CHAP. III.] KHELOJI BHONSLA KILLED. 55 Shah, was about to fall into the hands of the Imperialists, Kheloji deserted to Bijapur and repeatedly fought against the Mughal armies. The Maratha general's wife, when going to bathe in the Godavari, was captured by the Mughal Subahdar, who sent him word, “A man's wealth is only for saving his honour. If you pay me four lakhs of rupees I shall release your wife without doing harm to her chastity." No husband can resist such an appeal, and Kheloji paid this huge ransom. Soon afterwards, he was dismissed by the Bijapur Sultan who had made peace with Shah Jahan. Ruined by these losses, Kheloji came to the home of his forefathers near Daulatabad and took to a life of plunder and lawlessness. Aurangzib, on getting news of his place of hiding, sent a party of soldiers under Malik Husain and put the Maratha free-booter to death (about October, 1639).* In 1640, "the Zamindar of Gondwana" (i,e., the new Rajah of Deogarh) waited on the young viceroy at Burhanpur with a thanks-offering of four lakhs of rupees in return for his being allowed to succeed his late father.f On 25th March, 1642, a costly set of presents offered by Aurangzib and consisting of gems,
- Abdul Hamid, II. 166, Masir-ul-Umara, iii. 520-521.
+ Abdul Hamid, II. 197. Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
