Shahu I
Shahu I was the fifth Chhatrapati of Maratha Empire founded by his grandfather, Shivaji I. He was born into the Bhonsle family and was the son of Sambhaji I and Yesubai. At a young age, he was taken into custody at the Siege of Raigad by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, and held captive. He was released from captivity after the death of Aurangzeb in the hope of engineering an internecine struggle among the Maratha factions of Tarabai and Shahu. Shahu emerged victorious in the bloody Battle of Khed and was crowned as Chhatrapati.
During Shahu's reign, Maratha power and influence extended to much of central and western India, which had then created a strong Maratha Kingdom. After his death, his ministers and generals such as the Peshwa Bhats and their lieutenants of the Shinde and Holkar house, Senasahibsubha Bhonsles of Nagpur, and Senakhaskhel Gaikwad of Baroda administered their sections of the Empire under a loose coalition under the orders of the Chhatrapati.
Early life
In 1689, at the age of seven, Shahu was taken prisoner along with his mother by the Mughals after the Battle of Raigarh. Aurangzeb was fighting the decentralised Marathas and hoped to use the crown heir Shahu as a pawn in his battle. Therefore, he treated Shahu and his mother well. Even in Mughal captivity, Shahu's mother, Queen Yesubai, continued to rule her private territories as a Deshmukh. Aurangzeb regarded Shahu, whose real name was Shivaji as 'Sav or Sadhu Shivaji' in contrast to his grandfather Shivaji I, resulting in his popular title 'Raja Shahu' meaning Honest or Saint King.Shahu was married to two daughters of high ranking Maratha Sardars in the Mughal service. Aurangzeb gifted Shahu the Bhavani sword of Shivaji, the sword of Afzal Khan, and another gold-hilted sword. Aurangzeb also granted him Sanads to lands and revenue rights around the Parganas of Akkalkot, Supa, Baramati, and Nevase for his maintenance. After Aurangzeb's death in 1707, one of his sons, Prince Azam Shah, released Shahu in the hope of starting an internecine conflict among the Marathas, and also to have Shahu on his side for his own succession battle for the Mughal throne. At that time, his aunt Tarabai, who governed the Maratha realm in the name of her son, denounced Shahu as an impostor substituted by the Mughals for the son of Sambhaji. Shahu then waged a civil war against Tarabai to gain the Chhatrapati's throne in 1708 and emerged victorious.
Ancestry
Accession
Early reign
Following the death of Aurangzeb, Shahu grew impatient about returning to his homeland. He was advised by princess Zinat-un-Nissa and Zulfiqar Khan to not wait for formal sanads of appointment from Azam Shah, but to quit the Mughal camp at once and proceed to his home country. He readily acted upon this advice and left the Mughal camp at Doraha on 8 May 1707. The rulers of Bharatpur, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur received Shahu on his way to Pune with warm hospitality. Shahu visited the sacred city of Ujjain and paid his obeisance to Shri Mahakaleshwar. At Burhanpur, Jotyaji Kaskar was left behind by Shahu to receive the sanads from the Mughals. Shahu then arrived at Bijagad, about thirty miles south of Narmada, and was joined by its ruler Rawal Mohansinh, who had long rebelled against Aurangzeb and cooperated with the Marathas. Mohansinh was the first to espouse the cause of Shahu and help him with troops and funds. From Bijagad, Shahu proceeded to Sultanpur, where he was joined by several Maratha chiefs such as Amritrao Kadambande, Rawal Sujansinh of Lamkani, the Bokils, the Purandares and other Brahmin families.Kolhapur succession
Early conflicts
After reaching Maharashtra, Senasahibsubha Parsoji Bhonsle, commander of 15,000 troops, pledged himself to Shahu. Parsoji’s example was quickly followed by Sardar Nimaji Shinde, Sarlashkar Haibatrao Nimbalkar, Rustamrao Jadhavrao, Sekhoji Thorat and Chimnaji Damodar who were all operating in Baglana, Khandesh and Nashik region. The forces of Tarabai assembled near Kudas Khed for a confrontation.On 3 August 1707, Jotyaji Kesarkar received the formal sanads for Raja Shahu at Burhanpur from the new Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, who had got the throne by killing his half-brother and rival, emperor Azam Shah in the Battle of Jajau. While Bahadur Shah granted Marathas sardeshmukhi of the Deccan, he failed to grant them chauth and thus to satisfy them fully. He also did not recognise Shahu as the rightful Maratha Chhatrapati. He thus let Tara Bai and Shahu fight for supremacy over the Maratha Kingdom. The Battle of Khed would be a major development in the ensuing civil war.
Battle of Khed
On his march from Pune to the field of Khed Kudus, Shahu faced resistance from the town of Parad, which had a small fortress from which a feeble cannonade was directed upon his forces by the Patil Sayaji Lokhande. The fortress was stormed and levelled to the ground, and the besieged were put to the sword. The Patil Sayaji's widow placed her son Ranoji in Shahu's palanquin. Shahu, who regarded this as his first victory, named the boy Fatesinh and adopted him as his own son. Upon reaching Khed, Shahu sneaked into Dhanaji Jadhav's camp in disguise and had an interview with Dhanaji's comptroller Naroram Ranga Rao, who held favour of his master. Naroram represented the legitimacy of Shahu's claims to the Maratha throne and persuaded Dhanaji to espouse the right cause at the right time. Thereafter, Dhanaji also pledged his allegiance to Shahu. The Battle of Khed then took place on 12 October 1707 between the forces of Tarabai and Raja Shahu, who personally commanded his contingents. Tarabai's forces were led by Pratinidhi Parshuram Trymbak and Sarsenapati Khanderao Dabhade and suffered major casualties, while Dhanaji Jadhav only engaged in nominal skirmishes due to his prior oath of allegiance to Shahu. Shahu thus achieved a resounding victory causing Parshuram Trymbak Pratinidhi to flee to Satara Fort. Following the battle, Shahu visited the Khandoba Temple at Jejuri to pay homage and assumed the title "Kshatriyakulavatansa Sriyut Raja Shahu Chhatrapati".Shahu, riding on a wave of success, went on to capture Raigad, Torna, Vichitragad, and Chandan-Vandan forts, along with a few minor ones, in record time. Within a month of the Battle of Khed, he then appeared before Satara. Camped at the foot of Satara Fort, in almost the exact place where Aurangzeb had camped seven years earlier, Shahu sent off a peremptory demand to Tarabai's Pratinidhi to surrender the fort without resistance. However, since the latter would not yield, Shahu laid siege to it. Determined to conquer it in eight days, Shahu discovered that the military commander of the fort, Sheikh Mira, had kept his family in Wai, a village not far from his camp. Shahu decided to apply a judicious ploy and threatened Sheikh Mira, saying that he would blow off the Sheikh's wife and children from the mouth of cannons if he did not surrender the fortress. Sheikh Mira then showed his readiness to do the bidding of Shahu. However, since the Pratinidhi resisted, Sheikh Mira, in a minor coup, threw him into prison and opened the gates to Shahu on 1 January 1708. It is said that even Dhanaji Jadhav, who had seen Aurangzeb’s vast army battering the fort of Satara for nine months before it capitulated, is said to have expressed surprise at the ease and rapidity with which Shahu managed to conquer it. Satara thus became the capital of Shahu's realms.
Expansion
Consolidation
seized the opportunity of warring between Tarabai and Shahu to effectively free himself of the suzerainty of either. Instead, he captured the major trading centre of Kalyan, and the neighbouring forts of Rajmachi and Lohagad. Shahu sent a large force under his Peshwa, or Prime Minister, Bahiroji Pingale. Kanhoji defeated Pingale, imprisoned him at Lohagad, and started to advance towards Shahu's capital of Satara. Shahu commanded his Senakarta Balaji Vishwanath to raise another standing army to subdue opponents. Balaji preferred the path of negotiation and was appointed as Shahu's plenipotentiary to negotiate with the admiral. Balaji and Kanhoji met at Lonavala. The newly appointed Peshwa appealed to the old sailor's patriotism for the Maratha cause. Kanhoji Angre agreed to become the Sarkhel of Shahu's navy with control of the Konkan. Balaji and Kanhoji then jointly attacked the Muslim Siddis of Janjira. Their combined contingents captured most of the Konkan coast, including Balaji's birthplace of Shrivardhan, which then became part of the Angre fiefdom. Delighted with Balaji's success, Shahu dismissed Bahiroji Pingale, and appointed Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa on 16 November 1713.Upon the death of Athani's Maratha lord Himmat Bahadur Vithoji Chavan, his son Udaji Chavan succeeded to his fief and his title of Himmat Bahadur. During the Maratha-Mughal Wars, Udaji's father had been a close friend of Ramchandra Amatya, and Udaji had joined the faction of Tarabai. From his castle at Battis Shirale, Udaji frequently mounted raids in Shahu's territories, terming the exactions as the "Chavan Chauth". In the 1730s, after the death of Senapati Trymbakrao Dabhade and Bajirao's distant campaigns, Udaji Chavan obtained sanction from Tarabai's son Sambhaji to lead a force across the Warana river against Shahu. He pitched his camp at Shirol and began to plunder the countryside. Shahu, who was hunting in the neighborhood, sent for Udaji Chavan, promising him a safe conduct. After receiving bitter chiding by Shahu for his actions, Udaji Chavan decided to having him assassinated. A few days later, four assassins entered Shahu's tent, who was seated alone. Shahu was so indifferent to the danger posed by the assassins that the assassins lost heart and threw down their guns at his feet, pleading for mercy. Shahu enquired about their employer and they admitted that they had been sent by Udaji Chavan. Shahu gave each of the assassins a gold bracelet, and made them pick up their arms and take them back to Udaji along with a certificate from himself that stated they were good and faithful servants while deciding to mount up the conflict against Sambhaji. Shambhusimha Jadhav and Pratinidhi launched a rapid assault on Sambhaji's camp at Warana riverbanks and wiped out most of the Kolhapur army. All of Sambhaji’s military chest and stores were captured by the Pratinidhi. Tarabai, Rajasbai, Sambhaji’s wife Jijabai, Bhagwantrao Ramchandra, and Vyankatrao Joshi were taken as prisoners to Chhatrapati Shahu who chivalrously sent Sambhaji’s mother and wife to Panhala. The dispirited Tarabai chose to reside with Shahu in the palace prepared for her at Satara, concluding her role in the civil war. Shahu's forces took Vishalgad next, compelling Sambhaji to agree to a conclusive treaty.
An open field known as the Jakhinwadi plain was chosen as the meeting place of the two cousins. Jakhinwadi was bedecked with pavilions and equipage of the nobles of Maharashtra, who on this occasion, vied with each other in the splendour of their trappings and the profusion of their jewelry. There were over 200,000 soldiers, alone with horses and countless baggage trains. On the appointed day, Shahu and Sambhaji set out from their respective camps on elephants with jewel-studded howdahs. When they came in sight of each other, their elephants kneeled and their riders left them to mount richly saddled Arab steeds. When the horses met, the two princes alighted. Sambhaji put his head on Shahu’s feet as a visible token of submission. Chhatrapati Shahu bent down and lifting up his cousin and embraced him. Then, Shahu and Sambhaji decked each other with golden coins and garlands of flowers bringing the ceremony to a close. The formal treaty was concluded two months later at Satara known as "Treaty of Warana", which terminated the Maratha Civil War, and made Kolhapur a firmly subordinate sector of Satara Chhatrapati's realm. Fatehsingh Bhonsle was ordered to escort Sambhaji back to Panhala. Shahu accompanied Sambhaji for eight miles, and the path was set ablaze with the jewels and silks of the Maratha nobles in the train of the two monarchs. According to scholar C. A. Kincaid: "Even the splendours of the French nobles, when Henry met Francis on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, would have paled before the magnificence of Sambhaji’s reception by Shahu."