Sambhaji
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| Sambhaji Bhosle | |
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| Born | May 14, 1657 Purandar Fort, near Pune, India |
| Died | March 11, 1689 (aged 31) |
| Known for | Chhatrapati of the Maratha empire |
| Title | Chhatrapati |
| Predecessor | Shivaji the Great |
| Successor | Shahu |
| Spouse(s) | Yesubai |
| Children | Shahu and bhavani bai |
| Parents | Shivaji the Great and Sai bai |
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.
[edit] Early life
Sambhaji was born on Purandar fort [1] A scholar of Sanskrit and seven other languages[citation needed], Sambhaji quickly gained a firm political standing in the Maratha kingdom and, by the time of Chhatrapati Shivaji's coronation in 1674, he was able to impress visiting dignitaries with his acumen, intelligence, personality and, most important of all, modesty. Unfortunately, within two weeks after Chhatrapati Shivaji's coronation, his grandmother Jijabai died and Sambhaji was left with nobody to nurture him. And the fact that Shivaji was too busy with the affairs of the state did not help.[2]
In a political marriage, Sambhaji was married to minor Jivubai, renamed to Yesubai, daughter of Pillajirao Shirke. Pillajirao was a powerful deshmukh in the court of Bijapur state in the "Tal-Konkani" area and provided Shivaji access to Konkan belt.[3]
[edit] 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.[4]
[edit] Estrangement and reconciliation with father
Interestingly enough, Sambhaji joined forces with Aurangzeb for almost a year. 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. 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.
[edit] 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. Their plot was uncovered the first time around, however, Sambhaji forgave them. Still, they conspired the second time too and wanted to arrest Sambhaji at the Panhala Fort, where he was staying at the time of Shivaji's death. They wanted to crown Rajaram in opposition to Sambhaji as Maratha emperor. They forcefully involved Moropant Trimbak Pingle, Balaji Awji Chitnis and Chitnis's son in their treachery. Soyarabai, mother of Rajaram was also a part of this plan. However Sarnobat, the then Supreme Commander of Maratha forces, Hambirrao Mohite, Rajaram's uncle ( Mother's brother) 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 Marathas and at such a crucial juncture, a strong leader like Sambhaji was the need of the hour. Therefore, Hambirrao did not support his own sister and sided with Sambhaji. It was chiefly because of Hambirrao Mohite's support that Sambhaji was able to ascend to his rightful place on the Maratha throne in 1681. However Sambhaji pardoned Moropant Pingale and again re-appointed him on the post of “Peshwa”. Later on there were no differences between Sambhaji and Moropant Pingale as they together participated in the 1681 Burhanpur war. Soyrabai (stepmother of Sambhaji) also felt guilty about what she had done and later died heart-broken. The rest of those who were guilty were either crushed under elephant's leg or thrown down the Raigad fort.[4]
[edit] 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.[4]
[edit] 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 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.[4]
[edit] War with the Portuguese of Goa
There were chances of Portuguese providing supplies to Mughals and allowing unloading of Mughal ships at the Portuguese ports in Goa. Thus, Sambhaji undertook a campaign against the Portuguese in Goa. Portuguese like Chikka Dev Rai, were driven by arrogance. Marathas stormed Goa and started conquering Portuguese territory and forts. Portuguese weren’t able to overcome the Marathas. Common people in Goa rose in rebellion and started thrashing the priests, whom they accused of carrying out forced conversions.Sambhaji controlled the irate people of Goa. Seeing the inevitable, Portuguese ruler Count De Alwore and his ministers even took out the body of St. Xavier and started praying for their safety. And, to their astonishment, Sambhaji had to depart from Goa, as Aurangzeb had again sent about 100,000 (a lakh) troops to run wild in the Maratha kingdom.
Sambhaji warned Siddis, Chikkadev Rai and Portuguese from crossing the path of the Marathas and ordered them to refrain from helping Aurangzeb in any way. In this way, Sambhaji nullified any threat that the Maratha kingdom had from these 3 powers. Sambhaji also beat back the two Mughal armies of 100,000 (a lakh) troops each, which were sent by Aurangzeb to wreak havoc in the Maratha kingdom. In fact, the second army was so badly thrashed that only a few troops could return to the Mughal camp. Thus, Aurangzeb wanted to somehow arrest Sambhaji by deceit, as he concluded that it wouldn’t be possible for him to annex the Maratha kingdom by force.
[edit] Capture and Attempts to rescue
In early 1689, Sambhaji called his commanders for a strategic meeting at Sangameshwar in Konkan to decide on the final blow to oust Aurangzeb from Deccan. In order to execute the plans soon, Sambhaji sent ahead most of his comrades and stayed back with a few of his trustworthy men. In a meticulously planned operation, one of the brother-in-laws of Sambhaji-Ganoji Shirke deceived the Marathas and helped Aurangzeb's commander, Mukarrab Khan to locate, get to and attack Sangameshwar when Sambhaji was in the garden of Sangameshwar, resolving some issues and was about to leave the town.
Sambhaji and his Men were surrounded from all sides. Marathas took out their swords, roared ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and pounced upon the numerous Mughals. A bloody skirmish took place. However, owing to the number of Mughal troops, Sambhaji Maharaj and Kavi Kalash were captured on 1 February 1689. Ganoji Shirke himself being a Maratha guided Mughals through the thorny, thick forests, high cliffs, steep slopes of the Sahyadri deceived Maratha posts in-between by posing Sambhaji and Kavi Kalash as prisoners arrested for smuggling diamonds. Ganoji told Mukarrab about the possible routes, to get to and capture Sambhaji and then, return back. It was a meticulously planned operation. If not for Ganoji, Mughals could have never laid their hands on Sambhaji.[4]
A learned man and religious judge known as Dixit was a friend of Sambhaji after learning Sambhaji's arrest he gathered soldiers from his village and Panchkroshi. There were small attacks by these people and by Ramdasi people from Battis Shirala's Math (group related to Samartha Ramdas's follower) these attacks were also assisted by local Maratha soldiers but these attacks were unsuccessful and Dixit(Bhat) of Shirala and 50 other Maratha soldiers were killed by Moguls while trying to rescue Sambhaji. This incident happened on 3 February 1689. Later with strong army of 20,000 people Julphikarkhan moved towards Karad and then Baramati and finally to Bahadurgad near Bhima river. It is said that the Mogul army was continiously shifting their base on every day to avoid further attacks and used to travel exclusively from countryside avoiding village routes.
Ganoji’s hunger for Maratha land in the form of watan led to his enmity with Sambhaji. Sambhaji like his father- Shivaji Maharaj had abolished the custom of giving away watans, as this led to the people’s suffering, from the hands of the watandar and there were chances of the watandars assuming kingship or taking possession of their watans.
[edit] Execution
After learning that Sambhaji had been captured and produced before him as a prisoner, Aurangzeb felt very happy. He stood up from his royal seat and offered prayer to God and bent towards land. Kavi Kulesh captured this scene in a small poem which was still remembered in Maharashtra. It was praise of Sambhaji’s courage and glowing of eyes and face of Sambhaji Raje, Kavi kulesh wanted to say that since Aurangzeb have not ever saw such a sharp and courageous man in his entire life that’s why he acknowledged Sambhaji’s greatness by standing up from his royal seat.
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,disclose the names of all the Mughal officers who had helped him and embrace Islam religion. Sambhaji refused to convert, and instead sang praises of Mahadev (Lord Shiva). Aurangzeb ordered him and Kavi Kalash to be tortured to death. On 11 March 1689, Sambhaji was finally killed at Tulapur on the banks of Bhima river, near Pune.
Despite the torture, Sambhaji refused to submit to Aurangzeb's conditions. In so doing he earned the title of Dharmaveer (Protector of the Religion) by which he is known to this day. Aurangzeb immediately ordered to chop Sambhaji's body into pieces and throw it into the river. Residents of nearby village named 'Vadhu' collected as many pieces of his body as they found, 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.
[edit] 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![5]
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.
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.
[edit] Legacy
There is some dispute among historians about Sambhaji's ability as a ruler. Some historians have portrayed him as ineffective and alcoholic. This was just a misinformation by the Mughals. Also many who were denied watans by Sambhaji, deliberately spread these rumours to defame Sambhaji Maharaj. Other historians, notably S.S. Shivade, portray Sambhaji as a capable ruler. But whatever may have been his inadequacies as a ruler, his redemption and symbolism came in his death, and it is for this that he is mostly remembered by the Marathi people to this day.
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 wrestle before him to which he refused.' This was during his visit along with his father to Aurangzeb's court in Agra.
[edit] See also
| Preceded by Shivaji the Great |
Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire 1680–1689 |
Succeeded by Rajaram |
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://pune.gov.in/tourism/tour_hist.html
- ^ Purandare, Babasaheb. Raja Shivachhatrapati.
- ^ Advanced study in the history of modern India 1707-1813. http://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC.
- ^ a b c d e Patil, Vishwas. Sambhaji.
- ^ Tendulkar, Mahesh. Runzunjar Senapati Santaji Ghorpade.
[edit] References
- Vishwas Patil, Sambhaji
- Mahesh Tendulkar,Runzunjar Senapati Santaji Ghorpade
There are a few Marathi historical novels based on the life of Sambhaji. They include "Chhava" (meaning tiger cub) by 'Shivaji Sawant. Other works are "Sambhaji" by Vishwas Patil, and "Shree Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj" by W.S.Bendre and the most authoritative work on Sambhaji is 'Jwala jwalantejas Sambhaji raja' by Sadashiv Shivade and Shivkatkakar Vijay Deshmukh's Raja Shambhu Chhatrapati.
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