Friday 25 October 2013

Linux Quick Reference

Linux Quick Reference
SOME USEFUL COMMANDS

File/Directory Basics
ls -------  List files
cp  ------- Copy files
mv  ------- Rename files
rm  ------- Delete files
ln  ------- Link files
cd -------  Change directory
pwd  ------- Print current directory name
mkdir  ------- Create directory
rmdir  ------- Delete directory

File Viewing
cat  ------- View files
less  ------- Page through files
head  ------- View file beginning
tail  ------- View file ending
nl  ------- Number lines
od  ------- View binary data
gv  ------- View Postscript/PDF files
xdvi  ------- View TeX DVI files

File Creation and Editing
emacs  ------- Text editor
vim  ------- Text editor
umask -------  Set default file protections
soffice  ------- Edit Word/Excel/PowerPoint docs
abiword -------  Edit Word documents
gnumeric  ------- Edit Excel documents

File Properties
stat  ------- Display file attributes
wc  ------- Count bytes/words/lines
du  ------- Measure disk usage
file  ------- Identify file types
touch  ------- Change file timestamps
chown  ------- Change file owner
chgrp  ------- Change file group
chmod  ------- Change file protections
chattr  ------- Change advanced file attributes
lsattr  ------- List advanced file attributes

File Location
find  ------- Locate files
slocate  ------- Locate files via index
which  ------- Locate commands
whereis  ------- Locate standard files

File Text Manipulation
grep  ------- Search text for matching lines
cut  ------- Extract columns
paste  ------- Append columns
tr  ------- Translate characters 
sort  ------- Sort lines
uniq  ------- Locate identical lines
tee  ------- Copy stdin to a file and to stdout simultaneously

File Compression
gzip  ------- Compress files (GNU Zip)
compress  ------- Compress files (Unix)
bzip2  ------- Compress files (BZip2)
zip  ------- Compress files (Windows Zip)
File  ------- Comparison
diff  ------- Compare files line by line
comm  ------- Compare sorted files
cmp -------  Compare files byte by byte
md5sum -------  Compute checksums

Disks and Filesystems
df  ------- Show free disk space
mount  ------- Make a disk accessible
fsck  ------- Check a disk for errors
sync  ------- Flush disk caches

Backups and Remote Storage
mt  ------- Control a tape drive
dump  ------- Back up a disk
restore  ------- Restore a dump
tar  ------- Read/write tape archives
cdrecord  ------- Burn a CD
rsync  ------- Mirror a set of files

Printing
lpr -------  Print files
lpq  ------- View print queue
lprm  ------- Remove print jobs

Spelling Operations
look -------  Look up spelling
aspell  ------- Check spelling interactively
spell  ------- Check spelling in batch

Processes
ps  ------- List all processes
 ------- List users’ processes
uptime  ------- View the system load
top  ------- Monitor processes
xload  ------- Monitor system load
free  ------- Display free memory
kill  ------- Terminate processes
nice  ------- Set process priorities
renice  ------- Change process priorities

Scheduling Jobs
sleep  ------- Wait for some time
watch  ------- Run programs at set intervals
at  ------- Schedule a job
crontab  ------- Schedule repeated jobs

Hosts
uname  ------- Print system information
hostname  ------- Print the system’s hostname
ifconfig  ------- Set/display network information
host -------  Look up DNS
whois  ------- Look up domain registrants
ping  ------- Check if host is reachable
traceroute  ------- View network path to a host

Networking
ssh  ------- Securely log into remote hosts
telnet -------  Log into remote hosts
scp  ------- Securely copy files between hosts
sftp -------  Securely copy files between hosts
ftp  ------- Copy files between hosts
evolution  ------- GUI email client
mutt  ------- Text-based email client
mail  ------- Minimal email client
mozilla  ------- Web browser
lynx  ------- Text-only web browser
wget  ------- Retrieve web pages to disk
slrn  ------- Read Usenet news
gaim ------- Instant messaging/IRC
talk  ------- Linux/Unix chat
write  ------- Send messages to a terminal
mesg  ------- Prohibit talk/write Audio and Video
grip  ------- Play CDs and rip MP3s
xmms  ------- Play audio files
cdparanoia  ------- Rip audio
audacity  ------- Edit audio
xcdroast  ------- Burn CDs


Producing Readable Output with iSQL*Plus

Producing Readable Output
with iSQL*Plus

Objectives
After completing this lesson, you should be able to
do the following:
• Produce queries that require a substitution
variable
• Customize the iSQL*Plus environment
• Produce more readable output
• Create and execute script files

Substitution Variables
Use iSQL*Plus substitution variables to:
• Temporarily store values
– Single ampersand (&)
– Double ampersand (&&)
– DEFINE command
• Pass variable values between SQL statements
• Dynamically alter headers and footers


Substitution Variables
In iSQL*Plus, you can use single ampersand (&) substitution variables to temporarily store values.
You can predefine variables in iSQL*Plus by using the DEFINE command. DEFINE creates and
assigns a value to a variable.
Examples of Restricted Ranges of Data
• Reporting figures only for the current quarter or specified date range
• Reporting on data relevant only to the user requesting the report
• Displaying personnel only within a given department
Other Interactive Effects
Interactive effects are not restricted to direct user interaction with the WHERE clause. The same
principles can be used to achieve other goals. For example:
• Dynamically altering headers and footers
• Obtaining input values from a file rather than from a person
• Passing values from one SQL statement to another
iSQL*Plus does not support validation checks (except for data type) on user input.

Using the & Substitution Variable
Use a variable prefixed with an ampersand (&) to
prompt the user for a value.
SELECT employee_id, last_name, salary, department_id
FROM employees
WHERE employee_id = &employee_num ;

Character and Date Values
with Substitution Variables
Use single quotation marks for date and character
values.

SELECT last_name, department_id, salary*12
FROM employees
WHERE job_id = ’&job_title’ ;


Specifying Character and Date Values with Substitution Variables
In a WHERE clause, date and character values must be enclosed within single quotation marks. The
same rule applies to the substitution variables.
Enclose the variable in single quotation marks within the SQL statement itself.
The slide shows a query to retrieve the employee names, department numbers, and annual salaries of
all employees based on the job title value of the iSQL*Plus substitution variable.


Specifying Column Names,
Expressions, and Text
Use substitution variables to supplement the
following:
• WHERE conditions
• ORDER BY clauses
• Column expressions
• Table names
• Entire SELECT statements

Specifying Column Names, Expressions, and Text
Not only can you use the substitution variables in the WHERE clause of a SQL statement, but these
variables can also be used to substitute for column names, expressions, or text.
Example
Display the employee number and any other column and any condition of employees.
SELECT employee_id, &column_name
FROM employees
WHERE &condition;

Specifying Column Names, Expressions, and Text
SELECT employee_id, last_name, job_id,
&column_name
FROM employees
WHERE &condition
ORDER BY &order_column ;


Defining Substitution Variables
• You can predefine variables using the iSQL*Plus
DEFINE command.
DEFINE variable = value creates a user
variable with the CHAR data type.
• If you need to predefine a variable that includes
spaces, you must enclose the value within single
quotation marks when using the DEFINE
command.
• A defined variable is available for the session

DEFINE and UNDEFINE Commands
• A variable remains defined until you either:
– Use the UNDEFINE command to clear it
– Exit iSQL*Plus
• You can verify your changes with the DEFINE
command.
DEFINE job_title = IT_PROG
DEFINE job_title
DEFINE JOB_TITLE = "IT_PROG" (CHAR)
UNDEFINE job_title
DEFINE job_title
SP2-0135: symbol job_title is UNDEFINED


The DEFINE and UNDEFINE Commands
Variables are defined until you either:
• Issue the UNDEFINE command on a variable
• Exit iSQL*Plus
When you undefine variables, you can verify your changes with the DEFINE command. When you
exit iSQL*Plus, variables defined during that session are lost.



Using the DEFINE Command with
& Substitution Variable
• Create the substitution variable using the DEFINE
command.
DEFINE employee_num = 200

• Use a variable prefixed with an ampersand (&) to
substitute the value in the SQL statement.

SELECT employee_id, last_name, salary, department_id
FROM employees
WHERE employee_id = &employee_num ;

Using the DEFINE Command
The example on the slide creates an iSQL*Plus substitution variable for an employee number by using
the DEFINE command, and at run time displays the employee number, name, salary, and department
number for that employee.
Because the variable is created using the iSQL*Plus DEFINE command, the user is not prompted to
enter a value for the employee number. Instead, the defined variable value is automatically substituted
in the SELECT statement.
The EMPLOYEE_NUM substitution variable is present in the session until the user undefines it or exits
the iSQL*Plus session.

Using the && Substitution Variable

Use the double-ampersand (&&) if you want to reuse
the variable value without prompting the user each
time.
SELECT employee_id, last_name, job_id, &&column_name
FROM employees
ORDER BY &column_name;

Using the VERIFY Command
Use the VERIFY command to toggle the display of the
substitution variable, before and after iSQL*Plus
replaces substitution variables with values.

SET VERIFY ON
SELECT employee_id, last_name, salary, department_id
FROM employees
WHERE employee_id = &employee_num;

The VERIFY Command
To confirm the changes in the SQL statement, use the iSQL*Plus VERIFY command. Setting SET
VERIFY ON forces iSQL*Plus to display the text of a command before and after it replaces
substitution variables with values.
The example on the slide displays the old as well as the new value of the EMPLOYEE_ID column.

The COLUMN Command
Controls display of a column:
• CLE[AR]: Clears any column formats
• HEA[DING] text: Sets the column heading
• FOR[MAT] format: Changes the display of the
column using a format model
• NOPRINT | PRINT
• NULL
COL[UMN] [{column|alias} [option]]
COLUMN Command

Using the COLUMN Command
• Create column headings.
COLUMN last_name HEADING ’Employee|Name’
COLUMN salary JUSTIFY LEFT FORMAT $99,990.00
COLUMN manager FORMAT 999999999 NULL ’No manager’

• Display the current setting for the LAST_NAME
column.

COLUMN last_name


Using the BREAK Command
Use the BREAK command to suppress duplicates.
BREAK ON job_id

The BREAK Command
Use the BREAK command to divide rows into sections and suppress duplicate values. To ensure that
the BREAK command works effectively, use the ORDER BY clause to order the columns that you
are breaking on.
Syntax
BREAK on column[|alias|row]
In the syntax:
column[|alias|row suppresses the display of duplicate values for a given
column
Clear all BREAK settings by using the CLEAR command:
CLEAR BREAK


Using the TTITLE and BTITLE Commands

The TTITLE and BTITLE Commands
Use the TTITLE command to format page headers and the BTITLE command for footers. Footers
appear at the bottom of the page.
The syntax for BTITLE and TTITLE is identical. Only the syntax for TTITLE is shown. You can use
the vertical bar (|) to split the text of the title across several lines.
Syntax
TTI[TLE]|BTI[TLE] [text|OFF|ON]
In the syntax:
text represents the title text (enter single quotes if the text is more than one
word).
OFF|ON toggles the title either off or on. It is not visible when turned off.
The TTITLE example on the slide sets the report header to display Salary centered on one line and
Report centered below it. The BTITLE example sets the report footer to display Confidential. TTITLE
automatically puts the date and a page number on the report.

Creating a Script File
to Run a Report
1. Create and test the SQL SELECT statement.
2. Save the SELECT statement into a script file.
3. Load the script file into an editor.
4. Add formatting commands before the SELECT
statement.
5. Verify that the termination character follows
the SELECT statement.


Creating a Script File to Run a Report
You can either enter each of the iSQL*Plus commands at the SQL prompt or put all the commands,
including the SELECT statement, in a command (or script) file. A typical script consists of at least one
SELECT statement and several iSQL*Plus commands.
How to Create a Script File
1. Create the SQL SELECT statement at the SQL prompt. Ensure that the data required for the
report is accurate before you save the statement to a file and apply formatting commands.
Ensure that the relevant ORDER BY clause is included if you intend to use breaks.
2. Save the SELECT statement to a script file.
3. Edit the script file to enter the iSQL*Plus commands.
4. Add the required formatting commands before the SELECT statement. Be certain not to place
iSQL*Plus commands within the SELECT statement.
5. Verify that the SELECT statement is followed by a run character, either a semicolon (;) or a
slash (/).

Creating a Script File
to Run a Report
6. Clear formatting commands after the SELECT
statement.
7. Save the script file.
8. Load the script file into the iSQL*Plus text
window, and click the Execute button.

Summary
In this lesson, you should have learned how to:
• Use iSQL*Plus substitution variables to store
values temporarily
• Use SET commands to control the current
iSQL*Plus environment
• Use the COLUMN command to control the display of
a column
• Use the BREAK command to suppress duplicates
and divide rows into sections
• Use the TTITLE and BTITLE commands to display
headers and footers



Thursday 17 October 2013

History Of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj


INDEX

1.1      Introduction
1.2        Situation before the rise of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj
1.2.1     National Situation
1.2.2     Aurangzeb 
1.2.3     Regional Situation
1.2.2.1    Rise of Bhosale Dynasty
1.2.2.2   Maloji Bhosale
1.2.2.3   Shahaji Raje
1.2.2.4   Shivaji Maharaj
1.2.2.5   Sambhaji Maharaj
1.2.2.6   Rajaram Maharaj
1.2.2.7   Maharani Tarabai
1.3      Situation of the Surroundings
1.3.1     Social Situation
1.3.2     Economic situation
1.3.3     Religious Situation
1.3.4     Cultural Situation
1.4     Contribution and analysis of the work of Chattrapati Shahu         
    Maharaj
  
1.1  Introduction :
 “History is a science and it has to be studied critically with curiously on the basis of the available resources” proposes E. H. Kar. For creating History, man has to combat with the negative situations. Chatrapati
Shahu  Maharaj  has  paved  a  way  to  combat  such  negative  situations  and  left  an impression  on  the  annals  of  the  History.  This  thesis  is  the  attempt  to  evaluate  his attribution. According  to  Carlael,  Biographies  of  the  Great  men  are  half  a  History.  The Character  and  work  of great men  have immense importance in the scientific study  of History, because History gets richer from the contribution of such great men. They give new dimensions to the society with their shrewdness and ambitions, while creating and leaving a new landmark in History.  Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj heads the list of such great men. He was the person, who changed the existing notions with his benevolent and  righteous  attribution  towards  the  Maratha  Empire.  While  studying  the  rise  and development  of  his  personality,  we  have  to  study  the  Saint  Tradition  of  Maharashtra, Shahaji  Raje,  and  the  overall  historical  period  from  Chhatrapati  Shivaji  Maharaj  to Maharani Tarabai. Chatrapati Shahu stands as the brightest star in the darkness of the
unfavourable situations prevailed in the medieval era. 
      “Chhatrapati  Shivaji  Maharaj  revitalized  the  feeling  of  their  existence  in  the Marathas variors and developed the sense of self-respect, self- religion and self-culture in them, which made the Indian society forgot the four centuries old tyrannical rule of Turks  and  Mughals.  This  achievement  is  not  only  a  source  of  inspiration  for Maharashtra  but  also  for  the  entire  nation,  over  the  past  centuries.  Chatrapati  Shahu Maharaj had immensely contributed in inculcating a sense of patriotism in the Indians. 
While  studying  the  historical  background,  the  contribution  of  Chatrapati  Shahu resembles  the  era  of  negativism.  Despite  the  negative  situations  all  around  in  the medieval  era,  the  Marathas  have  immensely  contributed  in  the  Freedom  struggle  for establishing  an  autonomous  regime.  Shivaji  Maharaj  was  the  forerunner  in  the establishment  of  Swarajya,  which  was  the  beginning  of  an  new  era  in  the  medieval history.  This  period  diminished  the  four  centuries  old  tyrannical  history  dominated  by Turks  and  Mugals.  No  doubt,  it  had  also  proved  instrumental  in  generated  self
confidence amongst the fellow countrymen. In the later course of History, Sambhaji Maharaj, Ranangini Tarabai, Santaji and Dhanaji continued the struggle of Marathas after Shivaji Maharaj.  After the release of Shahu from the Mughal captivity, he transformed the disintegrated Maratha state into a consolidated empire during the period of 1708 AD and 1748 AD. He  expanded  the  ambit  of  the  Maratha  Empire  in  the  Northern  India  with  the  help  of Maratha senapati, Peshwa and other brave Sardars. The boundaries of the empire were spread  in  Gujarat,  Malwa, Karnataka, Bundelkhand,  Uttar  Pradesh  and  other  parts  of
the country. While doing so, he established an influence of the Maratha Empire over the central  governance  of  the  Mughals.  By  imposing  several  restrictions  on  the  Mughal emperor, he gained Sanads (Charters) for Chuthai and Sardeshmukhi from him. On the other hand, the disintegrated Marathas were reunited under his able leadership.  In the History of the Marathas, this era of the 18th  century was the period of rise
when the Maratha Empire reached the extreme supremacy than any other ruling power in the country. Marathas had extended their boundaries right from Tanjore to Attuck and from Bangal to Gujrat. Until, the rise of the British rule, in 19th  century, Marathas were the real rulers of this land. Imperial Historians like Elphinston, Sir William Hunter and others opined that “We had not gained the control of this country from the Mughals, but from the Marathas. Them Mughals had lost their existence much before the British gained the power”. After  the  death  of  Chatrapati  Shivaji  in  1680  AD  and  Aurangzeb  in  1707,  the
period of around 27 years was full of struggle and turmoil for the Marathas. The death of Shivaji had tremendous impact on the Maratha Empire whereas, the Mughal attacks on the Maratha Empire increased considerably during such situation. The Marathas fought several wars with the Mughals which had literally become the wars for their existence and dignity.  The  available  historical  facts  propose  the  vigour  and  bravery  of  the  Marathas during the war period, which covers almost 27 years of this historical period. The span of  struggle  of  Maratha  in  which  they  fought  bravely  has  been  rightly  named  as  the
‘Freedom Struggle of the Marathas’. In this context the words of Sir Jadunath Sarkar seems to be relevant to this era. He says, “The struggle has naturally incorporated self confidence, adventure, simplicity,
lucidness and social unity amongst Marathas”. Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj is surely included in the list of great persons  which, Maharashtra  has  produced.  He  was  born  on  January  15,  1682.  His  political  career
flourished between 1708 AD and 1748 AD. In the entire Maratha History, he was the only person to have ruled for such a long period. He was released by the Mughals from captivity  with  the  cruel  intention  of  encouraging  the  struggle  for  succession  in  the Maratha  Empire.  However,  Chatrapati  Shahu  did  not  allow  these  intentions  to  take shape in reality. More importantly, he had never encouraged the division of Marathas and united them under his able leadership. Although, a proud Hindu, he never opposed the Muslim religion and adopted a secular policy in his state. He had immense respect for  the  holy  men  like  Brehmendraswamy  and  Kachreshwar  Baba.  He  considered Brahmeshwar Swamy as his Guru. 
He continued the development of the Maratha Empire, established by Chatrapati Shivaji  Maharaj.  He  had  faced  several  hardships,  right  from  his  childhood.  He  was under the captivity of the Mughals.  After his release, he was engulfed with the struggle with his own beloved ones for power, enmity with the Maratha Sardars and sadness in personal life was the unfortunate tale his life. Despite such difficult situations, he never
lost his mental balance and ably shouldered the responsibilities of the Swarajya. With his  tremendous  contribution  towards  Swarajya,  he  not  only  left  an  impression  on  the history  of  Maharashtra  but  also  on  the  history  of  the  entire  sub-continent.  He  has acquired  a  very  prominent  place  in  the  Indian  History  possessing  incredible  qualities and abilities due to which he could serve the Maratha state wholeheartedly. He never actually fought with the Mughal Emperor, but established a real control over the Mughal Empire. While doing so, his main intension was to protect the interests of the Maratha
Empire. He regularized the disturbed governance of the State and provided it stability. Although, shrewdness and temperament needed for becoming a successful ruler, was never a part of his character, still he tactfully designed his policies by assigning the tasks  to  the  eligible  and  efficient  persons.  Although,  a  tolerant  person  by  nature,  he encouraged the aggressive policies of Bajirao Peshwa and extended the boundaries of the Maratha empire. As a ruler he did not hesitated to condemn the policies of Peshwa despite his increasing dominance. He was a link between Swarajya and the extended empire  (Samrajya).  Under  such  circumstances,  when  there  was  a  need  for  an  able leadership  for  the  Marathas,  he  played  the  centralized  role  for  the  Maratha  Mandal. However, the vacuum generated with his death in the Maratha Empire was never filled in the later periods. His uniqueness can be evaluated from his shrewdness, which he utilized in his entire political career. He was a key person in avoiding the power struggle between the
Peshwas and the Maratha Sardars. There were differences between them, but with his able statesmanship,  he  never  allowed the struggle to go to the  extreme stage,  which helped  the  Maratha  Empire  expand  far  and  wide.  With  his  tolerant  character  and organisational  skills,  he  managed  to  unite  the  strong  Maratha  Sardars  to  accomplish several  unaccomplished  tasks  from  them.  He  was  able  to  gather  company  of  quality men around him due to his friendly gestures which made him referred to be as ‘Punya
Shlok’ (Holy soul). While  evaluating  the  work  of  Shahu  Maharaj  on  the  basis  of  his  benevolence,
historian G.S. Sardesai says “ Shahu succeeded in achieving brilliant results through a mild persuasive policy by rigid justice and goodwill towards the Ryot”. The Maratha Empire extended far and wide in the political tenure of Chattrapati Shahu.  His  attributions  to  the  Maratha  empire  are  the  sanads  (charters)  of  Swaraj, Chauthai and Sardeshmukhi (March 24, 1719), control over Nizam, Warna Pact (April
1731),  victory  over  Goa  and  inclusion  of  the  territories  like  Gujrat, Malwa,  Karnataka, Bundelkhand and Uttar Pradesh under Maratha dominance. While accomplishing these activities, he had to face stiff struggle for gaining the acclamation as Chatrapati. After gaining the title of Chatrapati, he established his capital at Satara.  While referring all these  events  in  his  life,  one  can  easily  evaluate  him  as  a  shrewd  political  and  able strategist of the Maratha Empire. Chatrapati  Shahu  has  not  only  contributed  politically,  but  also  has  immense contributed in the social, Arts, religious and cultural fields. All these fields flourished with success under his patronage during the 18th  century in Maharashtra. While studying the era prior to Chatrapati Shahu, it can be easily evaluated that he has overcome the difficult situations due to his able leadership qualities. He took tremendous efforts for the welfare of the contemporary Maratha Empire,
and adopted the tradition of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in real sense. He transformed the Swarajya in an extended empire (Samrajya). He can be considered as the last ruler in  the  lineage  of  Chatrapati  Dynasty  who  took  the  Maratha  Empire  to  its  highest elevation.  Chatrapati  Shahu,  although  has  immense  contribution  in  the  building  of  the Maratha empire, no attempts were made so far, to shed light on his life. This is the first research which has elaborated various aspects of the life of Chatrapati Shahu. 
1.2 Situation before the rise of Chhatrapati shahu : 
        In any biographical study, it is very important to study the earlier background or the era prior to that  person and also  examine the local references.   According to  Renier, “the local history should be written in such a way that its reflections should be seen in history of the nation. It is very important that local history should include cultural, social and economic aspects. The same lookout is considered while studying the biography of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj. Keeping this vision, the two aspects of the earlier situation
have been taken into account. 
1.2.1 National Situation : 
The Indian History depicts the first major power transfer which was in 1526 AD,
when Babar defeated Lodhi dynasty in the battle of Panipat and established the Mogul supremacy  in  India.  Further  he  defeated  Rajput  King,  Rana  Sangh  in  1530  and strengthened the empire providing stable governance. His heir, Humayun continued the governance smoothly  later  on. In the  weaken  days of Humayun,  Shershah Suri ruled the country for a brief period from 1540 to 1555. However, Humayun later recaptured the throne. Akbar, the son of Humayun, defeated short lived Badshah Hemchandra in the second battle of Panipat and achieved the power of Hindustan in real sense. Thus the Mughal rule in India was mooted in India systematically by Akbar. He attempted to bring stability and prosperity to the empire by minimizing the bridge between the Hindus and Muslim through his cordial polices with the existing Hindu empire. Implementing  the  policies  of  matrimonial  alliance  and  sharing  the  power  with
Hindus, Akbar sought their co-operation and expanded the Mughal Empire. After Akbar, Mughal  emperors  Jahangir  and  Shahajahan  were  responsible  for  strengthening  the Mughal  rule  in  India.  However,  lavish  life  style  and  merry  making  behaviour  of  both these emperor started the disintegration of the Empire. It was only during the period of Aurangzeb Badshah, the Mughal Empire could regain its lost glory. But, the latter half of his rule witnessed tremendous discontents amongst the Rajputs in North and Marathas in South due to his tyrannical political and religious policies. In the same time, a new
leadership of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj emerged in the Southern India and and a new
Maratha ruled state was formed. 1.2.2 Aurangzeb : The history of Aurangazeb covers a span of over 60 years. His political career (AD 1658 – 1707) covers the later half of the 17th  century. This era is considered as one of the most important period of the Indian History. In this period, the Mughal Empire was extended the most in the sub continent. Until the British dominance in the later period, whole of India remained a unified entity. When Aurangzeb ascended the throne of Delhi, the Mughal Empire was at the apex of its prosperity. Alimgir I Mohiuddin Mohammad Aurangzeb was the sixth son of Mumtaz Mahal and Shahjahan. He was born on Zingada 15 (Hizri), (October 24, 1618 AD) at Dohad. 1 
On  December  13,  1634  AD,  Aurangzeb  was  awarded  the  Mansabdari  of  10 Hazari and was considered as the most respected Umrah in the court of Shahjahan. 2 
He  was  later  awarded  the  Subhedari  of  the  Deccan  (South  India).  More  importantly, there was a war for succession amongst the successors of Shahjahan. Aurangzeb and Shahjahan both had the experience as the Subhedar of Deccan.  Aurangzeb had spent most  of  his  life  in  Deccan  and  throughout  his  life  his  ultimate  aim  was  to  annex  the entire Deccan. Unfortunately, his dreams could not be fulfilled. In an attempt to annex Deccan, he ruined not only his own life but also the entire Mughal Empire. Shahjahan  had  become  weak  and  his  health  further  deteriorated.  A  war  of succession began amongst his sons and Aurangzeb emerged victorious after killing all his  brothers.  He  even  imprisoned  Shahjahan  at  Agra.  On  July  21  1658,  he  was coroneted as the emperor of Hindustan and was conferred with the epithet of ‘Alimgir Gazi’.

After  coronation,  the  initial  years  as  the  Emperor  were  peaceful  and  calm.  He invited the emperors of Iran, Arab, Abyssinia and other countries to his court to impress them  with the grandeur  of the prosperity  his empire. This  was an obvious attempt  by Aurangzeb to gain the acknowledgement and recognition to his emperorship from the Muslim countries. These kings sent their convoys to his court.

After gaining the power, he always kept three objectives in his life, to abolish the cordial  relation  policies  initiated  by  Akbar  in  the  Mughal  empire,  to convert  maximum Hindus to Islam and annex the Southern India territory in the Mughal Empire, the task which was not accomplished by his ancestors. In the initial phase of his political career, he emphasized on the policy to abolish Akbar’s cordial policies with Hindus between the period of 1658 and 1664 AD. The religious part of his polices commenced between 1665 and 1681 AD. The annexation of Deccan was the last phase of his political strategies which continued till his death in 1707 AD. Aurangazeb  received  stiff  resistance  from  the  Maratha  Empire  in  Deccan. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj proved a greatest challenge for the the Mughal authority to extend in this part of the country. Shivaji Maharaj had become a major hurdle for the Mughal Empire. His expedition to loot Surat was the severe blow to Aurangzeb; hence he  assigned  the  task  to  control  the  increasing  dominance  of  Marathas  in  Deccan  to Marza Raje Jaisingh.  Raje Jaisingh blocked the supremacy of the Maratha in Deccan and a pact was signed between the Marathas and the Mughals popularly known as the Purandar Pact. As per the pact, Shivaji Maharaj was compelled to visit Delhi to meet the emperor. But, Aurangzeb breaching the conditions of the pact kept Shivaji under house arrest.  Shivaji  escaped  from  the  imprisonment  and  strengthened  the  Maratha supremacy once again the Southern India. Apart from the Maratha Empire there were Muslim states which challenged the Mughal authority in Deccan. Aurangzeb wanted to uproot the existence of the Adilshahi of Bijapur, Kutubshahi of Golkonda and Nizamshahi of Ahmednagar. All these Muslim state in Southern were the followers of the Shia sects and to destroy such state was the part  of  the  Aurangzeb’s  political  policy.  He  sent  his  son  Shah  Alam  with  the  army  of
around  40,000  soldiers  to  Deccan.  However,  Shivaji  Maharaj  had  already  made  the preparations to combat such a huge army. Unfortunately, Shivaji Maharaj died on March 3, 1680 at Raigadh when the Maratha Empire had started acquiring recognition as the strongest Hindu empire in the country. No sooner than Aurangzeb received the news of the death of Shivaji, he, despitethe  ghastly  rainy  season,  marched  towards  South  to  capture  the  Maratha  Empire.Before starting this expedition, he obtained the geographical information of the Marathadominance from one of his officer Abbu Mohhamad.  The  other  reason  for  the  expedition  was  Mohammad  Akbar,  his  son  who  hadmutinied and took refuge in Deccan. In  the  last  phase  of  his  political  career,  he  spent  almost  26  years of  his life  inDeccan  to  accomplish  the  task  of  conquering  Deccan,  which  was  immenselyimpossible.  He  spent  this  phase  of  life  living  in  a  military  tent.
  This  signifies  that hisultimate aim in life was to destroy the Maratha Empire and to propagate Muslim religionfar and wide. The tenure of Aurangzeb can be divided into two parts. He reigned in Delhi on 21
July 1658 and died at Ahmednagar on 20 February 1707, after ruling for over a periodof 50  years. The initial period  of 25 years  were spent in North India and the later 25years from 1682 AD, in Deccan (southern India).
        In 1682, Aurangzeb went to south and since then he never returned to Delhi. Hemight have thought that his sons would ill-treat him as he had given ill-treatment to hisfather. Due to this fear he might have not returned to Delhi. As soon as he took reign inhis hand in Barhanpur, he started imposing “Jaziya tax” on the Hindus and gave strictorders to his officers to this effect. The  people had  protested against this tax in vain.
The evidence came to the fore that 26,000 rupees accumulated alone in Barhanpur.7 It is cited that as soon as Aurangzeb arrived in south, he first of all imposed the Jaziyatax. Later, his immediate action was to capture forts from Maratha one after another.In 1686, Bijapur regime was dismissed by him. In 1687, Govalkonda regime was takenin  possession  by  Aurangzeb.  After  capturing  these  two  states,  he  turned  towards Sambhaji. Unfortunately Sambhaji was caught in 1689 and was killed inhumanly. 1689  AD  was  the  black  year  in  the  history  of  Marathas.  With  the  killing  of Sambhaji, awarding jail custody to queen Yasubai and Shahu Raje, harassing Rajaram Maharaj and conquering all most all of the Marathi regions, Aurangzeb thought that the empire  of  Shivaji  Maharaj’s  regime  was  now  eliminated.  He  also  thought  that  his objective of his crusade in southern  region  would be fulfilled if the last  heir  of Shivaji
family Rajaram was killed. However, his crusade had eliminated himself.
            Rajaram suddenly died and Tarabai took over the control of the Maratha power continuing the Maratha battle for independence. Aurangzeb was conquering forts from the Marathas, which were recaptured by the Marathas again. Aurangzeb knew that the real strength of Maratha was the forts and therefore he thought of capturing their forts. 
 Aurangzeb  won  some  of  the  forts  from  Marathas  through  excellent  military strategies  and  some  of  them  by  corrupt  practices.  When  the  army  of  Aurangzeb surround the fort, the Marathas used to cut down his resources of his army. Due to this, drought like situation always prevailed in the camps of Mughal Army at most of the time. The soldiers could not get their salaries for months. Moreover, he has to pay Rs. 50,000 to  Rs.  2,00,000  for  taking  possession  of  the  fort  by  corrupt  practice.  Khafikhan  says “Sahajahan  had  brought  bankruptcy  to  the  Mughal  Empire  due  to  his  campaigns”. Manuchi says “the wealth was not enough for Aurangzeb and therefore he opened the treasury  of  Akbar,  Jahangir  and  Noorjahan,  but  still  could  not  make  payments  of soldiers for months”.
He  was  unsuccessful  in  all  the  fronts,  but  did  not  leave  his  determination.  Aurangzeb  has  been  inhabited  in  southern  region  and  never  thought  of  returning  to North.  In  this  regard  Manuchi  says  “he  was  anxious  to  return  to  north  as  constant battles made him very nervous. He thought that if he would return to North, Marathas will conquer his empire in South and even invade the Northern region. He was scared of this situation.”

 When Aurangzeb stepped into southern region, some nobles and sardars were with  them  and  never  returned  to  their  homes,  since  then.  In  this  context,  Bhimsen Saxsena says. “The situation in  battle fields had become unbearable for all the soldiers, as  the  Badshah  had  been  wandering  from  one  place  to  another.  They  were  feeling alone and therefore they brought their wives and children with them. Their wives and children died in the battle fields itself. They never saw the houses made of stones and mud. They thought that tents are the better shelters to live. 

 Noblemen and soldiers in the Aurangzeb’s army had faced hardships. Most of them had died as well as horses, oxen, camels and elephants had also died in a large numbers.    Aurangzeb  had been undertaking battle campaign in southern region for about 26  years  and  during  this  period,  three  major  changes  in  leadership  of  Marathas  took place. The three leaderships are Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj and queen Tarabai. This three leaderships never bent before Aurangzjeb. All these leaderships fought against him with their full might and had not given any change to Aurangzeb to gain success. Marathas had kept their independence war continued till the very last moment.
    In the meantime time, when Aurangzeb was on the way back to Ahmed nagar his daughter  and  other  wives  submitted  an  application  as  “we  have  completed  30  years since Delhi was left. During these years we have been wandering here and there and due to this we borne a lot of pains. Now we should kindly be permitted to proceed to Agra  Fort.  This  would  prevent  jail  custody  and  harassment  after  your  (Aurangzeb) death”. Aurangzeb replied to this application as “I have made security arrangement for
you and this arrangement would be made after two years of my death” 

 other women in the harem were also asking for going back as they were frustrated of continuous war
situation. Due to this situation, Aurangzeb’s health deteriorated and he fell ill. He died on 20 February, 1707 at Ahmadnagar.    Dr.  Jaisingrao  Pawar  described  the  defeat  of  Aurangzeb  in  his  book  “Apalya Maharani  Tarabai”      as,  “even  as  he  knew  he  could  not  win  over  Marathas,  the  war campaign  continued  till  the  last  breath  of  Aurangzeb.  This  clearly  indicates  ambitious personality of Aurangzeb. But, his leadership failed while handling the responsibility of army general. The Army chief should have battle manoeuvres, political strategies, and presence of mind in the critical situation. However, he did not have these qualities. War could not be won on the strength of swords; one should win the hearts of the people. To
understand this, Aurangajeb did not have enough intelligence.

 1.2.3 Regional Situation:
While  studying  the  national  situation,  we  should  undertake  detailed  study  of regional situation too. As to how the suitable regional situation was before the rise of Chhatrpati Shahu Maharaj needed to have taken into consideration. In the 14th  century, Marathas got stability, following the efforts taken by Dhyaneshwar, Janardhan Swamy and Dasopant. In 15th  century, “Guru charitra” and in the 16th
 century,” Eknathi Bhagwatand Bhagwath Ramayan”, the ancient scriptures proved to be of immense importance.Portuguese activities on the Konkan borders had added new menaces. Wars betweenshahas, as well as the existence of discriminations between South and Pardeshi, Siyaand Sunny, paved the way for the competition to caoture power. This had opened anopportunity  for  Maratha  Sardars  including  More,  Mohite,  Ghorpade,  Ghatge,  Jadhavand others to come to the fore with their ruling Maratha dynasty. 
1.2.2.1 Bhosale Dynasty :
Shahaji  Maharaj,  a  member  of  Bhosale  dynasty  had  been  nominated  as  the
descendent  of  the  sisodiya  race.  This  fact  has  been  accepted  by  all  including  the
intellectuals  and  Rajputs  belonging  to  the  South  and  Northern  regions.  Mirza  Raje
Jaising  said  “you  are  Sisode  Rajput  and  are  related  to  each  other.”

.  According  toSardesai “Shahaji was born in Bhosale dynasty. Bhosale dynasty is said to have their
origin from Suryawanshi Sisode Rajput of Chittod. This means they belonged to uppercastes Kshtriya. Yadav, Pawar, More, Shinde, Salunke, etc Rajput dynasty came fromNorth Hindustan and inhabited in Sourthen parts of the country.

There is no written document available in the present period to prove that Shivaji Maharaj  was born  in  the  Bhosale  Dynasty.  However, Shahaji mentioned  that  “we  are Rajput”. Bharatkar  said  his  dynasty  was  “Suryawanshi”.  Jairam  and  Gagabhat  claimed that  his  dynasty  was  related  to  Sisodiya.  Members  of  Bhosale  invented  it  was  raziya    dynasty.  King  Shudha  Skatriya  came  from  north    to  south  and    described  itself  as Raziya dynasty”
.
In  the  era  of  Shahaji  Maharaj,  the  intellectuals  and  Rajputs  had  accepted  the Bhosale as  the descendant of Sisodias, who were Rajputs and Kshtriyas. They had the origin  from    North  and  later  came  to  south.  The  surname  of  Shahaji  was  Bhosale,descent  Sisode,  category  Kshtriya  which  means  the  contemporary  Rajputs,  clan  –kaushik and the originator - “Palipas”. The word “Avani Parshva”, in corrupt form “ArthPruthvi, Patit shreshth Rajeshwar”, this was said durimg Shahaji’s era and witnessed by Jairam  Pindase.  There  should  not  be  any  suspicion  that  Bhosales  wew  96  (Kuli)dencents  Maratha  Kshtriya.  However,  at  the  time  of  coronation  ceremony  it  wasensured whether he was Kshtriya.
1.2.2.2 Maloji Raje :
Babaji  and  Rewau  had  two  sons—Maloji  and  Vithoji.  Maloji  was  born  in  1552 AD 18 . He worked as a farmer at Verul for some years and later accepted swords leavingthe  farming  work.  Young  Majoi  had  undergone  a  training in  Army  and  after  the  armytraining,he went to Wangoji in search of a service. Wangoji deputed Maloji and Vithojion  war  campaign.  Maloji  had  fought  with  full  might  against  the  Adilshahi  Army  inRankala battle field in Kolhapur and defeated them. Nizamshah lauded his bravenessand  skils and appointed his as knight. He also awarded a degree of king,”panch hajarimanasab”, “Deshmukhi” of pune, supe, chakan chouransi and indapur to  expense forthe army and given shivneri fort to settle down with his family in 1590 as an honour.

Later  he  was  married  with  wangoji’s  daughter  deepabai.This  relation  with  Bhosalefamily  was  materialised  with  mediation  of  Lakhuji  Jadhav.  The  Jadhav  family  wasclosely related with Maloji family. It seems that Maloji was a very brave person havinggood virtues, equal family status and upper clan.
Maloji and Vithoji were the staunch followers of “Ghruneshwar”, axcept, “mantridatto trimal vakosnikrut 91 kalmi Bakhar”.  In this Bkhar, a reference of Verul temple isas follows: “Maloji had, all produce achieved from the farm , donated religious purposeand  constructed a “Shivalaya temple at Verul”.
20
.The demolised Ghruneshwar templewas rre-constructed by Maloji Raje.It is cited that Maloji was killed in the Indapur battle on 3rd
 July 1606  and father’s honour was handed over  to Shahaji on 2nd August 1606 .

Maloji had tried to deominate himself as a leader of the masses.He had gained fame  by  his  own  activities  and  spread  his  kingdom  property.  He  saved  a  lot  of accumulation of wealth. The major part of accumulated wealth was spent on the welfare of the people. Great Poet Permanand described Maloji as Maloji was a greatest soldier. During  his  tenure,  people  were  happy.  Many  people  were  impressed  by  his  religious attitudes.  He  was  a  staunch  follower  of  “Shanbhu  Mahadeo”.  He  had  built  a  tank  atShikhar  Singanapur  in  memory  of  Gods.  In  Short,  Maloji  was  a  religious  man  and worked for the welfare of the masses. 
1.2.2.3 Shahaji Raje : 
As Maloji was not having son for years, his wife vowed before the Shahsharif Pir of Nagar and on 18 March 1594 a son was born. He was named as Shahji. 

  Shahaji
since his childhood was orphaned as his father Maloji had died. He was nourished by his uncle, Vithoji. In his young age, Nizam had awarded him a “Jahangiri” of Pune-Supe as well as the degree of Sardar. Shahaji had also discharge his duty honestly. Shahaji  wedded  with  Jijabai  in  a  very  pompous  function  in  December  1605 (shu.115 21).

 At the time of Shahji’s marriage his father was present and he had got “Panchhajari mansab” from Nizamshahi.  The  regime  of  Marathas  flourished  in  the  period  of  Malik  Ambar  who  dared  to confront Mughals in 1618. To defeat the Mughal Army, Malik Amber planned to unite Marathas  for  launching  their  strategic  warfare.  Maratha  Sardars  like  Jadhav,  Kate, Shahaji Bhosale, Udaram others had actively  participated Ambar-Mughal war in 1618 and 1626 and had gained confidence and experience of fighting against the enemy. Initially, Shahaji Raja began his political career in Nizamshahi, but left it due to
the torture meted to him from Mallick Ambar. He joined the services of Adilshah, but for a lesser period because of the political turmoil in Adilshahi after the  death of Ibrahim Khan Adilshah. Later, he joined the Mughals owing the threat to his life after the murder of Jadhavrao and the torture meted to him from Murtuza Nizamshah. In the service of the  Mughals,  he  remained  a  neglected  sardar  after  the  agreement  accomplished between  the  Mughals  and  Fateh  Khan.  Hence,  he  decided  to  leave  the  service  of
Mughals.  Owing  to  all  these  difficulties  in  his  life,  he  tried  to  revitalize  Nizamshahi  and
succeeded to accomplish the task to a certain extent. 

 He  received  the  Jagirdari  of  Bangalore  from  the  Sultan  of  Bijapur  in  1639.  He accepted the place and made facilities for stationing an army of around 20,000 soldiers here. He established an efficient machinery of officers, managers and clerks and formed small localities. The local people from Maharashtra who went to Karnataka were also accommodated  in  his  armour.  Just  like  any  independent  ruler  he  regularized  the governance of Bangalore.

 This South Indian state later proved to be very useful to the Maratha Empire.  He never used the despotic policies like that of the Muslim Sultans against the Hindu kingdom, but initiated cordial policies towards them, as mentioned by Rice in his historical  research.  This  signifies  his  benevolence  policies  and  the  sense  of  fraternity towards the fellow kings. Despite being in the service of the Muslim authority, he had
deep  feeling  for  motherland  and  religion.  He  had  appointed  around  75  poets  and Pandits from various parts of the country in his court.  Shahaji  Raja  faced  several  better  experiences  in  life.  The  most  important  of which was his arrest by treachery and released by his sons Sambhaji and Shivaji with
great bravery.  While  returning  from  Bednoor,  he  stayed  at  Hodegiri,  district  Shimoga  near Baswasttan  on  the  banks  of  river  Tungbhadra.  There  were  many  wild  animals in  this region  and  he  decided for  hunting.  He  mounted  on  his horse started chasing a deer. But,  he  and  his  horse  fell  in  a  ditch  and  Shahji  Raja  died  in  this  terrible  accident. (Saturday, Magh 5, Shake 1584, date 23-01-1664).

Historian, Sardesai says, There was no other Hindu King like Shahji Raja in the contemporary historical period in South India who gained the national status on his own abilities.  Hence,  he  gets  the  attribution  to  ignite  the  feeling  of  Swarajya  amongst  the Marathas.  In  this  way,  it  will  not  be  wrong  to  nominate  Shivaji  as  the  founder  of Swarajya and Shahaji as the originator for inculcating the idea of Swarajya.

Historian Rajwade in the preface of Rajamadhav Vilas Champu, evaluated that the  earlier  work  of  Shahaji  has  assisted  Shivaji  in  accomplishing  the  task  of  State formation.   He writes, “It is true that the task of state formation is attributed to Shivaji, but the original idea of Swarajya was designed by Shahaji. History has the right to attribute the share  of  success  of  the  state  formation  to  Shahaji.  Shivaji  could  complete  the  task commenced by Shahaji only due to the resources made available by his father, Shahaji.
The sardars like Pingle, Angre, Dadaji, Pansambal, Rozekar, Jedhe, Bandal and others who played the vital role in the state formation were in the service of Shahaji. Similarly, the  resources  of  Shahaji  including  guns,  elephants,  horses  and  soldiers  deployed  at various forts were later utilized by Shivaji in accomplishing the task. 

       The success gained by Shivaji was not merely miracles. Shivaji could rise only due to the indirect assistance provided by his father. Shivaji with the help of his father’s able courters, brave sardars, arms and ammunition, terror and pride created by Shahaji across  the  country  could  bring  laurels  in  establishing  Swarajya.  Hence,  Shahaji  Raja laid the foundation of the Swaraj while Shivaji constructed a strong fortress over it. In  the  political  life  of  Shahaji,  he  was  compelled  to  move  from  one  Muslim authority to the other. It was observed that, he was welcomed at every place. Although, in the service of Muslim rulers, he retained pride for his religion and never converted to Islam.  On  the  other  hand,  Shahaji  Maharaj  after  becoming  the  ruler  of    Karnataka, stopped  instances  like  demolition  of  the  temples  by  the  Muslims,  atrocities  against women and tyranny of the farmers from the Zamindars and money lenders. He was duly
respected by his soldiers. All these aspects had helped Shivaji Maharaj in nurturing his political career. His father was an ideal ruler. 
1.2.2.4 Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj :
Before  the  birth  of  Shivaji,  his  father  Shahji  Maharaj  had  gone  to  the  distance provinces for fighting against the Mughals. Father-in-Law of Sambhaji, the elder son of Shahaji was the Killedar of Shivneri Fort near Junnar. Shahaji decided to opt this place for the  refuge  of his wife Jijabai and son Shivaji during his period  of struggle. Shivaji was born at this place. There are differences about the date of birth of Shivaji Maharaj amongst  the  historians.  The  information  about  date  of  birth  of  Shivaji  Maharaj  in  the
Jedhe  Shakawali  is  considered  to  be  most  authentic.  The  information  available  is (Shake 1551 Shukla Nam Sanvatsare Falgun Vadya Tritiya Shukrawar Nakshatra Hasta Ghadi 18  4. 31 Gand Pale 7)

According to Shri Raja Shivchatrapati Mahendle volume I – the son  of Shahaji and Jijabai was born at Shivneri on February 19, 1630.

 Most  of  the  historians  have  accepted  the  date  of  birth  of  Shivaji  as  Phalgunm Vadya Tritiya Shake 1551 (February 19, 1630).  The  initial  seven  years  of life of Shivaji  was  spent  at  Shivneri,  Mahuli,  Pemgiri and other places. Shivaji obtained the formal education under the able supervision and guidance  of  Motoshree  Jijabai.  Shivaji  Maharaj  was  fortunate  enough  to  receive  the company of his mother Jijabai throughout his life, but seldom had the company of his father  Shahaji.  As  a  result,  a  natural  sense  of  reverence  towards  his  mother  was imbibed  in  him.  Jijabai  was  intelligent,  affectionate,  kind  and  brave  and  hence,  she initiated the education of Shivaji under her own supervision.                                                       
Guardian of child Shivaji and manager of the Jahangiri of Shahaji, Dadoji Kondev also had the similar influence on the life of Shivaji similar to that of Jijabai. Dadoji accomplished his responsibility to nurture Shivaji unconditionally with the same affection that would have been done by Shahji, if Shivaji would have stayed with Shahji. He nurtured Shivaji in such a way that Shivaji would be able to accomplish his motto in life with great success.

                           While in Pune, Dadoji arranged the marriage  of  Shivaji  with  Saibai,  daughter  of  Nimbalkar  and  later  on  the  invitation  of Shahaji, he accompanied Jijabai and Shivaji to Banglore during the era of 1640.  
          During Shivaji’s stay at Banglore, Shahaji imparted education to Shivaji in various fields. In 1642, Shahaji sent back Shivaji, Jijabai and Dadoji to Pune Jagir. Establishing Pune Jagir an independent entity, Shahaji also sent Peshwa, Muzumdar, Dabir, Subnis and other  officials  with them along  with  warfare  resources  like  elephants,  horses and others.

 It appears that Shahaji had provided encouragement and guidance to Shivaji for the state formation.  After his return from Banglore, he stayed at Lal Mahal in Pune, another Jagir of Shahaji Maharaj.  Here,  he  started  gathering  the  Mawalas  along  with  arms  and  ammunition. Later, he defeated the Killedar of Bijapur and conqured the Torna fort in the year 1646. The government treasure amounting to around 2 lakh Hons was seized by Shivaji in this fort.

 With this first conquest of Torna, Shivaji Maharaj began his first journey on the path of Swaraj.  Shivaji Maharaj took the decision to establish Swaraj at the tender ageof 16 years. During the course of time, he conquered Kondana, Murumbdev (Raigadh)and Purandar forts. In  the  next  six-seven  years,  he  never  troubled  the  Bijapur  Empire.  He  hadunderstood that having enmity with Adilshahi and Mughals at this initial stage would notbe beneficial for his motives to establish Swarajya. He spent this period in maintaining
and regularising the governance of the kingdom in his possession. Shivaji Maharaj aftergetting  control  over  the  rebel  of  Jawali,  Chandrarao  More,  started  spreading  hisinfluence  on  the  nearby  provinces.    The  Jawali province  was  completly  different fromthe provinces of Desh and Konkan. This province was a mountainous region and wascompletely secured considering aspects of the warfare.

 That was one of the reasonsto attack Jawali and defeat Chandrarao More. The  Bijapur  court  got  cautious  with  the  activities  of  Shivaji  and  the  defeat  ofMore.  The  Bijapur  emperor  assigned  the  task  to  punish  Shivaji  to  the  treacheroussardar Afzal Khan. Parmanand writes, “Bade Saheb Bibi warned Afzal Khan that he should defeat Shivaji  and  kill  him.  Afzal  Khan  enthusiastically  accepted  the  task.

  In  AD  1659,  hestarted the expedition towards Pune. The opponents of Shivaji joined the force of Afzal
Khan on his way. Shivaji Maharaj had plotted to meet Afzal Khan in the mountainousterrain but Afzal Khan wanted to have a battle on the plain land. At last, Khan allured Shivaji with the friendly gesture and showed his willingnessto meet him. Shivaji was aware of his treachery and pretending that he was afraid ofhim accepted his invitation. The meeting was proposed on Wednesday, November 10,1659.

 In this meeting, Shivaji spotted the double standards of the Khan and killed him.He hurled away Khan’s huge army out of the Swarajya. Garge S. S. writes, “Massacre of Afzal Khan was the most important event of theMaratha  history.  This  event  aroused  a  feeling  of  self-identity  amongst  the  Marathas.Chatrapati Shivaji also got aware of his own power and his self-confidence enhanced which helpful in conquering Satara, Sangli, Panhala forts”.

Later, Nizam sent Siddhi Johar to arrest Shivaji. He had halted at Panhala at this time. Johar’s army circled the entire Panhala fort. Shivaji decided to surrender to Johar.However, Shivaji on July 12, 1660 with around 600 soldiers secretly proceeded towardsVishal Gadh distracting the huge army of Siddhi Johar.

The  Maratha  Empire  had  the  danger  from  every  direction.  From  the  northerndirection, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb appointed Shahitekhan on June 5, 1659 as theSubhedar of the Deccan to restrict the advancement of Shivaji.

His  first  step  was  to  proceed  to  gain  control  over  Chakan.  After  treamendouslosses,  Shahitekhan  managed  to  get  control  over  Chakan  and  made  his  stay  at  LalMahal here. Then, Shivaji Maharaj planned an attack on Lal Mahal and cut the fingersof Shahitekhan. Shahitekhan  was  then  appointed  the  subhedar  of  Bengal  while  the  Shivajimanaged to register success against the mighty Mughal Empire. In  the  later  period,  Shivaji  Maharaj  concentrated  on  Konkan  and  compelledSiddhi to make a pact. He then looted Surat which was the major commercial center ofthe Mughals. Kanetkar says in this regard, “Aurangzeb imposed Jezia tax in his kingdom. As areaction  to  this,  Shivaji  looted  Suraj  for  almost  4  days  from  January  6  to  10  andacquired the wealth of around Rs 1 crores from Suraj. The other reason for the Surat expedition  was  to  teach  a  lesson  to  the  British  factories  at  Surat  who  had  turnednShivaji’s enemy.

Mughal emperor Aurangzeb then sent his most able sardar Mirza Raje Jaisingh to  block  the  advancement  of  Shivaji.  This  experienced  sardar  compelled  chatrapati Shivaji to commence a treaty. This treaty is popularly known as the treaty of Purandar (June 12, 1665).

 After this treaty, Shivaji Maharaj had only 12 forts and 1 lakh honnswhile all the forts and the provinces had to be given to Mirza Raje. According  to  the  treaty,  Jaisingh  sent  Shivaji  Maharaj  to  Agra  to  meet  the
emperor. Shivaji on May 11, 1666 went to Agra with his son Sambhaji. The humiliationhe  met  at  the  Mughal  Court  compelled  him  to  leave  the  court  in  a  rage.  Hence,  theemperor kept him under  house  arrest  at Agra and made a secrete plot to kill Shivaji.Shivaji  made  a  plan  to  escape  the  arrest  and  commenced  the  plan  by  escaping  theimprisonment  through  the  sweet  boxes.  He  initially  made  arrangement  to  keep Sambhaji in Mathura and with several disguise reached the Swarajya.

After  hearing  the  escape  of  Shivaji,  Aurangazeb  was  deeply  sorrowed  andastonished.  This  unimaginable  escape  from  the  Mughal  imprisonment  acquired  gloryand respect to Shivaji across the country. He later decided to conduct his coronation.Shivaji Maharaj had immense domination over the Adilshahi and Kutubshahi and hadalso  proved  an  upper  hand  over  the  Mughals.  Shivaji  had  expected  that  the  foreignpowers  like  Pourtugise  and  British  should  extend  a  hand  of  friendship  towards  the
Maratha Empire.                         
                     An enthusiastic atmosphere createdacross  the  Swarajya  following  the  news  of  the  Coronation.  For  the  coronationceremony, a gold throne weighing 32 Mans was manufactured. On (Jestha Shu 4 {May29})  the  coronial  rituals  like  Munja,  Shashtis  Samantrik  Vivah,  Lupta  Vidhi,Prayashchite,  Punya  Hawan  and  Home  Shanti  were  performed  on  Shivaji  Maharaj  .During the coronation, mass feasts continued for Brahmins throughout. On Shake 1598,Sanvatsar  Jeshta  Shukla  12,  Friday  (5-6-1674),  Shivaji  Maraj  ascended  the  throne  inthe wee hours and thus, the coronation process was completed by Gaga Bhatta.
  
As the indication of the coronation, Shivaji Maharaj had started an independentcalendar  namely  ‘Rajyabhishek  Shaka’  and  also  acquired  the  epithet  of  ‘KshtriyaKulwantas Sinhasanadhiswar Maharaj Chatrapati’ and announced his coronation to theRyot.

 He also introduced special symbols of the state and also established the statecabinet called Ashta Mandali. 
Speaking about the coronation, Garge S. M. says, “In the history of Maharashtra,June 6, 1674 an important event commenced, new royal dynasty was established at theRaigadh which gave rise to a new era. New calendar and curriencies were brought intocirculation which was turning point in the history of Maharashtra”. 
Matoshree  Jijabai  witnessed  this eye  sparking  ceremony.  She  was very  happy with this event and on the 12th day of the coronation she died (June 17, 1674). Deeplygreaved  over  his  mother’s  death,  Shivaji  suspected  that  there  had  been  somediscrepancies in commencing the procedure of the coronation and hence, he arrangedhis second coronation on September 24. This second coronation was performed by a
Yogi, Nichal Puri tantric. 
After the coronation, he decided to annex the sourthern part of India. On October16,  1676,  a  day  of  Vijaya  Dashmi  initiated  his  Deccan  expedition. With  the  equippedarmy  of  around  25,000  horsemen  and  able  Sardars  like  Balaji  Awaji,  DattajipantWaknis, Suryaji Malusare, Netaji Palkar and others, initiated the expedition to conquerSouthern India.

During the expedition, Shivaji conquered Hyderabad, fort of Jinji, Vellore and Karnataka.After  repairing  the  conqured  forts  and  regularizing  the  governance,  he  returned  toRaigadh in 1678. After accomplishing the Southern conquest, Shivaji died due to a brief illness onApril 3, 1680.  The  British  in  their  official  documents  says,  “After  the  marriage  of  RajaramMaharaj,  Shivaji  failed  ill  and  it  further  deteriorated  his  condition.  They  named  thisdisease as ‘Bloody Flut’.

The established of Swarajya in Maharastra was the greatest event in the historyof  Hindustan.  He  commenced  the  greatest  task  to  revolutionarising  the  state  andbringing  a  social  change  in  the  society.  He  began  a  new  era  in  the  feilds  ofadministration, forts, commerce, trade, armour, etc. Similarly, the new dimensions werecreated in the social and cultural fields like language and religion. Late Pherozshah Mehta says, “Until, the names of Shivaji and Tilak are imbibedin the hearts of the Maharashtrian youths, the state would be accomplished the goodcauses”.

Historian Sarkar say, “Shivaji’s real greatness lay, in his character and practicalactivity,  rather  than  in  originality,  of  conception  or  length  of  political  vision”,  Shiv Digvijaykar says.

1.2.2.5 Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj :
The  first  queen  of  Shivaji  Maharaj  Rani  Saibai  gave  birth  to  Sambhaji  Raje  at Puandar  on May  14,  1656.  Maharani had given the  name of her late son Sambhaji Raje to her grandson. When Sambhaji Raje was just two  years old, his mother fell illdue  to  which  she  died.  Now,  Jijabai  took  the  responsibility  to  nurture  the  youngSambhaji. 
       He  was  well  versed  in  the  activities  like  archery,  music,  Puran,  history  andpoetry. Keshav Pandit imparted education to Sambhaji in all these fields and also taughthim  Ramayan,  Puran  and  other  religious  scriptures.
  Shivaji  Maharaj  paid  everyattention to nurture Sambhaji with the view to make him the future king of the MarathaEmpire. Every education facility was provided to him so that he became well-versed inthe feilds of Arts, education, warfare and other fields. Keshav Pandit and Umaji Panditwere the gurus of Shivaji Maharaj.        Shivaji Maharaj assigned the tasks of responsibilities to Sambhaji Maraj from theage of 15 years so that he would acquire the experience of the administration. At theage of 17, he was sent on the expedition with a huge army to Khandesh. A  French  traveller,  Abe  Carre  writes  about  Sambahi,  ‘Althouth,  the  prince
appears  to  be  very  young;  he  was  brave  soldier  who  would  accomplish  theadventeruous policies and laurel of his father’s ambitions. He had become well-versedin the art of war while in the company of his brave father. He was as prepared for thewarfare that he could be compared to any experienced war leader”.
       During the coronation of Shivaji, Sambhaji was also coronated as the prince king.In this reference, Shivde says, “In the Bhosale Dynasty, all the children were until nowwere the sons of Sardars, Jahagirdars, but Sambhaji Maharaj was the first son in thisclan to become a prince king.

 Thus, before the coronation as the prince king, he hadbecome the Yuvaraja of the Maratha Empire. During the coronation of Shivaji, he sat onthe  steps  of  the  throne  which  signifies  that  he  would  be  the  inherent  of  the  MarathaEmpire. Considering this fact, the British presented expensive gifts to the future King.      
      Shivaji Maharaj second son born from Maharani Soyarabai was Rajaram. Duringthe coronation of Sambhaji as prince king, Soyarabai was also ambitious to get her sondesignated as the prince king. This led to the first contention for the succession in theBhosale dynasty. After the coronation, Shivaji Maharaj started his victory mission in theSouth India, Sambhaji also accompanied him. Later, he halted at Shringarpur.   
       The news of the internal clashes in the Bhosale dynasty reached to Daler Khanin the Mughal Chavni at Duccan. He  extended  a friendly  approach towards SambhajiRaje.  On  December  13,  1678,  Sambhaji  Raje  went  to  meet  Daler  Khan  from  SajjanGadh  to  Durjangadh.  Daler  Khan  with  the  help  of  Sambhaji  Raje  made  an  attack  onBhupalgadh and inflicted several tyrannies on the Ryot.

 When Shivaji Maharaj cameto  know  about  it,  he  was  very  worried  about  Sambhaji  Raje.  Sambhaji  Maaraj  alsoaccompanied Daler Khan on the expedition on Bijapur. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj tookevery effort to call back Sambhaji Raje. Later, Sambhaji Raje remorsed for his deedsand returned to Swaraya. The Father and son met at Panhalagarh.After  the  sudden  death  of  Shivaji  Maharaj  on  April  3,  1680,  Soyarabai  madepreparations for the coronation of Rajaram Maharaj with the help of the Pradhans Annaji
Datto,  Moropant  and  others  on  April  12  and  sent  an  army  to  Panahala  to  arrestSambhaji Raje. As soon as Sambhaji received the news of the demise of his father, heestablished his  authority  over  Panhalagarh.  He  took  all  the  control  of  the  Swaraj andproclaimed himself as the ruler of the Maratha country. Senapati Hambirrao arrested thepradhan  Annaji  Dattopant  and  brought  him  to  Sambhaji  Raje.  On  June  18,  SambhajiRaje came to Raigarh from Panhalagar and held his coronation on June 20.
         He  later  released  Annaji  Datto,  Moropant,  Balaji  Aaoji  and  other  Sardars.Sambhaji pardons all these officials and reinstate them on their previous positions.  Referring to this benovelence act of Sambhaji, an official letter of the British thusspoke  (dt  18-10-1680),  “Who  se  Present  proceedings  Seene  to  speak  him  to  becontracy  spirit  and  temper  to  his  father  by  a  much  more  moderate  and  human
government”.

This implies that Sambhaji was different from his father Shivaji, which shows the mild and pardonable nature of Sambhaji.  
        Sambhaji  Maharaj  was  coronated  at  Raigarh  on  Shake  1602  Magh  Shudh Saptami, January 16, 1681.  
   Aurangzeb’s  son  Prince  Akbar  after mutinied  with  his  father  took  refuge  in  the Maratha  Empire.  Prince  Akbar  along  with  Durgadas  Rathod  reached  the  MarathaEmpire in  May  1681  after  crossing  the  Narmada  River.  Sambhaji  kept  Akbar  and hisassociate Durgadas at Pali near Mahad.

As  Sambhaji  had  given  the  refuge  to  Akbar,  Aurangzeb  got  very  angry  andproceeded towards Deccan to attack the Maratha Empire from all the directions.  When  Sambhaji  ascended  the  throne,  he  had  to  face  three  major  enemies.These included Siddi of Janjira, Portuguese of Goa and British of the Mumbai. Thesethree powers had control over the western coast and executed their political strategies from here. Initially,  Sambhaji  was  succeeded  in  proving  his  supremacy  over  these  three powers. He took Goa in his dominance after defeating Portuguese. The British did not take the risk by directly having a war with Sambhaji, because they had seen the braveryof Sambhaji and terror in the Konkan region. Aurangzeb conquered the Bijapur state in 1686 and  brought the  Kutubshahi ofGolkonda under its dominance in 1687. After this, Badshah diverted his entire attentionto destroy Sambaji Raje. Sambaji Raje had to battle with Aurangzeb at various places and also defeatedhis brave soldiers on various occasions.On  February  1,  1689,  Sambhaji  Maharaj  and  Kavi  Kalash  had  to  halt  atSangameshwar  on  their  way  from  Khelna  to  Rajgad.
  The  espionages  of  MukarramKhan,  a  sardar  of  Aurangzeb  received  this  news.  Mukarrab  Khan  attacked  onSambhaji’s army which included only 300 soldiers. Despite, stiff resistance, the braveMarathas could not stand the huge army of Khan. Sambhaji Maharaj, Kavi Kalash and 25 others were arrested.33
 At this time, Aurangzeb was at Akluj, and was very enthralled with the news ofarrest of Sambhaji. Bendre  writes,  -  “Sambhaji,  after  a  sudden  and  unimaginable  arrest  waspresented  before  the  emperor.  Aurangzeb  had  never  been  confronted  with  such  anenemy  in  his  entire  life.  He  thought  that  the  God  had  assigned  the  task  to  eradicatesuch  an  enemy  on  him.  He  was  very  happy  with  this  arrest.  It  was  a  very  unusualexperience  for  Aurangzeb;  he  had  never  met  anyone  who  was  so  fearless  despitestanding  in  front  of  the  gallows.
  This  signifies  the  long  term  impact  of  the  politicalpolicies of Sambhaji Maharaj. Aurangzeb  meted  severe  torture  on Sambhaji; he was  paraded  on  the  streets.Still, Sambhaji did not lose his self respect. On February 15, 1689 night, Sambhaji’s wasblinded.  Next  day,  Kavi  Kalash’s  tounge  was  cut  down.  The  clergies,  Amir,  Umraosappealed the Badshah to award him a capital punishment. Sambhaji Maharaj and KaviKalash were killed at Koregaon on March 11, 1689 with a sword. In the entire career as a ruler, Sambhaji Maharaj has not lost an inch of land. He had given stiff resistance to Emperor Aurangzeb and also conquered the territories ofPortuguese, British and Siddhis, but met a tragic end. His astonishing and adventurouslife has become successful with the sacrifice he made at the end of his life.  Historians on the ability of Sambhaji expresses that : Dr.  Khaberekar  –  ‘Endangering  his  own  life,  Sambhaji  Maharaj  maintained  thesecurity of the Maratha empire for almost nine years and gave a stiff resistance to the Mughal attack. His righteous personality, this favourite King of the Ryot, Shivputra has left  an  impression  on  the  history  of  Marathas.
  Despite  severe  torture,  his  courage,pride, strictness and fearlessness was not diminished a bit. Sambhaji  Maharaj  is  often  referred  to  be  a  pleasure  loving  person.  But,  whiledoing the expansion of the Swarajya, it was not the situation when he would have gottime for pleasures. He chose death bravely than a humiliating life. If he would not havebeen  a  man  of  self  respect,  he  would  have  accepted  the  prominence  of  the  MughalEmpire and lived a luxurious life. He  fulfilled  the  losses  incurred  on  the  Maratha  Empire  with  his  deeds  by  laid down  his  life.  After  the  death  of  Sambhaji,  the  Maratha  sardars  got  alert  and accomplished every task with great understanding and seriousness.

1.2.2.6 Chatrapati Rajaram Maharaj :
Chatrapati  Shivaji  Maharaj  had  two  sons,  elder  Sambhaji  and  the  younger Rajaram.  Rajaram  was  born  to  Matoshree  Soyarabai  on  February  24,  1670.  Jedhe Shakavali  Falgun  Shudh  25,  Shake  1591  (February  24,  1670).
  Chatrapati  Rajaram
was calmed natured and had every quality needed for an efficient ruler. Rajaram was only five years old when is grandmother Jijabai died. Hence, he did not got the opportunity to get educationally nurtured like that of Sambhaji. But, he was brought up under the guidance of Sambhaji’s wife Yesubai.   After the sudden  death of Shivaji Maharaj, Soyarabai tried to get the throne to her  son  Rajaram  instead  of  Sambhaji,  but  could  not  fulfil  her  plans.  The  Senapati  of Shivaji  Maharaj  Hambirrao  Mohite  helped  Sambaji  Maharaj  to  foil  the  plans  of Soyarabai. Later, Sambhaji Maharaj proclaimed himself the Chatrapati.  
The  news  of  arrest  of  Sambhaji  Maharaj  by  the  Mughal  soldiers  reached Raigadh. At that time, the capital of the Swaraj was Raigadh and Rajaram was under house arrest of Sambhaji here. Rajaram was later released by the Shiledar of Raigad Yesaji Kank on Mag Amavasya (February 9, 1689) and was coronated as Chatrapti in Falgun  Shudha  Trutiya.  Sambhaji  Maharaj  was  alive  at  that  time  and  was  later
murdered on March 11, 1689. Nanaji  More  and  Warkad,  who  were  arrested  by  Sambhaji  Maharaj  were released  by  Rajaram  and  were  assigned  their  responsibilities.  Rajaram  took  all  the
control of the administration in his own hand.    
Later,  Coronation  of  Rajaram  was  held.  At  this  time,  the  major  enemy  of  the Maratha Empire was Aurangzeb. He adopted the long impacting policy of establishing cordial  relations  with  the  Samants,  Sardar  and  other  officials  who  had  enmity  with Aurangzeb.  During  this  period,  Julfikar  Khan  entangled  Raigarh  on  Marc  25,  1689.  At  that time Rajaram, Rani Yesubai and Rajkumar Shahu were at Raigadh with other people. A meeting was  held in  which  Yesubai, Rajaram and the  officials participated to find the solution of this difficult situation. Yesubai advised that that the Chatrapati Rajaram and the minister should get out of the fort and make plans to fight the Mughals. It was also decided that prince Shahu should remain at Raigadh.  At the end Rajaram on  April 5, 1689, with minister Ramchandra Amatya, Pralhad Niraji, Shankarji Narayan and other sardars left Raigadh and reached Pratapgadh.

Rajaram  did  not  stayed  at  Pratapgadh  for  a  long  time  and  proceeded  towards Panhalagadh. He sent letters to all the Killedars to be alert and be prepared to face the Mughal  invasion.  However,  the  Mughal  army  chased  Rajaram  wherever  he  went. Several forts of the Maratha Empire were lost to the Mughals. 
After  Vijayadashmi,  the  Mughal  Army  geraoed  the  Phanhala  fort.  Rajaram discussed this difficult situation with is ministers. He gave the responsibility of the Koti fort to is secretary Shankaraji Narayan and the responsibility of Swarajya to Ramcandra Pant.  During  this  period,  Ramchandra  Pant  was  honoured  with  the  epithet  ‘Hukumatanha’. Rajaram left Panhalagarh on November 15, 1689 and proceeded towards Jinjifort.  He reached Jinji fort on November 6, 1689.Pralhad  Niraji  and  Khando  Ballal  fought  bravely  with  the  Mughals  and  tookRajaram  Maharaj  and  his  belongings  to  the  Jinji  fort.  Jinji  became  the  capital  of  theMaratha  empire.  From  here  directives  to  remain  alert  were  issued  to  all  the  Marathasardars.  Rajaram  appointed  the Ashta  pradhans  ere  to  regularized  the  disintegrated
Maratha  empire  and  to  combat  the  Mughal  army.  Rajaram  acquired  the  title  ofChatrapati  and  issued  the  royal  symbols.
  His  entire  life  spent  reverting  the  attacksfrom Mughals and escaping their chase. Whichever fort he went, the Mughal army wasafter  him.  This  exhaustive  routine  was  relived  only  when  he  reached  Jinji.  Here,  theMarathas established their capital at the centre of Karnataka. Appointing new officers torecover  the  revenue,  created  thanas,  security  of  the  forts,  arrange  new  forts  and  itssecurity,  to  get  the  assistance  from  the  Hindu  Nayaks  of  Karnataka  to  fight  againstMughals,  administration  and  to  collect  recourses  and  money  to  combat  the  hugeMughal army, all these plans were executed from Jinji.

Rajaram  Maharaj  did  not  had  resources  and  money.  He  appealed  the  Hindukings in the service of the Mughals to join the task of Swaraj. Aurangzeb had initiated apolicy to award Vatandari and Mansabdari to the Maratha sardar to get them into theservice of the Mughal empire. Taking advantage of the treaty with Aurangzeb, RajaramMaharaj  started  granted  Vatandari  and  Mansabdari  to  the  Marata  Sardars.  On  thecontrary,  he  had  no  choice  and  it  was  the  need  of  the  hour  to  grant  Vatandari  andMansabdari to the sardars to retain them in the Maratha Empire. The work done by theMaratha sardars Santaji and Dhanaji during this period provided stability to the MarathaEmpire a stability for quite some time. These  two  Sardars  had  created  terror  among  the  Mughal  camps  and  theincidents of their campaign are even remembered today, the references of their braveryare obtained from the historical account of a historian from Persia. Altough,  the  contribution  of  these  great  Senapatis  of  the  Maratha  power  ismeagrely accounted in the history, their attribution could not be ignored.  Whenever,  these two  Sardars  confronted  with  the  Mughal  army,  they  defeated the army, killed or arrested the soldiers and destroyed their resources. They had such a great terror on the enemy that no Mughal sardar dared to initiate an expedition against them.

 Hence, Santaji and Danaji have  proved themselves immortal in the history  ofMaharashtra.  Aurangzeb  sent  his  able  courter  Julfikar  Khan  with  other  sardars  to  Jinji  inKarnataka to arrest Rajaram Maharaj. Julfikar Khan entangled the strong fort of Jinji foralmost  seven  years.  At  last,  Rajaram  Maharaj  on  December  26,  1696  escaped  fromJinji. The initial period, he spent at Vellore fort in Karnataka. Here Rajasbai, Tarabai,Sivaji Raje (son of Tarabai) met him after a long period. He left Vellore with his convoy
in 1698 and reached Panhalagad via Kopal and Bhudargad route during the last weekof March.

 He later proceeded to Vishalgarh.     After a brief stay of some months at Vishalgar, he moved towards Satara fort asSatara  was  the  ideal  place  to  keep  a  watch  on  the  activities  of the  Emperor.  On  the
other  side,  emperor  was  restless  as  he  could  not  arrest  Rajaram  Maharaj  despiteseveral  attempts.  He  thought  that  his  generals  have  become  lethargic  and  are  nottaking serious efforts to get rid of Rajaram. Hence, he took the expedition under his owncontrol.

  He  planned  to  conqured  the  forts  which  were  under  the  dominance  ofMarathas.   In the initial phase of 1699, Rajaram Maharaj visited Konkant to see the securityof all his forts. He then planed to lodged a campaign to conquer the forts in Khandeshand Varhad. After these exhaustive activities, Rajaram Maharaj came to Sinhagadh.38,but with terrible fever. He used to omit blood due to some heart disease. His condition deterioriated and he died due to this diseases on Phalgun 9 (12-3-1700). At that time,his two sons and two wives were at Panhalagadh. One of his wife Ambikabai, who wasat Vishalgadh opted to go for Sati.

After the death of Sambhaji Maharaj, Rajaram Maharaj looked after te Marathaempire. He battled with Aurangzeb on two occasion, in which he emerged victorious. Hewas never gready for the power. He had not even done his coronation. A man of selfrespect, he selflessly without pride shouldered the responsibilities of the Swarajya. Afterascending  the  throne,  he  led  a  tiresome  life  running  from  the  Mughal  attacks.  Whilerunning from one fort to the other he provided security to the Maratha Empire.  Evaluating  the  work  of  Rajaram  Maharaj,  Historian  Sardesai  mentiones,  –  “thetenure of Rajaram was the mine which produced the stock of efficient people, pride forself  nation,  a  school  for  quality  education  and  a  stage  to  showcase  the  bravery  and glory.

A. R. Kulkarni rightly said, “Chatrapati Rajaram’s tenure was the deciding factorin  the  entire  history  of  Maratas.  During  this  period,  Chatrapati  Shahu,  the  leader  ofSwaraj  remained  ideal  forever.  He  will  be  definitely  included  in  the  list  of  great  menproduced in Maharashtra.

1.2.2.7 Maharani Tarabai :
Maharani  Tarabai  was  independent  and  freedom  seeking  person.  She  hadinherent the independence and bravery from her father. She had received the glorioustradition of bravery from her parental home. Tarabai was born in 1675. The period frombirth to marriage of almost 10  years  was full of political turmoil and moving from oneplace to other. In around 1684-85, Tarabai was married to Rajaram Maharaj.
 After the death ofRajaram, the responsibility of the Swaraj fell on Tarabai. She had started participating in
the  military  campaigns  and  look  after  the  administration  at  the  time  when  RajaramMaharaj was alive. 
Tarabai organised the coronation ceremony of her son Shivaji Raja at Vishalgadhin  1701.  She  herself  said  in  a  charter  issued  in  1703,  “This  king  has  ascended  thethrone at Vishalgadh. The master has done many adventurous work of bravery for theextension  of  the  empire.
  This  implies  that  the  Coronation  of  Shivaji  Maharaj  II  washeld.   During this period, Tarabai got control of the entire administration of the Swaraj, which  was  proved  from  the  contemporary  documents  available.  She  not  only  looked after the administration but also led the military, planned conquests and executed them efficiently. Pertaining the work of Tarabai, Khafi Khan says, “Rajaram wife Tarabai placed
her  three  year  old  son on the  throne.  She  took  all  the control  of  the  Swarajya  in  her hands.  The  appointment  of  Sardars,  their  transfers,  various  activities  of  the administration,  attack  on  Badshahi  provinces,  all  these  task  were  commenced  with technically planned manner by her. She managed to attract the Maratha sardars to the Swaraya with her wits, intellect and presence of mind. He political understanding can be evaluated  while  studying  the  then  administration  system.  She  made  six  Subhes  in
Deccan and extended the boundaries till Siraj, Mandasore and Malawa. On the other hand,  Emperor  Aurangzeb  spent  most  of  his  life  in  war  planning  and  conquering  the forts. His life was spent fighting the Marathas, but the strength and mutiny of Marathas increase with the passage of time.

Many important events occurred during the period of 1700 to 1707 in the history of  Marathas.  During  this  period  full  of  discontent  and  turmoil,  the  king  of  Marathas (Chatrapati) was only three years old. 
Tarabai  adopted  the  policy  of  struggle  with  the  enemy  under  these  difficult conditions. The situation was not favourable for the patriotic Marathas who were fighting for their existence and freedom. They even did not had the leader like Shivaji Maharaj, who  set  an  example  for  the  Marathas  with  his  character  and  bravery.  Still,  these Maratha  sardars  selflessly  initiated  the  struggle  against  the  tyranny  of  Aurangzeb inflicted on the countrymen.

Aurangzeb  had captured  Satara,  Panhala,  Vishalgadh  along  with  the  strongest Sinhagad, Rajgadh and Torana. Although, Aurangzeb set his policy to conquer each of the forts of Marathas, the Marathas used to reinstate their authorities on the fort again, once  the  emperor  left  the  fort.  Manuchi  observes ,  “Marathas  were  very  clever.  They used to let the Mughals conquer the forts after a long time of their entanglement to the forts and then they used to conquer it again when the Mughals collect the resources at
the forts. Despite this, the emperor had never given up his ambition to conquer the forts of Marathas.

Tarabai,  being  a  woman  would  have  lived  a  luxurious  life  and  without  actually participating  in  the  wars,  she  would  have  issued  orders  to  her  Sardars  sitting  on  the throne. However, she used to involve herself personally in every activity. She used to visit  every  fort  and  personally  inspected  the  security  aspects  of  the  fort,  issued necessary directive to the Killedars and keeping watch on every activity of the Badshah, designed  her  war  plans.  She  had  even  appointed  additional  Pradhans  to  run  the administration in more efficient way.  Varioius  Maratha  Sardars  had  played  vital  role  in  the  war  of  Independence. Dhanaji Jadhav on every front, defeated Aurangzeb’s officers. Munuchi describing the
situations of the year 1704, “ The Maratha Sardars and their army, both used to wander with  great  confidence.  One  of  the  reason  behind  this  was  the  sense  of  superiority amongst  the  Marathas  with  respect  to  the  Mughal  Sardars  and  army.  The  guns, ammunition, arms and weapons earlier possessed by the Mughal army were now with the Maratha army too.  In brief, the lightening fastness which the Mughal army had, the Maratha army proved much  faster than them.
     
Aurangzeb  used  to  be  very  sad  when  he  could  not  conquer  the  Marathas.  He was very worried about the rising power of Marathas. He used to think that if, he would return to Delhi, the Marathas will get more powerful and even conquer the entire Mughal empire. In this tremendous pressure and worry, Aurangzeb finally died.  A  couple  of  months  before  the  death  of  Aurangzeb,  the  Marathas  had
established their dominance on Sinhagadh, Purandar, Panhalgadh, Satara and Parli.

In this conquest of Marathas, Tarabai had also shown tremendous bravery and moulded several Maratha sardars. The silent feature of this war of Independence was the Gorilla war tactics, adopted by the Marathas, which was never understood by theMughals. Tarabai, despite being a widow in  his youth at the age of just 25 years, raise asuccessful struggle against the most experience emperor Aurangzeb for almost seven
years.  In  the  battle  with  the  Mughal  army,  she  has  never  faced  a  defeat.  This  canexplain  the  intellect,  potential,  staunchness  and  political  awareness  of  MaharaniTarabai. The contemporary Marath poet Govind refers her commitment and work as, 
  

(Seeing the bravery of the Maharani Tarabai, the Bhadrakali, the empire of Delhi tarted  to  lose  hopes.  Whereas  she  looks  upon,  the  Emperor  of  Delhi  started  to  getdemoralized and even the Qurans started deteriorated. Like the wars of Ramayana, theMughals will now have to face the defeat)Dr.  Sovani  says,  “In  the  seven  years  of  battle,  Tarabai  united  all  the  MarathaSardars  and  executed  several  tasks  through  the  Amatya,  representatives  and  otherswhich had kept the Maratha Sword shine forever. There would be hardly any personalityin the Maratha history who would match the stature of Maharani Tarabai. 
After  the  death  of  Aurangzeb,  Azzam  Shah  released  Shahu  from  theimprisonment.  After  coming  in  the  Swaraj,  in  an  internal  conflict  between  Shahu  andMaharani Tarabai, Shahu emerged victorious. The details about this will be seen in thefurther study. We will take an account of the social, economic, religious and cultural situationsof  the  period  between  1630  and  1707.  In this  study,  we  will  study  the  period  startingfrom Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to Tarabai and the period of Aurangzeb expedition andthe  later  situation  and  transformation  impact  on  Maharashtra  will be  discussed  in  thefurther course of study. 

1.3 Situation of the surroundings of Maharashtra : 
1.3.1 Social situation: 
It  is  very  important  to  understand  various  social  aspects  like  caste,  Vatan(province), rituals and traditions in various eras in the Indian History. These aspects arethe major units which provide stability to the contemporary social situation. We have toconsider all these elements.   In the contemporary Maharashtra, there prevailed severalcastes, hence, caste was the most important aspect of this era. An impact created by
the caste on  any  person  was very important in view of his family. This was the mostimportant element to keep the family intact and combined its members. The tradition ofcombined  family  system  prevailed  in  India  from  time  immemorial. Due to  tremendousdominance of caste on the society, marriages even in the sub-castes were prohibited.The impact was so that even the transactions with the other castes were barred in thecontemporary  society  or  liable  for  the  punishment  from  the  caste  institution  or  thegovernment. There was tremendous impact of the caste system on the society.       Similarly,  the  tradition  of  Sati  also  prevailed  extensively  in  the  society.  Thistradition  was  prevalent  in  the  contemporary  Brahmin,  Maratha  and  other  Sardarscommunities. During this era, we could see that not only wife, but also the concubinesand  maids  used  to  jump  in  the  funeral  pyre  of  their  masters.

  This  Sati  system  anddowry  system  was  more  prevalent  in  the  upper  strata  of  the  society.  In  some
communities, the father of bridge used to get lucrative sum from the father of the groomduring marriage. This means that girl was purchased for marriage.  
           Superstitions had major domination in the society. The people used to think thatdiseases like cholera, smallpox, plague  were caused  due to the  anger  of their villagedeity. The people used to conduct special rituals giving donations of money and animalsto the priests to get rid of these epidemics. An annual fair was organised in the name ofGoddess  Kadak  Laxmi,  considered  to  be  the  Goddess  of  Smallpox,  and  collectiveprayers  used  to  perform  to  protect  the  society  from  her  anger.  We  find  several  such
examples prevalent in the contemporary society during this medieval era.

In Maharashtra, Bahiroba or Bharav, Mashoba, Khandoba, Durga, Bhawani, Shivwere the major village deities along with the most popular public deities were Vithoba ofPandharpur, Bhavanimata of Tuljapur, Mahalaxmi of Kolhapur and others. These deitieshad  the  greater  impact  on  all  the  communities  right  from  the  Brahmins  to  the  lowercaste people. In the rural economy, every village unit was important and the head of the villagewas  called  ‘Patil’.  Under  the  Alutedari  system,  the  Patil  used  to  hire  voluntary  labourfrom the people of Mahar, Mang, Karagir and other castes.Under  Alutedari  and  Balutedari  systems,  the  rural  economy  was  maintained  throughbarter  system.  Similarly,  the  (Wethbigari)  bounded  labour  system  was  also  existedextensively  in  the  society  which  was  the  forced  labour  from  the  people  of  the  lowercastes. This  system  was  deep  rooted  in  the  Saranjamshahi  provinces.  The  people  oflower  castes  were  given  meagre  monetary  benefits  in  this  system  in  lieu  of  physical
labour.
  These  labours  were  inflicted  several  atrocities  by  the  upper  caste  people.Despite  extensive  division  in  the  society,  Chatrapati  Shivaji  Maharaj  had  deployedpeople  of  every  caste  in  his  army.  The  people  of  Charwaha  (Shepherds),  Gujrathi,Dhangar, Farmers, Katkari (weavers), Ramoshi, land labours and others were includedin  the  army.  They  were  imparted  rigorous  military  trainings,  enhancing  their  desire  tostruggle and show bravery in the battlefields.  With this reference, Jaisinghrao Gaikwadsays, “Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had used people of every caste effectively in the taskof  Swaraj  establishment  and  preservation.  Shivaji  Maharaj  instead  of  considering  thecaste factor used to give importance to the qualities and talents of the people. Due thispolicy,  we  find  brave  soldiers  from  the  Shudra  (lower  caste  communities  executingseveral important expeditions for the Swaraj.
    
The then existing rural economy was economically self sufficient and had unityand  organisational  co-ordination  amongst  the  villagers.  The  villages  had  their  ownadministration  system  to  look  after  the  needs  of  the  villagers.  The  unit  of  the  villageinclude the people of various social groups at various strata. The administration in therural areas was unified and systematic. The distance from one village to another was
huge,  which  provided  organisational  unity  to  the  villages.  Every  village  had the  sameadministrative situation.Chatrapati  Sambhaji  Maharaj  continued  the  administrative  system  started  byChatrapti Shivaji in the Swaraj. He never interfered in the administration of the villagesand  the  society.  He  implemented  the  policy  of  equality  with  everyone  and  treatedeveryone with equality and equal justice. Historian G. S. Sardesai says in this regard,“There  are  several  documents  available  referring  the  judiciary  system  and
administration of the Swaraj. He used administered justice without any distinction andpartiality.45 This implies his selfless devotion towards the Swaraj activities. He used toinquire  everyone  with  the  same  affection  and  discuss  the  major  issues  with  hissubordinates  and  used to make  plans of the  administration along  with his friend KaviKalash.

 Many such instances are referred in the contemporary official documents. Likehis  father  Shivaji,  Sambhaji  Maharaj  continued  the  work  of  granting  awards  andmonetary benefits to the Ryot. Tarabai  also  executive  the  administration  of  the  Swaraj  with  staunchness  andaffectionately is cleared form several available documents. In her administration therewere  provisions  to  curb  the  atrocities  against  the  Mathadhipati,  Vatandar,  Sardars  toeven the common lot.  ‘Vatan’  (Land)  has  distinct  meaning  in  the  contemporary  era.  The  originalinhabitants  of  the  village  were  relieved  of  the  paying  revenue.  These  people  wereassigned the responsibility to maintain co-ordination in the villages. These people had toadopt professions according to the their castes and also gained social status as per thecaste. This agricultural system was called Vatandari.

 During the Maratha dominance,every person had to abide to the profession according to the caste. He was not allowedto do the work not assigned to his caste. Every caste has some or the other restrictions.Chatrapati  Shahu  Maharaj  continued  this  traditional  social  system  and  did  not  try  tobring innovative changes in this system. He used to think, ‘Old should not be destroyedand news should not be created’. 
1.3.2 Economic condition :
The major source of earning for a person in this era was agriculture. Most of thepeople  were  dependent  on  farming.  For  gaining  more  revenue  from  the  agriculture,Shivaji  Maharaj  introduced  new  land  measuring  system  and  assigned  the  task  ofmaintaining and measuring the farmland to his minister Annaji Datto. The revenue wascollected in kind and not cash. The farmers had to pay 33 per cent of the entire produce as revenue to the state.Apart  from  agriculture,  the  state  has  other  means  of  revenue  including  the  Cungi(octroi), excise, fine and forest resources.

 Before Shivaji Maharaj, the previous rulers,the  Bahamani  emperors  had  only  one  policy  to  expand  their  empire  in  this  Marathacountry. They never adopted the policy to encourage investments or agriculture in theirconquered areas. In  the  contemporary  official  documents,  the  farmers  have  been  referred  to  asKunbi, Mujari, Ray and Ryot. Shivaji Maharaj encouraged the Ryot to cut the Junglesand utilize the land for farming in his state. To encourage farming in the state, ShivajiMaharaj provided, cattle, oxen, farming equipments and other assistance to the farmers.   Shivaji  Maharaj  conquered  whatever  territories  were  brought  in  the  main  stream  bypreferring  agriculture  there.  His  policy  include,  1)  to  convert  infertile  lands  into  fertilelands,  2)  to  measure  all  the  land  of  the  prvince  and  fix  the  revenue  for  it,  and  3)providing security to the farm produce and the Ryot. The routine administration terms
like  ‘Lavani’,  Sanchayi,  Ugawani,  Thakbandi,  Takbandi,  Jamabandi  were  frequentlyused. Generally, the tax was fixe+d for a year. On this basis, the revenue of the statewas  fixed.  Noted  historian  Jervis  says  about  the  revenue  system  of  the  Marathas,“Shivaji Maharaj has fixed the revenue to half of the income of the land (Batai) which isthe 50 per cent of the produce, however, he never recover that much kind. The land inpossession was measured in the unit of Bigha and the revenue was fixed on that basis.Shivaji Maharaj had issued the orders not to collect the revenue in cash but in kind.

There were several people assigned with the responsibilities to cater the need ofthe  villages.  In  lieu  of  their  services,  they  were  provided  the  annual  return  in  kind  ofcrop. Accordingly, the daily needs of every person were fulfilled. This system of returnwas called ‘Baluta’ system.

 There were several artisans in the village from whom dailyneed  articles  were  manufactured.  These  articles  include  the  agriculture  equipments,household articles and others. These artisans used to manufacture articles of highestquality during the era of Marathas. Their profession was on the verge of developmentwhich  produced  excellent  quality  of  cloth,  shela  pagota  (turban),  jewellery  and  other
artefacts. In the same period, the people in the western coasts ‘Konkan’ were engagedin  the  professions  like  salt  manufacturing,  ship  manufacturing,  soaked  fish,  mango,cashew nuts, wooden artefacts, coconut rope and other occupations.      During  the  period  of  Shivaji  Maharaj  the  commercial  situation  was  stable.  Thecommercial activities initiated during the period of were continued with same stability tillthe era of Peshwas.  During the period of Marathas, the trade were linked with the otherstates. According to the agreements made with the British during the period of ShivajiMaharaj  and  Sambhaji  Maharaj,  chiungi  (octroi)  was  recovered  from  the  British  onexport and import transactions. The policy of imposing octroi on British started from theperiod  of  Shivaji  Maharaj  continued  during  the  entire  Maratha  empire  tenure.  In  thisperiod,  the  British  were  involved  in  the  Slave  trade.  Shivaji  Maharaj  imposed  three
pagodas as tax on the sale of each slave. These activities helped the Maratha Empireto enhance the revenue of the state. Later, Sambhaji Maharaj increased the tax fromthree  pagodas to  12  pagodas  on  the  sale  of  each  slave. This  not only increased  therevenue  in  the  state  treasure,  but  also  put  restriction  on  this  inhuman  trade  to  someextent.
 Efforts were taken in the later period to stop the slave trade completely.     During  this  period,  the  weekly  markets  were  held  at  the  major  villages.  In  themarkets,  transactions  of  cloths,  coconuts,  cheese,  betel  leaves,  betel  nuts,  fruits,vegetables, meat, fish and others. Crops were also sold extensively in the markets. Thepeople from the nearby villages used to visit these villages to purchase articles of their
need.  During  the  period  of  Shivaji  Maharaj,  the  commercial  centers  like  Kalyan,Bhivandi,  Rajapur,  Dabhol,  Vengurla,  Pen  and  others  were  on  the  verge  ofdevelopment. The commercial activities were at the peak at these commercial centres.The harbours were also developed to carry the inter-country trades from here. Kanetkar  says  about  the  fiscal  policy  of  Shivaji  Maharaj,  “He  never  imposedheavy taxes on the Ryot. There was a systematic system to measure the land (Ginati),to  fix  the  tax  (Sara)  and  collect  it  to  the  government  treasury.  He  collected  theexpenditure of his coronation from the Vatandars and looting the Mughal treasury andthe  traders.  He  attacked  Surat  on  two  occasions,  but  he  looted  only  the  governmenttreasury and the traders. On the contrary, it was an instant reaction to the actions of the
emperor, who demoslished the Vishwanath temple at Kashi and imposed Jaziya on theHindus.
  he  also  used  to  help  the  people  by  compensating  them  during  naturalcalamities, scarcity of essential commodities, droughts, losses due to military expeditionand famines. During the period between 1680 and 1707, the economic conditions were reliedon various aspects. The most important of which was the agriculture. It was the mostimportant  source  of  income.  Apart,  there  were  several  trades  and  businesses.  Inter-nation trade was also the source of income and many trade centers and harbours were
established for the development of the trade. 
1.3.3 Religious Situation:
People of this era had strong belief in god and were very religious. People usedto worship several Gods and Goddess. Later, a large scale conversion took place in theMuslim states. The  era  of turmoil  began  when  the  religious  sentiments  of  the  Hinduswere hurt, cows were slaughtered, Brahmins were tortured, and the idols of the Godsand the Goddesses were destroyed. Saints and God men belonging either to Hindu or Muslim religion were reveredby  everyone.  They  were  considered  as  the  symbol  of  the  character.  People  had  thebelief that they were sent on the earth by the God and were conferred special powers to
them. Saints were looked upon as a Guide by everyone. The successors of the Hindu orMuslim Saints also received the same respect from the society. Charity was given to thetemples, mosques, Mathas or Samadhis. Aurangzeb inflicted several hardships on Hindus. The lives of Hindus were full ofturmoil  and  struggle  during  the  tenure  of  Aurangzeb.  Restrictions  were  imposed  onHindus on social transactions, organisation, festivals and other activities for degradingtheir beliefs. They were banned to posseses property so that they would be discouragedto led a successful and prosperous life.

In Maharashtra, Warkari sect flourished during this era of turmoil. Lord Vithoba ofPandharpura  was  the  source  which  unified  the  followers  of  this  sect.  A  fair  wasorganised at Pandharpura every year. These Warkaris used to come here from everynook  and  corners  of  the  state  to  pay  obeisance  to  Lord  Vithalla.  The  journey  toPandharpur was known as Wari and hence the followers were called Warkaris (literallymeans one who visits Pandharpura on several occasions). This sect played a vital rolein providing unity and oneness amongst the people of Maharashtra. 
         Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj can be also evaluated as the religious leader of theHindus. He had immense belief in the Hindu religion. He used to believe that the religionis an entity which has the moral responsibility of welfare of every living being. ShivajiMaharaj adopted a tolerant and secular policy towards the Muslims. He never ignoredthe  dignity  and  respect  of  any  person  and  never  tortured  anyone  owing  to  religious
distinction. Shivaji Maharaj was nurtured in a religious atmosphere where he was taught toimplement  the  policy  of  tolerance  towards,  all  religion,  sects,  saints  following  anybeliefs.  This  implies  the  strongest  religious  character  of  Chatrpati  Shivaji.  He  hadappointed Siddhi Hilal Khan in his army as the senior officer. The responsibility of hishorses  was  shouldered  by  Jahangiri.

  In  his  conduct,  it  was  never  seen  a  sense  ofdistinctions while treating with the Muslims. He always tried to maintain co-ordination,peace and affection amongst Hindus and Muslims. He shed the narrow mindedness ofthe Hindus and Muslims and utilized their talents for the welfare of Swaraj. Persons likeBalaji  Nimbalkar  and  Netaji  Palkar  who  had  accepted  Islam  were  reconverted  inHinduism with the permission of Matoshri Jijabai. The  Bhosale  Dynasty  paid  immense  respect  and  reverence  to  the  Gods,Goddesses and  Godmen. The successors  of Shivaji Maharaj continued  his polices ofdonating land and property. Tarabai also continued this policy of granting Inams to thereligious  places.  She  continued  the  policy  of  giving  donations  and  security  to  thereligious places and also to renew the letters of grants which had been terminated. Thedocuments in this regard are available today. The  Bhavani  Goddess  of  Tuljapur  was  the  deity  revered  by  Chatrapati  ShahuMaharaj  (Aradhya  Daivat).  Tarabai  during  her  tenure,  granted  th  Aalanapur  village  ingrant to this religious place. In  a  letter  written  to  the  Deshadikari  of  Parade  on  October  8, 1700,  she  says,“Shri  Tukai,  Tuljapur  is  a  revered  deity.  The  devotees  have  informed  that  there  thedonations  of  copper  are  not  accepted,  Hence  it  has  been  decided  to  continue  theappropriate  ritual  to  pay  obeisance  to  the  deity.51  For  which  Mauja  Alnapur,  Kulbab,Kulkanu,  Hallipatti  and  Pesterpatii  have  been  granted  to  this  religious  place.  The
revenue  generated  from  these  villages  should  be  utilized  in  the  development  andwelfare of this pilgrim village.

During continuous war and turmoil situations, people would seek time for socialawareness  and  entertainment.  Artists  like  Powada  singers,  Kirtankars,  Gondhali,Tamsgirs and others used to entertain the people. Through, Powadas, eulogies of thebravery of the Maratha Kings and Sardars were depicted, Lavanis used to highlight thesocial rituals and traditions of this period.The  Powada  singers  had  got  the  public  patronage,  the  Powadas  were  theeffective  means  to  arose  patriotism  amongst  the  masses.  The  events  of  history  weredescribed in the songs. Today, also the Powadas describing the events of history areavailable  which  depicts  the  instances  of  Dattaji  Jadhav,  massacre  of  Afzal  Khan,bravery of Tanaji, Baji Palaskar and others. Describing the works of Shivaji Maharaj, Tulsidas in a powada says, 
This also implies that Shivaji Maharaj used to respect the talented persons andgive due reward to that person. The major objective of Shivaji Maharaj was to preservethe ancient Hindu culture and to establish an independent Hindu State. His successorsalso assimilated the similar policies during their governance.  
1.3.4 Cultural situations: 
At the advent of the 18th century, the cultural situations in various fields remainedunchanged. There was degration to certain extent, but the traditionalism had the majordomination.  After  the  declaine  of  the  Mughals,  there  was  no  patronage  for  Art  andliterature. Maratha Empire, which was predominant after the Mughal Empire was alsoengaged in continuous series of wars and internal struggle. Very little attention was paidtowards the development of the cultural field during this era which led to the degradationof  the  cultural  field.  The  educational  systems  of  either  Hindus  or  Muslims  were  notprogressive, due to which it lacked behind as compared to the western culture. Hence,the  Imperial  western  powers  established  in  various  parts  of  the  country  includingGujarat, Konkan, Kerala, Orissa and Bengal could not leave any substantial impressionon the local people in regards of knowledge and technology. In the 18th century, there was a collecting studying system in the local schools. Inthe Hindu communities, the primary  education  was taught in local language  while thehigher education would commenced in Sanskrit Language. In Muslim society, the medium of education was Persian language. The syllabus wasplanned  considering  to  the  benefits  of  the  people  engaged  in  the  contemporarybusiness, trade and agriculture. The education system in the 18th century was based on the ritualism, traditionaland communal without any innovative ideas. 
After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the artists who used to get the patronagehere had started taking refuge with the local rulers. Here they developed their Art underthe patronage of the local kings. 
During this phase, the field of Art received recognition under the local patronage.This  led  to  the  development  of  Kangda,  Rajput  paintings  and  especially  the  Naidwarstyle of painting in Bikaner province. In  Maratha  Shahi,  the  unique  of  style  of  painting  developed  continuing  the  old technique and tradition of the field of painting. 
1.4   An analysis of Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj’s devotion  towards Arts:
Before  the  release  of  Shahu  Maharaj  from  the  Mughal  captivity,  it  can  be evaluate that the contemporaty situations were favourable for the rise of the local rulers.This  situation  has  been  clearly  mentioned  in  the  contemporary  documents.  It  is  veryimportant  to  study  the  then  situation,  background  etc  while  studying  the  advent  ofChatrapati Shahu in the Maratha Empire. Prof. Rainier observes that – “Events and analysing system are an effective toolsof the experts. Historians and their systems of study can be unanimously looked uponas a branch of historiography. Three events seems to be important while studying theadvent of Shahu Maharaj in the Maratha Empire. 1)  Mughal  Empire  was  deteriorated  after  the  death  of  Aurangzeb  and  it  desperately needed  the  friendly  approach  from  the  Maratha  Empire.  Shahu  Maharaj  was  the righteous  heir  of  the  Maratha  empire  as  per  the  lineage.  Shahu  Maharaj  not  only provided support to the Peshwa and Maratha sardars to expand the boundaries of the Maratha empire in the North but also guided them in the task. This helped the Marathas to establish their supremacy in the states of Badoda, Ujjain and Indore.  2)  Chatrapati Shahu was benefitted with the chaotic situation in the Northern India due to which he could expand his boundaries keeping a close eye on the political situations in North. 
  
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