Why did Siddi Johar commit suicide after leaving Panhala?

After the killing of Afzal Khan, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj conquered one by one fort from Pratapgarh to Kolhapur and increased the Hindu Swaraj. Ali Adilshah started thinking about what can be done to stop the growing Swaraj of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The way Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is expanding his empire by killing a strong chieftain like Afzal Khan and not resting on him, he will soon attack Bijapur too and end his empire.

Therefore, to prevent Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj or to settle him, Siddi Johar, who was once a slave of one of Ali Adil Shah's chieftains, became a Subhedar of Kurnool on his merits.

Due to the recent massacre of Afzal Khan, no Adilshahi chieftain was ready to go against Chhatrapati Shivarai. Seeing the responsibility taken by Siddi Johar in such a situation, Ali Adilshah now became a bit optimistic. He entered Swarajya with an army of around 30,000 to 40,000.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj got the news that Siddi Johar was coming with a large force to attack Swarajya. So Shivaji Maharaj came to Panhala to stop him. So that Siddi Johar can be kicked out.

But Siddi Johar also came fully prepared for Swarajya. On getting the news that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was in Panhala, he besieged Panhala with a large army of noble chieftains and soldiers. This siege was so strong that no one could go to the fort because the fort was coming down.

Siddi Jauhar besieged Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj when he was in Panhala and made his condition worse. It was difficult to hold Panhala fort against a huge army. All efforts to raise the very strong siege failed and Sarte finally decided to confront Jauhar. But instead of directly confronting Jauhar's large army, they planned to escape by giving Johar anesthesia and decided to face Jauhar from Vishalgada with renewed vigor.

The Battle of Pawankhindi is considered to be one of the most important battles in Marathi history. This battle took place on the night of 12th July i.e. 13th July 1660 at Pawankhind or Ghodhkhind near Vishalgad.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was marching towards Vishalgad after escaping from the siege of Panhala but the Adilshahi army got his clue and the Adilshahi army started chasing after Shivaji Maharaj.

When Shivaji Raje and his companions reached Ghodkhindi, the Bandal army and Baji Prabhu Deshpande would fight this pass and hold the enemy there if Shivaji Maharaj did not reach the fort. The mission was successful, Maharaj was successfully rescued from Panhala.

But another crisis hit Swarajya. Shahistekhan came to Swarajya with an army of about sixty thousand. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj made a treaty and agreed to give Panhala to Siddi Johar. But he should not set his sights on self-government until Shahistekhan is settled. On March 2, 1660, Sia laid siege to Panhala.

Even after four months, the fort was not captured. Siddi Jauhar approved this treaty as Ali Adil Shah would be happy to hear that Panhala was captured after four months. And captured Panhala with great pride, he hoisted the sign of Adilshahi on Panhala.

And this news was given to the new king of Adilshah. But this emperor turned out to be extremely skeptical. He instead opened the ear of Siddi Johar and accused him of taking the fort by paying Shivaji Maharaj. He gave harsh words to Shivaji Maharaj saying that you should settle before Shivaji Maharaj.

Siddi Johar was very angry about this. He had no idea that his integrity would be repaid like this. He could not bear the harsh words uttered by the Adishahi emperor.

Without informing Ali Adil Shah, he left Panhala and returned to Kurnul. Seeing this behavior of Siddi Johar, Badshah got more angry. Sia's behavior made him more suspicious.

In order to prove Siddi Johar's innocence, he wrote to Ali Adil Shah and told the whole truth. Siddi Johar was hurt by the suspicions cast on him, so he committed suicide by consuming poison. Ali Adilshah realized his mistake but it was too late.