Shahaji Raje Bhosale

Shahaji Raje History

Shahaji was the son of Maloji Bhosale, the famous Maratha warrior. He was born in 1594 or 1602 and died on January 23, 1664 AD. His father was the general in the court of the Bijapur Sultanate. He also followed in the footsteps of his Maloji Bhosale. Bhosale participated in many wars in favour of Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar and forwarded Jagir of Pune and Supe districts. Maloji was a great Hindu devotee of Sufi Muslim pir Shah Sharif. So he named his sons Shahaji and Sharifji to honour the pir. His mother was the daughter of Lakhuji Jadhav, another famous Maratha general.

As the elder son, he got Pune and Supe Jagirs after his father. He was very expert in the Guerrilla fight and brought his family into the limelight in History. Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha Kingdom, was the son of Shahajiraje. When Mughal emperor Shah Jahan started the invasion of Deccan, Raje Bhosale helped the Emperor conquer Deccan. Later he defeated the Bijapur Sultanate in 1632 AD and strongly controlled Pune and Supe. In 1638 AD, Bangalore came under his control and invaded Kempe Gowda III’s territories.

Defied and Alliance with Mughals

Shah Jahan sent a large troop to Nizam and Adilshah. The feared Adilshah sought peace with the Mughals and withdrew the soldiers against the Mughals. Then he became weak and besieged in the fort of Mahuli. In the meantime, Nizam’s infant Murtaza was kidnapped by the Mughals. This made Shahaji into an alliance with the Mughals to save the life of Nizam and Murtaza. Since then, Shahajahan posted Shahaji in the deep south to escape from his challenges. So this made him one of the top generals in Adilshah’s army.

In 1638 AD, Bhosale accompanied with Bijapur army and defeated many Rajas in southern India. However, he didn’t punish or execute them; Shahaji reprieved all the Rajas. So the appeased Rajas maintained cordial relations with Shahaji and helped him whenever Shahaji required military support.

Shahaji Prisoned by Adilshah:

One day Bhosale sent Shivaji and Jijabai to Pune to look after the jagir of Pune. There Shivaji started capturing the territories under Adilshah around Pune. This made angry to Adil shah and, captured Shahaji and imprisoned him. The aggressive Shivaji approached Shahjahan and sought help against Adilshah. This made Adilshah fear and released Sambhaji. One day Shahaji went hunting on his horse. Unfortunately, he fell off the horse and died around 1665 AD. His tomb was built at Hodigere near the present Channagiri Mandal in Karnataka.