Domestic difficulties in his last days [Continued from Apr. 22] When everything looked good for Shivaji and his expanded empire which included an important Fort Gingee, deep inside Tamil country ruled by Shivaji’s second son Rajaram, his peace was soon clouded by the domestic difficulties. Here, it must be mentioned that the last years of…

Coronation of Shivaji in June 1674 [Continued from Apr. 18] So it was that the coronation was celebrated at Raigad in June 1674. A massive grand, opulent and  spectacular preparation was made for a month-long celebration. The coronation ceremony was performed by the greatest of the Brahman Ganga Bhat from Banaras known to be the…

[Continued from Apr. 15] Historians differ in their opinions about the war that began between Mughal army and Shivaji following this letter. One version says Aurangzeb was busy dealing with a sudden Persian invasion in the North and Pathan rising at Peshawar. Here in the South it was a divided command between Dilir Khan, who…

[Continued from Apr. 12] Shivaji on his return to Raigad from the prison of Aurangzeb in Agra took over the administration of the Government from his mother and the Ministers. Officially, there appeared a sort of peace between Mughal Emperor and Raja Shivaji even though the agreement was broken by the Emperor by his imprisonment…

The great escape and predicament of priest Kashi ! [Continued from April 9] At Mathura, Shivaji  moved around in disguise with the help of a friendly Brahmin named Kashi. Shivaji shaved his head, removed his moustache and beard, smeared his face with ashes and put on the yellow robe as a religious mendicant. He had…

Life as a prisoner… and the great escape! [Continued from April 6] Shivaji in turn sent a message to the Prime Minister Umdat-ul-Mulk reminding him of the safe conduct granted to him. The message was to be conveyed to Aurangzeb. Unfortunately for Shivaji, the official to whom he gave the message happened to be the…

Shivaji goes to Aurangzeb’s Durbar… imprisoned [Continued from April 4] Three days after Shivaji’s arrival, the Emperor was to hold a Durbar and Shivaji was summoned for his first interview with Aurangzeb. Accompanied by Raja Jai Singh’s son Ram Singh, his son Sambhaji and attended by their retainers, Shivaji rode to the main gateway of…

[Continued from April 2] The city of Agra, where the imperial Mughal Court was at that time, resembled a country town where people had to sleep indoors even in hot weather for fear of thieves! Some of the courtiers had their own Palaces at Agra while the most important nobles of the Court had their…