Maratha Empire (1640-1680) - NCERT based short notes

Maratha Empire – NCERT-based short notes on the history of the Maratha Empire - Shivaji, Shambaji, Rajaram, Shivaji-2, Shahuji are given.

Shivaji (1640-1680)

• Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire, was born on February 19, 1630, in the fort of Shivner.
• Shivaji's father's name was Shahaji Bhonsle and his mother's name was Jijabai.
• Shivaji was married to Saibai Nimbalkar in 1640 AD.
• Shivaji's political teacher was Dadaji Konddev and his spiritual teacher was Ramdas.
• Shivaji first captured the Torna Fort of the princely state of Bijapur at the age of 16.
• In 1656, Shivaji made Raigad his capital.
• Meanwhile, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire, in 1660, appointed Shaista Khan as the Governor of the South and assigned them the task of conquering the South.
• In 1663, Shivaji attacked Shaista Khan and cut off his thumb, and killed his son.
• In 1664, Shivaji had committed a horrific robbery in Surat.
• Disturbed by this, Aurangzeb handed over the reins of the south to Raja Jai ​​Singh in 1665. Soon after, he attacked Purandar and took the family captive along with Shivaji's mother.
• In 1665, the Treaty of Purandar was signed between Jai Singh and Shivaji. Under this, Shivaji kept only 12 forts under his control by giving 23 forts to the Mughals.
• Under this treaty, Shivaji's son Shambhaji was appointed to the Mughal court.
• Shivaji reached Agra in 1666 on the belief of Jai Singh. There Shivaji was imprisoned by Aurangzeb. From here Shiva escaped in August 1666 in the same year.
• On June 5, 1674, Shivaji got his coronation done in Raigad by the famous scholar of Banaras Shri Ganga Bhatt and assumed the title of Chhatrapati.
• Shivaji died on 3 April 1680, when he was only 50 years old.

Taxes imposed by Shivaji

1. Chauth means the fourth part. Which was taken from neighboring states.
2. Sardeshmukhi - People of Maharashtra used to give because they were the ancestral Sardeshmukh of Maharashtra.

Ashtapradhan of Shivaji

Shivaji's cabinet was called Ashtapradhan, whose details are as follows -

Sr. No.	name	Work
1	Peshwa	Prime Minister
2	sir-e-nobat	commander
3	Amatya	state Minister
4	Vākyanvīsa	Information Minister, Intelligence Department
5	chitnis	letter/post office
6	Sumant	foreign Minister
7	Pandit Rao	religious minister
8	judge	court-related

 

Shambhaji (1680-1689)

• After the death of Shivaji, his son Shambaji ascended the throne of Chhatrapati.
• Sambhaji made Kalash, a scholar of Hindi and Sanskrit from Ujjain his advisor.
• In 1689 AD, Shambaji and the poet Kalash were arrested by the Mughals and Aurangzeb had his eyes removed and his tongue cut off before getting murdered.
• Shambaji's son Shahuji was also arrested and imprisoned by the Mughals.
• After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, Shahuji was released.

Rajaram (1689-1700)

• After the death of Shambaji in 1689, his brother Rajaram was coronated as a new Chhatrapati.
• Rajaram made Satara his capital.
• Rajaram had two sons from his wife Rajasbai, Shambaji-2 and from wife Tarabai, Shivaji. Not much information about Shambaji-2 is available in history.
• Rajaram died in 1700 AD while fighting with the Mughals.

Shivaji-2 (1700-1707)

• After the death of Raja Ram, his widowed wife Tarabai got her 4-year-old son Shivaji-2 coronated and took over the kingdom as his protector from 1700-1707 AD.

Shahuji (1707-1749)

• Shahuji, the son of Shambaji, was released in 1707 after the death of Aurangzeb.
• Shahu Ji came back and sought his rights from Tarabai, the wife of King Ram, but after refusing her, Shahu Ji fought the battle of Kheda with the help of Balaji Vishwanath and defeated Tarabai.
• After that Shahu Ji made Balaji Vishwanath Peshwa in 1713 AD.
• Shahu Ji died in 1749 AD. He had no successor.
• By this time the Peshwa had become quite powerful.
• In 1750, by the treaty of Sangola, Rajaram-II was made a nominal Chhatrapati and all the powers were placed under the Peshwa.

 

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