This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
1660]
SIDDI JAUHAR AGAINST SHIVA.
83


Sultan agreed, gave Jauhar the title of Salabat Khan, and sent him with an army to put down Shiva. The campaign was opened about May 1660, the month in which Shivaji also lost the Puna district in the north to the Mughals. Jauhar easily swept away the Maratha resistance in the open, and drove Shivaji into Panhala, which he closely invested.

§2. Shivaji besieged in Panhala fort.

The siege dragged on for nearly four months; all the paths of ingress and egress were closed to the garrison. Shivaji found himself in a fatal trap. So, he wrote a secret letter to Jauhar, deceitfully begging his protection and offering to make an alliance with him. In order to negotiate for the terms he asked for a passport. Jauhar, "who was both fool and traitor," swallowed the bait; he assured Shivaji of his protection, gave him a safe conduct, and flattered himself that with Shiva for an ally he would be able to create a kingdom of his own in independence of Adil Shah. Next day Shivaji with only two or three followers visited Jauhar at midnight, and was received in darbar. After oaths of co-operation had been taken on both sides, Shivaji returned quickly to the fort, and the pretended siege was continued.

When the news of Jauhars treacherous coquetting with Shiva reached the ears of Ali Adil Shah, that king burst into anger and left his capital (5th August) "to punish both the rebels." An envoy was