Dakshina digvijaya
Also called: Southern conquest of Shivaji · Topic: The Marathas · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 3 "The Marathas"
Meaning
Dakshina-digvijaya means "conquest of the South". It was Shivaji's campaign after his coronation in 1674. He took the poorly defended lands of present-day northern Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka. These southern lands gave the Marathas strategic depth: a safe area far from the Mughals to fall back to. While in the South, Shivaji also stopped the Dutch from trading Indians as slaves.
Example
In 1677–78 Shivaji took the hill fort of Gingee in present-day Tamil Nadu. Years later, after Aurangzeb took Raigad, Shivaji's son Rajaram fled to Gingee and kept up Maratha resistance from there.
Don't confuse with
- Samudragupta's southern campaign: In the 4th century CE, Samudragupta defeated southern kings and then gave their kingdoms back. Shivaji held on to his southern conquests.