Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was the founder of the Maratha Empire a warrior king of Maharashtra. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was born in the Shivneri Fort in Maharashtra on 19th February 1630 to mother Jijabai and father Shahaji bhosale. Shivaji Maharaj.
Shivaji Maharaj was attributed to control almost 360 forts in his reign. Shivaji Maharaj, Maharashtra’s greatest warrior king known for his excellent military and guerilla warfare, is often cited as Maharashtra’s pride. The Mughals, since the period of Emperor Akbar 1 wanted to expand their power in the South. The Mughals launched a campaign to conquer the Nizam Shahi Kingdom. The Adil shah of Bijapur allied with the Mughals in this campaign. Shahahajiraje tried to save the Nizam Shahi, but he could not withstand the combined might of the Mughals and the Adilshahi. The Nizamshahi kingdom came to an end in A.D. 1636. Thereafter Shahajiraje became a sardar of the Adilshah of Bijapur and was posted in Karnataka. The region comprising Pune, Supe, Indapur and Chakan parganas located between the Bhima and Nira rivers which was vested in Shahajiraje as a jagir was continued by the Adilshah. Shahaijiraje was also assigned a jagir of Banglore. Veermata Jijabai and Shivajiraje, stayed for a few years with Shahajiraje at Banglore till Shivajiraje was twelve years old. Shahajiraje entrusted the administration of the Pune jagir to Shivajiraje and Veermata Jijabai. Shivajiraje grew up amidst the hills and valleys of Pune region under the guidance of his mother Jijabai.
When Shivaji Maharaj became master of a long coastal strip, he deemed it necessary to undertake the construction of a Navy. Shivaji Maharaj realized that the one who had a navy, controlled the sea. To protect his own territory from the Siddi’s depredations, to protect the merchant ships and ports in order to secure and enhance revenue incomes derived from trade and customs duty, he concentrated on building the Navy. There were four hundred ships of various kinds in the Navy. They included battleships like Gurab, Galbat and Pal.
Until 1657, Shivaji maintained peaceful relations with the Mughal Empire. Shivaji offered his assistance to Aurangzeb who then, was the Mughal viceroy of the Deccan and son of the Mughal emperor, in conquering Bijapur in return for formal recognition of his right to the Bijapuri forts and villages under his possession. Dissatisfied with the Mughal response, and receiving a better offer from Bijapur, he launched a raid into the Mughal Deccan. Shivaji’s confrontations with the Mughals began in March 1657, when two of Shivaji’s officers raided the Mughal territory near Ahmednagar. This was followed by raids in Junnar with Shivaji carrying off 300,000 in cash and 200 horses. Aurangzeb responded to the raids by sending Nasiri Khan, who defeated the forces of Shivaji at Ahmednagar. However, Aurangzeb’s countermeasures against Shivaji were interrupted by the rainy season and his battle of succession with his brothers for the Mughal throne following the illness of the emperor Shah Jahan.
A meeting between Shivaji Maharaj and Afzal Khan took place on 10th November 1659 at the foot of Pratapgad. At the meeting Afzal Khan attempted treachery. In retaliation, Shivaji Maharaj killed Afzal Khan. The Marathas destroyed Afzal Khan’s army in the dense forests of Javali. Shivaji Maharaj secured a large booty from Afzal Khan’s camp which enabled him to consolidate and strengthen his position.
Shivaji Maharaj intended to capture as much of Adilshahi province and forts as possible. Thereafter, he captured from the Adilshah forts of Panhala, Vasantgad and Khelna. He renamed Khelna as Vishalgad. In A.D. 1660, to check the rapid progress of Shivaji Maharaj, the Adilshah sent Siddi Jauhar, the Sardar of Karnul region, with a large army against Shivaji Maharaj. The Adilshah gave Siddi the title of ‘Salabatkhan’
Upon the request of Badi Begum of Bijapur, Aurangzeb, now the Mughal emperor, sent his maternal uncle Shaista Khan, with an army numbering over 150,000 along with a powerful artillery division in January 1660 to attack Shivaji in conjunction with Bijapur’s army led by Siddi Jauhar. Shaista Khan, with his better equipped and provisioned army of 80,000 seized Pune. He also took the nearby fort of Chakan, besieging it for a month and a half before breaching the walls. Shaista Khan pressed his advantage of having a larger, better provisioned and heavily armed Mughal army and made inroads into some of the Maratha territory, seizing the city of Pune and establishing his residence at Shivaji’s palace of Lal Mahal.
On the night of April 5th, 1663, Shivaji led a daring night attack on Shaista Khan’s camp. He, along with his 400 men, attacked Shaista Khan’s mansion, broke into Khan’s bedroom and wounded him. In the scuffle, Shaista Khan’s son, his wives, servants and soldiers were killed. The Khan took refuge with the Mughal forces outside of Pune, and Aurangzeb punished him for this embarrassment with a transfer to Bengal.
The attacks on Shaista Khan and Surat enraged Aurangzeb. In response, he sent the Rajput Mirza Raja Jai Singh with an army numbering around 15,000 to defeat Shivaji. Throughout 1665, Jai Singh’s forces pressed Shivaji, with their cavalry razing the countryside, and their siege forces investing Shivaji’s forts. The Mughal commander succeeded in luring away several of Shivaji’s key commanders, and many of his cavalrymen, into Mughal service. By mid-1665, with the fortress at Purandar besieged and near capture, Shivaji was forced to come to terms with Jai Singh.
In the Treaty of Purandar, signed between Shivaji and Jai Singh on 11th June 1665, Shivaji agreed to give up 23 of his forts, keeping 12 for himself, and pay compensation of 400,000 gold to the Mughals. Shivaji agreed to become a vassal of the Mughal Empire, and to send his son Sambhaji, along with 5,000 horsemen, to fight for the Mughals in the Deccan as a mansabdar.
In 1666, Aurangzeb summoned Shivaji to Agra (though some sources instead state Delhi), along with his nine year old son Sambhaji. Aurangzeb’s planned to send Shivaji to Kandahar, now in Afghanistan, to consolidate the Mughal Empire’s northwestern frontier. However, in the court, on 12 May 1666, Shivaji was made to stand alongside relatively low-ranking nobles, men he had already defeated in battle. Shivaji took offence and stormed out of court, and was promptly placed under house arrest. Ram Singh, son of Jai Singh, guaranteed custody of Shivaji and his son.
Shivaji’s position under house arrest was perilous, as Aurangzeb’s court debated whether to kill him or continue to employ him. Jai Singh, having assured Shivaji of his personal safety, tried to influence Aurangzeb’s decision. Meanwhile, Shivaji hatched a plan to free himself. He sent most of his men back home and asked Ram Singh to withdraw his guarantees to the emperor for the safe custody of himself and his son and surrendered himself to Mughal forces. Shivaji then pretended to be ill and began sending out large baskets packed with sweets to be given to the Brahmins and poor as penance. On the 17th of August 1666, by putting himself in one of the large baskets and his son Sambhaji in another, Shivaji escaped and left Agra.
After Shivaji’s escape, hostilities with the Mughals ebbed, with Mughal sardar Jaswant Singh acting as an intermediary between Shivaji and Aurangzeb for new peace proposals. During the period between 1666 and 1668, Aurangzeb conferred the title of raja on Shivaji. Sambhaji was also restored as a Mughal mansabdar with 5,000 horses. Shivaji at that time sent Sambhaji with general Prataprao Gujar to serve with the Mughal viceroy in Aurangabad, Prince Mu’azzam. Sambhaji was also granted territory in Berar for revenue collection. Aurangzeb also permitted Shivaji to attack the decaying Adil Shahi, the weakened Sultan Ali Adil Shah granted the rights of sardeshmukhi and chauthai to Shivaji.
For about four years after his return from Agra, Shivaji Maharaj concentrated his attention on putting the affairs of Swaraj in order. He re-organized army and carried repairs to forts. In 1670, Shivaji Maharaj followed an offensive policy against the Mughals. His first aim was to clear his homeland of the Mughals. He also aimed at recapturing the forts and territories ceded to the Mughals according to the treaty of Purandar. The strategy followed by Shivaji Maharaj was to capture the forts by sending a well-equipped army on one hand and on the other hand to keep the Mughals unstable by invading the Mughal territories of the Deccan. Maharaj thus attacked Ahmednagar and Junnar. Sinhgad was the first fort to be recaptured. Mavala infantry under the command of Tanaji Malusare entered the fort secretly. The fort was defended by Udai Bhan. Tanaji Malusare fought with greatest valour. He died a hero’s death. The fort was captured on 4th February 1670. Shivaji Maharaj also recaptured several other forts such as Purandar, Lohgad, Mahuli, Karnala, Rohida one after another. Then Shivaji Maharaj attacked Surat for the second time. On the way back he fought a battle with the Mughals at Vani- Dindori in Nashik district. He defeated Daud Khan in the battle. The Marathas under the leadership of Moropant Pingle captured Trimbakgad. The Maratha army then invaded Baglan, a hilly district which was guarded by nine hill forts, the strongest among these were of Salher and Mulher, the others being smaller hill forts. The Maratha army not only captured smaller hill forts of Baglan but also captured Mulher fort and Salher which lay on the border of Khandesh and Gujarat. The capture of Salher was an event of great strategic importance. Then Salher became a base of operations against the rich provinces of Gujarat and Khandesh. The Mughals tried to recapture Salher but failed. In 1672, Shivaji Maharaj’s army conquered the principality of Jawhar and then Ramnagar.
Shivaji Maharaj decided to expand his dominions at the expense of the Adilshahi Sultanate. He captured Panhala fort which was in the possession of Adilshah on 8th March 1673. Then he captured the fort of Parali near Satara, fort of Satara and forts like Chandan-vandan, Pandavgad Nandagiri, Kelanja and Tathavda.
Shivaji was crowned king of Maratha Swaraj in a lavish ceremony on 6th June 1674 at Raigad fort.
The founding of the Maratha Swaraj involved a relentless struggle for over thirty years. Maharaj realized that now it was necessary for the Swaraj to win general recognition as a sovereign, independent state. For legal recognition to the Swaraj, a formal coronation was necessary. On 6th June 1674, Shivaji Maharaj was coroneted at Raigad by Gagabhatt, a learned pandit of Benaras. Maharaj ascended the throne of the Swaraj. He now became the Chhatrapati of the Swaraj. As a symbol of sovereignty, Shivaji Maharaj instituted a new era commencing from the date of his coronation. It is known as Rajyabhisheka shaka. Shivaji Maharaj thus became the founder of a new era. On the occasion of the coronation, special coins were minted- a gold coin called hon and a copper coin called shivrai with the legend Shri Raja Shiva Chhatrapati inscribed on them. There after, all royal correspondence carried the words, Kshatriyakulaawatansa Shri Raja Shivachhatrapati.
