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The court and the affairs of the Bijapur kingdom were, at this time, in a flourishing state. An ambassador from the Great Mughal had just arrived…After some days of rejoicings and fetes, the ambassador was conducted to the Hall of Audience, where the young King of Bijapur was already seated on his throne…He then told them that the Great Mughal, his master and the sovereign of all India, had sent him to convey his felicitations on the fine and illustrious government of this state, and as their kingdom was so powerful and rich, to ask for their cooperation, so as to increase their glory, which should always be the principal aim of the princes and nobles. It was fortunate that they could now justly undertake an unavoidable war at a time when there were no internal troubles. It was shameful to see the daily successes of Prince Shivaji, who, from being a simple minister of state in this same kingdom of Bijapur [Shivaji was never minister in Bijapur, his father entered service in the state in 1636], had risen today to such high fortune and grandeur that all the other Indian powers trembled before him. He had become master of the best part of this kingdom, namely its coasts and maritime frontiers. He had pillaged and sacked the richest towns of his king, the Mughal; he had taken the strongest places of the country; and no rivers, mountains, or forts, had yet been able to stem the progress of his enterprises and plans. Finally, if these ravages and continual successes were not opposed, he would become the most powerful king in the Orient. It was necessary, therefore, for them to provide the force of 14,000 horse and 10,000 foot, demanded by his master, the Great Mughal, in order to make a determined attack on the coastal towns and other places usurped by him, while the army of the Mughal would march against Shivaji from another side. To finance this war, they could use the amount of the annual tribute, a considerable sum which they were obliged to pay the Mughal.
— ABBÉ CARRÉ