

An important thing to notice here is that the attacks by the Mughals were all targeted on the capital forts of the Marathas. Commencing from the siege of Raigad which was the capital in 1689, followed by Jinji (1698) and also the third capital i.e. Satara was now under Mughals. Secondly, the conduct maintained by Aurangzeb is worth giving a speculation. His swift decision making ability, control over his army and looking for opportunities in demoralizing situations. The monsoon of the year 1701 faded away and the Mughals with a new fortitude now set their feet towards the newly formed capital of Marathas. The capital fort of Vishalgad! 

JANHAVI DATAR 

REFERENCES: 

MaratyancheSwatranyasamar – S. Puranik 

New History of the Marathas – G.S.Sardesai 

Articles by Shri Parag Limaye