Maratha Empire- Sambhaji

Chaatrapati Shivaji had two sons, Sambhaji and Rajaram. The elder son was very popular among the courties. He was a great warrior, a great politician and a poet. In 1681, Sambhaji had himself crowned and resume his father's expanist policies. Sambhaji had earlier defeated the Portuguese and Chikka Deva Raya of Mysore.He fought against Aurangazeb's 400,000 strong army for about seven years from 1682 to 1689. Ultimately Sambhaji was captured and tortured to death on March 11, 1689.

Rajaram, Chaatrapati Sambhaji's brother, assumed the throne after the death of Sambhaji. Mughal laid siege to Raigad. Rajaram fled to Vishalgad and then to Jinji for safety. From there they raided Mughal territory and captured many forts by Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadav. In 1697 Rajaram. Rajaram died in 1700 and his wife Tarabai assumed the control. Tarabai heroically led the Marathas forced the Mughal  upto Narmada river and entered Malwa in 1705 during Aurangazeb's time.

Aurangazeb died in 1707 when Shahuji,son of Sambhaji was released by Azam Shah, the next Emperor of Mughal.

Due to the disputes of Maratha Kingship it was separated in 1710 between two principalities by the treaty of Warna in 1731.

Maratha Empire (contd-1)

Pic-1,Sivaji's Birth Place. Pic-2 Sivaji's Raigard Fort.
Chhatrapati Shivaji: The Marathas lived in the Desh region around Pune for a long time, in the portion of the Deccan plateau, where plateau meets the eastern slopes of the Western Ghat.
Shivaji's father Shahaji Bhosale was the chieftain of a hardy band of warrior class mercenaries that served the Deccan Sultanates. His mother was Rajmata Jijabai, 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. Gomaji Naik Pansambal, a trusted master of state-Craft, was deputed by Lakhuji Yadavrao (Jadhav) to look after Jijabai. He remained with Jijabai and Shivaji throughout his life. He also was a master of sword. But most importantly, he advised Shivaji in making certain crucial decisions which had far reaching effects on the character of the Maratha empire


Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri near the city of Junnar. While Jijabai was pregnant, she had prayed to the local deity "Shivai" for blessings for her expected child. Shivaji was named after this local deity.

There are no contemporary records of Shivaji's exact birthdate and boyhood.
Under the leadership of Shivaji Marathas freed themselves from the Muslim Turkic Sultans of Bijapur to the South-east  and became much more aggressive, frequently raiding Mughal territory and ransacking the Mughal port of Surat in 1664 and again in 1670. In 1674 Shivaji Maharaja's death in 1680, the Marathas had expande their territory to include some parts of central India.

Maratha Empire

Maratha Empire was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak they covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of 2.8 million km.sq.The empire was founded and consolidated by Shivaji Bhosale. He created an independent Maratha kingdom with Raigad as its capital, and successfully fought against the Mughals to defend his kingdom. The Maratha Empire waged war for 27 years with the Mughals from 1681 to 1707 which became the longest war ever fought in the history of India.

(Video)Empire:Total War - First Anglo-Maratha War (1777-1782) - Historical Battle

Battle of Buxar, fall of Delhi

The battle of Buxar was fought 0n 22nd Oct 1764 between the forces of the command of the British East India Company and the combined armies of MirQasim, the Nawab of Bengal, the Nawab of Oudh, and the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II. The battle fought at Buxar, ( in Bihar), located at the bank of the Ganges.
The British troops engaged in the fighting, numbered 7,072 comprising 857 British, and 5,297 Indian Sepoys and 918 Indian Cavalry . The annual stipend of Rs. 450,000 ,or of the native forces were estimated to be around 40,000 lack of co-ordination among the three desperate allies each with a different axe to grind, was responsible for their decisive debacle.Shuja-ud-Daulah, the prime victim, signed the treaty of Allahabad  that secured Diwani rights for the company to collect and manage the revenues of almost 100,000,000 acres of real estate which currently form parts of the Indian states of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, and Jharkhand, Uttarpradesh as well as Bangla Desh.
Shah Alam II became a pensioner with a monthly pension and Mir qasim was replaced.
This was the Battle when the British attained the political power of India.  

Different dynasties prior to British Period

Mughal Emperors and End of Mughal Rule