Shivaji Maharaj
Shivaji founded the Maratha kingdom in western India and built a power that outlasted the Mughals. Born at Shivneri fort in 1630, the son of Shahaji Bhonsle, a general serving the Deccan sultanates, he was raised largely by his mother Jijabai and his administrator Dadoji Konddev at Pune while his father served elsewhere. He began taking forts in the Western Ghats in his teens, starting with Torna in 1646, and built a territory out of the hill country of the Sahyadri range — terrain that suited the light cavalry and rapid movement his forces relied on. Two encounters made his reputation. In 1659 the Bijapur general Afzal Khan, a much larger man, met him for negotiations; Shivaji, expecting treachery, wore armour beneath his clothes and concealed a set of iron claws, and killed him in the embrace. In 1663 he wounded the Mughal governor Shaista Khan in a night raid on his own quarters in Pune, cutting off his fingers as he escaped through a window. He built a navy, unusual for an Indian power, to control the Konkan coast and check the Portuguese, English and Siddis. Forced to submit by Mirza Raja Jai Singh in 1665, he went to Aurangzeb's court at Agra in 1666, was slighted and placed under guard, and escaped — by tradition concealed in a basket of sweets. He was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad in 1674, asserting sovereignty rather than service. He administered through the ashtapradhan council of eight ministers, paid his troops in cash rather than land grants, and enforced protection of civilians, mosques and women during raids. He died in 1680.
- Lived: 1630 CE – 1680 CE
- Nationality: Indian
- Roles: statesman, military_leader
