Shivaji was the founder of Marathadynasty and a warrior king of Maharashtra. He known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji was born in the Shivneri Fort in maharashtra on 19 February 1630 to mother Jijabai and father Shahaji bhosale. It’s said that mother Jijabai rayed to goddess Shivai on Shivneri fort for a brave son and kept her son’s name as SHIVAJI .

Shivaji was descended from a line of prominent nobles. India at that time was under Muslim rule: the Mugals in the north and the Muslim sultans of Bijapur and Golconda in the south. All three ruled by right of conquest, with no pretense that they had any obligations toward those who they ruled. Shivaji, whose ancestral estates were situated in the deccan, in the realm of the Bijapur sultans. Found the Muslim oppression and religious persecution of the Hindus so intolerable that, by the time he was 16. He convinced himself that he was the divinely appointed instrument of the cause of Hindu freedom—a conviction that was to sustain him throughout his life.

Shivaji was especially close to his mother who instilled in him a strict sense of right and wrong. Since Shahaji spent most of his time outside of Pune, the responsibility of overseeing Shivaji’s education rested on the shoulders of a small council of ministers which included a Peshwa (Shamrao Nilkanth),a Mazumdar (Balkrishna Pant), a Sabnis (Raghunath Ballal), a Dabir (Sonopant) and a chief teacher (Dadoji Konddeo). Kanhoji Jedhe and Baji Pasalkar were appointed to train Shivaji in military and martial arts. Shivaji was married to Saibai Nimbalkar in 1640. 

Introduction of Ryotwari system.

He introduced the Ryotwari system eliminating the need for middlemen between farmers and the state and collecting revenues directly from the manufacturers and producers. Shivaji introduced the collection of two taxes called the Chauth and Sardeshmukhi. He divided his kingdom into four provinces, each headed by a Mamlatdar. Village was the smallest unit of administration and the head was titled as Deshpande, who headed the Village Panchayat. Shivaji maintained a strong military force, built several strategic forts to secure his borders and developed a strong naval presence along the Konkan and Goan coasts.

Shivaji crowned as the King

He was crowned the King of Marathas on June 6, 1674, at Raigarh in an elaborate coronation ceremony. The Coronation was officiated by Pandit Gaga Bhatt in front of gathering about 50,000 people. He took upon several titles like Chhtrapati , Shakakarta , Kshatriya Kulavantas  and Haindava Dharmodhhaarak.  

So in 1670, Shivaji moved against the English in Bombay for them not selling him war material. This conflict continued in 1971, when again the English refused their support in his attack of Danda-Rajpuri, and he looted the English factories in Rajapur.

Shivaji’s conflicts with the Bijapuri Sultanate and his continuous victories brought him under the radar of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb

Death of Shivaji Maharaj

Shivaji died at the age of 52 on April 3, 1680, at the Raigad Fort, after suffering from a bout of dysentery. A conflict of succession arose after his death between his eldest son Sambhaji . And his third wife Soyrabai on behalf of her 10-year old son Rajaram. Sambhaji dethroned the young Rajaram and ascended the throne himself on June 20, 1680.the Mughal-Maratha conflicts continued after Shivaji’s death and the Maratha glory declined greatly.