CHAPTER V

SOUTH INDIA ' S RELAT.IONS WITH RAJARAM 1689-1'TOO • On the capture of sambhaji by the Mug hals the editice ot the Maratha State built up by Shivaji seemed to tall to pieces. All the top r anking people of Maharashtra instantly con.ened a council with Yesubai, as the President. The Council decided to

enthrone, Shivaji II, wi th Rajaram, the younger brother ot sambhaji, as a regent. Upon that Rajaram rose up and deli.ered an inspiring speech, calling upon a ll those that gathered, to forget anger and resentment at Sambhaji and to render their I selfless services to the country. 'Keladl-Nripavijaya t say~, "that Ramraj ( Rajaram ) brother of Sambhaji was corwned"2. He remained loyal to Shi,aji II as Bharata did to Rama, famed in the Ramayana.3 It is quite likely that Rajaram remained uncrowned but did tbe work of a crowned prince.

Rajaram left, Ralgad with his followers and established himself at Pratapgad; Baigad was captured along with Yeshbai

and Shiaj i II by Zultikar Khan on 3rd Nov embe r 1689" atter a seige of eight months" • Chickade.,araja from the South and Aurangzeb from the North., . troubled the Marathas. A Mughal torce desoended on to Penhala to exterminate the Marathas and took up its residence near

- 122 - - 123 -

Panhala. That fort was won after a bitter tigbt by Mugbals; realising tbe seriousness of t be si tuation Rajaram decided to leave tbat placeS . Rajaram left Panhala about the end 01

June 1689 and after .&ny peril10us a d~enture8 and a period of concea l ment i n the Bednur and Bangalore territories, reached Vellore in tbe last week of Octnber and entered Gingee in humble disguise four days later6 • Thus the Mu ghal--

Maratha struggle in tbe region of Maharasbtra and the shifting of the Mar atba centre from Panhala to Gingee afforded a golden opportunity for Cbickadeyaraj a to make conquests in the south and soutb-east of Mysore .

The perilious ad~enture of Rajaram and his party in the

Karnataka are interesting factors in the My sore~ aratba reI attons. Be ing pursu ed by the Mughal detacbmen t t Rajaram and bis followers passed the difficult and narrow route of sanbyadri and stepped on the soil of the Bednur Kingdom, soujourning at Panhali (Honahalli) in Shimoga district.

Rajaram sent words to Chanaagi, the rule r of Bednur Kingdom, seeking her help. Tbe belp t hat Ra jaram needed was tbat bis party sbould be escorted to Gingee witbout being attacked by the )dUgbals7. Thi s l an ded Chennamaji' in a dialamma. In the first place the Bednu r-Nayak and the Mar athas had been on friendly terms and since Rajaram himself had come to Bednur - 124 -

1n distress, it was but natural that sbe sbould belp bi_; and wbich she did. Seqondly, since the Mugbals and the Mar athas were not on good terms, it would naturally bring about tbe Maghal invasion of Bednur, Lastly Chennamaji t bougbt Mysore also would rise up in anns against ber. Wbat Cbennaaaji tbought, came out to be true in later years. The Malbals and the MysoreRaja invaded Bednar and caused inoaloulable havoc. Chennamaji wished to t ake the advioe of her ministers on the point of belping the Marathas . She convened the Council of ministers and apprised tbem of the real situation. They decided in favour of supportini the Marathas, beoBuse they considered tbai it was inpplltloal to deny aid, even to the enemy, if he should come to their doors. There upon, Chennamaji welcomed Rajaram and his tollowers warmly, treated them kindly and supplied them wi th all the necessary f acilities to pass through 8 her kingdom inpercei~ed by tbe Mughals • Thus Cbennamajl t rendered help to the Marathas in tbeir difficulties.

Tbe result of her policy, was that, she had to defend her capital ~ainst tbe formidable invasion of Jan-Nissar-Kban, the

Mughal general, who wa$ in pursuit of tbe Maratha fug a ti~ s. The Mugbal general demanded of the Ran i, to surrender the Maratha prince and his followers. Chennamaji told the Mughal - 125 - general tbat tbe Maraibas were not in her kingdom. In order to purcbase retreat from the ~mgba ls sbe presented tbea witb costly jewels and clotbes. Tbis diplomacy did not work smootbly. Tbe Mugbal leneral received tbe presents, oaptured four Maratbas fugiti~es, namely Rupaji Bbosale, Sambhaji Tage, Dunoba Manoji, and Raja-Ram and sent tbem to Aurangzeb, 'T "- P ( v- .\ c" 1 complaining tbat tbe Rani was r~t to tbe Maratba prince. Aurangzeb sent his son AZ 8m Khan to invade Bednur, in cooperation witb Jan-Nisar Khan . Tbe Mugbal army took possession of the fortress of Mabade.apra and Anandpura in Shimoga district and finally laid siege to Bednur itself. Chennamajl ' s life, itself, was in danger. She escaped to

Bhu~anglrl , a fortress near Bednur from wbere, she direoted her attacks. A terrible battle was fougbt between the two armies under the walls of BednurlO •

As to who won the viotory, sources differ. First, Linguanna Kavi says, tbat "the Mugbals suffered de fe at and concluded a treaty with Cbennamaji". Second, the Portuguese

Viceroy in his letter of 1691, to the Kin~ of Portugal, desoribed tbat Cbennamaji was forced to sue for p ace with the Mugbals12• Third, according to tbe Persian source, the war was waged between tbe Mughals and tbe Marathas on tbe

Bednur territory wbich at l ast oem. to .", speedy termination - 126 - by the intervention of Rani ,- Chenna.aji, who purohased peace by paying a small ransom. Santa (Sambhaji) joined the Bednur army and fought agatnst the Mughal army. It is likely that Chennama ji realising the horrors of war neutralised the \ hostility and brought the war to a close by paying a ransom to the Mughals . Thus Chennamaji suffered i n men and material for having helped the Maratha prince. Her relations with the Mughals were stained greatly.

No sooner was the Mughal danger over, another difficulty o_f fered to the Chennamaji. The fight wi tb the Mughals wa s a factor which Chikkadevaraja. took advantage to t ake Chennamaji to task. Her pro-marB.tha policy caused his schemes of consequent in tbe direction of the Bednur Kingdom. In Ap ril , 1689 Bagadi was occupi ed and the subsequen t month Harpanhalli and Berayna wen taken . Tiappaya, the Mayor Dalvoy, went and reduced Kader, Sakevepatn& and Vastba in June and August 169014 • Thus Chikkadeyaraja, annexed a number of territories, in Bednur Kingdom. Chennamaji could not prevent the expansion of Mysore, beoause the Mughals on one side and the Mysore Raja on the other, conduoted atrocious wars and attaoked a number of ber terri t ories and caused incaloulable havoc in ber kingdom . She had neither the adequate army nor a well--filled treasury to cope with the situation . Thus for ber pro-maratha policy.,,. Chennamaji was harassed both by the Mug bals and My soreans. - 127 -

.As the objectives,with which these conquests were Iladef Mr . C. Hayavadam Rao says t hat, it was to justify the title of ' Karnat aka Chakravarti', that Cb ikkadevaraja projected this ~ ~paign of oonquest in the direction of Ikkeri15• Tbis s t atemen t i s Dot based on any evidence. A few territorial conquests in the direction of Ikkeri we re not sufficient to justify hi s title of ' Karnataka Chakravarti'. There were some important towns, such as Kolar, DOddaballapur, and otbers which

were not conquerred by Cbickadevar aja md the 00 nguests of whi ch were essential to call bimself. 'Karnataka Chakravarti'. Anyway the object of these conquests was to punish Chennamaji for her policy of aiding the Maratbas.

Adverting to the flight of Rajaram across the Karnatak region, it .ust be noted that Maratba party arr ived in Bangalore which was then under the control of Chikkadevaraja. The Mysore -' Mughal contacts made the Mughals move freely in the Mys ore Kingdom and the Mogal vigilant guards were already in Bangalore. The way in which treatment was accorded to Rajaram by his followers made the Mughal officers suspicious of the party. The impending danger, was averted by the devoted loyalty of Khando Ballal Chitnis , who advised R8jaram to leave the place as early a8 possible. He cbose to remain on the spot maintaining - 128 -

Juccessfully bis character of one of the pi1i~ri.s to Ramesbwar .

Rajaram went by one route and Pr alhad Niraji by an other. Those that sayed were subjected to severe torture by tbe Mughal offioers but their loyalty to the Moratha oause was such that they never disclosed their 1dentltyl6. Thus the Marathas escaped the warth 01 the Mughal offioers a t Bangalore.

Chikkadeyaraja did not t ake any steps to obeck the movements of the Marat~as as long as his territories remained unaffected by tbeir movements and there was no reason for him to worry . Moreover the Marathas were marching swiftly under the gu i se of pilgrims to Rameshwaram, frequently fending the Mughal danger, and as ,such it might have been imposs ible for the Raja to find out their identity and to adopt effeotive steps to deal with tbem. And more than t hat , since the Mughals were in pursuit of Marathee the task of Cbikkadevaraja was comparatively less. On the wbole notbing particular, bappened in Chikkadevaraja's relations with the Marathaa when Rajaram and his followers were in Bangalore.

At Channapatana, an event of great importance, took plaoe which strained the Mysore-Maratha relations further. The old - 129 - offioers of Golconda wbo bad be en taken into the aer,ice of the Mughals turned disloyal to the autocratic autbority of Aurangzeb. Tbey were ready to join tbe Maratbas . The two

Goloonda offioers Yaoh~ne.era Naik and Isma1l Kban Maka and 4000 cavelry of the Mughals rebelled and interviewed Rajaram tbrougb Nilo Pant at Cbennapatna17 • Tbese were certain reasons for the Golconda officers to be disloyal and make friendship with the Maratbas. Ever sinoe tbe days of Sbivaji, and bis Karnatak expedition, tbe Golconda Sultan and tbe Maratbas had been on friendly terms. Tbe Golconda Sultan bad supported Sambbaji in ~is two devastating Mysore expeditions. But Aurangzeb bad destroyed Golconda forcibly and taken tbe Golconda army under his service. When the Golconda officers were despatched in search of the Maratba fugiti.es it is said tbey joined tbe Marat~s at Channapatna. It is further said that witb tbis army tbe Marathas subdued Channapatana mld descended to tbe soutb, after posting t wo officers, Ekoji and Shi.aji, to govern the Cbannapatna principality18 • It is Dot quite likely tbat Rajaram conducted the military operations at Chennapatna, because be was moving witb all his rapidity in order to escape the vi gilance of the Mughals. Therefore any delay i n bis project would ba.e been dangerous. Further be - 130 - had taken tbe disoontended Golconda off icers into his service and thereby bad given sufficient offenoe to the Mughal ••peror. Therefore reaching a secure place nMmely Gin.ee to defend himself against the Mug~l onslaught was his immediate ooncern.

Moreover Rajaram had left Panhala on 25 September 1689 and r.ached Vellore on 28th October19 • It is known tbat Rajaram had gone through many adventures after leaving Panhala. If Rajaram stood at Chennapatna conduoting tbe milit ary operations, it would not have been possible tor him to reach Vellore in October 1689. Therefore Sambhaji Ghorpade who had fought against the Mughals in cl08e cooperation with the Bednar army under tbe walls of Bednur fort might have plundered Juggadevara,al's p08se88io.n of Chennapatna.

The conquest of Chennapatna by the Marathas attracted the attention of Chikkadevaraja. Tbe Mysore army was despatohed to Chennapatna where a terrible battle was fought in which the 20 Marathaa were defeated and pursued • Thus the attempt ot the Marathaa to take Chennapatana was f ·oiled. The result of the battle was that the relations between the two powers were greatly stained. Eaoh party tried to overwhelm the other and exploit the situation for its own ad.anta,e. - 131 -

Before the fighting began at Chennapatan; between the two armies, Rajaram and his followers left that place and towards

tbe middle of October 1689 reached Srirangapatana~ Edward

Scott waring wri t~ "RaJ,lla upon the murder of his brother, fled closely pursued by the enemy to Srira.ngapatna". He fled closely pursued by the enemy across the canyery, with only one Qf his followers, to Gingee and that too under the Guise 01 Luigayat

Pilgri~, and no event of any serious nature seemed to have taken place at Srirangapatna. If there was any trouble, Kannada souroes would have mentioned it. But as we see, there 1s no mention 01 any }.{ara tha Mysore conflict at Srirangapatna in the Kannada 8ouroes.

Rajaram and his followers reached Gingee in October 1689 and established the )4aratba Council and assumeti the insignia 01 royalty by apPOinting tbe tAatha Pradbans' and holding his Court and began to distribute lavish offioes and Jahgirs to bis favourites. In consequence, Raja-Ram experienced financial

difficulties and his m~ni8ters had to look around to raise money by all possible means to defray the cbarles of the army, which had been lett at Panbala. His f inancial difficulties compelled Rajaram to sell the fort of Dev arapatnam (Cuddalore), Fort st. David to the highest bidder, the British. - 132 -

In July 1690, Mr . Charles Barwell and Thomas Yale, two factors were sent to Ginge~, as Commissioner~r to arrange I matters with Raja,-Ram for a farman to be signed, with instructions to insi.~ upon the teLms in the draft farman, particularly for the land aDd villa,es within the Gun-shot of the fort, with the exception of the Dutch factory, and the town of Guddalore and for the exception from all taxation for all the company's goods passing through the Marathas dominions. In the beginning of September the t ",o Commissioners repor ted to the Chief Brahaaan at the Maratha Court and were able to succeed and bring the young king to allow them, what tows and 'illages their gun could command, free passage to the Right Honourable Company, and ac cordingly had the lanaan drawn out verbetum to be signed by his majesty, with orders for delivery of the fort to them.

Rajaram w8s also pursu.ded to grant the English the oontrol of Cud dalore. Hatsell was, therefore, asked to ,0 to Tegnapatanam aad [email protected]'8 the possession of the fort and pay the stipulated sum and send mi litary equipment and siore from Kummimendu and Southern factories to that place. Hatsell's commission contained minute instruotions as to the payment of

the sum to Raja-Ram and as to thl:! method of payment, and as to - 133 - t he .ethod ot t aking possession ot the tort atter which the r andom shot was t o be tired which was to be done with the best br ass guntrom Mad ras that was sent speciall y for the purpose ~ Hatsel l was further instructed that "it lies in the gunner s ' art to load and fire it to the bes t advantage" and car efull y fix the poi nts where the shot should fal l • .Accu r at e and de t ailed mi nu t es and consult a tions were to be kept of al l t he t ransactions . A mint was also to be started :for striking gold and silver coins._ The Fort was to be named Fort St . DaVid, probably in honour of the welsh saint, whom

M.r . Yale, the Go vemo ~r of Madras, hi mself a welshman wanted to honour.

The vill ages which fell within th€ random shot , are e,en today known as "Gundu Gramam" or Cannol ball villages. On Rajaram ' s arriyal in Gingce, war began more vlgorously._ than before, between the Mughals and the Marathas. The result of

Aurengazeb ' s idea of exterminating ihe Maratha~~ compelled him to spend bis life in tent s ~ nd miserable camps . - 134 -

Foo~po!e. on Cbap~.r V

1 J . N. Sarkar,)Iouee of Sbiva ji, p. 335~

2 Linganna Kavi, ( As quoted i n RajaraM Charitam) . 3 . Rajaram Charitam , pp. 8 ,9.

4 Jedbe Shakawal1. Shi"9aji Souvenir, p . 32 . 5 LingannaKavi"Ke18ldi Nrupa Vijay8ll, p. 160, Verse s 77-80. 6 (Ted he Shakawali, Shivaji Sou venir, p. 32 . 7 Govinda Vaidya, Kant1v1ra Names Raja Vijayam, Vol. IX,p.16l.

8 Ibid, p. 166. 9 Ibid, pp . 16-22. 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid. 12 B. Mu ddacha r1, MysQre Ma r atba Relations i n the 11tb Century, Appendix 6 . 13 J . N. s arkar, .House of Sbivaji, p. 236.

14 . AMRF' , Vol . I, p . 108 . 15 Wi l ks , .lli story of My&ore, p . 310 .

16 Kincaid and par asnls, A H i ~tory of Maratba People, pp. 100, 159. 17 Jedhe Shakawali, Shivaji Souvenir, PP . 32, 33 . 18 Tbe Baramahal Records, Vol . V (1915 ) , p . 1 .

19 J . N. • Sarkar, . Aur angzlb , Vol . V, pp . 23, 24 .

20 Cb1kkadevaraja Binnappam, pp . 58, 59 (As quoted by MaddBebari) •