Question

______, the Subhedar of Surat could not put up any resistance to Shivaji Maharaj who obtained plenty of wealth from Surat without bothering the common people.
A. Inayat Khan
B. Shaista Khan
C. Jaisingh
D. Afzalkhan

Answer 1

Hint: Battle of Surat also called Sack of Surat was a land battle near the city of Surat on January 5, 1664. The battle took place between the Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji and Mughal captain. The battle was won by Shivaji and he engaged in plundering Surat’s wealth for six days.

Complete answer: City of Surat was a wealthy and prosperous port city in the times of Mughal empire. It was very useful for the trading of sea routes. Now to understand the plundering of wealth by Shivaji Maharaj it is important to understand the invasion that was initiated by Mughals.
(i)The Shaistakhan invasion in 1660, ravaged the territory of the Shivaji and captured the fort of Chakan. After that, he set up his camp at Lal Mahal in Pune which was very close to Shivaji as he had spent his childhood there. His forces looted the people. All these events led Shivaji to raid Lal Mahal where Shaistakhan lost his fingers and faced humiliation and was shifted to the province of Bengal by Aurangzeb.
(ii)The Surat campaign was a plan by Shivaji to teach Mughals a lesson. Since Surat was an important sea trade port for Mughals with British, Dutch and French factories set up there. A huge revenue was generated by the city of Surat. The Maharaja decided to plunder the wealth of Surat and Inayat Khan, the Subhedar of Surat could not resist or stop the Maharaj. His campaign to Surat was a successful one as he plundered all the wealth without thinking about the common masses. This also came as a huge shock to the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb.
(iii)The Jaisingh invasion was a revenge plan by Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb. In order to put a limit on the activities of Maharaj, he sent one of his powerful Sardar, Jaisingh. He drew a plan to capture the possessions of Maharaja which led to conflicts between the two.
(iv)Afzal Khan was the general of the Adil Shahi Dynasty. He played an important role in expanding the territory of Bijapur Sultanate by conquering Vijayanagar.
Thus the correct answer is option-A.

Note: In the conflicts between Jaising and Maharaja treaty was signed in 1665, known as ‘Treaty of Purandar’. It is an interesting fact that Afzal khan under Bijapur Dynasty was sent to arrest Shivaji. Both the groups were engaged in the conflict and finally, after days Shivaji defeated Afzal Khan.