MARATHA YODHHA

Early life

Sambhaji was born at Purandar fort.^[1] He was 17 years old when his father Shivaji was crowned in 1674.He lost his mother Saibai who was Shivaji's favourite wife at the age of 2.Since then he was under the care of his grandmother. His grandmother and mentor Jijabai died in the same year of the coronation of Shivaji. Sambhaji was taken as security by Mughal Sardar Mirza Raja Jayasingh until he receives all forts of agreement which Shivaji Maharaj did with him to stop his attack on Maratha kingdom under his control. Sambhaji was 9 years old at that time.
In a marriage of political alliance, Sambhaji was married to Jivubai, renamed (as per Maratha custom) Yesubai, daughter of Pilajirao Shirke who came to service of Shivaji Maharaj after defeat of a powerful Deshmukh he was serving.Thus giving Shivaji access to the Konkan coastal belt.^[2]

Coronation

After the death of Shivaji, his widow Soyarabai Shirke started making plans with various ministers of the administration to replace Sambhaji with her son Raja Ram as the heir to the kingdom. On 21 April 1680, the ten-year old Raja Ram was installed in the throne. The news reached Sambhaji who was imprisoned in Panhala. On 27 April, he took possession of the fort after killing the commander and on 18 June, he acquired control of Raigarh. Sambhaji formally ascended the throne on 20 July, putting Soyarabai and Raja Ram in prison.^[3][4]

Attack on Burhanpur

Bahadurkhan Kokaltash, a relative of Aurangzeb was in charge of Burhanpur, a Mughal stronghold. He left Burhanpurto attend a wedding, giving the charge of Burhanpur to Kakarkhan. Bahadurkhan also took with him a territorial army to showoff at the wedding. Sambhaji tricked Mughals into thinking that Marathas were going to attack Surat that had been twice plundered by Shivaji. However, Hambirrao Mohite, the commander of the Maratha army surrounded Burhanpur. Sambhaji also reached Burhanpur in a short time. Thus, within a fortnight of his coronation, Sambhaji along with Hambirrao attacked Burhanpur. In face of sudden surprise attack the Mughals could not save Burhanpur. The Marathas plundered all the Mughal treasure in Burhanpur, about twenty million rupees. Sambhaji purchased horses from an Arab trader although the utterly frightened trader was ready to give the horses for free. The people of Burhanpur, especially women and children, were not harmed.^[5] The Marathas safely reached Raigad with all the loot.

War against the Mughal Empire

Main article: War of 27 years

Statue of Sambhaji Maharaj

In an act of political acumen, Sambhaji gave shelter to Sultan Muhammad Akbar, the fourth son of Aurangzeb, to cause revolt against Aurangzeb.^[5] Within a year or so of Sambhaji's coronation, Sultan Muhammad Akbar took shelter with him and sought Sambhaji's aid in winning the Mughal throne from his father Aurangzeb.
Upon the death of Shivaji, Aurangzeb had come to Dakkhaan in 1680 CE with about half a million troops and 400,000 animals, which at that time was perhaps the largest army in the world. With the help of such a massive army, he defeated the Adilshah (Vijapur) and Qutubshah (Golconda) empires. Aurangzeb acquired two generals, Mukarrabkhan and Sarjakhan, from Qutubshahi and Adilshahi empires respectively. However, he was not able to bring an end to the Maratha empire. It was a disproportionate battle in all senses. Aurangzeb's army was about ten times the Maratha army. Sambhaji did not let Aurangzeb win major victories. Aurangzeb's commanders claimed that they would win the Ramshej fort near Nashik within hours but the fight for the fort lasted seven years.

Fort Ramshej

Aurangzeb’s army had attacked the Maratha Kingdom. And his commanders claimed that they would win the Ramshej fort within hours. But Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje & his army gave them a tough fight and the fight for the fort lasted for seven years.^[6]

War with Siddis of Janjira

The island of Janjira was under the control of the Siddis. Janjira was strategically a very important and impregnable fort in the Arabian Sea, with cannons embedded all around. It also had high economic importance as the traders had to pay large amounts to pass by this fort. The Marathas had earlier tried conquering Janjira but failed. Sambhaji wanted to capture Janjira. The Marathas attacked the fort from all sides. Siddis also retaliated with their cannons and ships and did not give up. Sambhaji ordered a break in the attack. Other Maratha chiefs did not know that Sambhaji had planted spies in the Janjira fort and he was waiting for them to blow up the gunpowder store in the fort. Unfortunately the spies were caught as a female servant came to know about this and informed the Siddis. One of them managed to escape but the others were killed. When Sambhaji got this news, he decided to build a bridge of stones from the shore to the island fort. The construction was very risky, difficult and consumed time. When about half of the bridge had been built, news came that Aurangzeb had sent about 100,000 troops to ravage the Maratha kingdom. Sambhaji had to leave Janjira to counter the Mughal army.

War with the Portuguese of Goa

There were chances of Portuguese providing supplies to Mughals and allowing unloading of Mughal ships at the Portuguese ports in Goa. Thus, Sambhaji undertook a campaign against the Portuguese in Goa. Portuguese like Chikka Dev Rai, were driven by arrogance. Marathas stormed Goa and started conquering Portuguese territory and forts. Portuguese weren’t able to overcome the Marathas. Common people in Goa rose in rebellion and started thrashing the priests, whom they accused of carrying out forced conversions .Sambhaji controlled the irate people of Goa. Seeing the inevitable, Portuguese ruler Count De Alwore and his ministers even took out the body of St. Xavier and started praying for their safety. And, to their astonishment, Sambhaji had to depart from Goa, as Aurangzeb had again sent about 100,000 (a lakh) troops to run wild in the Maratha kingdom.
Sambhaji warned Siddis, Chikkadev Rai and Portuguese from crossing the path of the Marathas and ordered them to refrain from helping Aurangzeb in any way. In this way, Sambhaji nullified any threat that the Maratha kingdom had from these 3 powers. Sambhaji also beat back the two Mughal armies of 100,000 (a lakh) troops each, which were sent by Aurangzeb to wreak havoc in the Maratha kingdom. In fact, the second army was so badly thrashed that only a few troops could return to the Mughal camp. Thus, Aurangzeb wanted to somehow arrest Sambhaji by deceit, as he concluded that it wouldn’t be possible for him to annex the Maratha kingdom by force.^[7]

War with Chikka Devraja of Mysore

When he learnt of intrusion into Maratha territory by Chikka Devaraja, Sambhaji had sent his emissary to Chikka Devaraja. The emissary was insulted in the Mysore court. Furious at this, Sambhaji decided to attack Chikka Devaraja. The Marathas marched but Chikka Devaraja prepared to fight and decided to stop the Marathas before they could reach Mysore’s territory. Both the armies were poised for a battle. The Mysore bowmen started striking and the Maratha army was greeted with a heavy shower of arrows. The long-ranged metallic arrows from the Mysore bowmen started inflicting fatal wounds on the Marathas. Thus, realizing the increasing Maratha casualties, Sambhaji retreated for the time being and camped nearby. Sambhaji then ordered all the local cobblers to prepare leather clothing. These garments were ordered to be laden with oil. Marathas then started making bows and arrows using a locally available wood. These bows and arrows were ordinary and crude. However a piece of cloth bound to the arrowhead made it deadly when lit with fire using oil as fuel. Thus, Sambhaji transformed ordinary arrows into fiery arrows.
The Mysore bowmen had longer, stronger and better quality bows and arrows than the Marathas. Marathas started attacking the forts in Mysore. The bowmen from atop the forts commenced striking. But, their arrows proved futile, as the oil-laden leather clothing neutralized the effects of the arrows. To counter them, Maratha bowmen began responding with lit arrows. Some of them struck the explosives (gunpowder) store and caused explosions. This led to high casualties in the Mysore army. The Marathas pressed on attacking and the forts of Chikka Devraja fell into Maratha hands. Thus, Chikka Devraja realising the situation he was in, and sued for peace and agreed to abide by the terms of the Marathas.^[5]

Capture and Attempts to rescue

Stone arch at Tulapur confluence where Sambhaji was executed.

In early 1689 CE, Sambhaji called his commanders for a strategic meeting at Sangameshwar in Konkan to decide on the final blow to oust Aurangzeb from Dakkhan. In order to execute the plans soon, Sambhaji sent ahead most of his comrades and stayed back with a few of his trustworthy men. Ganoji Shirke, one of Sambhaji's brother-in-laws, turned a traitor and helped Aurangzeb's commander Muqarrab Khan to locate, reach and attack Sangameshwar when Sambhaji was in the garden of Sangameshwar, resolving some issues and was about to leave the town.
Sambhaji, Kavi Kalash and his men were surrounded from all sides. Marathas took out their swords, roared ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and pounced upon the far too numerous Mughals. A bloody skirmish took place and Sambhaji was captured on 1 February 1689.
Maratha soldiers and other faithfuls unsuccessfully tried to rescue Sambhaji but were killed by Mughals on 3 February 1689.

Execution

Bust of Sambhaji at Tulapur

Sambhaji was beheaded and his body was cut into pieces on his denial to bow down to Aurangzeb and convert toIslam.^[8] It is said that Mahar people from village Vadhu (which is half kilometer away from Tulapur) collected those pieces and did Sambhaji's funeral ceremony.
In early 1689, Sambhaji called his commanders for a strategic meeting at Sangameshwar in Konkan. In a meticulously planned operation, Ganoji Shirke (brother of Sambhaji’s wife Yesubai) and Aurangzeb's commander, Mukarrab Khan attacked Sangameshwar when Sambhaji was about to leave the town. A small ambush followed and Sambhaji was captured by Mughal troops on 1 Feb, 1689. He and his advisor, Kavi Kalash were taken to Bahadurgad. Aurangzeb humiliated them by parading them wearing clown's clothes. Later, Sambhaji and Kavi Kalash were tied upside down to camels with Mughal soldiers throwing stones, mud, and cow dung at them.
When they were brought face to face with Aurangzeb, the latter offered to let Sambhaji live if he surrendered all the Maratha forts, turned over all his hidden treasures and disclosed the names of all the Mughal officers who had helped him. Sambhaji refused, and instead sang the praises of Mahadev (Lord Shiva). Aurangzeb ordered him and Kavi Kalash to be tortured to death. Sambhaji and Kavi Kalash were brutally tortured for over a fortnight. The torture involved plucking out their eyes and tongue and pulling out their nails. The later part involved removing their skin. On March 11, 1689, Sambhaji was finally killed, reportedly by tearing him apart from the front and back with 'Wagh Nakhe’ (‘Tiger claws’, a kind of weapon), and was beheaded with an axe. This grievous death was given to him at Vadhu on the banks of the Bhima river, near Pune.
After every torture, Aurangzeb would ask him if he had had enough and wanted to convert – but the courageous king kept refusing. By doing so he earned the title of Dharmaveer (Protector of Dharma) by which he is known to this day. Aurangzeb ordered for Sambhaji's body to be cut into pieces and be thrown into the river. Residents of the nearby village named 'Vadhu' collected as many pieces of his body as they could find, sewed them together and performed the final rites on his body. These villagers later went on to use the surname 'Shivle' or 'Shivale', as per spelling preference, which means ‘sewing’ in the Marathi language.

Immediate after-effects of Sambhaji's execution

Immediately after Sambhaji's death, Maratha confederacy was thrown in a disarray. He was succeeded by his younger brother Rajaram. The Commander-in-Chief of Maratha army, Mhaloji Ghorpade, who succeeded Hambirrao Mohite, died in the ambush at Sangameshwar. A few days after Sambhaji's death, the capital Raigad fell to the Mughals and Sambhaji's wife and son were captured. However, Rajaram shifted the Maratha capital to Jinji in deep South. Marathas under Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav harassed the Mughal army!^[9]
After Sambhaji's torture and death, Aurangzeb continued his grim war against the Marathas for another 14 years, but couldn't win and died in the fort of Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Aurangzeb ended up wasting resources and also lacked a good successor which hastened the end of the Mughal Empire.

Legacy