The moment the Badshah stepped out of Maharashtra on the campaign to Wakinkheda, Tarabai began a new streak of re-capturing all the forts, fortresses and stations captured by the Mughals.
There was a famous fort of Koppal in north Carnatic which had been captured by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the beginning of his Carnatic campaign. During the reign of Tarabai, it was under the control of a Maratha castellan named Duduskar. The Mughals had bribed him and taken the fort under their control. Tarabai dispatched one of her sardars Narahari Rudra, got him to attack the fort, and recaptured it (December 1704).
Very soon, at the beginning of 1705, two Maratha sardars, Dhavji Visar and Chafaji Shinde re-captured Lohagad by climbing its ramparts. It had just been captured by the Badshah only recently. The responsibility to recapture Lohagad had been given by Tarabai to Bahiropant, while that of Sinhagad had been entrusted to Shankaraji Narayan Sachiv. Brave Maratha warriors in Shankaraji Narayan’s employ, Ramji Phatak, Tryambak Shivdeo, and Pantaji Shivdeo, entered Sinhagad by climbing its ramparts, and through a sudden raid, cut-off the whole of soldiery there. They arrested the castellan Devi Singh there.
After capturing Wakinkheda, when the Badshah had encamped at Devapur, he got the shocking news report about losing Sinhagad. He was also equally stubborn. To recapture Sinhagad, he urgently dispatched Hameeduddin Khan and Tarbiyat Khan. By this time, another fort which the Mughal had captured, Rajmachi, was captured by the Marathas through a daring attack, and that news reached the imperial camp. A brave Maratha warrior Gunaji Sawant in the employ of Peshwa Bahiropant had displayed immense valour while capturing it.
The Badshah had returned to Ahmednagar after long, arduous twenty-two years. He had realised, that this was the last leg of his campaigns, and even the long walk of his life. Still, he had not postponed the war that was going on with the Marathas. His forces had been struggling with the Maratha forces in Maharashtra and elsewhere. Even though the Badshah was on the verge of losing the war, he was adamant to fight until the end of his life. So, Tarabai now decided to deal a final blow to the Badshah before his death.
Accordingly, she ordered renowned warriors like Commander-in-Chief Dhanaji Jadhav, Nemaji Shinde, Dado Malhar, Rambhaji Nimbalkar, and Damaji Thorat to attack the Badshah’s Ahmednagar camp itself. All these commanders, fell upon the imperial camp along with their forces. The moment he got this news, the Badshah dispatched Khan-e-Aalam, Bakshi Sadruddin, Mohammed Khan Safvi, and some other sardars with sizeable forces, to fight with the attackers a little distance away. A huge battle ensued between the Marathas and the Mughals. The Maratha side began proving to be more powerful. So, Khan-e-Aalam sent a request to the Badshah, to urgently send additional soldiers. The Badshah sent Hameeduddin Bahadur and Matlab Khan, and most interestingly, he also sent some consecrated and sanctified amulets to protect his forces (February 1706).
To protect his forces from Queen Tarabai’s army, the Emperor of whole Hindustan had to use consecrated amulets. This was such a huge misfortune for the Mughal Empire! The Marathas harassed the Mughal vanguard and wrapped up the battle quickly.
While the Badshah was counting the last hours of his life at Ahmednagar, his armies had still been campaigning in Maharashtra. But Tarabai was now not afraid of these campaigns. Tarabai’s forces were not only offering stiff resistance within Swarajya, but also crossing Maharashtra’s borders and raiding the imperial Subas. Once her forces entered the regions like Gujarat, Malwa, Telangana and Carnatic, the Badshah and his forces would lose their courage, and the expenses of these huge forces amassed to fight the enemy would also be recovered. With this intention, Tarabai had adopted this policy to keep dispatching her forces outside Maharashtra in the Mughal realms, from the beginning of her reign.
To be continued…
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