Nov.) In addition to the inferior size and build of their ships, the Marathas on land and sea alike were very weak in artillery and, therefore, powerless against European ships of war.
In February 1665, Shivaji's fleet of 85 frigates* [1]and three large ships conveyed his army to Basrur for the plunder of South Kanara. (F. R. Surat, 104. Karwar to Surat, 14 March ; Sabh. 70; Chit. 69-70.)
He had very early begun to plunder Mughal ships, especially those conveying pilgrims for Mecca from the port of Surat (called Dar-ul-hajj, "the City of Pilgrimage.") The Emperor had no fleet of his own in the Indian Ocean able to cope with the Marathas. Early in 1665 Jai Singh opened his campaign, and, in accordance with his policy of combining all possible enemies against Shivaji, wrote to the Siddi to enter into an alliance with the Mughals. (Haft Anj., Benares MS., 78a.) Late in the same year, when Jai Singh was about to begin the invasion of Bijapur, he invited these Abyssinians to join the Mughal force, promising them mansabs.†[2]
- ↑ * Duff (i. 20 In) suggests that by the term frigates were probably meant small vessels with one mast, from 30 to 150 tons burden, common on the Malabar coast.
- ↑ † A Siddi Sambal fought on the Mughal side during the invasion of Bijapur in 1666. (A. N. 1012.) The informal connection thus established between the Emperor and the Siddis continued, as we find that during Shivaji's siege of Janjira in 1669, Aurangzib wrote to him commanding him to withdraw from the attempt. (Bombay to Surat, dated 16 Oct., 1669, F. R. Surat, Vol. 105.)
