Jadhav Bhonsale Feud One incident at the Nizamshahi court gives us an insight about the mindset of Maratha chiefs during that time. As courtiers were moving out after a normal day at the Nizamshahi court, an elephant belonging to Sardar Khandagle went beserk. He started trampling people coming in his way. It was a chaotic situation as no one dared to confront the mad elephant.
Dattaji Jadhav, son of Lakhuji Jadhav, reached the place and ordered his men to chain the elephant. But the elephant was unmanagable and injured few of Dattaji's men. It was looking impossible to control the beast. Dattaji was enraged by this and pulling out his sword, he confronted the elephant. By this time, Sambhaji Bhonsale, Vithoji Bhonsale's son, arrived at the scene and tried to stop Dattaji from attacking the elephant.
But Dattaji pounced on the elephant with his sword. Sambhaji continued his request but it went unheard. With one clean sweep of his sword, Dattaji slashed the elephant's trunk. It started bleeding profusely and crying out loud in pain. Still enraged, Dattaji shifted his attack to Sambhaji for trying to prevent him from attacking the elephant.
This started a fight within their supporters and soon the area was converted into a small battlefield. Dattaji attacked Sambhaji with a vengence, forgetting that Sambhaji was his brother-in-law's cousin. Having no choice, Sambhaji had to engage himself in the battle. In the duel, Dattaji was killed at the hands of Sambhaji. This was a huge blow on Jadhav family.
Dattaji's father, Lakhuji Jadhav, had left before all this activity had started. But the news of his son's death reached him within minutes. The clashes were still on when he reached the spot. He was enraged as he spotted Shahaji fighting in the crowd. He attacked Shahaji and dealt a heavy blow on his shoulder. Shahaji fell unconscious but luckily was saved from his wrath.
Lakhuji then moved towards Sambhaji who was fighting nearby. A fierce duel followed in which Sambhaji was killed. One brave man from the Bhonsale family was dead for another brave man from the Jadhav family. And all this for an elephant which had gone mad ! By this time, news had reached Nizamshah and he intervened to pacify both parties. The battle subdued after this and both parties carried the respective dead bodies to their camp.
What can one say about this bizzare incident ! Here was this raw courage to confront a beserk elephant and cut his trunk with a slashing sword. But unfortunately, it was coupled with rage so blind that it did not distinguish between a friend and a foe. This event totally alienated Jadhav-Bhonsale families. Jijabai's parents were distanced from her forever.
Jijabai gives birth to Sambhaji
Just after the unexpected and unfortunate skirmish between the Jadhav-Bhonsale family, Jijabai gave birth to a son who was named Sambhaji. Shahaji's cousin by the same name had been killed by Lakhuji Jadhav in that unfortunate incident. It was a custom to name a son after his uncle but only when the uncle was no longer alive. So it is likely that the Jadhav-Bhonsale feud occured sometime before Jijabai's son Sambhaji was born.
The birth year of Sambhaji cannot be stated exactly but most of the references give a date around 1623 AD. Shivadigvijay Bakhar mentions that he was born in Shak 1545 i.e., 1623-24 AD. The inscription at Thanjavur places the event in Shak 1547 i.e., 1625-26 AD. But these references are not fully reliable in this context.
The place of birth also cannot be deduced due to want of supporting record. Shahaji's family birth record from Thanjavur mentions his birthplace as Daulatabad or Devgiri. Shedgavkar Bakhar mentions the place as Verul which is also close to Daulatabad. Apart from Sambhaji and Shivaji, Jijabai gave birth to four sons but all those were probably short-lived. As of now, no information is available about them.
The battle of Bhatavdi
In 1624 AD, Malik Ambar beseiged Ahmadnagar which was then under Adilshahi control. Mughals agreed to help Adilshahi army and the combined armies started moving towards Ahmadnagar. On receiving this news, Malik Ambar lifted the seige and moved towards Bhatavdi which is about 20 kms to the south-east of Ahmadnagar. The Nizamshahi army was smaller as compared to the combined forces of Mughals and Adilshahi. Lakhuji Jadhav had recently left Nizamshahi and had joined the Mughals.
The Mughal and Adilshahi forces totalled nearly 80,000. Malik Ambar, the Nizamshahi vazir prepared his army for the battle. Shahaji, Sharifji, Vithoji's eight sons, Hambirrao Chavan, Mudhoji Naik Nimbalkar, Vithoji Kate, Nrusinhapant Pingle and many other maratha sardar's were fighting to protect Nizamshahi. Mansurkhan, Yakutkhan, Fattekhan and a few other muslim sardar's were also present in the Nizamshahi army but the majority force belonged to Marathas.
A fierce battle followed and there were huge casualties on both sides. Shahaji fought bravely and with great vigour. He managed to turn the tide against the huge Mughal and Adilshahi army. His brother Sharifji was killed in the battle. It was an ironic fate for Shahaji as his father-in-law, Lakhuji Jadhav was fighting against him in the Mughal army. Nizamshah was impressed by the bravery of Shahaji and he was rewarded. The Mughal and Adilshahi army had to flee from the battle field. It was an unexpected defeat for them.
Shahaji joins Adilshahi
After the battle of Bhatavdi, Shahaji was honoured in the Nizamshahi court. His courage and valour were for all to see and this became a contentious issue between him and Malik Ambar, the Vazir. Shahaji's relationship with his cousins was strained and Malik Ambar sided with his cousins. A dejected Shahaji then decided to join Adilshahi. He was given a warm welcome in Adilshahi and was honoured with the title of Sarlashkar.
The exact date of this change is not known. The earliest evidence which suggests this change is a letter written by Shahaji on 28th July 1625 AD. In this letter, he mentions his title as Sarlashkar which is supported by two letters bearing dates after the one mentioned above. This clarifies that Shahaji had joined Adilshahi at the time of Ibrahim Adilshah.
Ibrahim Adilshah dies
On 11th September 1627, the Adilshahi ruler, Ibrahim Adilshah died in Bijapur. Before his death, he had expressed his will to throne his third son Muhammad instead of his first son Darvesh. His courtiers Mirza Muhammad Amin and Daulatkhan knew that such a move would be opposed by Shahnavazkhan and a few others. So after Ibrahim's death, Shahnavazkhan and a few of his supporters were imprisoned by Mirza and Daulatkhan.
The fifteen year old Muhammad Adilshah was coronated as the successor. In order to invalidate Darvesh and the other sons from claiming the throne, Darvesh was blinded and the other two sons ring finger was cut off. After all this was accomplished, Shahnavazkhan and his men were released. Mirza Muhammad was given the title of Mustafakhan and Daulatkhan was honoured as Khavaskhan.
Darvesh's sister was married to Burhan Nizamshah. This incident against Darvesh instigated a Nizamshahi campaign against the newly crowned Muhammad Adilshah. It led to a battle between the two armies near Dharur in the first year of Muhammad's reign. Thereafter in 1629 AD, Hamidkhan led an offensive against Adilshah and a battle took place at Kunnur, 22 kms to the north of Bijapur. In this battle, an Adilshahi sardar called Islamkhan was captured by Nizamshahi army.
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