The Story of Shivaji Maharaja

STORY OF SHIVAJI BHOSLE

Shivaji Raje Bhosle was born on 19 February 1630, at the hill fort of Shivneri, near Junnar in the Pune district. He belonged to the Bhosle clan who founded the Maratha empire.

Swaraj Empire

Shivaji’s father Shahaji served alongside Malik Ambar, who defended the Deccan region, the first to be done by any Maratha against the Mughals. He always tried to free their kingdom from The Sultanate Of Bijapur as well as wanted to throw out the Mughal rule in India and establish a Swaraj Empire.

Rajmata Jijabai

His mother Jijabai was a pious and far sighted lady. She is regarded to be the master of Shivaji’s bravery. Shivaji was extremely devoted to his mother who was also very deeply religious. This religious environment had a great influence on Shivaji, and he carefully studied the two great Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. The morality and spiritual messages of these epics left a great impression on him.

Torna Fort

By the age of 16, Shivaji managed to gather a band of fiercely loyal Maratha men and set about conquering nearby lands. Their first triumph was the capture of 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.

Battle of Pratapgarh

In a bid to contain Shivaji, Adil Shah sent Afzal Khan, an experienced veteran general along with an army of 40,000 men to destroy Shivaji. Upon weighing his options carefully as to what action must be taken, Shivaji decided to meet Afzal Khan on his home turf at the base of the Pratapgarh fort insisting that the meeting be an informal one. He sent a letter to Afzal Khan stating that he was eager for it. Afzal agreed.

At the meeting, Afzal Khan stabbed Shivaji in the back when the two embraced each other. Shivaji was well prepared for this and survived the attack, protected by a chain mail armour he was wearing and counter-attacked by slaying Afzal Khan with the wagh nakh (tiger-claws glove). Afzal’s...