Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj
How far would you go to protect your culture & faith? This legendary king sacrificed his life for the honour of all Hindus, I’m talking about Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj & here’s his real story, not propaganda!
Sambhaji Raje was born at the Purandar fort near Pune in 1657 to Saibai, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s first wife.
After his mom passed away early, he was raised by Jijau mata & grew up as a strong young student learning politics, languages, military & warfare from the best.
He faced many struggles as a child, including being held captive during the 1665 Purandar Treaty & also the Agra incident with Aurangzeb, where he & his father escaped from the jaws of death.
Sambhaji had his share of differences with his dad but they both reconciled in 1679, only for Shivraya to pass away in 1680.
Just when Aurangzeb thought the Maratha throne was empty & he could finally fulfill his plan of capturing all of Hindustan & wiping out Hindus, a new lion cub, Chhava ascended to the throne.
Sambhaji faced internal political attacks from his half-mother Soyarabai who wanted Shivaji’s second son, Rajaram, to become king. He was betrayed by his closest ministers multiple times, forcing him to arrest & give them the death sentence.
But he quashed the traitors, surprisingly with help from Aurangzeb’s estranged son, Akbar.
Aurangzeb had to move his headquarters down to Deccan to fight Marathas but Sambhaji & his troops showed extreme resilience & courage, fighting them back with their guerilla tactics that matched Konkan’s tricky terrains. This team included Hambirrao Mohite, Yesaji Kank, Dhanaji Jadhav, Sardar Santaji Ghorpade, Kavi Kalash, etc.
It’s aw-inspiring that during this war, Sambhaji was also taking on other enemies like the ocean’s Siddhis of Janjira, the Portuguese & Sultans from the South.
Aurangzeb had to drain out all his wealth & army force to fight Sambhaji who was unfortunately captured in 1689 at Sangameshwar after allededly being betrayed by members in his own camp.
Sambhaji & Kavi was tortured & humiliated in the worst possible manner. His eyes were gouged out, nails and fingers were removed, limbs were broken, tongue was cut out & he was finally beheaded.
He was offered asylum if he converted to Islam but he refused, leaving Aurangzeb permanently dissatisfied.
His sacrifice was not in vain, it angered the Marathas, who continued fighting for 18 more years, until Aurangzeb died an unhappy man in 1707.
It is because of this Chhava, that many of us have the privilege to call ourselves Hindus, so this is our history & culture which people should know.