Murarbaji fell in a sortie; with Purandar about to fall, Shivaji agreed to the Treaty of Purandar and gave up 23 forts.
01Murarbaji’s sortie
Dilir Khan’s men took the outer works of Vajragad, the twin of Purandar, and pressed on the lower fort. Murarbaji Deshpande led a sortie with several hundred men straight at the Mughal lines. Sabhasad says Dilir Khan, impressed, offered him a place in Mughal service if he would surrender; Murarbaji refused and fought on until he was shot down. The garrison held the upper fort, but its end was near.
02The treaty
In June 1665 Shivaji went to Jai Singh’s camp and made the Treaty of Purandar. He gave up 23 forts with the land around them, kept 12, and agreed that his son Sambhaji would hold a Mughal mansab. The Italian Niccolao Manucci, then with Jai Singh’s army, and Jai Singh’s own letters describe the meeting. The next year the treaty led Shivaji to Agra, to his confinement by Aurangzeb and to his famous escape.
The low point of Shivaji’s career; within five years he had won back nearly every fort he gave up at Purandar.
