He

guiltless of the crimes which his son had committed. greatly regretted all that had happened, and made every possible apology, but the Muhammadans would not listen to such excuses, and ordered him to be seized. It was rather difficult to seize a man of that kind; however, the seizure was arranged through the agency of another Mahratta named Baji, who had an estate at a place called Madhol. Baji showed a friendly demeanour towards Shahji, and asked him to an entertainment at Madhol. Shahji came, suspecting nothing, and was seized, and sent to the Muhammadans at Bijapur. He was confined in a dungeon, and threatened with all manner of dreadful things-that his eyes should be put out, that his tongue should be cut to pieces, and similar inflictions, after the fashion of those days. However, the dutiful son, Sivaji, gave up some of his hoarded plunder, and bribed the Muhammadan gaolers. So Shahji got out of gaol, and fled, but in flying he sent a message to Sivaji, and said, “Sivaji, if you love me, pay that fellow (Baji) out." Sivaji replied, "Never fear, sir; you will visit me some day, and then you shall hear all that I have done to him."

Soon after this the Bijapur king determined to send another expedition, this time against Vishalgarh, where Sivaji then was, hoping that it would be more successful than the last against Partabgarh. The command of this expedition was given to this very Baji. The troops were to move out towards Vishalgarh, and Baji, naturally enough, went on ahead of his army, and thought he would spend two or three pleasant days at home at Madhol. Intimation of this came to Sivaji at Vishalgarh, and he then determined upon one of his daring marches.

Madhol is just 100 miles from Vishalgarh, and although a very uninteresting town, is strongly fortified, with a high wall of black stone all round it, I should say about 60 feet high. You will observe, marked with a dotted line on the map, the road to it from Vishalgarh, which indicates the straight manner in which Sivaji marched to it. For really in these rushes and dashes Sivaji flew very like an arrow from a bow, or a shot from a cannon.

CHAP. XVI.

SIVAJI'S SWOOP.

369

One fine morning Sivaji and a picked body of horse and foot appeared before Madhol, quite surprising the Madhol people. How Sivaji got over the 100 miles in so few hours it is difficult to say; but certainly he appeared early in the morning, as I well ascertained on the spot from the Madhol people, for the tradition of course still survives. He himself started not later than the previous afternoon from Vishalgarh. I suppose the only way in which he could have got there was this, that he ordered men to assemble in the wild country at different points beforehand (on a certain night in the dark half of the moon, as their expression was). They would go unobserved and concentrate at different places on the line of march, Sivaji remaining at Vishalgarh, and all the world supposing that he was up in his mountain fastness. He would then start in the afternoon, ride rapidly say for 50 miles, get to the rendezvous at 8 o'clock, and would accomplish the rest of the march during the night; and so he appeared before Madhol in the grey of the morning. His men were excellently good hands at escalading; they thoroughly understood rope ladders and grappling irons, and so they climbed the wall in no time; and the Muhammadans in Madhol were completely surprised. In a few moments Baji's palace was surrounded; he himself was dragged out, and brought before Sivaji. Out flashed the Excalibur, and down dropped Baji's head upon the ground. There was no more bloodshed, but then began one of the most relentless and ruthless plunderings of which the Mahrattas were ever guilty, and which is remembered vividly by the Madhol people to this very day, as I can personally attest. In about two hours the whole of Madhol was cleaned out absolutely, nothing remained. Sivaji went off with the jewels, the coins, and the fine articles, all fastened on to the saddle-bows of his cavalry; and he returned straight to Vishalgarh.

This was a very unpropitious beginning for the Muhammadan expedition against him, and I need not trouble you with the military particulars of all that followed. However, Vishalgarh

was not taken, and Sivaji remained entirely master of the situation.

I have mentioned that Shahji, the father, obtained his liberty, and somehow in a short time managed to make peace with the Bijapur king, and to visit his son at Vishalgarh. He had not seen this redoubtable, this tremendous son of his, since he left him almost an infant in his mother's arms at Junnar, so of course the meeting between the son and the father was rather touching. Sivaji, this truculent fellow, came forward to meet his father. The father was riding upon a fine horse; the son would not ride; far from it. He went forth on foot several miles from the fort to meet his parent. He would not sit down in the paternal presence, and he humbly related to his father how he had fulfilled his behest, and had with his own hand cut off that treacherous Baji's head, and scrupulously plundered Madhol to the last farthing. He hoped, as he had received his mother's blessing last time, to receive his father's blessing this time, which I need not say was abundantly given him. But the father being of a practical turn of mind, criticised Vishalgarh, and said it was not a very advantageous position; he thought that it might be commanded and taken by the Muhammadans, and suggested to Sivaji that he should establish his fortress in a better situation, indicating Raigarh, which you will see on the map. So Raigarh afterwards became the seat of the Mahratta kingdom. From that place went forth decrees which had validity right over the continent, and the establishment of Raigarh was due to the sagacious father who visited his son at Vishalgarh after this Madhol affair.

I must now call your attention to illustration No. 27, which represents Sing-garh, already mentioned. You will see the city of Poona in the middle distance, with the river in the foreground. From this river are drawn many fine canals for irrigation, involving geographical problems with which I have not time to trouble you. In the distance stands up like a rigid square, Sing-garh, or the Lion's Den.

CHAP. XVI.

LION'S DEN FORT.

371

At the time which the narrative has now reached, the Bijapur kingdom had been subdued by another Muhammadan power, which was no other than the Mogul Empire. Therefore to the king of Bijapur had succeeded the Great Mogul, and the Great Mogul had a viceroy at Poona. The city of Poona was then regarded like Peshawur in our days, as an important frontier position. The Western Ghats were to the Moguls what the North-Western frontier is now to the British, and Poona was to them just what Peshawur is to us; so they had a Muhammadan viceroy at Poona supported by a force. Sivaji, on

the other hand, was at Sing-garh. The viceroy considered that Sivaji was a very dangerous neighbour, dreaded that something awkward would happen, and took particular precautions that no armed men should be admitted into Poona, which happened to be at that time an open city. Sivaji nevertheless determined to do a daring deed which should flagrantly insult the Muhammadan viceroy. His idea always was to do an audacious thing which should have a great moral effect on the whole of the country round, and in that way to flout the Muhammadan authority. He acted as follows. As he could not get