Siege of Ramsej: Aurangzeb was frustrated for years

Just two years after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj died, Aurangzeb himself arrived in the Deccan. It had been his lifelong dream to extend the Mughal empire deep into the south, by finishing off the kingdoms of the Deccan.

Aurangzeb’s army had over five lakh soldiers and his military camp looked like a small city. In contrast, the Marathas would field their largest army nearly a century later – and it would still be just a third of the Mughal army which had descended on the Sahyadris. So, Aurangzeb believed it would be short work and hence decided to begin his campaign by attacking a not so large fort called Ramsej. After all, his father – Shah Jahan – had also begun his Deccan campaign by attacking Ramsej Fort. The forts in the Nashik – Baglan region had then fallen like ninepins and before long the Mughal sway had extended to Kalyan. An entire dynasty – the Nizamshahi – had disappeared in the fray. Aurangzeb perhaps believed the fort was a lucky talisman for the Timurids. There were some practical reasons: the fort guarded important trade routes; it was just seven miles from Nashik and about 3,000 feet from sea level, it was a good thousand feet less than the famous forts of Rajgad and Torna. What’s more, it was nearly half the height of the tallest hill fort – Salher, which is close by. An easy target thought Aurangzeb. 

The Mughals began their campaign by attacking Ramsej in April 1682. Shahabuddin Khan laid siege to it, accompanied by Hayat Khan and Dalpat Rao. Their numbers were in excess of many thousands. The fort meanwhile was being defended by a few hundred Maratha soldiers.  Moreover, the Mughal army had brought with it large and heavy cannons and other paraphernalia of the imperial army. But the small Maratha contingent resolutely defended the fort, not allowing any breach to happen. In fact, according to a contemporary account by Kafi Khan, the Marathas did not have cannons on the fort. Instead, they fashioned guns out of logs of wood and used ‘cannonballs’ fashioned out of animal hide. These, along with stones etc, caused considerable damage. 

At the same time, Chhatrapati Sambhaji was not oblivious to the ongoing battle. Hambirrao Mohite himself led a force to attack the Mughals and distract them from the siege. Rupaji Bhosale and Manaji More also attacked Shahabuddin Khan’s army at a nearby village called Ganeshgaon. 

The killedar of Ramsej was fighting for Swarajya. The memory of Chhatrapati Shivaji and his ideals was very much alive. An important facet of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s planning – building forts in pairs – also had a positive effect. The nearby fort of Trimbak provided men and supplies to Ramsej.  

Four months into the siege, one Mughal commander named Qasim Khan tried to enter the fort via a tower which had finally broken amidst all the shelling. He was found out though, and his attack repulsed with a huge number of his soldiers being wounded or killed. 

Nearly half a year had passed, but Ramsej remained in Maratha hands though it was expected that the fort would fall in a few days. Aurangzeb recalled Shahabuddin Khan and instead sent Khan e Jahan Bahadur to continue the tiring siege. This Mughal Sardar, wanting to upstage Shahabuddin Khan, declared that he would make short work of the Marathas. He was none other than Bahadur Khan Kokaltash, one of Aurangzeb’s most senior commanders.

But the old story continued. The handful of Maratha soldiers once again resolutely defended the fort. Stones, boulders and even burning rolls of cloth, liberally wetted in oil, were used as weapons by the soldiers of Ramsej. At the same time, like in so many other cases, Maratha spies were doing an excellent job of tracking the movements of Mughal soldiers. Bahadur Khan Kokaltash’s well thought out plans of breaching the fort defences by using secret routes were hence undone. In a few months, even Khan e Jahan Bahadur was withdrawn from the siege. Moreover, Aurangzeb asked him to pay Rs 37,000 into the royal treasury, since he had promised results and had been allocated that amount to achieve it. The Mughals suffered considerable damage to men and resources as a result of this siege. Many stout wooden logs, brought by Bahadur Khan Kokaltash to build machaans and mount guns on, were set on fire by him when asked to retreat by Aurangzeb. 

When news of the Maratha victory at Ramsej reached Chhatrapati Sambhaji, his joy knew no bounds. The killedar was presented with a robe of honour and a dagger. He was also transferred to a bigger fort. Unfortunately, neither the Jedhe Shakavli nor Kafi Khan’s account or any other contemporary source have provided us with his name. Finally, it was only in late 1688 that the fort finally went to the Mughals. A local zamindar called Abdul Karim got the killedar of nearby  Mulher – Neknam Khan to bribe the killedar of Ramsej.  The fort was simply purchased from its killedar. Even Mulher too had been captured by similar means. But in this too there was a Mughal defeat. The Marathas had simply sold the fort since it was no longer financially viable to continue defending it. The money thus accrued kept the flame burning elsewhere.  

And Ramsej thus set a pattern for the Maratha-Mughal war. It is interesting to note, that between two forts, Ramsej near Nashik and Gingee in Tamil Nadu, a staggering fourteen years of the war had been used up. Six in finally getting hold of Ramsej and eight in that far away fort in the south. 

The writer is the author of Brahmaputra -- Story of Lachit Borphukan and Sahyadris to Hindukush -- Maratha Conquest of Lahore and Attock. Views are personal.