MARATHA EMPIRE
In olden times many empires ruled over India. Some of them were fighting for spreading out their boundaries, some of them wanted to be a single emperor of the entire country. At the same time there was a empire that was not fighting to spread its boundaries, it was fighting for the rights of common man and to give a happy and joyful life. That empire was MARATHA empire. At the beginning MARATHA empire was just blow of wind and after some years it got converted into a storm.
In the 17th century Mughal were ruling over India. Their behaviour was so cruel that nobody could live a peaceful life, everyone just tried to survive. As no dark cloud can forever prevent the sun from shining, in 1630 this land received a ray of hope in the form of the founder of Maratha kingdom and a natural leader Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was the son of Shahaji raje and Jijabai. Shivray. He got the motivation for ‘Swarajya’ from Jijau. He was a brave king and secular ruler. He won numerous wars against Mughals and established a progressive civil rule with well organised administration and loyal army.
In the sixteenth year, Maharaj took an oath of
Swarajya in the temple of Rayareshwar and after that he completed it in 20-25
years. That is why Maharaj is called the
determinant. The door to success opens only when the decision is combined with
efforts. At that time many things were against them. Maharaj felt that if they wanted
to protect the Swarajya, the forts should be under his control, so they planned
to conquer the forts. The first
fort conquered by Chhatrapati was Prachandagad.
Later renamed ‘Torna'. If Maharaj did this feat at the age of 17, then
we can guess their bravery from this.
A good example of Maharaj's positivity is that during the treaty of Purandar, Shivaraya gave 23 forts to Mirza Raje, at that time there were only 16 forts left in Swarajya. When Maharaja was crowned just 9 years after that, there were 361 forts in Swararajya. Chhatrapati Shivaji was an optimistic personality. It shows how patient Maharaj was when he was a prisoner of Agra. When there was no hope of escape, Maharaj did not give up even when he was facing death. He rescued himself and others safely. Shivraya’s management was excellent.
After
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj took over the reins
of the Marathi Empire. Sambhaji raje were aggressive. They were of the opinion
that any issue should be resolved properly without wasting any time. Sambhaji
Raje was endowed with all virtues. He was the perfect combination of knowledge,
weaponry, toned body, brilliant intellect, literature and decisiveness. The
Sambhaji raje did not lose any single battle during their reign. Such a person
with all these qualities had to suffer a lot while dying. Even just hearing that brings chills running
down to the spine. To give an example of a person's manifestation of tolerance,
it must belong to the Sambhaji raje.
After
Sambhaji Raja, the Peshwas undertook the task of expanding the Maratha empire. After
the death of Rajaram Maharaj, Shahu Maharaj got the charge of Swarajya, He
handed over some important part of it to Peshwa. The
saffron of the Marathas spread to the Peshwas almost all over the country. Balaji
Vishwanath Bhat was given the post of Peshwa by Shahu Maharaj. He was succeeded by his eldest son Peshwa
Bajirao. The first Peshwa Bajirao was very smart and efficient, he had
decisiveness as well as war skills. He
extended the Marathi Empire to the city of Attock in Pakistan. At the same
time, he was a man of values and adhered to his own principles.
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