
Shivaji 18th century saw the decline and disintegration of the Mughal Empire. Mughal Empire declined rapidly after the death of Aurangzeb as his policies put a damaging effect on the stability of the Mughal Empire and the later Mughals were incompetent and did not have the skill that were needed to keep the system in working order. They let the affairs drift in their own way. Thus many independent states came into existent in north and south India. Marathas of Maharashtra were most powerful among them. They had revolted against Aurangzeb under the leadership of Shivaji. After Shivaji’s death, Aurangzeb tried his best to suppress the revolt of the Marathas for 25 continuous years but he could not succeed in his efforts. After his death Marathas kept on increasing their power and has established many independent states. There were many reasons behind their rise to power. First Maharashtra’s geographical features had made the native people very brave, hardworking, struggle lover and well trained in guerrilla warfare. They were influenced by the Hindu state of Vijaynagar. Wars of south between Mughals and Shiyaas provided enough time to the Marathas to increase their power. Shivaji’s personality had a lasting effect on his people.

Childhood Shivaji was born on April 20th, 1627 in the Shivnaur fort located in the north of the famous town of Puna. His father Shahji Bhosle was a feudal lord in the Bijapur Sultanate. His mother was Jijabai who was related to the Yadavs. Three personalities had an everlasting effect on the personality of Shivaji. First was Shivaji’s own mother who had taught him stories from the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Stories of the Hindu warriors had created feeling of bravery and patriotism in his heart. Shivaji’s regent Dadaji Kond Dev too had an everlasting effect on his personality. He taught him house riding, close combating, guerrilla warfare and managing the administration. Famous religious leader of Maharashtra, Ramdas, also influenced Shivaji for the establishment of an independent Hindu state. He was Shivaji’s religious (guru) teacher.

Conquests When Sivaji was only 19 years old he had started conquering his neighboring territories. Within the time of two-three years he had conquered many forts. First of all he conquered the Torna fort. After that he won the Raigarh fort and repaired it. After the death of Dadaji Kond Dev, Shivaji took over Puna and collected a huge military. In 1648 he conquered the Purandhar and Kodana territories and invaded Konkan. He succeeded in conquering the famous Konkan city of Kalyani. From 1649 to 1655 Shivaji had to put a hold on conquering the neighboring states. In 1656 he invaded Jawli. Raja Chandar Rao was the ruler of Jawli. He had joined Bijapur Sultan against the Maratha king. Shivaji bribed a killer and got Chandar Rao killed. After it he took over Jawli. Shivaji’s financial and military powers increased enormously with the victory of Jawli. After that he defeated his own maternal uncle and conquered the Soupa territory. In 1658 when Aurangzeb left south and went towards north India, Bijapur ruler decided to suppress rising military power of Shivaji. His military marched under general Afzal Khan against Shivaji. When he reached the Maratha territories he felt that it is difficult to fight against Marathas in the mountainous terrain. So he decided to engage Shivaji in diplomatic methods and kill him in deceitful manner by organizing manner. But Shivaji was very clever and was already ready for this meeting. So a meeting was held on November 2, 1659 in Partapgarh. Afzal Khan embraced Shivaji as a greeting and tried to stab on his neck but Shivaji saved himself from his attack and killed him in the countermove. After it the Maratha military suddenly attacked the Bijapur military and defeated them. A severe battle was fought in which three hundred Bijapuri soldiers were killed and the rest fled. After it Shivaji defeated Afzal Khan’s son Fazal Khan and conquered the fort of Panhala. After it he defeated Bijapur general Rustam Khan. He had thus conquered the forts of Basantgarh, Khelna etc. But Bijapur ruler sent a huge army under Sidhi Johar. Bijapur army laid seize to the Panhala fort. After four months of seize Shivaji fled safely from the Panhala fort. Bijapur ruler sent a huge army to suppress the rising power of Marathas but could not succeed because of the rainy season. Later on Bijapur ruler acknowledged him as an independent ruler. During seize, British, ruler of Palwan and ruler of Sringarpur had helped the combined forces of Mughals and Bijapur. Shivaji attacked on them and defeated them as a punishment.Shivaji not only fought against the Bijapur Sultanate but also revolted against the Mughal Empire. He kept on fighting against the Mughals for many years and heaved a sigh of relief after annexing some of the Mughal territories into his Kingdom. After ascending to throne, Aurangzeb decided to suppress Marathas who had emerged as a major threat to his Empire. He appointed his maternal uncle Shayista Khan at the governor of the deccan and ordered him to suppress the revolt of Marathas. In March 1660, Shiyista Khan marched from Ahmadabad towards Puna. In next two or three years he conquered Puna, Chakan, Kalyani and the adjoining Maratha territories. In the meantime, Shivaji had conquered the Kolaba and Ratanagiri territories. Shayista Khan decided to rest in Puna because of the rainy season. Unfortunately, he stayed in the same house where Shivaji had spent his childhood. Under the cover of a marriage procession Shivaji entered Puna with a handful of soldiers and infiltrated the Mughal camp on April 1663. He along with his 400 trusted soldiers attacked the Mughals camp in the night. In the close combat, Shayita Khan’s son, Abdul Fateh, his six wives and his forty servants were killed. He himself narrowly escaped the attack as one of his thumbs was cut in the battle. According to a historian ‘Shivaji dealt a masterly blow at the Mughals, which created terror in the Mughal court and camp’. Aurangzeb was so much annoyed with Shayista Khan that he transferred him from Deccan to Bengal as a punishment.

Shivaji in Mughal Court In January 1664, Shivaji along with his 4000 soldiers, suddenly attacked Surat. Mughal Subedar of Surat was so much afraid of this attack that he hid and enclosed himself in the Surat fort. For next four days, Marathas looted this famous Mughal trading city. It is believed that this was Shivaji’s answer to the Mughals for the loot of Maratha territories by Shayista Khan for two continuous years. Shayista Khan’s defeat and sack of Surat had annoyed Aurangzeb a lot so he sent a huge army under the leadership of Mirza Raja Jai Singh to punish Shivaji. Jai Singh was one of the most experienced military general of the Mughal Empire. In January 1665, Mughal army crossed the Narmada River and reached Puna. Here Jai Singh planned his strategy against Marathas and attacked Purandhar. Seize of Purandhar continued for two continuous months and Maratha noble Murar Bazi was killed in the battle. Shivaji realized that he can not succeed against the huge Mughal army so he signed a treaty with the Mughals according to which he surrendered 23 Maratha forts to the Mughals while 12 forts remained with him. It was agreed that Shivaji won’t be forced to attend the Mughal court. His son, Shambhai was appointed a 5000 Mansabdar. Maratha forces had fought along with Mughal forces against the Bijapur military for some months before Shivaji went to Agra along with his son, five nobles and soldiers. They gave some presents to Aurangzeb but were not treated well by the Mughal Emperor and threw them in prison instead. Aurangzeb had planned to get them killed after sometime but Shivaji was cleverer than him. He feigned fatal sickness and started distributing fruits and sweets among the Brahmins and poor. One day he and his son hid themselves in the fruit and sweets baskets and escaped the Mughal prison unhurt. After some time he reached his kingdom and once again waged a war against the Mughals. Aurangzeb was very much annoyed because of his escape but was unable to take any action against him as Mughals were busy in suppressing the revolt in north-west. He preferred acknowledge Shivaji as an independent ruler. No battle was fought between the Mughals and Marathas for next two years. Shivaji used this time to strengthen his administration.

Death In 1670 Marathas and Mughals were once again at arms. Shivaji recaptured all those forts that he had surrendered to Mughals after signing the Purandhar treaty. In 1670, Marathas sacked Surat for the second time. After it Shivaji started to collect ‘Chouth’ and ‘Srdeshmukhi’ taxes from Khandesh, Surat and some other adjoining Mughal territories. Disappointed Aurangzeb has written ‘it appears God has taken away the sovereignty from me and conferred it on Shivaji’. On June 16, 1674 Shivaji was coroneted as the first Maratha King. According to the Vedic rituals he was given the title of Chhatrapati Shivaji. His coronation led to celebrations in the Maratha territory. Presents were sent to famous Hindu temples and valuables were distributed among Brahmins and poor. After his coronation Shivaji decided to conquer his southern territories. Within next two-three years he had conquered Belari, Sira, Velore, Jinji and many other forts. Victory of Jinji is considered to be one of his most important achievements. Thus Shivaji had laid the foundation of an independent kingdom in the south. From Western coast and Surat of Konkan to Goa (excluding Goa), his kingdom included Baglan, Chandoor, Puna, Satara and Kohlapur territories in east. While in south-east it included Belari, Sira, Velore and Jinji territories. Thus Shivaji ruled over a vast empire. Shivaji died on April 13, 1680 because of illness. At the time of death he was 53 years old. Before his death he had fulfilled his dream of establishing an independent, stable and strong Hindu Kingdom.

Sivaji’s Successors After Shivaji’s death his son Shambhaji took the reigns of the Maratha Kingdom into his hands. He was not liked by his people because of his bad habits. He appointed Kavi Kalash from Kanauj as his chief advisor. Soon after his coronation the rebel Mughal prince Akbar had reached Deccan. Shambhaji offered him refuse and made arrangements for his stay. Though he stayed in the Maratha territory for more than six years but Shambhaji did not try to plan any military campaign against the Mughal Emperor with the help of Akbar. After taking over Golkunda and Bijapur Aurangzeb started to send military campaigns against Shambhaji . Shambhaji took refuse in Sangeshwar but Mughal forces under the generalship of Mukkarab Khan suddenly attacked the Maratha fort. Shambhaji failed to offer stiff resistance to the invading Mughals and was captured alive on March 21, 1689 along with Kavi Kalash and many other members of his court. On March 21, 1689 he was murdered along with Kavi Kalash.

Raja Ram and Tarabai After Shambhaji’s arrest, his son Raja Ram ascended to the throne on February 19, 1689. At that time he was only 19 years old. But he was fortunate enough to have Prahlad Niraji and Ram Chandar Nilkanth as his advisors and Shantaji and Dhanaji as his military generals. Under their leadership Marathas united and kept on fighting guerrilla warfare against the Mughals. They had spread in the vast territory from Burhanpur to Jinji and kept the Mughals military at its toes for many years. In 1698 Aurangzeb sent a huge army under the leadership of Zulfikar Khan to capture Jinji. Marathas offered a stiff resistance to the Mughals. After relentless efforts of seven years Mughals succeeded to bring situation under their control. Raja Ram fled to Balabhgarh and then to Satara. There, he started to increase his military power. He sent his forces against the Mughal territories of Khandesh and Brar to collect Chouth (tax). He died in Sinhgarh on March 12, 1700 after a brief illness. After his death, his four years old son Shivaji II was coroneted as the next Maratha King and his mother Tarabai appointed herself as his regent. She was a brave and an intelligent lady. She reunited the Marathas and kept on fighting against the Mughals. Though Mughals had captured the Satara fort after Raja Ram’s death but she sent many military campaigns against the Mughals from the Panhala and Vishalgarh forts. Tarabai with the help of her Nobles like Parasram Trimbik, Dhanaji Yadav and Shankar Narayan fought against the Mughals and failed Aurangzeb’s all military campaigns sent against the Marathas. Mughal Emperor died on March 3, 1707 along with this disappointment.

Last Maratha King Shahu was Shambji’s another son who had been captured along with his mother Yesubai from the Raigarh fort. At that time he was only seven years old. He remained in the Mughal prison almost for 17 years. After Aurangzeb’s death he fled from Azam’s camp in May 1707. On reaching Maharashtra he was welcomed by Parsoji Bhonsle, Balaji Vishavnath and Nemaji Sindhia like Maratha Nobles. Tarabai sent her military against Shahu but was defeated by him on the banks of Bhima Rivar. Many famous Maratha Nobles deserted Tarabai and joined Shahu. His forces captured Satara without any military resistance. He was anointed as the next Maratha King on January 22, 1708. He slowly and steadily increased his military power and strengthened his administration. In 1713 he appointed Balaji Vishavnath as his Peshwa (Prime Minister). From that onwards the position of Peshwa strengthened and after some years they (Peshwa) became more powerful than the Maratha King. Most of the administrative works were done by the Peshwa. During Shahu’s rule, after Balaji Vishavnath, Bajirao I and Balaji Bajirao worked as Peshwas. Shahu died in 1749 and by that time Peshwa was the actual head of the state while Chchatrapati (king) worked only like a rubber stamp.