But Sambhajiraje must have thought, that in taking such a decision, Maharaj was doing injustice to him, was treating him unfairly, and was sending him away because his mind was polluted due to the complaints of his stepmother and the ministers. It is possible that he thought, even though Maharaj loved him dearly, he had been ensnared in the crooked moves of his stepmother and the ministers. Actually, Shivaji Maharaj was such a king, who would never have taken such a decision that could hurt his kingdom or his own son. But Sambhajiraje himself was ensnared in the trap of misunderstanding. One misunderstanding led to another, and in this whirlwind of indiscretion and anger, he committed an unpardonable crime of joining Diler Khan.
Shivaji Maharaj ordered Sambhajiraje via a written letter,
‘You pardon the taxes for subjects, but the subjects here are trying to evade taxes. You have openly insulted the Amatyas. So, I hereby order you to leave Shringarpur and go to Sajjangad.’
As directed by Maharaj, Sambhajiraje went to Sajjangad from Shringarpur (around October 1678). At this time, Samarth Ramdas Swami was not at the fort. It is possible, that he was about to return very soon. Maharaj probably thought that Yuvaraj’s anger would dissipate in the religious atmosphere at the fort. But this change of atmosphere did not much impact Sambhajiraje. Instead, it seems his thoughts about joining Diler Khan solidified further. Finally, with an excuse to visit the confluence of Mahuli on the banks of River Krishna at the base of the Satara fort, he bade farewell to Sajjangad’s castellan, and once he reached Mahuli, he said to the accompanying soldiers that he was going to join the army of Delhi’s Emperor and he would return only to quickly capture the peaks of Sahyadri.
One more question arises here about the form of the agreement that occurred between Yuvaraj Sambhajiraje and Diler Khan. Did Sambhajiraje go to him as a Mughal Mansabdar and servant? What did he expect from the Mughals? Even though the Mughals had conferred upon him the Mansab (Commandery) of five-thousand cavalrymen, it is possible, that Sambhajiraje did not consider himself a servant of the Mughals, but only an independent ‘friend’. Sir Jadunath Sarkar has again enlightened about this:
“There was no talk of annexing Maharashtra to the Mughal Empire; Diler’s support was to be purchased merely by Sambhaji agreeing to a policy of friendly alliance with the Government of Mughal Deccan (Deccan Subedar), exactly as Shahu did in 1718. The contemporary English factory letters and Persian histories prove that Sambhaji in the Mughal viceroy’s camp did not consider himself as a servant of Diler, but as an independent and equal ally.”
There were Adilshahi and Qutubshahi Sultanates still active in the south; while further south, big and small Naik kingdoms still existed. The Mughal project to capture all of Deccan was still on. In such a situation, taking Mughal help, capturing the region belonging to these Sultanates and proving his own prowess, must have been the ambition behind Sambhajiraje joining the Mughals.
Not only was Sambhajiraje given any independent responsibility in the Mughal camp, but by putting him in front, Diler Khan attacked Bhupalgad which lay at the boundary of the Maratha kingdom. Phirangoji Narsala prepared to fight hard, but seeing Sambhajiraje, vacated the post of the castellan and went to Shivaji Maharaj. Khan later cut-off the hands of seven hundred Marathas that were captured in the fort and burnt it down to dust!
It seems, this was the beginning of the discord between Sambhajiraje and Khan. Sambhajiraje probably opposed Diler Khan’s campaign against the Maratha realms. Due to this opposition, he stopped the campaign that intended to pierce the Swarajya and took him back to Aurangabad. After the monsoon, he embarked on the Bijapur campaign (September 1679). In the Bijapur campaign, the atrocities committed by Khan’s Mughal forces over the Hindu subjects in the villages under Adilshahi control near Athni, Tikote etc. helped firm up Sambhajiraje’s resolve to quit his company. Meanwhile Shivaji Maharaj had remained in regular correspondence with his son. It is quite possible, that Maharaj’s loving letters entreating him to remove all doubts from his mind and returning must have played a role as well. The moment he decided to return to Swarajya, without allowing anybody the slightest inkling, Sambhajiraje stepped out of the Mughal camp, and went straight to Bijapur. He must have felt it safer to go to Bijapur.
To be continued…
NDHistories 