When Shivaji plundered the Mughal territory in South India several times, his attention turned to Karnataka. Agriculture and a variety of industries flourished in Karnataka for four centuries without Muslim invasions. Because of this the people there were very prosperous and peaceful. At this time some zamindars and big jagirdars ruled Karnataka who did not have the capacity to face any large army. When Alauddin Khilji campaigned on Karnataka in the early 13th century, the last plundering took place in the Karnataka region. Since then no one had looted this area. So Shivaji decided to campaign on Karnataka so that the expenditure of his armies could be met. Shivaji wanted to go through Hyderabad, the plateau of the Krishna river, Gingee and Valor to Madras, located in the coastal region of the Bay of Bengal. The expedition was estimated to take one year, but there were many dangers in leaving the state and going this far for a long period.
Bribery to Bahadur Khan
At this time Aurangzeb was busy in suppressing the rebellion of Punjab but the Mughal Subedar Bahadur Khan of the South was still in the south which could hinder Shivaji's campaign. Although Shivaji had robbed Bahadur Khan many times, yet this time Shivaji decided to make Bahadur Khan in his favor by paying a hefty bribe. Bahadur Khan gladly accepted this bribe. He saw this as his victory over Shivaji.
The chaos of Bijapur
In Shivaji's Carnatic campaign, Bijapur could also be disturbed. Due to the death of the Shah of Bijapur, his minor son was made Sultan, but the ministers of Bijapur were busy in conspiracies against each other and due to these conspiracies, the Prime Minister of Bijapur Khawas Khan was assassinated. Due to this the possibility of threat from Bijapur side was negligible. A large part of the area through which Shivaji had to pass for the Carnatic campaign was located in the jagir of Shivaji's late father Shahaji Bhonsle. This jagir was at this time in the possession of the vassal of Bijapur state and Shivaji's half-brother Vyankoji. There was little chance of danger from his side.
Arrival of Raghunath Narayan to Shivaji
After the death of Shahaji Bhonsle, Shivaji's half-brother Vyankoji became the lord of the jagir of Karnataka. Shivaji had no objection to this, but Vyankoji removed his minister Raghunath Narayan Hanumante from his service. Raghunath Narayan came to Shivaji and began to instigate Shivaji that Shivaji should ask for half of his late father's jagir. Shivaji found this suggestion appropriate because if Shivaji gets half his father's jagir, then he will have no difficulty in reaching Madras because then that area will be included in Shivaji's kingdom.
Madanna and Akanna Brahmins
A small part of Shivaji's route was situated under the kingdom of Qutub Shah of Golconda. Shivaji wanted Shivaji to be allowed to pass through the Qutub Shah-held Karnataka. Abdul Hasan Qutb Shah was on the throne from 21 April 1672 in Golconda and a Brahmin named Madanna was its prime minister. Madanna and his brother Akanna were at this time all over the kingdom of Golconda. Shivaji sent Neeraji Pant as his messenger to Prime Minister Madanna so that through him a treaty could be made with Qutub Shah and Shivaji himself could meet Qutub Shah. Madanna persuaded Qutb Shah to meet Shivaji.
Qutub Shah's panic
Qutb Shah wanted to meet Shivaji but was also nervous because he had heard many stories about Shivaji that he was capable of doing anything in the blink of an eye. On the persuasion of Shivaji's representatives Niraj Rao and Madanna, Qutb Shah agreed. In January 1677, Shivaji left for Hyderabad with 50 thousand soldiers. He gave strict orders to the soldiers not to plunder any village on the way and not to oppress the subjects, otherwise they would be given death sentence by Shivaji.
Welcome to Shivaji in Hyderabad
In Hyderabad, Qutb Shah and the townspeople gave a warm welcome to Shivaji. Reception gates were made for him from place to place. When Shivaji passed through the streets of Hyderabad with his army, thousands of men and women gathered on both sides of the road and on the roofs of the houses to see him. They wanted to see with their own eyes the Shivaji who had killed the mighty Afzal Khan and badly injured Shaista Khan in the blink of an eye. A miraculous king was passing through the road in front of their eyes who had refused to offer Mujra to Adilshah and Aurangzeb and mysteriously disappeared from Aurangzeb's captivity. Shivaji was seen as a friend in Hyderabad and slogans of Shivaji Amar Rahein were raised by the public. Hindu women performed her aarti from place to place and showered flowers on her. Shivaji also showered immense wealth on the people of Hyderabad. In the palace of Hyderabad, Qutb Shah himself came forward and welcomed Shivaji and took him to his palace and greeted him with paan and perfume. All the ministers of Qutub Shah were present on this occasion. The next day the mother of Madanna, the Prime Minister of Golconda, prepared food for Shivaji with her own hands and served it to Shivaji herself. On this occasion Madanna and his brother Akanna were present there. There were many meetings between Qutb Shah and Shivaji and Qutb Shah got confidence in Shivaji. He told his ministers that whatever Shivaji asked for, should be given.
Treaty with Qutbshah
A secret agreement was also signed between Shivaji and Qutb Shah with the help of Prime Minister Madanna, according to which Shivaji was to give half of the money received in the loot of Karnataka to Qutb Shah. In return, Qutb Shah provided financial and military assistance to Shivaji in this campaign. Meanwhile, the soldiers of Shivaji continued to win the hearts of the people by showing courageous feats in the city of Hyderabad.
Bathing and charity in Chakratirth
After about a month of hospitality and military preparations, Shivaji left for the Carnatic conquest. He collected a donation of 5000 hon from Kurnool Nagar before the Krishna river and instructed the army to camp at Anantapur. Shivaji took some of his soldiers along with him to take a bath in the confluence of the Krishna and Bhavnashi rivers. He bathed in the vortex of Chakratirth, performed charity and performed religious rituals. From Sangam went to Shivaji Shail Shrine.
Ten days in the service of Mallikarjuna Jyotirling
The Krishna River turns east before merging with the sea and makes a sharp arc northwards, flowing in a wide and steep ravine about 300 meters deep, about 100 km from Kurnool. Here in the middle of the uninhabited Nalla-Mala forest surrounded by a belt of hills and deserted fever-ridden land, there is a plateau about 525 meters high above the river, where is the most ancient and famous Sri Shail Shiva temple of South India in which Jyotirlinga named Mallikarjuna is situated. It is one of the famous Dwadash Jyotirlingas in India. In those days, there used to be a grand gate called Kailas on this plateau, as soon as you enter through this gate, the temple's wall was visible. The walls of this wall were 20 to 25 feet high and very thick. Inside this wall there was a rectangular space 660 feet long and 510 feet wide in which the temple of Mallikarjuna was located. Maharaja Krishnadev of Vijayanagar had installed gilded brass plates on this temple. Scenes from the Puranas and epics were engraved on the walls of this temple. There is a temple of Parvati here. The queen of Krishnadev had built stone stairs from this temple to the circle of Krishna river, this circle is called Patal Ganga. These stairs go further up to the Panjh named Nilgarh. It is also considered very sacred. Shivaji spent ten days on this plateau. He provided sufficient funds to Lord Ganesha by appointing officers for the construction of a ghat, a monastery and a dharamsala here. Shivaji fed one lakh Brahmins in this pilgrimage and donated a lot of money to them.
Right on Gingee Fortress
After descending from the plateau of Krishna, Shivaji again reached Anantapur and from there with his army through Kadapa, Tirupati and Kalahasti reached Gingee fort near Madras. Jinji was in possession of Bijapur. When his fortification heard the name of Shivaji, he dedicated the fort to Shivaji without fighting. Madras used to be a very small town in those days. It would be fair to call it a fishermen's settlement. The British had built a fort called St. George Fort near Madras. Shivaji did not want to engage in war with the British, so he decided to lay siege on Vellore instead of St. George Fort, where a Muslim vassal had authority.
Circle on Vellore
Shivaji laid siege to Vellore fort by making proper arrangements for the security of Jinji fort. This fort was extremely inaccessible and it was estimated that it would take a long time to capture it. Therefore, Shivaji instructed one part of his army to sit around the fort and with the other part, Sher Khan went to fight with Lodhi. Sher Khan was once a feudatory of Bijapur, but Bijapur became independent by taking advantage of the weakness of the state. Sher Khan came with a huge army to fight Shivaji. There was a war between the two sides at a place called Tiruvadi. Shivaji broke the spirits of Sher Khan by fighting small battles for several days. In the end Sher Khan agreed to pay 20 thousand hon to compensate for the war. Shivaji accepted his offer but Sher Khan did not have enough skills. So he took his son hostage to Shivaji. In the year 1678, Sher Khan freed his son by giving full money to Shivaji.
Conquest of the region from Tungabhadra to Kaveri
In no time, the Karnataka region from Tungabhadra to Kaveri came under direct control of Shivaji. Shivaji called thousands of qualified persons from Maharashtra and handed over the revenue and military administration of Karnataka to them. Today, even after three and a half hundred years have passed, Marathi families are seen residing in this entire area, these families are the descendants of the same Maharashtrians.
Meeting with Wynkozy
After dealing with Sher Khan, Shivaji made a program to get the ancestral property divided by meeting with Vyankoji. He moved towards Tanjore with his army and camped near the Kolerun river. A notification was sent to Vyankozy. He came after several weeks to pay his respects to Shivaji. He was accompanied by a detachment of his acolytes and bodyguards. Shivaji proposed to him that by dividing the ancestral property, there should be harmony in the family. Vyankozy was not ready to split. Efforts were made to convince him for several days but he kept refusing and finally one day after getting the opportunity he ran towards the river and there by making a boat with the help of logs, crossed the river and succeeded in reaching his capital. Shivaji took his followers captive, but knowing them as the servant of his father and brother, gave them new clothes with respect and freed them. Shivaji sent a letter to Vyankoji that the division of ancestral property is just in every way, but Vyankoji did not reply to this letter.
Campaign End
Shivaji could have attacked Vyankoji also if he wanted, but he considered it inappropriate. It had been more than ten months since Shivaji had left his capital. The Karnataka campaign was almost over. So Shivaji decided to return. On the way, he took some parts of his father's jagir in his possession and made it sit in his police station. When Shivaji went further, Vyankoji attacked those police stations but Vyankoji could not take those areas under his control. Shivaji wrote a strong letter warning Vyunkoji that instead of dividing the ancestral property, you along with the Muslims have tried to humiliate your own brother. Your efforts will never be successful because by the grace of God I have let down my enemies till now and I am engaged in the work of establishing the Hindu state. You should help me in this work.
Deepabai's agreement with Shivaji
Vyankoji's queen Deepabai was a wise woman. He reprimanded Vyankoji for disobeying his brother and advised him to make a treaty with Shivaji through his minister Raghunath Pandit. Also expel from your state the Muslim counselors who incite you against your own brother. Vyankoji accepted the advice of his queen and made a treaty with Shivaji by sending Raghunath Pandit to Shivaji. This ended the dispute between the two brothers. For this act of Deepabai, Shivaji gave her a big Jagir award in Karnataka and praised the wise woman very much.
Diler Khan's invasion of Hyderabad
जब शिवाजी हैदराबाद से चलकर कर्नाटक पहुंच गया तब मुगल सूबेदार दिलेर खाँ ने कुतुब खाँ को दण्डित करने के लिए हैदराबाद पर आक्रमण किया। शिवाजी से भेंट करने के बाद प्रधानमंत्री मदन्ना उत्साह से भरा हुआ था। उसे विश्वास हो गया था कि हिन्दू तेज के समक्ष मुसलमानों की शक्ति कुछ भी नहीं है। इसलिए उसने दिलेर खाँ में कसकर मार लगाई। मुगल सूबेदार को अपनी हार पर दुःख से अधिक, आश्चर्य हुआ। वह हैदराबाद से भाग खड़ा हुआ।
शिवाजी की सेना द्वारा औरंगाबाद क्षेत्र में लूट
शिवाजी अभी कर्नाटक में था कि उसे दिलेर खाँ के हैदराबाद पर आक्रमण करने की सूचना मिली। शिवाजी ने अपने संदेश वाहकों के माध्यम से अपने सामंतों और जागीरदारों को आदेश भिजवाए कि दिलेर खाँ की प्रगति को रोकने के लिए गोदावरी से लेकर औरंगाबाद तक के मुगल क्षेत्रों पर धावे मारें और पूरी तरह उजाड़ दें। शिवाजी के सामंतों ने ऐसा ही किया। इससे दिलेर खाँ बुरी तरह मुसीबत में फंस गया। एक तरफ तो मदन्ना उसे मार रहा था और दूसरी तरफ मराठों ने धावे मारने शुरु कर दिए थे। उसके लिए शिवाजी को समझ पाना संभव नहीं था।
औरंगजेब की चिंता और मुअज्जम का आगमन
मुगलों के लिए दक्षिण एक बड़ी चुनौती बन गया था। वह बार-बार सूबेदारों को बदल रहा था किंतु कुछ भी परिणाम सामने नहीं आ रहा था। उसने एक बार फिर से शहजादे मुअज्जम को दक्षिण का सूबेदार नियुक्त किया। फरवरी 1679 में मुअज्जम औरंगाबाद पहुंच गया।