True Story of - Shivaji Shahaji Raje Bhosle

Biography Of Shivaji Raje Bhosle

Reign: 1642–1680 CE

Coronation:  6 June 1674

Full name:  Shivaji Shahaji Raje Bhosle

Marathi: छत्रपति शिवाजीराजे भोसले (Chhatrapati Shivajiraje Bhosle)

Titles:  Kshatriya Kulavataunsha.

Born: 19 February 1630

Birthplace: Shivneri Fort, near Pune, India

Died: 3 April 1680

Place of death: Raigad Fort

Successor: Sambhaji

Wives: Sai bai (Nimbalkar)
             Soyarabai (Mohite)
             Putalabai (Palkar)
             Laxmibai (Vichare)
             Kashibai (Jadhav)
             Sagunabai (Shirke)
             Gunvantibai (Ingale)
             Sakavaarbai (Gaikwad)

Offspring: Sambhaji, Rajaram, and six daughters

                   Sakhubai Nimbalkar,

                   Ranubai Jadhav,

                   Ambikabai Mahadik,

                   Deepabai,

                   Rajkunvarbai Shirke,

                   Kamlabai Palkar.

Father: Shahaji

Mother: Jijabai

Religious beliefs: Hinduism

About Shivaji Maharaj (Summary)

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was a Maratha aristocrat of the Bhosle clan who founded the Maratha empire. Shivaji led a resistance to free the Maratha people from the Sultanate of Bijapur, and establish Hindavi Swarajya ("self-rule of Hindu people"). 

He created an independent Maratha kingdom with Vedant Raigad as its capital, and successfully fought against the Mughals to defend his kingdom.

He was crowned as Chhatrapati ("sovereign") of the Maratha kingdom in 1674.

He established a competent and progressive civil rule with the help of a well-regulated and disciplined military and well-structured administrative organizations. The prevalent practices of treating women as spoils of war, destruction of religious monuments, slavery and forceful religious conversions were firmly opposed under his administration.

Shivaji was a religious Hindu. He also innovated rules of military engagement, pioneering the "Shiva sutra" or ganimi kava (guerrilla tactics), which leveraged strategic factors like geography, speed, surprise and focused pinpoint attacks to defeat his larger and more powerful enemies and built many sea-forts. From a small contingent of 2,000 soldiers inherited from father, he created a formidable force of 50,000 soldiers who eventually defeated the mighty mughal empire even after his death.

 

Early life

Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri, near the Junnar city in Pune district. While his mother Jijabai was pregnant, she had not prayed to Goddess Shivaidevi. Shivaji was name after lord Shiv, and not after the local Goddess of the fort.

• The 3rd day of the dark half of Phalguna, 1551 of Shaka calendar (Friday, 19 February 1630). Setu Madhavrao Pagdi mentions that this has been stated as Shivaji's birth date by his court poet Paramanand. Historians such as Dr. Bal Krishna as well as the Maharashtra state government accept this as the true birthdate of Shivaji.
• The second day of the light half of Vaisakha in the year 1549 of Saka calendar. (Thursday, 6 April 1627), or other dates near this day.This date is supported by scholars such as Jadunath Sarkar and GS Sardesai

Shivaji's father Shahaji Bhonsle served alongside Malik Ambar, who defended the Deccan region against the Mughals. His mother Jijabai was the daughter of Lakhujirao Jadhav of Sindkhed. During the period of Shivaji's birth, the power in Deccan was shared by three Islamic sultanates – Bijapur, Ahmednagar, and Golconda. Shahaji kept changing his loyalty between the Nizamshahi of Ahmadnagar, Adil Shah of Bijapur and the Mughals, but always kept his ''jagir (fiefdom) at Pune and his small army with him.

He tried to establish independent kingdom twice.But he had to surrender before onslaught of mughals in 1636.By a treaty shahji was forced to leave maratha country and took up service with adilshah in deep south.The region around poona was devastated due to continous warfare, hence to restore peace and prosperity Jijabai remained behind .Shivaji being of minor age also stayed with her.For their upkeep shahji kept a number of trusted and experienced men with them. These men were Gomaji Naik Pansambal(a trusted master of state-craft), Baji Pasalkar (chief among deshmukhs of region), who had shown good administrative skills as the kulkarni (land-steward) of Malthan.

Gomaji also taught the art of swordsmanship to Shivaji, and especially the effective use of lance, the characteristic Maratha weapon. In a short time, Shivaji became a skilled swordsman, strategist and an accomplished horseman.

Shivaji was extremely devoted to his mother Jijabai, who was deeply religious. This religious environment had a profound influence on Shivaji, and he carefully studied the two great Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. The morality and spiritual messages of the epics made a great impression on him. Throughout his life he was deeply interested in religious teachings, and sought the company of Hindu and Sufi (an esoteric Muslim sect) saints throughout his life.

Shivaji drew his earliest trusted comrades and a large number of his soldiers from the Maval region, including Yesaji Kank, Suryaji kakade, Baji Pasalkar, Baji Prabhu Deshpande and Tanaji Malusare. In the company of his Maval comrades, a young Shivaji wandered over the hills and forests of the Sahyadri range, hardening himself and acquiring first-hand knowledge of the land. By 1639, he commanded a hardy and loyal band of officers and soldiers.

At the age of 12, Shivaji was taken to Banglore where he was further formally trained alongwith elder brother Sambhaji and stepbrother Ekoji. At age of 14, he returned to Pune with a rajmudra (sovereign seal) and council of minister.

Confrontation with the regional sultanate of Adilshah

Against this background shivaji took the famous oath of swarajya in the temple of raireshwar in the hilly terrains near pune.In 1645, at the age of 16, Shivaji carried out his first military action by attacking and capturing Torna Fort of the Bijapur kingdom. By 1647 he had captured Kondana and Rajgad forts and had control of much of the southern Pune region. In a bid to contain Shivaji, Adilshah imprisoned Shivaji's father in 1648–49 and sent an army led by Farradkhan against Shahji's other son Sambhaji who defeated them at Bangalore.

Battles

Battle ofPurander

Battle ofPratapgarh

Battle ofKolhapur

Adilshah's attack and negotiations

Adilshah sent Afzal Khan, an experienced and veteran general to destroy Shivaji in an effort to put down what he saw as a regional revolt. Afzal Khan desecrated Hindu temples at Tuljapur and Pandharpur hoping to draw Shivaji to the plains to retaliate with his limited military resources and thus lead him and his budding military power to easy destruction by the numerically bigger, better-armed and more professional Bijapur army.

Afzal Khan may have expected Shivaji to meet his army in the plains, however Shivaji, upon carefully weighing his options, decided to meet Afzal Khan on his home turf on pretext of diplomatic negotiations. Shivaji sent a letter to Afzal Khan stating that he was eager for a meeting. The meeting was arranged between Afzal Khan and Shivaji at the foothills of Fort on the day 10 November 1659 Pratapgad.

Afzal Khan and Shivaji conference

This event is one of the most important in Shivaji's life. Shivaji got a pledge from ministers to never submit in case he fell. It is said that during this period, Shivaji had a vision of Goddess Bhavani promising full protection on the confrontation and victory.

Shivaji armed himself with a concealable weapons: bichhwa (dagger) and wagh nakh (tiger claws) and wore a chilkhat (chain-mail armour) under his clothing for the meeting. What transpired during the meeting was not recorded by scribes, but folklore has it that per then custom they embraced and Afzal Khan stabbed Shivaji in the back. Shivaji survived the attack, protected by the chain mail armour and his agility. He counterattacked and disembowled Afzal Khan with wagh nakh and bichwa which made Afzal Khan stumble on to his knees and then out the tent, collapsing into a waiting palanquin, where he was slain before he could raise the alarm. Meanwhile Krishna Bhasker Kulkarni - Afzal Khan's legal representative and Sayyed Banda - a bodyguard, attacked Shivaji. He responded by killing Bhasker Kulkarni while Jiva Mahal (Shivaji's bodyguard) severed Banda's arm with a slash of his sword.

Fall of Bijapur Army

This unexpected and unlikely victory made Shivaji a hero of Maratha folklore and a legendary figure among his people. The large quantities of captured weapons, horses, armour and other materials helped to strengthen the nascent and emerging Maratha army. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb now identified Shivaji as a major threat to the mighty Mughal Empire. Soon thereafter Shivaji, Shahaji Raje and Netaji Palkar (the chief of the Maratha cavalry) decided to attack and defeat the Adilshahi kingdom at Bijapur. But things did not go as planned as Shahaji's health deteriorated and they were forced to postpone the planned attack. However, Netaji Palkar undertook this mission mounting smaller scale attacks and military harassment of the Adilshahi kingdom.

Subsequently, the Sultan of Bijapur sent an army composed mainly of Afghan mercenaries to subdue and defeat Shivaji before he could substantially expand his army. In the ensuing battle, Bijapur's army was defeated by the Maratha troops. This intense and bloody battle ended in the unconditional surrender of the bijapuri forces to Shivaji.

Clash with the Mughals

Battle of Umberkhind

An Uzbek general, Kartalab Khan, was sent by Shaista Khan on a mission to attack and reduce the number of forts under Shivaji's control in the Konkan region on 3 February 1661. He left his camp near Pune with 30,000 troops. This time the Mughals did not march openly and took circuitous back country routes, as they sought to surprise Shivaji. But instead Shivaji surprised them at a pass known as Umber Khind (in a dense forest, near present-day Pen), and attacked them from all sides. Marathas hidden in the dense forest executed a well co-ordinated ambush attack on the Mughal army. Shivaji himself took the forward position with an elite cavalry unit. The other three sides were flanked by Shivaji's light infantry.

In a well co-ordinated movement of light infantry and cavalry, Shivaji prevailed over the attackers. A Maratha lady commander, Raibagan, who co-led the Mughal forces, analyzed the situation and realised that defeat was imminent and advised Kartalab Khan to accept defeat and initiate a compromise with Shivaji.Within four hours into the attack the enemy accepted defeat and surrendered all the supplies, arms and assets. The Mughal army suffered high casualties. The defeated army was allowed a safe passage. Kartalab Khan and Raibagan were released with honour in accordance with Shivaji's terms and his long standing policy towards women and unarmed civilians.

Attack on Shaista Khan

Shaista Khan was ordered by Aurangzeb to attack Shivaji per the Mughal-Adilshahi accord. Shaista Khan, with his better equipped and provisioned army of 150,000 that was many times the size of the Maratha forces, seized Pune and the nearby fort of Chakan. At the time, Firangoji Narsala was the killedar (commander) of fort Chakan, which was defended by 300–350 Maratha soldiers. They were able to withstand the Mughal attack on the fort for one and a half month. Then, a burj (outer wall) was blown up with explosives. This created an opening to the fort allowing hordes of Mughals to breach the exterior portion of the fort. Firangoji, himself led the Maratha counter attack against a larger Mughal army. Eventually, the fort was lost with the capture of Firangoji, who then was brought before Shaista Khan, who, appreciating his bravery, offered him a jahagir (military commission) on the condition that he join the Mughal forces, which Firangoji declined. Admiring his loyalty, Shaista Khan pardoned Firangoji and set him free. Firangoji returned home and Shivaji awarded him a fort named Bhupalgad.

Shaista Khan pressed his advantage of larger, better provisioned and heavily armed Mughal army and made inroads into some of the Maratha territory. Although he held Pune for almost a year, he had little further success. He had set up his residence at Lal Mahal, Shivaji's palace, in the city of Pune.

Shaista Khan kept a tight security in Pune. However, Shivaji planned an attack on Shaista Khan amidst tight security. In April 1663, a wedding party had obtained special permission for a procession; Shivaji planned an attack using the wedding party as cover. The Marathas disguised themselves as the bridegroom's procession and entered Pune. Shivaji, having spent much of his youth in Pune, knew his way around the city and his own palace of Lal Mahal Chimanaji Deshpande- one of the childhood friends of Shivaji aided him in this attack offering his services as a personal bodyguard. According to Babasaheb Purandare, since Mughal army also consisted of Maratha soldiers, it was difficult for someone to distinguish between Shivaji's Maratha soldiers and the Maratha soldiers of the Mughal army. Thus, taking advantage of this situation, Shivaji, along with a few of his trusted men, infiltrated the Mughal camp.

After overpowering and slaying of the palace guards, the Marathas broke into the mansion by breaching an outer wall. Chimnaji and Netaji Palkar entered first along with Babaji Deshpande, another of Shivaji's long time loyal associates, they approached Shaista Khan's quarters. Shivaji then personally confronted Shaista Khan in a face to face attack. Meanwhile, perceiving danger, one of Shaista's wives turned off the lights. Shivaji pursued Shaista Khan and severed three of his fingers with his sword (in the darkness) as he fled through an open window. Shaista Khan narrowly escaped death and lost his son and many of his guards and soldiers in the raid.

Within twenty-four hours of this attack, Shaista Khan left Pune and headed north towards Agra. An angered Aurangzeb transferred him to distant Bengal as a punishment for bringing embarrassment to the Mughals with his ignoble defeat in Pune.

Battle of Surat & Treaty of Purandar (1665)

In 1664 Shivaji invaded Surat, an important and wealthy Mughal trading city, and looted it to replenish his now depleted treasury and also as a revenge for the capture and looting of Maratha territory by Shaista Khan. (Surat was again sacked by Shivaji in 1670.)

Aurangzeb was enraged and sent Mirza Raja Jai Singh I with an army numbering well over 150,000 to defeat Shivaji. Jai Singh planned and executed his battle strategies so well with his vast army that the Mughal forces under him made significant gains and captured many Maratha forts. Shivaji came to terms with Aurangzeb rather than lose more forts and men.

In the ensuing treaty of Purander, signed between Shivaji and Jai Singh on 11 June 1665, Shivaji agreed to give up 23 of his forts and pay compensation of 400,000 rupees to the Mughals. He also agreed to let his son Sambhaji become a Mughal Sardar, serve the Mughal court of Aurangzeb and fight with Mughals against Bijapur. He actually fought along side Raja Jai Singh's Mughal forces against Bijapur's forces for a few months. His commander, Netaji Palkar, joined Mughals, was rewarded very well for his bravery, converted to Islam, changed his name to Quli Mohammed Khan in 1666 and was sent to the Afghan frontier to fight the restive tribes. He returned to Shivaji's service after ten years in 1676 and was accepted back as a Hindu on Shivaji's order.

Arrest in Agra and escape

In 1666, Aurangzeb invited Shivaji to Agra, along with his nine-year-old son Sambhaji. Aurangzeb's plan was to send Shivaji to Kandahar, modern day Afghanistan to consolidate the Mughal Empire's north-western frontier. However, in the court, on 12 May 1666, Aurangzeb made Shivaji stand behind mansabdārs (military commanders) of his court. Shivaji took offense at this seeming insult and stormed out of court and was promptly placed under house arrest, under the watch of Faulad Khan, Kotwal of Agra. From his spies, Shivaji learned that Aurangzeb planned to move his residence to Raja Vitthaldas's Haveli and then to possibly kill him or send him to fight in the Afghan frontier. As a result Shivaji planned his escape.

He feigned almost fatal sickness and requested to send most of his contingent back to the Deccan, thereby ensuring the safety of his army and deceiving Aurangzeb. Thereafter, on his request, he was allowed to send daily shipments of sweets and gifts to saints, fakirs, and temples in Agra as offerings for getting well. After several days and weeks of sending out boxes containing sweets, Shivaji and his nine year old son Sambhaji hid themselves in two of the boxes and managed to escape. Shivaji and his son fled to the Deccan disguised as sadhus (holy men). After the escape, rumours of Sambhaji's death were intentionally spread by Shivaji himself in order to deceive the Mughals and to protect Sambhaji.

Reconquest

Battle of Sinhgad

After this escape , both sides maintained calm and a treaty was concluded for some time.However it was broken at the end of the year 1670. Shivaji launched a major offensive against Mughals. In a span of four months he recovered a major portion of the territories surrendered to Mughals. During this phase, the valiant Tanaji Malusare won the prestigious fort of Sinhgad in the battle of Sinhgad, although he lost his life.

Battle of Vani-dindori

Subsequently, Shivaji sacked Surat for second time in 1670.When Shivaji was returning from Surat, Mughals under Daud Khan tried to intercept him, but were defeated in the Battle of Vani-dindori near present-day Nashik.

Battle of Salher

Peshwa Moropant Pingale won a number of forts in this area. Senapati Prataprao Gujar defeated Mughals in various campaigns. In order to subdue this Maratha resurgence, Dilerkhan was sent along with Bahlol khan and other generals. During this phase, the combined forces of Moropant and Prataprao defeated the Mughals in the open battle of Salher.

This was the first major battle in which Mughals were defeated by any opponent. This greatly raised the status of Marathas and Shivaji, in particular. Against this background of victories, Shivaji decided to coronate himself, thereby giving sovereignty to the Maratha people. However a tragedy struck in that Shivaji lost his trusted cavalry general Prataprao in the following battle of Nesari.

Battle of Nesari

In 1674, Prataprao Gujar, the then Commander-in chief of the Maratha forces, was sent to push back the invading force led by the Adil Shahi general, Bahlol Khan. Prataprao's forces defeated and captured the opposing general in the battle after cutting-off their water supply by encircling a strategically located lake, which prompted Bahlol khan to sue for peace. In spite of Shivaji's specific warnings against doing so Prataprao released Bahlol Khan who started preparing for a fresh invasion.

When Shivaji sent a displeasure letter to Prataprao refusing him audience until Bahlol Khan was re-captured. In the ensuing days, he learnt of Bahlol Khan having camped with 15000 force at Nesari near Kolhapur.Given the uneven match Prataprao reasoned that there was no point in leading his 1,200 cavalrymen into a suicide charge alone.Other six sardars of distiction follwed him to perish with their commander.

The seven Maratha officers were Prataprao Gujar, Visaji Ballal, Dipoji Rautrao, Vithal Pilaji Atre, Krishnaji Bhaskar, Siddi Hilal and Vithoji Shinde. The loss of Prataprao Gujar was a big loss to the Marathas. Anandrao Mohite managed to the withdraw army to safer areas.

Marathas then avenged the death of their general, by defeating Bahlol Khan and capturing his jagir (fiefdom) under the leadership of Anaji and Hambirao Mohite. Shivaji was deeply grieved on hearing of Prataprao's death. He arranged for the marriage of his second son, Rajaram, to the daughter of Prataprao Gujar, who was later to be the Queen of the Maratha Empire, Maharani Tarabai. Anandrao Mohite became Hambirrao Mohite, the new sarnaubat (Commander-in-chief of the Maratha forces). Shivaji started preparation for coronation. Fort Raigad was newly built by Hiroji Indulkar as a capital of rising Maratha kingdom.

Conquests in Southern India

In October 1674, the Marathas raided Khandesh. On 17 April 1675 Shivaji captured Phonda from Bijapuris. Karwar was occupied by mid 1675 and Kolhapur in July 1675. There were naval skirmishes with the Siddis of Janjira in November 1675. In early 1676, Peshwa Pingale engaged Raja of Ramnagar in battle en route to Surat. Shivaji raided Athani in March 1676. By the end of 1676, Shivaji besieged Belgaum and Vayem Rayim in current day northern Karnataka.

At the end of 1676, Shivaji Maharaj launched a wave of conquests in southern India with a massive force of 50,000 (30,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry). He captured the forts at Vellore and Jinji that belonged to the sultanate of Bijapur and are in modern-day Tamilnadu. In the run-up to this expedition Shivaji appealed to a sense of Deccani patriotism, that the "Deccan" or Southern India was a homeland that should be protected from outsiders. His appeal was somewhat successful and he entered into a treaty with the Qutubshah of the Golconda sultanate that covered the eastern Deccan. Shivají's conquests in the south proved quite crucial during future wars. Jinji served as Maratha capital for nine years during the War of 27 years.

The small bands of marathas were now moving like imperial forces ready for open battle. His other intention was to reconcile with his stepbrother Vyankoji (his father Shahaji's son from his second wife, who came from the Mohite family) who ruled Thanjavur after Shahaji. They had talks, Venkoji (Ekoji I) showed signs of uniting with Shivaji but then no concrete result was obtained. On return to Raigad, Shivaji seized most of Ekoji's possessions in the Mysore plateau. Ekoji's wife Deepabai a scholar of saintly bent of character brought reconciliation between the two brothers so they were not enemies and maintained the status quo of co-existing independent.

Coronation

According to Genealogy of Mewar shown in the city palace of Udaipur, Shivaji's ancestors from his paternal side had migrated from Mewar to Deccan. A number of historical accounts support this assertion , but later on the Rajput origin of the Bhonsle has been contested by some academics in 20th century. According to this hypothesis, many local Brahmins questioned Shivaji's Kshatriya ancestry before his coronation, but the Marathas secured support of Pandit Gaga Bhatt of Varanasi who presented a genealogy claiming Shivaji's ancestors were Kshatriyas descended from the solar line of the Rajput Ranas of Mewar.

At the time of Shivaji's coronation twenty-thousand Brahmans were present at Raigad. Gaga Bhatt, an authority of Vedas officially presided over the ceremony, and had a gold vessel filled with the seven sacred waters of the rivers Yamuna, Sindhu, Ganga, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri. He held the vessel over Shivaji's head and chanted the coronation mantras, as the water kept dripping from the several tiny holes in the vessel. After the abulation, Shivaji bowed before Jijamata and touched her feet. 

Nearly fifty thousand people gathered at Raigad for the ceremonies. Shivaji was bestowed with the sacred thread jaanva, with the Vedas and was bathed in an abhisheka. Shivaji then had the title of "shakakarta" conferred upon him.

His mother Jijabai died on 18 June 1674 within a few days of the coronation. This was considered a bad omen. Therefore a second coronation was carried out in September 1674, this time according to the Bengal school of Tantricism and presided over by Nischal Puri.

End of life

Shivjai left this material world in the year 1680 on the eve of Hanuman Jayanti. In a span of 50 years he started from a jagir and ended with a vast empire streching from hilly terrains to southern plain. According to Grant Duff ,the first historian of Marathas in modern times, the spirit infused in the minds of people by Shivaji was more valuable than the forts and treasury left behind.

Promotion of Sanskrit

The house of Shivaji was well acquainted with Sanskrit and promoted the language; his father Shahaji had supported scholars such as Jayram Pindye, who prepared Shivaji's seal. Shivaji continued this Sanskrit promotion, giving his forts names such as Sindhudurg, Prachandgarh, and Suvarndurg. He named the Ashta Pradhan (council of ministers) as per Sanskrit nomenclature with terms such as Nyayadhish, and Senapat, and commissioned the political treatise Rajya Vyavahar Kosh. His Rajpurohit, Keshav Pandit, was himself a Sanskrit scholar and poet.

A significant aspect of Shivaji's rule was his attempt to revive ancient Hindu political tradition and court conventions. He introduced Marathi in the place of Persian as the court language, revived Sanskrit administrative nomenclature and compiled a dictionary of official terms, 'The Rajyavyavahar Kosh', to facilitate changeover.

Religious Policy : Secular Maratha Empire

Shivaji was a devout Hindu and he respected all religions within the region. Shivaji had great respect for other contemporary saints, most notably Tukaram and also holy men of other faiths, such as Sufis. He is said to have met Samarth Ramdas in 1672 and accepted him as his mentor. Later on he even requested Ramdas to shift his residence to Sajjangadh.

 Shivaji allowed his subjects freedom of religion and opposed forced conversion. The first thing Shivaji did after a conquest was to promulgate protection of mosques and Muslim tombs.

He commanded the respect and fealty of the Muslims under his command by his fair treatment of his friends as well as enemies. Kafi Khan, the Mughal historian and Francois Bernier, a French traveler, spoke highly of his religious policy. He also brought converts like Netaji Palkar and Bajaji back into Hinduism. Shivaji's sentiments of inclusivity and tolerance of other religions can be seen in an admonishing letter to Aurangzeb, in which he wrote:

Verily, Islam and Hinduism are terms of contrast. They are used by the true Divine Painter for blending the colours and filling in the outlines. If it is a mosque, the call to prayer is chanted in remembrance of Him. If it is a temple, the bells are rung in yearning for Him alone.

He had many Muslims in his military and ministries. His most trusted general in all his campaigns was Haider Ali Kohari; Darya Sarang was chief of armoury; Ibrahim Khan and Daulat Khan were prominent in the navy; and Siddi Ibrahim was chief of artillery. Shivaji had particular respect for the Sufi tradition of Islam. Shivaji used to pray at the mausoleum of the great Sufi Muslim saint Baba Sharifuddin. He also visited the abode of another great Sufi saint, Shaikh Yacub of the Konkan, and took his blessings. He called Hazrat Baba of Ratnagiri bahut thorwale bhau, meaning "great elder brother"^.

Shivaji also promulgated other enlightened values, prohibiting slavery in his kingdom, and applying a humane and liberal policy to the women of his state.

Administration

Ashtapradhan

The organization of Shivaji's administration was composed of eight ministers of pradhaanas:

• Peshwa : Mukhya (main) Pradhan, next to the king, for supervising and governing under king's orders in his absence. The king's orders bore the Peshwa's seal
• Mazumdar: An auditor to take care of income and expenditure checks, keep the king informed of finances and sign districts-level accounts
• Navis or Waqia Mantri: to record daily activities of the royal family and to serve as master of ceremony
• Sur Navis or Sachiv: to oversee the king's correspondence to ensure letter and style adherence to wishes of the king and check accounts of palace and Parganas
• Sumant or Dabir: for foreign affairs and to receive ambassadors
• Senapati or Sir-nobut: To keep troops ready and the king fully informed
• Panditrao: to promote learning, spirituality and settle religious disputes
• Nyayadhish: the highest judicial authority.

Legacy

Shivaji died in April 1680, and his eldest son Sambhaji took power after being challenged by his stepmother Soyarabai. Meanwhile, emperor Aurangzeb's son had a falling out with his father and joined forces with Sambhaji, thereafter Aurangzeb personally led his imperial army to attack and to completely destroy the Maratha threat once and for all. He threw the full might of the Mughal empire toward this goal and for a while it seemed that he would achieve his objective, especially after the capture, torture and the murder of Sambhaji for his refusal to bow down before him and convert to Islam. Turmoil and uncertainty gripped the Maratha Confederacy, and they were forced to move their capital from Raigad near Pune to Gingee in the south in current-day state of Tamil Nadu.

At his death, Shivaji's army consisted of thousands of cavalry, infantry, horses and camels and hundreds of elephants, fighting vessels in his naval fleet and artillery pieces. His military structures included about a hundred forts built by him (including naval), and his forces were led by a number of commanders and senior generals of all castes, including Muslims.