Dharmaveer Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj

Dharmaveer Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj

Early life:

Sambhaji Raje Bhosle (lang-mr) (14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689) was the eldest son of the Maratha Empire founder Shivaji the Great, and succeeded him as the Chhatrapati or the High Protector of the Maratha Empire.

Sambhaji was born on Purandar fort.Sambhaji lost his mother Sai bai at the age of 2. After her death, his paternal grandmother Jijabai looked after him. Initially his stepmother, Soyarabai, also doted on him a lot. Sambhaji was a cub of tiger in true sense. He was extremely handsome and possessed immense bravery. He was a scholar of Sanskrit and eight other languages.in 1666, he was married to Yesu bai, and later the couple had a son – Shahu. On June 6th, 1674 at the time of coronation of Shivaji Maharaj, he was declared as the prince of the Sovereign Maratha Kingdom. Many visiting dignitaries at the coronation ceremony have written about his acumen, intelligence, personality and most important of all, modesty. As a prince, Sambhaji proved his bravery and military brilliance on more than one occasions. He led and won his first war in Ramnagar at the age of 16. During 1675-76 he led successful campaigns in Goa and Karnataka.

About Sambhaji:

Chhatrapati Sambhaji wrote several poems including a highly prestigious Sanskrit poem book “Budh bhushan” it describes few principles of political science and It also had descriptions about Raigad fort.He even composed poems in Hindi language like 'Nakhashikha'.[citation needed]

Sambhaji was a Fair, handsome 6'3" man. He was a powerful, courageous man. His personality, attitude, intelligence and qualities had gained him the respect and appreciation of everyone who visited the Maratha Darbar. He was a staunch Hindu, evident from his efforts to stop conversions at Raigad district (Performed by the Siddis) and in Goa (Performed by the Portuguese), he was follower of Shakt sect.

Sambhaji is also known for his political acumen. He had given shelter to Sultan Muhammad Akbar, the fourth son of Aurangzeb, to cause widespread revolt against Aurangzeb.

Estrangement and reconciliation with father:
The politics fuelled by Wife of Shivaji Maharaj - Soyarabai with some other courtiers led to Sambhaji's estrangement. For almost one year, Sambhaji left Shivaji's kingdom and joined Aurangzeb's commander, Diler Khan as part of politics. This came as a rude and extremely sad shock for Shivaji.That time Shivaji had gone further south for his campaign to capture the forts of Adil Shah leaving Deccan in charge of Sambhaji. In the meantime, Aurangzeb, realising the opportunity to finish off the Maratha empire in the absence of Shivaji ordered his commander Diler Khan to lead a large army to attack Sambhaji. Owing to a series of misunderstandings between Shivaji and Sambhaji, where Sambhaji's actions were misrepresented by conspiring members of Shivaji's court and Soyarabai, a strong coldness had developed in the relationship between father and son.This process caused further widening of the rift between Sambhaji on one side, and Soyarabai on the other side. As a result, Sambhaji was not invited for Rajaram's wedding.Rajaram was child of Shivaji Maharaj & Soyarabai.In a misguided attempt to address the situation, Sambhaji joined forces with Diler Khan. Following this, the joint forces of Sambhaji and Diler Khan attacked several forts in the Maratha empire. On one such occasion, the commander of a fort chose to surrender to Sambhaji rather than fight with Shivaji's son. Dilerkhan ordered the amputation of the limbs of all the soldiers within that fort, when Sambhaji had been on the fort . During this period of Sambhaji's collaboration with Diler Khan, Shivaji made several attempts to bring his son back. Finally, upon hearing of a conspiracy by Diler Khan to assassinate him, Sambhaji saw the light and chose to return to the Maratha empire and Shivaji.

Coronation:
Annaji Datto, Somaji Datto and some others in Shivaji's court wanted to oust Sambhaji so that they could get to play a bigger role in the affairs of the state and use it to their advantage. They even poisoned Sambhaji's food, but, Sambhaji was fortunately saved.
Soyarabai and her supporters plotted to arrest Sambhaji at the fort of Panhala, where he was staying at the time of Shivaji's death. They wanted to crown Rajaram and to not allow Sambhaji to become the Maratha emperor. However Sarnobat (the then Supreme Commander of Maratha forces) and Soyarabai's brother, Hambirrao Mohite supported Sambhaji since he was the rightful heir to the throne. At the time of Shivaji's death, there was news of impending attack of Aurangzeb's army on Maharashtra and at such a crucial juncture, a strong leader like Sambhaji was need of the hour. Therefore Hambirrao did not support his own sister and sided with Sambhaji.
Annaji Datto Sabnis and other courtiers namely Hiroji Bhosale(Farjad),Balaji Aavji,Rupaji Mane were arrested for supporting Soyarabai and were punished in a rather cruel way of being killed under a War-elephants legs. It was chiefly because of Hambirrao's support that Sambhaji was able to ascend to his rightful place on the Maratha throne in 1681.
However Sambhaji pardoned Moropant Pingale as he was not deeply involved against him and again re-appointed him on the post of “Peshwa”.Later there were no differences between Sambhaji Raje and Moropant Pingale due to which Moropant Pingale participated in Burhanpur’s war during 1681 along with Sambhaji Raje.

Attack on Burhanpur:

Bahadurkhan Kokaltash, a relative of Aurangzeb was in charge of Burhanpur, a Mughal stronghold. He left Burhanpur to attend a wedding, giving the charge of Burhanpur to Kakarkhan. The careless and bigheaded Bahadurkhan also took with him a territorial army, to showoff at the wedding. Sambhaji had tricked Mughals by making them to think that Marathas were going to attack Surat, which was twice plundered by Shivaji Maharaj in his lifetime. However, Hambirrao Mohite, the commander-in-chief of the Maratha army was already surrounding Burhanpur. And to his surprise, Sambhaji had also reached Burhanpur in a very short time. Thus, within a fortnight of his coronation, Sambhaji along with Hambirrao attacked Burhanpur. Mughals tried to retaliate but were taken aback by the sudden attack of the Marathas and thus, couldn’t do much to save Burhanpur. The Mughals either hid somewhere or locked themselves up in the fort of Burhanpur. Marathas plundered all the Mughal treasure in Burhanpur. The Mughals were made poorer by about 20 million rupees. Sambhaji also purchased horses from an Arab trader, although the utterly frightened trader, was ready to give away the horses for free. This attack is a perfect example of careful planning, execution, excellent strategic mobility and immense courage of the Marathas under Sambhaji. Marathas safely reached Raigad with all the loot. People of Burhanpur, especially women and children weren’t harmed at all.

War with Mughals :
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. On hearing about the death of Shivaji Maharaj, Aurangzeb had come to Deccan in 1680 AD to bring down the Maratha Empire.The Mughal Emperor invaded the Deccan vowing to destroy the Maratha state that had been founded by Shivaji. The Mughal army, which came along totaled about 500,000-600,000 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 brought the Adilshah (Bijapur) and Qutubshah (Golconda) empires to his feet. Aurangzeb acquired 2 generals namely Mukarrabkhan and Sarjakhan from Qutubshahi and Adilshahi empires respectively. However, he was not able to bring an end to the Maratha Empire. It was to be the final war in his life and lasted all of 27 years until his death at Ahmednagar in 1707.

It was a disproportionate battle in all senses. Aurangzeb's army was at least 8 to 9 times larger than Sambhaji's. His whole empire was around 15 times bigger than Sambhaji's. However, Sambhaji led the fight valiantly and did not let Aurangzeb win even a single major victory. The tenacity and sheer will of the Maratha resistance to the Mughal invasion is best illustrated by the story of the Ramshej fort near Nashik. Aurangzeb's commanders claimed that they would win the fort within hours but the fight for the fort lasted for seven years. Sambhaji utilised the available resources very well and made strategically adroit moves by comprehensively defeating the enemies of his kingdom like Siddi of Janjira, Chikkadev Rai of Mysore and Portuguese of Goa and Bassein (Vasai) before they could turn on him and support Aurangzeb.

The Marathas led by Sambhaji fought single-handedly against all the enemies. To make matters worse, there was a devastating famine in the region for two years in 1686-87.

War with Siddis of Janjira:

Janjira was under the Siddis. Janjira was strategically a very important place and a mighty fort in the Arabian Sea, with cannons embedded all around. It also had high economic importance. Traders had to cough up heavy amounts to bypass this spot. Marathas had earlier tried conquering Janjira, but to no avail. Sambhaji wanted to capture Janjira. Marathas attacked the fort from all sides. Siddis also retaliated with their cannons and ships. However, the force of the Maratha attack was such that defeat was eminent for the Siddis. But still they weren’t giving up. But then, there was a lull in the Maratha camp and Janjira was not attacked, on the orders of Sambhaji Maharaj. Other Maratha chiefs were getting anxious and didn’t know the reason behind this. The reason was that Sambhaji had sent a spy along with some trust-worthy men in the fort of Janjira to deceive the Siddis. Nobody except Sambhaji knew about this. However, the day on which the spy and his Maratha comrades were going to leave Janjira by blowing up the gunpowder and explosives store, they were caught, as a female-servant came to know about this and informed the Siddis. They were all killed and only one managed to escape. Sambhaji got this news and couldn’t believe his misfortune. He now wanted to destroy the fort and came up with a unique idea of building a bridge of stones from the shore leading to the fort. However, the implementation was very risky, difficult and consumed time. When about half of the bridge was built and victory for the Marathas was inevitable, news came that Aurangzeb had sent 100,000 (a lakh) troops to ravage the Maratha kingdom. Thus, Sambhaji had to leave Janjira to counter the Mughal army.

War with Chikka Devraja of Mysore:

Hearing about the intrusion of Chikka Devaraja into Maratha territory, Sambhaji had sent his emissary to Chikka Devaraja. But the emissary was insulted in the Mysore Durbar. Furious at this, Sambhaji decided to attack Chikka Devaraja. Marathas marched into the Kannadiga state. Chikka Devaraja too prepared to fight and decided to stop the Marathas before they could reach Mysore’s capital. 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 rubber clothing. These garments were ordered to be laden with oil. Marathas then started making bows and arrows using a local tree. These bows and arrows were ordinary and crude. A piece of cloth was wound at the arrows’ head and it was set on fire using oil. 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 started striking. But, their arrows proved futile, as the oil-laden rubber clothing neutralized the effects of the arrows. To counter them, Maratha bowmen started striking. These arrows would strike the explosives(gunpowder) store and cause explosions. This led to high casualties in the Mysore army. The Marathas pressed on attacking and the forts of Chikka Devraja started falling into the hands of the Marathas one by one. Thus, Chikka Devraja realising the situation he was in sued for peace and agreed to abide by the terms of the Marathas.

War with Portuguese:
Sambhaji Maharaj fought with Portuguese in Goa who were very busy in forced conversions of Hindus through various ways like ‘Inquisition’. He was very angry on them due to these conversions & demolition of Hindu Temples in Goa.Portuguese were very frightened to the assault of Sambhaji Maharaj, which reflects in their letter to British where they wrote that ‘Now-a-days Sambhaji is most powerful person and we have experienced it’.

Efforts for Reconversion to Hinduism:
We all know that Shivaji Maharaj reconverted Netaji Palkar to Hinduism. Similaraly Sambhaji Maharaj started one different office for the reconversion of Muslims & Christians to Hinduism. Many converted Hindus came back to Hinduism due to efforts of Sambhaji Maharaj.
Capture & Execution:
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, turn over all his hidden treasures and disclose the names of all the Mughal officers who had helped him. Sambhaji refused, and instead sang 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 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 the Religion) by which he is known to this day. Aurangzeb ordered to cut Sambhaji's body into pieces and to be thrown in to the river. Residents of 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,as leader of the Marathas .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 Gingee in deep South. In fact, Marathas under Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav were running riot in the Mughal army!

Sambhaji's torture and heroic death unleashed an unprecedented unity and heroic spirit among the Marathas. Aurangzeb continued his grim war against the Marathas for another 18 years but could not subjugate the Maratha state.
He was a true Dharmaveer, who did not bow before Aurangzeb though Aurangzeb brutally tortured Sambhaji Maharaj for more than 40 days. Hindus must learn how to sacrifice for Dharma from Sambhaji Maharaj. He was a scholar of Sanskrit language. He single handedly fought with massive army of Aurangzeb for 9 years.
Aurangzeb spent the last 27 years of his life in the Deccan in constant war with the Marathas till his death on 3 March 1707. In 1737, within 50 years of the torture and death of Sambhaji, Maratha Allied armies entered Delhi and had re-established Hindu rule over all of western, central and much of northern India. It was the first time after 1192, when Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated by Mohammed Ghori, that a Hindu army was in control of Delhi except for a brief period by Hemu in 1556. The Maratha empire would remain the foremost military power in India till they lost power to the British after 3 Anglo-Maratha wars, the last of which ended in 1818.Internal division among marathas led to defeat against British. Peshwa could not control Maratha knights- Shinde and holkar and this led to weakening of Maratha Empire. Still, British were defeated at first Anglo-Maratha war which was fought by all Maratha sardars unitedly.Marathas and Tipu sultan are the exception in regard that they were only rulers who could defeat British.

Legacy:
There is some dispute among historians about Sambhaji's ability as a ruler. These disputes came mainly from British & Mughal historians like Khafikhan & Grand Duff. These historians have portrayed him as ineffective and alcoholic. Other historians, notably S.G. Shevde, portrayed Sambhaji as a capable ruler. However many historians like Babasaheb Purandare, Shivaji Savant have let the truth out about him to society.
It is quite interesting to look at his own version. After he assumed the charge of Chhatrapati, he issued a Danapatra which is a eulogy right from his great grandfather Maloji to himself. He writes about him'Balbhavendra prasthadhinathanudnyat mallayudhadatt adnyabhanga:It means he(Aurangzeb) asked me to show his skill in wrestling to him to which he refused.' This was during his visit as child prodigy along with his father to Aurangzeb’s' court in Agra.