How we won Kondana (Sinhagad) - Part 1 (antecedents)

The treaty of Purandar that Shivaji Raje was forced to sign with Mirza Raje Jai Singh in 1665 still hurts. Shivaji Raje had to surrender 23 vital forts to the Mughals.
We are in 1670 now. It has been five long years since the treaty and four years since Raje Shivaji and Sambhaji escaped from Agra where they were treated with utter humiliation by Aurangzeb in his court and were later put under house arrest, almost certainly to be put to death. Even though Raje does not say anything, we know that he is desperate to assert his influence in the Deccani region. Raje realises that to regain control over the Deccan and further the cause of Hindavi Swarajya, it is imperative that we capture Kondana because it is strategically located between Rajgad, Purandar and Torna. We had controlled the fort from 1650 to 1660 and had strengthened it to the extent that it is now genenrally recognised as virtually impossible to win by force.
In the past two months, Raje has had several meetings with his top generals, including Tanaji and Suryaji Malusare and Shelar mama. Raje has also gone to confer with Samarth Ramdas a number of times in the past months. There are reports of Tanaji gaining clandestine entry into the main fort precinct, incognito of course. He went dressed as a Gondhali (devotee of the Goddess Bhavani of Tuljapur) and was allowed free access to the villages surrounding Kondana. We have heard that he has won the trust of Mahadev Koli who is in the service of Udai Bhan. It is also rumored that Koli presented Tanaji (as a Gondhali) to Udai Bhan, who was suitably impressed by this "devotee" and allowed him free access to the fort.
Tanaji says that it will be foolhardy to attack the fort from the three sides where the well fortified and continuously manned turrets are. The fourth side has a turret overhanging a sheer cliff. Because of the sheet un-scalability of this cliff, the overhanging turret is very lightly guarded. We know from Tanaji that Udai Bhan has nightly parties with nearly all his 5000 troops, where alcohol is freely consumed. If the attack is to take place, it will happen on a moonless night from the cliff-side.
I can sense it, smell it in the air, in the chirping of the birds, in the nervous excitement of my comerades...war is in the offing. Kondana will be ours once again.