Chhatrapati Shivaji

Also called: Shivaji Maharaj, Shivaji Bhonsle · Topic: The Marathas · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 3 "The Marathas"

Meaning

Chhatrapati Shivaji (born 1630, died 1680) founded the Maratha kingdom. He was a son of the Bhonsle family who turned his father's jagir at Pune into Swarajya (a kingdom of his own). He built it with forts, guerrilla warfare and a navy, and was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad on 6 June 1674 CE. [3]

His rise matters because a Maratha noble usually served a sultan. Shivaji chose to rule instead. His fort network, the idea of Swarajya and his navy became the base of later Maratha power.

Explanation

Background: family, jagir and a troubled Deccan

• He was born in 1630 into the Bhonsle clan. His father was Shahji and his mother was Jijabai.
• The Bhonsle dynasty is Shivaji's family line. The later Maratha rulers came from this house. [4]
• Shahji was a Maratha noble who served the Deccan sultanates (the Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan). He was away on service most of the time. [5]
• So Shivaji grew up at Pune, which was the family's jagir.
• A jagir was land a ruler gave as a reward for service.
• The holder kept the taxes from that land. He used the money to keep himself and his soldiers.
• In return, he had to help the king whenever he was called.

• Jijabai and trusted family officials brought Shivaji up there.

• The Deccan was full of war.

• The Marathas served the sultanates, mainly Bijapur (Adil Shahi) and Ahmadnagar.
• These sultans fought each other again and again, and the Pune region lay in the middle.
• Ordinary people suffered. Crops were burnt and villages were looted.
• According to NCERT, this suffering shaped Shivaji's thinking: he felt that the people needed a ruler of their own.

First campaigns: winning through forts

• He began his military campaigns at age 16.
• His first aim was to make his hold on the Pune region firm, not to fight big battles.
• His method:
• Capture forts that were neglected or left empty. These were cheap wins with little bloodshed.
• Repair and strengthen their defences.

• Use each fort as a base to control the land around it.

• According to Britannica, he took his first fort in 1645. [2]

• Maratha forces took Rairi in 1653 CE. Shivaji gave the job of rebuilding it to the architect Hiroji Indulkar. Renamed Raigad, it became his capital. [3]
• Guerrilla warfare means small, fast attacks by troops who know the hills, followed by a quick retreat. It let him stand up to the much bigger armies of Bijapur and the Mughals.

Swarajya and the navy

• Swarajya means "self-rule": a kingdom of one's own, not a jagir held under a sultan.
• The idea had three sides:
• Political: a sovereign king with his own forts, army and administration.
• Economic: control of land revenue, trade routes and coastal resources, so the wealth stayed inside the kingdom.

• Cultural: pride in the local language and traditions, instead of a borrowed court culture.

• The navy was a revolutionary step.

• As he expanded west to the Konkan coast, Shivaji built a navy.
• Its aim was to protect sea trade, ports, fishing and salt, and to stop raids from the sea.
• Bijapur (Adil Shahi) had merchant ships but no full-time navy to protect them.
• The Mughals used a navy only in a very limited way.
• So no rival Indian power in the Deccan was doing what Shivaji did.

Result: an independent kingdom

• On 6 June 1674 CE a grand coronation was held at Raigad. He took the title Chhatrapati, meaning "lord of the umbrella", or sovereign king. [3]
• The coronation announced that he was no longer a jagirdar's son serving a sultan. He was now an independent king.
• His fort system became the backbone of Maratha power. Its hill forts and sea forts worked as one linked defence system. [6]

Time, place and evidence

• Period: the 17th century. Shivaji was born in 1630 and died in 1680. The Maratha era as a whole runs from c. 1630 to 1818.
• Region: the Pune region, the Western Ghats and the Konkan coast, all in Maharashtra.
• Key sites:
• Shivneri (Shivneri) fort, near Pune, is given as his birthplace. [2]

• Raigad (once called Rairi) was his capital and the place of his coronation. [3]

• Key people: Shahji (father), Jijabai (mother), Hiroji Indulkar (the architect who rebuilt Raigad). His rivals were Bijapur (Adil Shahi) and the Mughals.

• Debate on his birth date: Britannica gives "April 1627 or 19 February 1630". Historians still argue about which is right. For the exam, use the NCERT date, 1630. [2]
• Heritage status:
• UNESCO has put the "Maratha Military Landscapes of India" on the World Heritage List. It was inscribed at the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris, and it is India's 44th World Heritage property. [6][7]
• It has 12 forts. Eleven are in Maharashtra: Salher, Shivneri, Lohgad, Khanderi, Raigad, Rajgad, Pratapgad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala, Vijaydurg and Sindhudurg. The twelfth is Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu. [6][7]
• UNESCO says this Maratha military ideology began in the 17th century under Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, by 1670 CE. [6]

• The sea forts among them (Khanderi, Suvarnadurg, Vijaydurg, Sindhudurg) show how central the coast was to his plan. [6][7]

• Main sources: the NCERT Class 8 chapter, Britannica, PIB features and press releases, and the UNESCO listing.

Don't confuse with

• Shahji Bhonsle: Shivaji's father. He was a noble who served the Deccan sultanates. Shivaji broke with that pattern and set up his own kingdom. [5]
• Shivneri vs Raigad: Shivneri is where he was born. Raigad (once Rairi) was his capital and the place of his 1674 coronation. [2][3]
• Jagir vs Swarajya: a jagir was land held under a ruler in return for service. Swarajya was self-rule, with no overlord.
• Shivaji's Swarajya vs Swaraj in the national movement: Shivaji's Swarajya was a 17th-century Maratha kingdom. The later nationalist "Swaraj" was a demand for self-rule from the British.

Prelims Hooks

• Shivaji: born 1630, Bhonsle clan; father Shahji, mother Jijabai; birthplace Shivneri fort, near Pune. [2]
• He began campaigns at age 16, and took his first fort in 1645. [2]
• Rairi was captured in 1653 CE and became Raigad. It was rebuilt by Hiroji Indulkar and became the capital. [3]
• Coronation at Raigad on 6 June 1674 CE, with the title Chhatrapati. [3]
• His navy was new because Bijapur had merchant ships but no protective navy, and the Mughals used a navy only in a limited way.
• Trap: the Maratha Military Landscapes of India (India's 44th World Heritage property) has 12 forts, and not all are in Maharashtra. Gingee is in Tamil Nadu. [6][7]

Mains Points

• Swarajya was a political idea, not just a military campaign.
• Other Maratha nobles of his time were jagirdars who fought for the sultans.
• Shivaji turned the same jagir base into a sovereign state.

• His rise marks a shift in the Deccan from nobles serving a ruler to independent kingship.

• Forts and the navy show the economics of state-building.

• Taking neglected forts gave him land without big battles against larger armies. These forts later formed a linked hill-and-coast defence system. [6]

• Building a navy when Bijapur and the Mughals would not shows that Swarajya also meant control of sea trade and coastal wealth. This point is useful for questions on India's maritime history.

• Disorder in a region can create new powers.

• The sultans' constant wars, and the suffering they caused around Pune, are NCERT's explanation for Shivaji's outlook.
• This is a good example for answers on how political disorder in the 17th century gave rise to new regional powers.

Related concepts

• Shahji Bhonsle
• Swarajya

Read more

• Rise of Chhatrapati Shivaji and the idea of Swarajya