After nearly two months and a mine that breached the wall, the small fort was surrendered on terms; the Mughals paid heavily for it.
01A small fort on the plain
Aurangzeb sent his maternal uncle Shaista Khan to the Deccan with orders to crush Shivaji, who was then shut up by Siddi Jauhar in Panhala. Shaista Khan took Pune in May 1660 and moved on Chakan, a square fort on the open plain north of the city with a ditch around it. Its commander Firangoji Narsala had only a few hundred men. The Mughals dug trenches, brought up guns and began to mine. The defenders made night sallies against the trenches and kept the attackers at a distance for weeks.
02The mine and the surrender
In mid-August a mine was fired under one bastion and brought it down. The Mughals stormed the breach, but the garrison fought them from an inner earthwork through the night, and the attackers lost many men. Seeing no relief, Firangoji gave up the fort on terms the next day. Jadunath Sarkar, using the Mughal records, notes how costly the siege was. Shaista Khan honoured the defender’s courage and offered him service; Firangoji refused, went back to Shivaji, and was given charge of another fort.
Chakan showed the Mughals what every Maratha fort would cost them, and Shaista Khan settled into Pune instead of pressing on; Shivaji’s night raid on him there came in 1663.