33 Facts About Chhatrapati Shivaji

1. Chhatrapati Shivaji succumbed to fatal illness spanning many weeks in 1680 and his empire was taken over by his son Sambhaji.

2. Chhatrapati Shivaji is most famous for his valour to challenge the mighty Mughal Empire, at the time ruled by Aurangzeb.

3. Chhatrapati Shivaji was the famous Maratha king who had the utmost courage to stand against the vast ocean of Mughal rule, single-handedly.

4. Chhatrapati Shivaji began his early career of conquests at the age of nineteen by capturing the fort of Torna, about twenty miles from Puna.

5. Chhatrapati Shivaji was devoted to his mother Jijabai Bhosale, who was extremereligious.

6. Chhatrapati Shivaji was admired for his heroic exploits and clever stratagems in the contemporary accounts of English, French, Dutch, Portuguese and Italian writers.

7. Chhatrapati Shivaji was recognized as a great national hero during Indian Independence Movement.

8. Chhatrapati Shivaji demonstrated great skill in creating his military organisation, which lasted until the demise of the Maratha empire.

9. Chhatrapati Shivaji left the mission untouched, saying "the Frankish Padrys are good men.

10. Chhatrapati Shivaji directed projects that sought to replace Indo-Persian political norms with Sanskrit based ones.

11. Chhatrapati Shivaji named the Ashta Pradhan according to Sanskrit nomenclature, with terms such as nyaayaadheesha, and senaapati, and commissioned the political treatise Raajya Vyavahaara Kosha.

12. Chhatrapati Shivaji continued this Sanskrit promotion, giving his forts names such as Sindhudurg, Prachandgarh, and Suvarndurg.

13. The house of Chhatrapati Shivaji was well acquainted with Sanskrit and promoted the language; his father Shahaji had supported scholars such as Jayram Pindye, who prepared Shivaji's seal.

14. Chhatrapati Shivaji was successful in obliterating the Sultanates but could not subdue the Marathas after spending 27 years in the Deccan.

15. Chhatrapati Shivaji left behind a state always at odds with the Mughals.

16. Chhatrapati Shivaji took the title of Haindava Dharmodhhaarak.

17. Chhatrapati Shivaji was entitled Shakakarta and Chhatrapati ("paramount sovereign").

18. Chhatrapati Shivaji sent a displeased letter to Prataprao, refusing him audience until Bahlol Khan was re-captured.

19. Chhatrapati Shivaji took offence and stormed out of court, and was promptly placed under house arrest under the watch of Faulad Khan, Kotwal of Agra.

20. Chhatrapati Shivaji agreed to become a vassal of the Mughal empire, and to send his son Sambhaji, along with 5,000 horsemen, to fight for the Mughals in the Deccan as a mansabdar.

21. Chhatrapati Shivaji took the nearby fort of Chakan, besieging it for a month and a half before breaching the walls.

22. Chhatrapati Shivaji offered his assistance to Aurangzeb, the Mughal viceroy of the Deccan and son of the Mughal emperor, in conquering Bijapur in return for formal recognition of his right to the Bijapuri forts and villages under his possession.

23. At that time, Chhatrapati Shivaji was encamped at Panhala fort with his forces.

24. Chhatrapati Shivaji married Saibai from the prominent Nimbalkar family in 1640.

25. Chhatrapati Shivaji was taken to Bangalore where he, his elder brother Sambhaji and his half brother Ekoji I were further formally trained.

26. Chhatrapati Shivaji traveled the hills and forests of the Sahyadri range with his Maval friends, gaining skills and familiarity with the land that would prove useful in his military career.

27. Chhatrapati Shivaji moved Shivaji and Jijabai from Shivneri to Pune and left them in the care of his jagir administrator, Dadoji Konddeo.

28. Chhatrapati Shivaji was deeply interested in religious teachings, and regularly sought the company of Hindu and Sufi saints.

29. Chhatrapati Shivaji was devoted to his mother Jijabai, who was deeply religious.

30. Chhatrapati Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri, near the city of Junnar in what is Pune district.

31. Chhatrapati Shivaji revived ancient Hindu political traditions and court conventions and promoted the usage of Marathi and Sanskrit, rather than Persian, in court and administration.

32. Chhatrapati Shivaji established a competent and progressive civil rule with well-structured administrative organisations.

33. Chhatrapati Shivaji carved out an enclave from the declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the Maratha Empire.