ii. 301, 90-91; Letter from the English chaplain Escaliot to Sir T. Browne, in Ind. Antiq. viii. 256.)
Early in the morning of Tuesday, 5th January, 1664, Surat was suddenly alarmed by the news that Shivaji had arrived with an army at Gandavi, 28 miles southwards, and was advancing to plunder the town.*[1] At once the people were seized with a panic, and began to flee away with their wives and children, mostly across the river, to save their lives. Rich men found shelter in the fort by bribing its commandant. Later in the day a courier brought the intelligence that Shivaji had come still nearer, and at night it was learnt that he had halted only five miles from Surat. Inayet Khan, the governor of the town — who was quite distinct from the commandant of the fort, — had sent out an agent to treat with Shiva for terms of ransom. But when he heard that the Maratha chief had detained the messenger and was approaching with all speed, he himself fled to the fort, leaving the town at the enemy's mercy. He used to draw from the Treasury the pay of 500
- ↑ * First sack of Surat: The most minute details and graphic accounts are found in the factory records: Log of the Loyal Merchant (Orme MSS. vol. 263, pp. 23-24); F. R. Surat 2 (Surat Consult. 6 Jan., 1664),vol. 86 (Surat to Persia; Surat to Co. 18 and 28 Jan. and 4 April); Dutch Records, vol. 27, Nos. 711 and 719. Letter of Escaliot very valuable. Bernier. 188-190; Storia, ii. 29, 112, 120, 132, iv. 428. Sabh. 63 and Chit. 72 describe only the 2nd sack. B.S. 371; Ishwardas 52a. (A.N., K.K., and Tavernier silent.)
