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Battle of Sinhagad
The Battle of Sinhagad, also known as Battle of Kondhana, involved an attack by Marathas during the night of 4 February 1670 on the Mughal fort of Sinhagad (then Kondhana), near the city of Pune, Maharashtra. The Marathas captured the fort. Background In the 1650s, Aurangzeb sent General Shaista Khan to subdue Shivaji. Khan captured Pune and took residence in the Lal Mahal, the childhood residence of Shivaji. In a surprise night attack by Shivaji, Shaista Khan was wounded and one of his sons was killed. However, Khan escaped. In retaliation, Khan looted Pune for 2 years and devastated the Deccan. Shivaji went on to loot and plunder the wealthy port city of Surat to make up for Shaista Khan's looting of Pune. Aurangzeb then sent Maharaja Jai Singh, one of his vassals, with a large army to subdue Shivaji. In his campaign, Jai Singh besieged Purandar fort. Meanwhile, Diler Khan, another Mughal General defeated the Maratha armies at Vajragad and near Purandar. Villages in the Maratha kingdom were also plundered by the Mughal forces. To conserve his strength, Shivaji signed the Treaty of Purandar. According to the treaty, Shivaji was to give 23 forts to the Mughals while retaining control of 12, become a vassal of Aurangzeb. Later, he agreed to meet Aurangzeb at Agra.[citation needed] However in Agra, Shivaji refused to bow to Aurangzeb. In retaliation, Aurangzeb put Shivaji under house arrest, which Shivaji escaped from by feigning illness. Shivaji then kept a low profile for some years until Aurangzeb turned his focus to campaigns in the Punjab and elsewhere in the North. Jai Singh died at Burhanpur, and a weaker prince, Muazzam, became governor of the Deccan. Shivaji then felt that this was a good opportunity regain lost territory. He broke the treaty and started recapturing the forts from the Mughals.[citation needed] BattleSinhagad was one of the first forts which Shivaji recaptured from the Mughals. The capture was made possible by scaling the walls at night with rope ladders. Tanaji Malusare was martyred, but the fort was captured by the Marathas. The battle and Tanaji's exploits are the basis of a popular Marathi ballad.[3] AftermathWhen Shivaji was informed about the victory and the loss of Tanaji's life during the battle, he is said to have exclaimed "गड आला पण सिंह गेला" (IAST: Gaḍa ālā paṇa siṃha gela English: The fort has been captured but we lost the lion). A bust of Tanaji Malusare was installed at the fort in memory of his contribution and sacrifice.[4] In popular culture
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