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344 river, 10 miles due north of Tanjore. Here an envoy from Chokka-natha, the ruler of Madura, the chief ally of Vyankoji, waited upon Shivaji, who demanded from him one k rore of Rupees " for the present, for his expenses," arguing that the Nayak bore the sign of being worth nine krores. The envoy "answered that part of his master's country the Nayak of Mysore had taken and part Vyankoji, and that if he (Shiva) would restore him the said country, the Nayak of Madura would give him seven lakhs. The Nayak sent all his family away from Chartanapalli (Trichinopoly), where they were before, to Madura [for safety]; and while the river Kolerun remained full he feared nothing [from the Marathas.] " (Letter to Governor of Madras, 16 July 1677.) But shortly afterwards Raghunath Pant came from Maharashtra and was cordially welcomed by Shivaji, who then sent him to Madura with the Nayak's envoy to settle the amount of the blackmail by negotiation. The Nayak agreed to pay six lakhs of hurt, out of which 1½ lakhs were delivered immediately, and Shivaji promised to retire with his army. (Nellor Ramana to Madras, 16 July.)

In the meantime, messages had been passing between Shivaji and his half-brother Vyankoji for a meeting.* At Shivaji's request, the Rajah of