Shivaji

In 1640, he got married to Saibai, from the renowned Nimbalkar family, with whom he had four children – daughter Sakhubai (1651), daughter Ranubai (1653), daughter Ambikabai (1655) and son Sambhaji (1657).

His second marriage to Soyarabai was forcefully arranged by his stepmother, Tukabai, despite Jijabai’s consistent refusal. The couple had two children – daughter Balibai and son Rajaram.

He had several other wives, including Putalabai, Sakvarbai and Kashibai.

Shivaji Bhonsale was born in 1627 (or 1630) at Shivneri, a hill fort near Junnar, Pune, into a family of Maratha bureaucrats, to Shahji Bhonsale, a Maratha general in the army of the Bijapur Sultanate, and Jijabai.

His mother’s extremely religious nature made a great impact on his upbringing as he grew up studying Ramayana and Mahabharata and showed great interest in religious teachings, especially those of Hindu and Sufi saints.

He was brought up by his mother and his administrator, Dadoji Konddeo, who taught him horse riding, archery, marksmanship, patta and other fighting techniques after his father left for Karnataka with his second wife, Tukabai.

He made his first military conquest at the age of 16 in 1645 by attacking and capturing Torna Fort in the Bijapur Sultanate, followed by conquest of other forts – Chakan, Kondana, and Rajgad.

Fearing his rising power, the Bijapur Sutlan, Mohammed Adil Shah imprisoned his father, following which he halted his conquests and built a stronger army until his father’s release in 1653 or 1655.

The Bijapur Sultan sent his general, Afzal Khan, to supress Shivaji in November 1659, who, fearing Afzal’s deceitful plans, came armed with bagh nakh (tiger claw) in one hand and a dagger in the other, and slayed him at the Pratapgar Fort.

He was attacked by the army of Adilshah’s general, Siddi Jauhar, while camping at Panhala Fort, near present-day Kolhapur, in 1660, but Shivaji escape to Vishalgad fort to regroup his large army for a battle. Backed by his Maratha sardar Baji Prabhu Deshpande, who wounded himself while holding back the army at the Battle of Pavan Khind, he reached Vishalgad safely, resulting in a truce between him and Adilshah in July 1660.

He resumed his raids after his father’s death in 1664-65 and seized the northern parts of Konkon and forts of Purandar and Javali.

His army attacked the Bijapur Sultanate’s forces at the Battle of Pratapgarh killing over 3,000 soldiers and imprisoning two sons of Afzal Khan, besides seizing weapons, war-materials, horses and armor to further strengthen his army.

To curb down the emerging power of Shivaji, the Bijapur Sultan sent an army of 10,000 forces under Rustam Zaman in December 1659 but was defeated at the hands of the Maratha army at the Battle of Kolhapur.

Aurangzeb sent Rajput Raja Jai Singh to suppress Shivaji and succeeded in capturing various Maratha forts, thereby forcing him to surrender and sign the Treaty of Purandar in 1665, ceding 23 forts and 400,000 rupees to the Mughals.