The Maratha King Shivaji Maharaj (19 February 1630 - 3 April 1680), popularly known as Shivraya, ruled over his own State, carved out of Bijapur Adilshahi territory, only for a short span of six years(1674-1680), but even today he is considered the Great Maratha King who laid the foundation of benevolent rule in present day Maharashtra. Chhatrapati Shivaji was given the title of Raja (King) by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb since he was his Sardar but after the Agra Durbar episode (1666), Shivraya could fulfill his dream to establish his independent Hindavi Swaraj, a sovereign State in 1674. After Shivaji and Afazal Khan’s deadly meeting on 10 November 1659 followed by his encounter with Shaista Khan and looting Surat city in 1664, which was under the Mughal territory, the Emperor Aurangzeb was feeling ashamed.
Aurangzeb deputed one of his most important Army General, Mirza Raja Jai Singh (15 July 1611-28 August 1667), in 1665 to control or capture Shivaji. Jai Singh was the King of Amber- Jaipur and had been loyal to the Mughal Durbar. Since he knew how clever Shivaji was, he got certain pre-conditions approved by the Emperor to function freely in the Deccan region. Mirza Raja even got certain Sardars of Shivaji defected to the Mughals like Netaji Palkar. Before the Treaty of Purandhar was agreed upon, a deadly fight between the Marathas and the Mughal warriors took place. Jai Singh convinced the Emperor to give audience to Raja Shivaji in the Mughal Durbar at Agra. Before that Shivaji tried to play a Hindu card followed by writing a historical letter to Jai Singh. This letter incorporated in the first volume of the book, “Shivkaleen Patra SarSangrah”, edited by N.C. Kelkar and D. V. Apte, published in 1930 by Raigad Smarak Mandal and Bharat- Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, Pune. As per the arrangements, Shivaji reached Agra on 12 May 1666 along with his son, Shambhaji, appeared before the Emperor in the birthday celebration of Aurangzeb. Both offered the Nazrana to the Mughal ruler.
Shivaji was escorted by the son of Jai Singh, Ram Singh. Since he was made to stand behind Jashwant Singh, he felt humiliated and left the Durbar. Aurangzeb conspired to kill the Maratha Sardar but Shivraya along with son managed to vanish secretly from Agra. They appeared together at Raigad on 20 November 1666! In the historical letter written in 1965 by Shivaji to Jai Singh, the Maratha leader tries to instigate the Mirza Raja against the Emperor and offers to join hands with him to demolish the Mughal Empire. Unfortunately, since his family had the matrimonial alliance with the Mughals, Jai Singh preferred to remain loyal to the Emperor till his last breath.
In a lengthy letter to Jai Singh, Shivaji conveys the Mirza Raja: “If you have come to conquer Deccan for yourself, I would prefer to offer my services at your disposal. But since you have come on behalf of Aurangzeb, I am little perplexed how to deal with you. If we both fight, the loss of the Hindus would be from both sides. One would not be considered brave and no heroism in fighting among each other.” “The intention of Aurangzeb is no brave man among the Hindus should survive. The lions should fight among each other and finish off themselves so that the vultures can rule over. You do not understand the strategy of the Mughals… I would appreciate you not to blacken the faces of Hindus by fighting with lions like us. If you have guts, you should attack the enemies of Hindu religion and get rid of Islam. If Dara Shukoh would have been the ruler of this country, he could have showered love and affection on us. But since you have ditched persons like Jashwant Singh, you cannot distinguish between good and bad. You have been fighting small fries so far and now since you have to fight with lions like me, you would realize where do you stand. You may run after mirage. It is like after making so much of efforts, you can capture a beautiful lady to be handed over to our enemy. Are you such a low level personality? Do you feel proud of earning favours of such rascal? Are you not aware of the outcome of the efforts of Zuzar Singh?”
Jai Singh was instrumental in getting Dara Shukoh, the eldest son of the Emperor Shah Jahan, captured and killed by Aurangzeb. Jai wrote a letter to Jashwant Singh of Ajmer not to extend any support to Dara. Dara believed in Hindu-Muslim harmony unlike his fanatic brother Aurangzeb. Zuzar Singh was the King of Odisha loyal to the Mughal Emperors, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, but Aurangzeb sacked him from his Durbar and made him run from pillar to post.
Shivaji writes further: “A few Muslims taking over our great country really surprises me. But this has happened not because of their adventures. They talk nicely with us and made us slaves if you try to understand. If your eyes can see, you may realize it. We need to realize how they are tying shackles in our legs and cutting off our heads by our own swords. We need to make tremendous efforts to protect Hindus, Hindustan and Hindu religion. We should go for tit for tat policy. The Turks be shown the power of our swords. If you can join hands with Jashwant Singh, Raja of Marwad, and Raj Singh, Rana of Mewar, it would be of great help.” The Maratha leader expresses his desire to wipe out the influence of Islam not only from Deccan but also the power and fame of Emperor like Aurangzeb from India too.
Shivaji was a daredevil who was prepared to fight Jai Singh. Of course, both fought the battle and when Mughals had upper hand, Shivaji expressed desire for the Treaty of Purandar where he was prepared to have peace with the Mughals by offering certain forts and money to Agra Durbar apart from expressing his loyalty to the Emperor. Of course, as per the conditions laid down, Shivaji had presented himself before Aurangzeb on his birthday. Since he was insulted and arrested, his honeymoon did not last long.
Aurangzeb considered Ram Singh, the Prince of Jai Singh, responsible for Shivraya’s escape from Agra and banished him from the Durbar. Even Jai Singh died on 28 August 1667 at Burhanpur under mysterious circumstances, believed to be poisoned on the orders of Aurangzeb. Mirza Raja Jai Singh did not give an ear to the advice of Shivaji, otherwise the history of India would have been different.
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(The writer is a Socio-political Historian. E-mail: [email protected] )
