Death of the ruler of Golconda
Abdullah Qutb Shah, the ruler of Golconda died on 21 April 1672 and Abul Hasan Qutb Shah was succeeded by the Sultan of Golconda. He was influenced by the Sufis and did not accept the bigotry of Sunni Muslims as justified. He appointed Hindu ministers and officials equally in his kingdom. Its prime minister was Adanna, a Brahmin.
Death of the ruler of Bijapur
Ali Adilshah, the ruler of Bijapur, died on 24 November 1672 and a 4-year-old boy, Sikandar Adil Shah, became the new Sultan of Bijapur. Due to this the Amir and Subedar of Bijapur got entangled in mutual discord.
Shivaji's job easy
The death of the old rulers in Golconda and Bijapur made Shivaji's job easier. Shivaji treated Qutub Shah in a friendly manner throughout his life due to the good treatment of the Hindus by Qutb Shah.
Shivaji's right over Panhala Fort
When Jai Singh had come to take action against Shivaji, Siddi Jauhar had captured Panhala fort. Since then this fort was under the control of Bijapur. Shivaji decided to retake the Panhala fort and entrusted this task to Annaji Datto by preparing a new army at Rajapur. Appointed Kaundaji Rawlekar as his assistant. Both these generals raided the Panhala fort by guerrilla method. Kaundaji changed his disguise and entered the fort during the night and made some soldiers of Bijapur in his favor by giving money. In the night itself, Annaji Datto, along with 50-60 soldiers of his chosen, climbed the fort with the help of a rope. Kondaji's men opened the gate of the fort, allowing the Maratha army hiding nearby to enter. This army killed the main guard of the fort and many of his soldiers in their sleep. The remaining soldiers fled. The fort was occupied by the Marathas. Some soldiers also caught their hands, who were caught and discovered the hidden treasure in the fort. After reaching the fort, Shivaji took the treasure in his possession and appointed his soldiers on the fort.
Prataprao Gujar cheated by Bahlol Khan
When Khawas Khan, the Wazir of Bijapur, got the news of the loss of Panhala fort, he sent a large army under the leadership of Bahlol Khan against Shivaji. On this, Shivaji instructed his general Prataprao Gujar to finish Bahlol Khan by stopping him on the way. Prataprao went in front of Bahlol Khan with a large army of Marathas and started killing Bahlol Khan's army by besieging him from all sides using guerrilla method. The Bijapuris were killed and hundreds of soldiers were killed. Their logistics were cut off due to which the soldiers and horses started starving. On this, Bahlol Khan made a compassionate call before Prataprao that his life should be spared and the soldiers of Bijapur should be allowed to return alive. Prataprao melted and allowed the Bijapur army to return. When the Bijapur army returned, the Marathas took rest in their camp. Bahlol Khan turned out to be a fraud. After going some distance, he returned from the road and attacked the sleeping Maratha army. Many Maratha soldiers were killed and the rest had to escape to save their lives.
Prataprao's Sacrifice
When Shivaji came to know about this incident, he wrote a letter to Prataprao and reprimanded him that there is no need to return till Bahlol Khan is defeated. Instead of going after Bahlol, Prataprao planned to attack Hubli, the prosperous city of Bijapur so that Bahlol Khan would return on his own. When Bahlol Khan got this news, instead of going to Bijapur, he turned towards Hubli. On the way, Sharja Khan also came with his army. Prataprao was burning in the fire of deceit committed by the enemy and humiliation done by Swami. He wanted to take revenge by any means. On 24 February 1674, he was informed by the spies about the presence of Bahlol Khan at one place. Prataprao, without thinking about the chase, took his 7-8 bodyguards along with him and went to kill Bahlol Khan. At that time the entire army was with Bahlol Khan. They cut Prataprao and his bodyguards like carrots and radishes. Prataprao's assistant Anandrao was following behind with the Maratha army. When he came to know about Prataprao's sacrifice, he ran to kill Bahlol Khan with an army, but Bahlol Khan fled after saving his life. Anandrao robbed Bahlol Khan's home town Sampgaon and returned with one and a half lakh hon. When Shivaji came to know about Prataprao's sacrifice, he blamed himself for it and got Prataprao's daughter married to his son Rajaram to console his family.