The whole Maratha nation rose in arms to avenge the death of their king, whose misdeeds and mistakes were readily forgotten and forgiven in this his last greatest act of self- abnegation. They resolved, resourceless and penniless, to secure their national independence, and assembling together under the presidency of their leader Rajaram, the second son of Shivaji, solemnly swore to fight and die in defence of their Hindu faith and Hindu Rajya. were not forgotten after his death, but, on the contrary, became the living faith of a whole people. Rajaram, Nilo Moreshwar, Prahlad Niraji, Ramchandra Pant, Sankarji Malhar, Parashuram Trimbak, Santaji Ghorpade, Dhanaji Jadhav, Khanderao Dabhade, Nimbalkar, Nemaji Parsoji, Brahmins, Marathas, Prabhus, princes, and peasants—it was a nation that rose in arms against the Muhammadan foe.
All Deccan had by this time fallen back into the hands of Aurangzeb. All Maharashtra with all its castles and even the capital of Shivaji, was groaning under the military sway of Muhammadan commanders. It seemed as if Shivaji and his generation had fought and died in vain. But what of castles and capitals! The strongest castle that a nation determined to win its independence can have is the castle of its heart; its ideal is its flag and wherever it flies there lies its capital. ‘If all Maharashtra is lost, let us carry the fight to Madras if Raigad falls, let us plant the banner of Hindu pad-pada-shahi at Jinji; but let us not give up the struggle.’ With such undying resistance the Marathas faced the mighty forces of Aurangzeb for some 20 years or so, and ultimately sent him back broken, discomfited and disillusioned, to die in agony at Ahmednagar in 1707.
The peculiar tactics of war which go by the name of Maratha warfare— Ganimi Kava—stood them in good stead in this long-drawn war. The Maratha forces rallied and dispersed, sallied for the and retired, marched and moved, fought and fled, hurried and held out, with such lightning-like rapidity and matchless generalship and dogged bravery and daring that the Moguls were harassed and beaten by he Marathas everywhere, but could not fix them anywhere. Every renowned Moslem general was defeated or disgrace, captured or killed. Zulficar Khan, Ali Mardan Khan, Himmat Khan, Kassam, everyonesuffered crushing defeat at the hands of Dhanaji, Santaji and other Maratha generals who in great pitched battles at Jinji, Kaveripak, Dudhari. and several other places, cut whole Moslem armies to pieces and ultimately destroyed the ambitions of Aurangzeb to re-conquer Maharashtra. The Marathas marched straight against the Imperial Camp and literally bearded the lion in his den. The Emperor would have been captured alive, had he not by a stroke of fortune been absent from his Imperial golden tents which the Marathas cut off and carried away in triumph.
To illustrate the patriotic spirit the animated the chief actors in this period, it is enough to refer to the attempt of Khando Ballal to win over the few Maratha nobles who still sided with the Moguls and took part in pressing the siege of Jinji. Secret negotiations were opened with Nagoji Raje to convert him to the Maratha cause. It was explained to him how it was easy to destroy the Muhammadan forces at Jinji, if but he would join Rajaram, and how it was his duty to help the Marathas in their attempt to defend the land and the Faith of their forefathers. This appeal did not fail to win over Nagoji Raje who took the first opportunity of deserting the Moslem camp with 5,000 followers and joined the Maratha forces. Thereupon, Khando Ballal decided to persuade even Shirka who still remained in the Mogul’s service. But Shirka grew indignant at the mention of Rajaram’s danger and rejoined:’ What do 1 care, if not only Rajaram, but the whole family of the Bhonslas, are wiped out form this earth? Has not Sambhaji massacred wherever a Shirka was found? Has not the word Shirkan become a synonym for massacre?’ Thereupon Khando Ballal persuasively put in: ‘Listen friend ! what you say is all true. But is it not also true that Sambhaji had three members of my family trampled to death under the feet of elephants? But then the present question is not a family feuds. We are fighting here, not for the elevation of the Bhonslas, or of any other individual or family, but for the defence of the Coinonwealth of the Hindus Shirka could no longer resist this appeal to his national feeling. He forgave and forgot his private wrongs and family feuds, and promised to help Rajaram to escape from the Moguls and rendered most valuable services, when at last Rajaram slipped out of the Mogul lands and re-entered Maharashta in triumph.
Thus not only the generation of Shivaji, but the generations after him, were animated by the same noble spirit of patriotism, the consciousness of continuing the same sacred mission of winning back the political independence of the Hindu Race and defending the Hindu Dharma from the attacks of an alien and barbarous foe. Here freebooters and plunderers could not have obtained success in such a war against such a foe. It was a great moral and national force that braved and nerved and enabled the patriots of the generations to accomplish the deliverance of their country from a danger which no other race in India had been able to withstand.