Battle of Surat
Date5–10 January 1664
Location
Surat, Gujarat, India
Result

Maratha Empire Victory

  • Marathas sacked Surat
Belligerents
Maratha Empire Mughal Empire
Commanders and leaders
Shivaji Inayat Khan

Battle of Surat, also known as the Sack of Surat, was a land battle that took place on 5 January 1664, near the city of Surat, in present-day Gujarat, India, between Shivaji, leader of the fledgling Maratha Confederacy and Inayat Khan, a Mughal commander. The Marathas defeated the Mughal military unit posted at Surat and ransacked the city.

Surat was a wealthy port city used by the Moghals for maritime trade in the Arabian Sea. The city was populated mostly by Hindus, but there were Muslims & others as well; including the officials of the Moghal administration at the city. According to historian James Grant Duff, Surat was attacked by Shivaji on 5 January 1664; the attack was so sudden that the population had no chance to flee, the violent plunder of the Mahratta forces continued for six days & two-thirds of the city was burnt down.[1] The loot was then transferred to Rajgad fort hidden in the Western Ghauts near Poona (Pune).

Background

Shaista Khan, the Moghal nawab, was in the Deccan for more than three years fighting the Marathas, and their financial condition was dire. So to improve his finances, Shivaji planned to attack Surat, a key Moghal administrative centre and a wealthy port town that generated a million rupees in taxes. His aim was to capture and loot the wealthy port city and bring all the loot to his Raigad Fort.[citation needed]

Battle

Movement and clash of forces

Shivaji attacked Surat after demand for the tribute was rejected. The Mughal Chieftain was very surprised by the suddenness of the attack, unwilling to face the Maratha forces, he hid himself in the Fort of Surat.[citation needed]

Surat was under attack for nearly three days, during this time the Maratha Army looted all the wealth from the traders of the Mughal Gujarat Subah and others such as the Portuguese trading centers. The Maratha soldiers took away cash, gold, silver, pearls, rubies, diamonds & emeralds from the houses of rich merchants such as Virji Vora, Haji Zahid Beg, Haji Kasim and others. The business of Mohandas Parekh, the deceased broker of the Dutch East India Company, was spared as he was reputed as a charitable man.[2][3] Similarly, Shivaji did not plunder the houses of the foreign missionaries.[4]

Shivaji had to complete the sacking of Surat before the Mughal administration at Delhi was alerted, and he could not afford to spend much time attacking the English East India Company. Thus, Sir George Oxenden was able to successfully defend the Surat factory, a fortified warehouse-counting house-hostel.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Duff, James Grant (8 April 1873). "History of the Mahrattas".
  2. ^ H. S. Sardesai (2002). Shivaji, the great Maratha. Cosmo Publications. pp. 506–. ISBN 978-81-7755-286-7. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  3. ^ Balkrishna Govind Gokhale (1979). "VII. The Merchant Prince Virji Vora". Surat In The Seventeenth Century. Popular Prakashan. p. 25. ISBN 9788171542208. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  4. ^ H. S. Sardesai (2002). Shivaji, the great Maratha. Cosmo Publications. p. 506. ISBN 978-81-7755-286-7.

21°10′N 72°50′E / 21.167°N 72.833°E / 21.167; 72.833

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