Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj's name evokes strong sentiments in Maharashtra. Here is the profile of the great warrior king who lived and died for the glory of the vision and policies he enunciated.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj is a Maratha warrior king who was the son of the iconic ruler Shivaji MaharajThe Maratha kingdom had risen from scratch, built brick by brick by the sons of the Indian soil who wished to overthrow the powers that swore allegience to descendants of Turkish, Persian and Mongol aggressors.Sambhaji Maharaj ruled for a short span of 9-10 years before his death at the hands of AUrangzeb but the Maratha subjects never forgot his sacrifice.
Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was the eldest son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj - the great Maratha warrior king. Shivaji Maharaj belonged to the Bhonsle clan and was born on 19th February 1627. Shivaji Maharaj built the Hindawi Swaraj - the Self-rule of Indians as against that of the Mughals who identified themselves as descendants from Tamerlane of Mongolia and also of Turcik - Central Asian (Chagtai) bloodline.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj died on 3rd April 1680 but in his lifetime, he laid the foundation for the genesis of the Maratha empire - a solid bulwark against invaders. His son Sambhaji Maharaj had a huge task cut out before him - to defend the Maratha empire against the might of the Mughals in Delhi who were later subdued and decimated by the Maratha armies) and to carry on the vision and policies of Shivaji Maharaj.
Sambhaji Maharaj succeeds Shivaji Maharaj after latter's death:
Sambhaji Maharaj had witnessed the lengths the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb would go to annihilate any challenge to the Mughal might. Aurangzeb had succeeded his father Shah Jahan by treachery and fratricide of his three brothers. After killing his brothers in cold blood and imprisoning the father - the builder of the Taj Mahal - he is said to have killed brother Dara Shikoh's two sons and forced his widows to marry him. He began forcing conversions of the local Indians to Islam and imposed the Jizya tax on non-Muslims.
After Shivaji Maharaj's death, Sambhaji had several challenges on hand: the Mughals in the north, and other neighbouring powers such as the Siddis, Mysore and the Portuguese in Goa.
Aurangzeb's son Akbar rebels against father:
In 1681, Aurangzeb's fourth son Akbar reached Deccan (variation for Dakshin or the South) and tried to consolidate forces against his father's rule in Delhi.
To quell this rebellion and to try to finish off the Maratha empire, Aurangzeb left Delhi with 4-5 lakh soldiers and headed to Khirki - what is today's Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
In 1682, Aurangzeb tried attacking the Maratha Empire from all directions. He intended to use the Mughal numerical superiority to his advantage. Sambhaji had prepared well for the invasions and the Maratha forces promptly engaged the numerically strong Mughal army in several small battles using guerilla warfare tactics.
Aurangzeb's son Akbar had approached Sambhaji Raje for help. Shambhu Raje had promised him assistance to fight Aurangzeb. But Akbar soon fled to Persia.
Meanwhile, Sambhaji Maharaj continued to fight alongside his generals in all battles and wars at hand. Aurangzeb had seen Sambahji Raje in 1966 as well when the feisty Shambhu Raje had accompanied his brave father to the Mughal court in Agra.
The famous Escape From Agra:
Aurangzeb had invited the two for his birthday celebrations at the Darbar but imprisoned them by deceit. For almost three months, the father-son duo was held under house arrest. How they escaped from Agra is the stuff that inspiring stories are made of. The maturity of the young lad was seen in the way he handled the time he was near Mathura secretly on his way back to Maharashtra) disguised as a Brahmin priest's child and was accosted by Mughal soldiers who suspected that he was Sambhaji the young Maratha prince.
"Eat in the same plate, if you two are really father and son from a priestly family," the soldiers ordered. The accompanying Brahmin priest wondered how the young lad will pull it off. Will his princely stature become a prestige issue and blow the lid over their true identities? No such thing happened. The boy acted as though the accompanying priest was indeed his father and broke bread with him without betraying the truth. Aurangzeb regretted this failure on his own part till his dying day.
After Shivaji Maharaj's death, Sambhaji Raje succeeded him. He carried on the good governance of his father. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was loved and revered by his subjects.
Aurangzeb's attempts to capture Sambhaji Raje bore fruit in 1689.
British origin historian Dennis Kincaid writes, "He (Sambhaji) was ordered by the Emperor to embrace Islam. He refused and was made to run the gauntlet of the whole Imperial army. Tattered and bleeding he was brought before the Emperor and repeated his refusal.
His tongue was torn and again the question was put. He called for writing material and wrote 'No, never!' So then he was put to death by torture". He was beheaded and his head was mounted on a pike that was then displayed to the public so as to demoralise them.
Why is Chhatrapati Sambhaji so popular 3 centuries later?
"His sacrifice has earned Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj the spot of reverence in the hearts of all. Aurangzeb managed to capture him by deceit on 1 February 1689. Sambhaji Maharaj was tortured for days and killed in the most heinous fashion and died on 11 March 1689. He showed exemplary courage in facing death only to protect three of the things he held most dear in life... Dev, Desh, and Dharma (God, Country, and Religion). That is the reason why he is revered in Maharashtra. People realise and appreciate the fact that he did not fall prey to Aurangzeb's tactics, and chose to embrace death rather than betray the cause he stood for," an author of several books chronicling the Maratha empire's era said.
Meanwhile, another celebrated author of Maratha history - Aneesh Gokhale (his book "Battles of Maratha Empire" among several others he has penned) says, "Chhatrapati Sambhaji held off a grand Mughal army numbering 5,00,000 souls led by Aurangzeb himself for nearly a decade. The Mughals' aim of making an example out of him by capturing Chhatrapati Sambhaji, and torturing him to death backfired as the Marathas were galvanised to fight even harder. In life, Chhatrapati Sambhaji led a decade long struggle against the Mughals, in death he inspired them to fight for two decades more.
Aurangzeb - the last Mughal of any consequence:
But Aurangzeb could never return to Delhi. The emperor of Delhi-based Mughal Sultanate was stuck in Maharashtra for the next 26-27 years and ultimately died there. His nondescript grave lies in Khultabad (Khuldabad) in Aurangabad. The city of Aurangabad was later named after him by his administrative staff. The author who does not want to be quoted above backs the Shiv Sena's demand to rename it Sambhajinagar. He argues, "Aurangzeb was an invader dynast. He never thought of any good for the subjects, never identified himself as an Indian. Why should - in today's day - a city be named after an uncouth aggressor?"
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