Shivaji: Difference between revisions

-->Accounts vary, with some saying Shahaji was conditionally released in 1649 after Shivaji and Sambhaji surrendered the forts of Kondana, Bangalore and Kandarpi,<ref name="Sarkar" /> others saying he was imprisoned until 1653 or 1655; during this period Shivaji maintained a low profile.<ref name="Betham1908">{{cite book|author=R. M. Betham|title=Maráthas and Dekhani Musalmáns|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6mATx3PBupsC&pg=PA134|accessdate=27 September 2012|year=1908|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1204-4|pages=134–}}</ref> After his release, Shahaji retired from public life, and died around 1664–1665 during a hunting accident. Following his father's death, Shivaji resumed raiding, seizing in 1656, the valley of Javali from [[Morè (clan)| Chandrarao More]], a fellow Maratha feudatory of Adilshah<ref name="AhmedFarooqui">{{cite book|author=Farooqui Salma Ahmed and Salma Ahmed Farooqui|title=A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sxhAtCflwOMC&pg=PA317|accessdate=27 September 2012|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-3202-1|pages=317–}}</ref>.

To counter the loss at Pratapgad and to defeat the newly emerging Maratha power, another army, this time numbering over 10,000, was sent against Shivaji, commanded by Bijapur's Abyssinian general [[Rustam Zaman]]. With a cavalry force of 5,000 Marathas, Shivaji attacked them near [[Kolhapur]] on 28 December 1659. In a swift movement, Shivaji led a full frontal attack at the centre of the enemy forces while two other portions of his cavalry attacked the flanks. This battle lasted for several hours and at the end Bijapuri forces were soundly defeated and Rustamjaman fled the battlefield. Adilshahi forces lost about 2,000 horses and 12 elephants to the Marathas.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}} This victory alarmed AurangazebAurangzeb, who now derisively referred to Shivaji as the "Mountain Rat", and prepared to address this rising Maratha threat.<ref>{{cite book|author=James Talboys Wheeler|title=Early Records of British India: A History of the English Settlements in India, as Told in the Government Records, the Works of Old Travellers and Other Contemporary Documents, from the Earliest Period Down to the Rise of British Power in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pE0BAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA15|year=1878|publisher=Superintendent of Government Printing|pages=15–}}</ref>

Up until 1657, Shivaji maintained peaceful relations with the Mughal Empire. Shivaji offered his assistance to Aurangzeb in conquering Bijapur and in return, he was assured of the formal recognition of his right to the Bijapuri forts and villages under his possession.<ref name="Sarkar" />{{rp|37}} Shivaji's confrontations with the Mughals began in March 1657, when two of Shivaji's officers raided the Mughal territory near [[Ahmednagar]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=S.R. Sharma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wC27JDyApwC|title=Mughal empire in India: a systematic study including source material, Volume 2|year=1999 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|page=59 |isbn=9788171568185 }}</ref> This was followed by raids in [[Junnar]], with Shivaji carrying off 300,000 ''[[hun (coin)|hun]]'' in cash and 200 horses.<ref name="Sarkar" />{{rp|38}} Mughal viceroy for Deccan at that time , Prince Aurangzeb responded to the raids by sending Nasiri Khan, who defeated the forces of Shivaji at Ahmednagar. However, [[Aurangzeb]]'s countermeasures against Shivaji were interrupted by the rainy season and his battle of succession with his brothers for the Mughal throne following the illness of the emperor [[Shah Jahan]].<ref name="Sarkar" />{{rp|39–40}}