-Birth

1.Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsle, also called Shivraye, was born on February

19,1630 in the Shivneri fort (near-present day Nashik) to
Jijabai, daughter of Lakhuji Jadhavrao of Sindkhed and shahajiraje who
was a jagirdar.

2. At the time of Shivraye's birth, the Deccan kingdom was divided into
three Islamic sultanates: Bijapur , Ahmednagar and Gowalkonda which
were essentially the vassal states of the Mughal Empire. Shahajiraje
shifted his allegiance from time to time between the Nizamshahi of
Ahmadnagar ,the Adilshahi of Bijapur and the Mughals.

- Childhood
1. Shahaji was a rebel warlord of the Mughals. His campaigns against
the Mughals with the support of the Nizam government were generally
unsuccessful. They were constantly pursued by the Mughal army and
Shivraye his and mother Jijabai had to constantly move from one fort to
another.

2. When the Nizamshahi was annexed by the Mughals and Adilshah,

Shahaji surrendered but was not executed as he had a large Maratha
following, so instead was forced to transferred to Bangalore.

3. Shivraye and his mother were made to stay in Pune, which was under
the Adilshahi, to look after their land and Shahaji and his eldest son went
to
Bangalore.
4.During this period, the Jagirdari system was prevalent throughout
India, the sultan would grant land to a warrior who is responsible for
collecting taxes from the cultivators and maintaining a cavalry force for
the king, it was like outsourcing the army in a sense, the entire Mughal
structure was like that.

5. The Adilshahi had a much more relaxed take on the Jagirdari system,
so it did not appoint any Jagirdar when Shivraye was growing up in
Pune, so he did not have anyone to report to.
5. So, growing up like this in a very difficult time, Shivraye had no father
figure, though he had many advisors, like Dadoji Konddev and Moropant
Pingle (who went on to become his Chief Minister), who played a role in
shaping him as the emperor he grew up to become, but none played a
role as major as his mother, Jijabai, did. She was a rock behind him and
provided firm guidance to him during his childhood and even after his
adulthood.
Jijau, as she is affectionately called, inspired Maharaja Shivaji to realize
his dream of establishing Swarajya.

-Ascent to Power
1. Shivraye was a brilliant tactician and while growing up he gained
deep knowledge of the surrounding geography, strategic locations,
economic and administrative structure.

2. He saw dilapidated, unmaintained forts near Pune, as the Adilshahi

was very relaxed after joining hands with the Mughals and neglected
to pay attention to them, the granaries were not looked after, the
walls were not repaired and the people staying there were very
casual, not trained and ready for any action.

3. Shivraye spotted the flaw in the Jagirdari system, the power

actually lied in the hands of the Jagirdars and the emperor was just
an overlooker. The Mughals had created an optical illusion which
made it look like that the Emperor was very powerful, but it was just
that, an optical illusion.

4. He thought of taking over the forts, repairing them and making

them war-ready so that he would have solid bases.

5.What he had inherited was a thousand neglected villages and

untilled land which had inauspicious babool trees growing on it
which supposedly brought on a curse on the land, on the advice of
Dadaji Konddev, Shivraye tilled the land with a Golden Plough and
spread the message that the curse was removed. This resulted in the
cultivators coming back from the hills and kickstarting cultivation
again in the region.

6. As there was produce from the cultivation, Shivraye began

collecting taxes from the farmers, so some legitimate money started
flowing into his treasury, skilled workers started migrating to Pune
and it became a hub of economic activity. With this money he was
able to train Maratha people and set up a small army, acquire
weapons, and he struck a deal with the skilled workers to become
part-time fort soldiers for him to man the forts.

7.Now, with all the preparations done, 16 year old Shivraye started
his conquest and captured some nearby forts (namely Purandhar,
Kondhana and Chakan), he manned them, repaired them and made
them war-ready.

8. Adil shah got a whiff of this and confronted Shahaji about his son’s
rebellious activities, due to which Shahaji disassociated himself from
Shivraye and asked the Bijapuris to do anything they wanted with his
son, so Adilshah sent an army to defeat Shivaji and for the first time
in history, a Jagirdar’s son defeated the invaders, in Purandhar.

9. Shivraye went on to establish the Maratha Empire, which ousted

the Mughal Regime from India.

We know about his achievements, but not much is known about his
vision, how he managed to setup a system that has inspired many
modern ventures, his mentality and how did he become so successful
with a very small army?
-VISION

Shivraye was one of the most shrewd, brilliant, analytical and

business-minded people of his time. He had ideas that no one in his
era had had and was a visionary, he revolutionised the various
prevalent systems in his time and developed tactics which not only
helped him in war but in gaining economic stability, making alliances
and expanding his empire in every possible way.

He wanted “Swarajya” (Independence) because he knew that under

the invaders’ rule everybody was ‘secondary citizens’.

He knew that before starting his conquest he would need a strong

economic base and constant flow of money throughout his reign.

1.Demolishing the Jagirdari System:

Having realised the faults in the Jagirdari/Mansabdari/Zamindari

system, which was prevalent even under the British Rule, Shivraye
wanted to demolish the system. He aspired to have his own army and
not to have to outsource it.

To do this he formed an army which was paid from his own treasury,
so that the soldier reported to the king instead of the Mansabdar,
creating a more centralized system.

Shivraye was the first king in India to create a chain-of-command.

2. Taking down the Watandars:

Similar to the Jagirdari system, the Watandars were the head tax
collectors who collected dues from the cultivators to then give it to
the Jagirdars, who would maintain the army. This was a hereditary
system, which also made it very easy for the generations to
eventually become corrupt.

This created a very decentralised system, as the Watandars also

became very powerful, which even the whole Mughal Dynasty and
British could not dislodge.

Shivraye took this down and set up a system totally based on merit,
which meant he would send his people to collect taxes and the
money would go to his treasury through which, he would pay the
army.
This created friction between him and the Watandars, who were
brought down by force.

3. Setting up a rigid justice system:

As the Jagirdari system was not very efficient, soldiers were not paid
salaries at time, to atone for this they were allowed to loot, plunder
villages, take the women and children, sell them as slaves and make
money. This was common at that time.

When Shivraye came to power, for the first time in history, military
law was started, he was very rigid in his beliefs and respected
women.
No person was above justice, not even family, his soldiers were not
allowed to harass women or children, even in enemy territory, if they
did, they were thrown of the cliff at Raigad Fort, known as Takmak
Tok.
The punishments were so brutal that the mere thought would
prevent people from committing any crimes.
4. Abolishing slave trade:
During the 1600s, slave trade was flourishing in the Deccan region
mainly because the Mughals and Nizams would keep a large number
of slaves (mainly young boys). Many would die due to the poor
conditions they were kept in.

When Shivraye acquired the land in the southern regions, he realised

what was happening, he contacted the Dutch traders and told them
that they would be eliminated if they continued the slave trade as he
didn’t want human trafficking in his area.

- Tactical Brilliance
Shivraye was a brilliant tactician and strategist, early in his conquest
he understood that he did not have the army to compete against the
Mughal forces in the flat area of the Deccan plateau, so he turned his
attention westwards towards the Konkan region which was full of
treacherous hills and ghats which the massive cavalry forces of the
Mughals could not traverse.
As he knew he had a very small force in comparision to the Mughals,
He developed a set of guerilla tactics which he called “Ganimi Kaba”
which included but was not limited to:

1. Attacking the back-end of a Mughal cavalcade and looting.

2. Luring Mughal troops into narrow valleys while waiting in ambush
and attacking them.
3. Interrupting the food supplies and diverting them to Maratha
bases
4. Using Scorch-Earth Policy
which entails filling water sources with neem leaves and mud,
 Burning food grains, depriving enemy forces of food and water.
5. Using the narrow valleys and treacherous slopes as his cover.

6. Also, early during his reign, he set up trade relations with the
Portuguese. But they had made it compulsory to be paid for the
protection of the trade ships, this was a very large sum for the
fledgeling Maratha Empire. Plus, the Portuguese were allies with the
Siddis who were pirates, and they would attack the ships which
incurred heavy losses for the Marathas.
So, Shivraye set up a merchant navy by himself and constructed
warships for the protection of the navy, which laid the basis for the
modern navies in today’s world.

- Legacy
Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one of the greatest, if not the greatest
Indian emperor to have ever lived.
He laid the foundations of the Maratha Empire at a very young age
and succeeded in his mission of establishing ‘Swarajya’ across India
and ousting the invading forces.
His intellect, courage, economic, business, tactical and political
acumen still inspire many people across India.
He set up communication, administrative and military systems which
are the foundations of modern society.
Shivaraye passed away on April 3, 1680 at his capital Raigad Fort due
to illness. But his legacy continued in the form of an empire which
went on to rule over India for over 180 years.