Introduction

1. Shivaji Bhosale (19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), was the founder of the Maratha Empire, which lasted until 1818, and at its peak covered much of the Indian subcontinent.

2. An aristocrat of the Bhosle Maratha clan, and son of Yadav Princess Jijabai, Shivaji led a resistance against the Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur and the Mughal Empire and established a Hindavi Swarajya. He created an independent Maratha kingdom with Raigad as its capital, and was crowned Chhatrapati ("paramount sovereign") of the Marathas in 1674.

3. Shivaji innovated military tactics, pioneering the guerilla warfare methods, which leveraged strategic factors like geography, speed, and surprise and focused pinpoint attacks to defeat his larger and more powerful enemies.

4. From a small contingent of 2,000 soldiers inherited from his father, Shivaji created a force of 100,000 soldiers; he built and restored strategically located forts both inland and coastal to safeguard his territory.

5. Shivaji's father Shahaji Bhosale was the leader of a band of mercenaries that serviced the Deccan Sultanates. His mother was Jijabai, the daughter of Lakhujirao Jadhav of Sindkhed from the Yadav Dynasty of Devgiri.

Conflict with Adilshahi sultanate

1. In 1659, Adilshah sent Afzal Khan, an experienced and veteran general to destroy Shivaji in an effort to put down what he saw as a regional revolt. The two met in a hut at the foothills of Pratapgad fort on 10 November 1659. In the fight, Afzal Khan's dagger was stopped by Shivaji's armour, and Shivaji's weapons inflicted mortal wounds on the general; Shivaji then signalled his hidden troops to launch the assault on the Bijapuris.

2. In the ensuing Battle of Pratapgarh fought on 10 November 1659, More than 3,000 soldiers of the Bijapur army were killed and two sons of Afzal Khan were taken as prisoners.

3. Battle of Kolhapur lasted for several hours and at the end Bijapuri forces were soundly defeated and Rustamjaman fled the battlefield. Adilshahi forces lost about 2,000 horses and 12 elephants to the Marathas.

Clash with the Mughals

1. Upon the request of Badi Begum of Bijapur, Aurangzeb sent his maternal uncle Shaista Khan, with an army numbering over 150,000 along with a powerful artillery division in January 1660 to attack Shivaji in conjunction with Bijapur's army led by Siddi Jauhar. In April 1663, Shivaji launched a surprise attack on Shaista Khan in Pune, Shaista Khan escaped, losing his thumb in the melee, but one of his sons and other members of his household were killed. The Khan took refuge with the Moghul forces outside of Pune, and Aurangzeb punished him for this embarrassment with a transfer to Bengal.

2. An Uzbek general, Kartalab Khan, was sent by Shaista Khan to attack and reduce the number of forts under Shivaji's control in the Konkan region on 3 February 1661. In the Battle of Umberkhind, Shivaji's forces ambushed and enveloped them with infantry and light cavalry in the dense forests of Umber Khind pass near present-day Pen. With defeat inevitable, the Mughal commander surrendered, and Shivaji allowed the Mughals to surrender all their supplies and arms, and depart with safe passage. In retaliation for Shaista Khan's attacks, and to replenish his now-depleted treasury, in 1664 Shivaji sacked the city of Surat, a wealthy Mughal trading centre.

3. In 1666, Aurangzeb invited Shivaji to Agra, along with his nine-year-old son Sambhaji. Aurangzeb's plan was to send Shivaji to Kandahar, now in Afghanistan, to consolidate the Mughal empire's northwestern frontier. Aurangzeb made Shivaji stand behind mansabdārs (military commanders) of his court. Shivaji took offence and stormed out of court, and was promptly placed under house arrest under the watch of Faulad Khan, Kotwal of Agra. Shivaji's spies informed him that Aurangzeb planned to move Shivaji to Raja Vitthaldas' haveli and then to possibly kill him or send him to fight in the Afghan frontier, so Shivaji planned his escape.

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