Shivaji's finances were desperate. His Maratha forces had been fighting the Mughal nawab Shaista Khan across the Deccan for more than three years, and the campaign had drained his treasury. Surat offered a solution that was elegant in its brutality: the city generated a million rupees annually in taxes and housed some of the richest merchants in the Mughal Empire. Through the rainy season of 1663, Shivaji's spies surveyed the northern Mughal territories between Pune and Burhanpur, mapping weaknesses. Surat had a castle on the river Tapti, but the city itself had poor defenses. Shivaji positioned military camps near Danda Rajpuri, Pen, and Nashik, disguising his troop movements as operations against the Siddi and the Portuguese. He departed Nashik and led his forces through a circuitous route, uniting all detachments near Gandevi, 28 miles south of the target.

News of Shivaji's approach struck Surat with fear. Through special agents, Shivaji conveyed his demands to Governor Inayat Khan and the city's prominent merchants: Haji Zahid Beg, Virji Vora, and Haji Qasim were to present themselves at the Maratha camp with substantial tribute. Inayat Khan, his nobles, and the city's elite chose the castle walls over negotiation, leaving ordinary residents to fend for themselves. After two days of deliberation, the governor sent a young officer to assassinate Shivaji under the pretense of negotiating surrender. The officer attacked with a dagger inside Shivaji's tent, but a Maratha guardsman severed the assassin's hand before the blade found its mark. A rumor that Shivaji had been killed swept through the camp, threatening to ignite uncontrolled violence. To restore order and send a message, Shivaji ordered four Mughal prisoners beheaded and the hands of twenty-four others amputated. Then he ordered a general sack of the city.

The Maratha army moved systematically through Surat's wealthy quarters. Soldiers stripped the houses of Virji Vora, Haji Zahid Beg, and Haji Kasim of cash, gold, silver, pearls, rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. Those who failed to produce adequate tribute suffered mutilation -- one or sometimes two hands chopped off. Not everyone was treated equally. The business of Mohandas Parekh, the deceased broker of the Dutch East India Company, was spared because he had been known as a charitable man. Shivaji left the foreign missionaries untouched. An Englishman named Anthony Smith, captured while traveling alone from Surwali, was ransomed for 300 rupees. The English factory factors refused to readmit Smith afterward, sending him back to Shivaji as a servant. When the Marathas attempted to burn the ward around the English factory, a skirmish led by Gerald Aungier drove them back, and Shivaji decided the English were not worth the trouble.

Shivaji departed Surat as swiftly as he had arrived, having learned that a Mughal force was approaching under the viceroy Mahabat Khan. He left behind heaps of clothing and household articles for the town's residents -- the bulk was too heavy to carry -- but the gold, silver, and gems traveled with him. The plunder was estimated to exceed a crore of rupees, a fortune that funded the fortification of Raigad, Shivaji's capital, and the construction of the water fortress of Sindhudurg at Malwan. When Inayat Khan finally emerged from Surat Castle, an angry mob hurled dirt at him. His son, in a fit of misplaced vengeance, shot a Baniya boy with an arrow. Emperor Aurangzeb waived customs duties for a year to help Surat's merchants recover, and the English and Dutch received a reduction from 2.5% to 2%. Shivaji's true aim extended beyond a single raid: he would continue threatening Surat with further plunder unless Aurangzeb granted him chauth, 40% of the district's annual revenues. When the emperor refused, Shivaji returned for a second sack in 1670.