Page:Shivaji and His Times.djvu/44

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SHIVAJI.
[CH. II.


history of the Deccan (Pad. I. A. 362.) The Junnar or North Puna tract was the scene of frequent Mughal invasions in 1634-'36. During Khan-i-Zaman's campaign against Shahji (July — October 1636), he penetrated to Puna, but there was probably nothing left for him to plunder or burn there. During the dissolution of the Ahmadnagar sultanate, a revenue farmer (deshpande) named Moro Tandev, "a proud rebel, well acquainted with the country round the Bhima, had raised a tumult and seized the neighbourhood of Puna. These disorders had devastated the whole kingdom from Ahmadnagar to the boundary of Wai and Shirwal." (T. S. 8a.)

The desolation caused by man preying on his species favoured the growth of wild beasts. The Puna district, especially the Sahyadri hill-side forming its western border, was now infested by large numbers of wolves, which thinned the population and hindered cultivation. Dadaji Kond-dev offered rewards to the hillmen for killing the wolves and thus cleared the whole tract of these pests in a short time. He conciliated the hillmen and tempted them to settle in the valleys and extend cultivation by offering very liberal terms. Leases were granted to the effect that the new tenants should pay a rent of only Re. 1 in the first year, Rs. 3 in the second, Rs. 6 in the third, Rs. 9 in the fourth, Rs. 10 in the fifth, Rs. 20 in the sixth and the same rate as the older tenants from the 7th year onwards. Thus the whole country was brought under tillage. M (T. S. 9a; Dig. 113;