The Rise of the Marathas — Shivaji to the Early Peshwas

Why This Chapter Matters

Shivaji is one of the most frequently tested personalities in the whole medieval syllabus, and this chapter is a guaranteed 2 to 3 questions in SSC CGL, CHSL, MTS and RRB NTPC papers. Questions here are sharp and date-heavy, so precision matters more than storytelling.

The sub-topics that repeat most are: Shivaji's coronation year and title, the Ashtapradhan council (names and portfolios), the Treaty of Purandar (1665) and Raigad as capital, the meaning of chauth and sardeshmukhi, Sambhaji's execution, Rajaram's flight to Jinji, Tarabai's regency, and above all Balaji Vishwanath becoming the first hereditary Peshwa in 1713 under the Treaty of 1713-14 with Farrukhsiyar. "Who was the first Peshwa" and "match the Ashtapradhan minister to his department" are classic recurring formats. Learn the succession order — Shivaji, Sambhaji, Rajaram, Shivaji II (under Tarabai), Shahu — exactly; SSC likes to test this sequence directly.

1. Background: Maratha Country and Shivaji's Early Life

The Marathas were a warrior peasant community based in the hilly Deccan region, roughly modern Maharashtra, where forts, ravines and monsoon terrain favoured guerrilla warfare over pitched battles. Many Maratha families had long served as soldiers and revenue officials (deshmukhs) under the Deccan Sultanates, especially Ahmadnagar and Bijapur.

Shahaji Bhonsle, Shivaji's father, was a Maratha noble who served the Ahmadnagar and later the Bijapur Sultanate as a jagirdar, holding the jagir of Pune. Shivaji was born on 19 February 1630 at the hill fort of Shivneri, near Junnar. His mother was Jijabai, a deeply religious and strong-willed woman who is credited with shaping Shivaji's early values and his sense of Hindu identity and independent rule.

Since Shahaji was often away on Bijapur's Karnataka campaigns, young Shivaji grew up under Jijabai's care at Pune, guided in practical administration by Shahaji's able deputy Dadaji Kondadev. Shivaji learned the geography of the Sahyadri hills firsthand, and this local knowledge became the base of his military strategy later.

Shivaji began his career of conquest early. Around 1645-46, in his teens, he captured the forts of Torna and Rajgad from the Bijapur Sultanate without much resistance, using them as his first bases. Over the next decade he steadily seized forts around Pune and the Konkan coast, building a compact but well-defended territory.

2. Conflict with Bijapur: Afzal Khan and Shaista Khan

Bijapur saw Shivaji's rising power as a threat and sent its general Afzal Khan against him in 1659. Afzal Khan tried to lure Shivaji into an open, unguarded meeting near the fort of Pratapgad, planning to kill him. Shivaji, expecting treachery, wore hidden armour and concealed wagh nakh (tiger claws) and a dagger. When Afzal Khan attacked him during their embrace, Shivaji killed him. Shivaji's forces then routed the leaderless Bijapuri army at the Battle of Pratapgad (1659), a decisive early victory that established his reputation.

The Mughals under Aurangzeb next tried to check Shivaji's growing power in the Deccan. Aurangzeb sent his maternal uncle Shaista Khan, the Mughal governor of the Deccan, who occupied Pune in 1660. In a daring night raid in 1663, Shivaji's men broke into Shaista Khan's residence at Pune (Lal Mahal); Shaista Khan escaped by jumping from a window but lost his fingers and one of his sons was killed. This humiliation forced Aurangzeb to recall Shaista Khan and transfer him to Bengal.

In 1664, Shivaji raided and plundered the wealthy Mughal port city of Surat, a major blow to Mughal prestige and revenue, and a source of funds for Shivaji's own treasury.

3. Treaty of Purandar (1665) and the Agra Episode

Aurangzeb then sent the Rajput general Raja Jai Singh I of Amber, backed by Diler Khan, with a large force to subdue Shivaji. Jai Singh besieged the fort of Purandar, and after its Maratha commander Murarbaji Deshpande died fighting bravely, Shivaji agreed to terms.

Under the Treaty of Purandar (1665), Shivaji surrendered 23 of his forts to the Mughals, keeping only 12, and agreed to serve the Mughals as a mansabdar; his son Sambhaji was also given a mansab. Shivaji further agreed to help the Mughals in a Deccan campaign against Bijapur.

In 1666, on Jai Singh's invitation and assurance, Shivaji travelled to Agra to meet Aurangzeb. At the imperial court, Shivaji felt insulted by his low rank in the assembly compared to other nobles and protested openly. Aurangzeb, angered, placed him under house arrest. Shivaji cleverly escaped in 1666 by having himself smuggled out in large fruit/sweet baskets sent out daily to Brahmins and holy men, then made his way back to Maharashtra in disguise. This episode is one of the most quoted incidents in exam questions about Shivaji.

4. Coronation of Shivaji (1674)

After his return, Shivaji resumed hostilities against the Mughals and Bijapur and steadily recovered his lost forts and territory. By 1674 he controlled a substantial, well-organised kingdom and decided to formally crown himself as an independent sovereign king rather than remain a subordinate chieftain of any Sultanate or the Mughals.

Shivaji was crowned at his capital Raigad fort on 6 June 1674, in an elaborate Vedic ceremony conducted by the Varanasi Brahmin pandit Gaga Bhatt, who also acted as chief priest. Shivaji took the title Chhatrapati ("lord of the umbrella," i.e., sovereign monarch) and adopted the era name Rajyabhishek Shaka to mark this coronation. He also had a second coronation later in 1674 conducted in Shakta tantric rites, arranged by his mother's advisers, though the June ceremony is the one usually tested.

The coronation was significant because it declared Shivaji an independent Hindu king, not a vassal of any Sultanate, and gave full legal-religious legitimacy to Maratha sovereignty.

5. Administration: The Ashtapradhan Council

Shivaji built a systematic, centralised administration for his kingdom, advised by a council of eight ministers called the Ashtapradhan (literally "eight pillars/ministers"). This is one of the most exam-favoured lists in the whole chapter; learn the names and portfolios exactly.

Table: The Ashtapradhan (Council of Eight Ministers)

Minister	Portfolio
Peshwa (Mukhya Pradhan)	Prime minister; general affairs and finance
Amatya (Majumdar)	Accounts and revenue
Sachiv (Chitnis)	Royal correspondence and records
Mantri (Waqenavis)	Intelligence, posts, household affairs
Senapati (Sar-i-Naubat)	Commander-in-chief of the army
Sumant (Dabir)	Foreign affairs
Nyayadhish	Chief justice, civil and military justice
Panditrao	Head of religious and charitable matters

None of these posts were hereditary in Shivaji's original scheme, and each minister was directly responsible to the king. Only later, under Shivaji's successors, did the office of Peshwa become hereditary and eventually overshadow the king himself (covered in Section 8 below and in the next chapter).

Shivaji divided his kingdom into prants (provinces), each further divided into smaller units, with officers appointed for revenue collection and defence. He gave special importance to fort administration; each major fort had three officers of equal rank (a system meant to prevent any single officer from becoming too powerful and betraying the fort).

6. Guerrilla Tactics, Navy, and Revenue System

Shivaji's military success rested on a distinct style of warfare suited to the Deccan terrain, often called Ganimi Kava (guerrilla warfare) in Marathi tradition. His forces avoided long pitched battles against larger Mughal or Bijapuri armies. Instead, they used speed, surprise raids, knowledge of hill passes, and a chain of hill forts as bases to strike and withdraw quickly.

Shivaji is also credited as a pioneer of Indian naval power in this period. He built a navy to protect the Konkan coastline from the Siddis of Janjira and European powers (Portuguese, and later the English at Bombay), and constructed coastal forts such as Sindhudurg and Vijaydurg for this purpose.

For revenue, apart from regular land revenue, Shivaji's administration is known for two special levies collected from Mughal territory in the Deccan:

• Chauth: a payment equal to one-fourth (25%) of the land revenue of a territory, taken as protection money to spare it from Maratha raids.
• Sardeshmukhi: an additional levy of about 10%, claimed as the hereditary right of the sardeshmukh (chief landholder) of the Deccan, a position the Marathas claimed for themselves.

These two levies became central to Maratha finance and later expansion, and both terms are frequently tested for their meaning and approximate percentage.

Shivaji died at Raigad on 3 April 1680.

7. Sambhaji, Rajaram, and Tarabai

Sambhaji (r. 1680-1689), Shivaji's elder son, succeeded him after a brief succession dispute with his half-brother's supporters. Sambhaji continued resistance against Aurangzeb, who personally moved into the Deccan around 1682 to crush the Marathas once and for all, beginning a long, costly Mughal campaign in the region that lasted the rest of Aurangzeb's reign. In 1689, Sambhaji was captured through betrayal at Sangameshwar by the Mughal general Muqarrab Khan, brought before Aurangzeb, and executed after refusing to convert to Islam or reveal locations of Maratha forts.

Rajaram (r. 1689-1700), Shivaji's younger son, took over amid the Mughal offensive. With Mughal forces overrunning Raigad, Rajaram fled south to the fort of Jinji (Gingee) in the Tamil country and directed Maratha resistance from there for several years, a phase that scattered Maratha commanders across the Deccan and actually widened guerrilla resistance rather than crushing it. He returned north later and died in 1700 at Sinhagad.

Tarabai, widow of Rajaram, then acted as regent for her minor son Shivaji II and led the Maratha resistance against Aurangzeb with notable energy and organisational skill between 1700 and 1707, keeping Maratha morale alive through the last years of Aurangzeb's Deccan wars. After Aurangzeb's death in 1707, Mughal pressure eased, but a new succession dispute began within the Maratha camp: Shahu, son of Sambhaji, had been held captive by the Mughals since childhood and was released in 1707. Shahu contested the throne against Tarabai's faction, defeated her forces, and established himself as Chhatrapati at Satara by 1708, while Tarabai's line continued to hold a separate seat at Kolhapur. This split created two rival Maratha royal seats, Satara and Kolhapur, a point sometimes tested directly.

8. Balaji Vishwanath and the Rise of the Peshwa System

Shahu's own hold on power was weak at first, and he depended heavily on capable ministers to consolidate his position. Balaji Vishwanath, a Chitpavan Brahmin from the Konkan who had earlier served as a revenue official, rose rapidly in Shahu's service through his administrative skill and loyalty during the succession struggle against Tarabai's camp.

In 1713, Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa, the post that had earlier been just one of the eight Ashtapradhan ministers. Balaji Vishwanath used the post to build a strong, loyal following among Maratha chiefs and to negotiate skilfully with the Mughals.

His most important achievement came through Maratha intervention in a Mughal court dispute. In 1719, Balaji Vishwanath marched to Delhi with Maratha troops to help the Sayyid Brothers (Hussain Ali Khan and Abdullah Khan, then the real power-holders at the Mughal court) depose Emperor Farrukhsiyar. In return, the new Mughal arrangement formally recognised the Marathas' right to collect chauth and sardeshmukhi across the six Mughal provinces (subas) of the Deccan, and released Shahu's mother Yesubai, who had been a Mughal hostage since 1689. This grant gave Maratha claims over the Deccan full legal recognition from the Mughal centre itself, a major diplomatic success.

Balaji Vishwanath died in 1720. His son Baji Rao I succeeded him as Peshwa and, from this point on, the office of Peshwa became hereditary in the Bhat family, with the Peshwa at Pune increasingly acting as the real head of the Maratha state while the Chhatrapati at Satara became a largely ceremonial figurehead. This shift, and the great territorial expansion under Baji Rao I and his successors, forms the subject of the next chapter.

9. The Maratha Confederacy

As Maratha power expanded across India through the 18th century (detailed further in the next chapter), it did not remain a single centralised kingdom under one ruler. Instead, it evolved into a loose Maratha confederacy, a grouping of powerful Maratha chieftain families who each carved out and ruled large territories in different parts of India while nominally acknowledging the Peshwa at Pune (and, in theory, the Chhatrapati at Satara) as overall head.

Table: Major houses of the Maratha confederacy

House	Base/territory
Peshwa (Bhat family)	Pune; overall head of the confederacy
Scindia (Shinde)	Gwalior, central India
Holkar	Indore, Malwa
Gaekwad	Baroda, Gujarat
Bhonsle (of Nagpur)	Nagpur, eastern-central India

This confederate structure allowed rapid Maratha expansion across a huge area of India in the early-to-mid 18th century, but its lack of a single strong central authority also became a long-term weakness, contributing to disunity at moments of crisis such as the Third Battle of Panipat (1761), covered in the next chapter. That defeat did not end Maratha power, but it slowed the drive toward a pan-Indian Maratha empire and left the door open for the English East India Company's later rise, the theme of the Modern India book.

Quick Revision — One-Line Facts

• Shivaji was born on 19 February 1630 at Shivneri fort; his father was Shahaji Bhonsle, mother Jijabai.
• Shivaji's early guide in administration was Dadaji Kondadev.
• Shivaji captured Torna and Rajgad forts around 1645-46, his first conquests.
• Shivaji killed the Bijapuri general Afzal Khan at Pratapgad (1659).
• Shivaji raided Shaista Khan at Pune in 1663; Shaista Khan lost his fingers.
• Shivaji plundered the port of Surat in 1664.
• Treaty of Purandar (1665): Shivaji ceded 23 forts to the Mughals under Raja Jai Singh I.
• Shivaji visited Agra in 1666, was put under house arrest by Aurangzeb, and escaped in fruit baskets.
• Shivaji was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad on 6 June 1674; chief priest was Gaga Bhatt.
• Shivaji's council of eight ministers is called the Ashtapradhan.
• The Peshwa was originally the prime minister/finance head in the Ashtapradhan; Senapati was commander-in-chief.
• Chauth = about 25% of land revenue; Sardeshmukhi = about 10% additional levy, both claimed by Marathas from Deccan territory.
• Shivaji built a navy and coastal forts like Sindhudurg and Vijaydurg to check the Siddis and Europeans.
• Shivaji died on 3 April 1680 at Raigad.
• Sambhaji succeeded Shivaji (1680-1689); he was captured at Sangameshwar and executed by Aurangzeb in 1689.
• Rajaram (1689-1700) fled Mughal pressure to Jinji in the Tamil country and directed resistance from there.
• Tarabai, Rajaram's widow, acted as regent for Shivaji II and led resistance from 1700 to 1707.
• Shahu, son of Sambhaji, released by the Mughals in 1707, became Chhatrapati at Satara by 1708.
• Tarabai's rival line continued at Kolhapur, creating two Maratha royal seats.
• Balaji Vishwanath became the first hereditary-line Peshwa in 1713 under Shahu.
• In 1719, Balaji Vishwanath helped the Sayyid Brothers depose Emperor Farrukhsiyar, winning Mughal recognition of chauth and sardeshmukhi over the Deccan.
• Balaji Vishwanath died in 1720; his son Baji Rao I succeeded as Peshwa, making the post hereditary.
• The Maratha state evolved into a confederacy of major houses: Peshwa (Pune), Scindia (Gwalior), Holkar (Indore), Gaekwad (Baroda), Bhonsle (Nagpur).
• Shivaji's guerrilla warfare style is often called Ganimi Kava in Marathi historical tradition.
• Shivaji's rise took place mainly at the expense of the Bijapur Sultanate and later against the Mughals under Aurangzeb.
• Aurangzeb personally shifted his campaign base to the Deccan around 1682 to fight the Marathas, staying there the rest of his reign.
• The Nyayadhish was the chief justice and Panditrao headed religious/charitable matters in the Ashtapradhan.

Memory Tables

Table 1: Chronology of key Maratha events

Year	Event
1630	Shivaji born at Shivneri
1645-46	Capture of Torna and Rajgad forts
1659	Killing of Afzal Khan; Battle of Pratapgad
1663	Raid on Shaista Khan at Pune
1664	Sack of Surat
1665	Treaty of Purandar with Raja Jai Singh I
1666	Agra visit, house arrest, escape
1674	Coronation of Shivaji as Chhatrapati at Raigad
1680	Death of Shivaji; accession of Sambhaji
1689	Capture and execution of Sambhaji
1689-1700	Rajaram's reign; resistance from Jinji
1700-1707	Tarabai's regency for Shivaji II
1707	Shahu released by Mughals after Aurangzeb's death
1708	Shahu crowned Chhatrapati at Satara
1713	Balaji Vishwanath appointed Peshwa
1719	Maratha help to Sayyid Brothers against Farrukhsiyar; chauth/sardeshmukhi recognised
1720	Death of Balaji Vishwanath; Baji Rao I becomes Peshwa

Table 2: Succession of Maratha rulers (Chhatrapatis)

Order	Ruler	Period	Key point
1	Shivaji	1674-1680 (king from coronation)	Founder, crowned Chhatrapati
2	Sambhaji	1680-1689	Executed by Aurangzeb
3	Rajaram	1689-1700	Ruled from Jinji during Mughal invasion
—	Shivaji II (regent Tarabai)	1700-1707	Resistance continued during Aurangzeb's last years
4	Shahu	1708 onward, at Satara	Rival line at Kolhapur under Tarabai's descendants

Table 3: Ashtapradhan council at a glance

Minister	Modern-sense role
Peshwa	Prime minister/finance
Amatya	Accounts/revenue
Sachiv	Correspondence/records
Mantri	Intelligence/household
Senapati	Army chief
Sumant	Foreign affairs
Nyayadhish	Chief justice
Panditrao	Religious affairs

Practice MCQs

Q1. At which fort was Shivaji born in 1630? (a) Raigad (b) Shivneri (c) Torna (d) Pratapgad

Q2. Who was Shivaji's mother, credited with shaping his early values? (a) Yesubai (b) Tarabai (c) Jijabai (d) Putalabai

Q3. Shivaji killed which Bijapuri general at the Battle of Pratapgad (1659)? (a) Afzal Khan (b) Shaista Khan (c) Diler Khan (d) Muqarrab Khan

Q4. The Treaty of Purandar (1665) was signed between Shivaji and which Mughal commander? (a) Shaista Khan (b) Raja Jai Singh I (c) Diler Khan (d) Muqarrab Khan

Q5. In which year and at which fort was Shivaji formally crowned Chhatrapati? (a) 1670, Pratapgad (b) 1672, Torna (c) 1674, Raigad (d) 1680, Purandar

Q6. Who officiated as the chief priest at Shivaji's coronation? (a) Ramdas Swami (b) Gaga Bhatt (c) Tukaram (d) Balaji Vishwanath

Q7. In Shivaji's Ashtapradhan, which minister was responsible for foreign affairs? (a) Sumant (b) Sachiv (c) Mantri (d) Amatya

Q8. "Chauth" as levied by the Marathas refers to a demand equal to roughly what share of a territory's land revenue? (a) 10% (b) 25% (c) 33% (d) 50%

Q9. Which Maratha ruler was captured at Sangameshwar and executed by Aurangzeb in 1689? (a) Shivaji (b) Sambhaji (c) Rajaram (d) Shahu

Q10. After Mughal forces overran Raigad, which fort in the Tamil country did Rajaram use as his base of resistance? (a) Vellore (b) Jinji (c) Gingee fort's neighbour Arcot (d) Golconda

Q11. Who acted as regent for the minor Shivaji II and led Maratha resistance between 1700 and 1707? (a) Yesubai (b) Tarabai (c) Jijabai (d) Radhabai

Q12. Shahu, released by the Mughals in 1707, established his seat as Chhatrapati at which city, creating a rival centre to Kolhapur? (a) Pune (b) Satara (c) Nagpur (d) Gwalior

Q13. Who became the first Peshwa of the hereditary Bhat line, appointed by Shahu in 1713? (a) Baji Rao I (b) Balaji Baji Rao (c) Balaji Vishwanath (d) Narayan Rao

Q14. Balaji Vishwanath's march to Delhi in 1719 helped which group depose Emperor Farrukhsiyar? (a) The Sayyid Brothers (b) The Bangash Afghans (c) The Nizam of Hyderabad (d) The Rohillas

Q15. Arrange the following in correct chronological order: 1. Coronation of Shivaji 2. Execution of Sambhaji 3. Balaji Vishwanath becomes Peshwa 4. Sack of Surat by Shivaji (a) 4, 1, 2, 3 (b) 1, 4, 2, 3 (c) 4, 2, 1, 3 (d) 1, 2, 4, 3

Answer Key

Q	Answer	One-line reason
1	(b)	Shivaji was born at Shivneri fort in 1630.
2	(c)	Jijabai was Shivaji's mother and early mentor.
3	(a)	Shivaji killed Afzal Khan at Pratapgad in 1659.
4	(b)	Raja Jai Singh I led the Mughal force that forced the 1665 treaty.
5	(c)	Shivaji was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad on 6 June 1674.
6	(b)	Gaga Bhatt, a Varanasi Brahmin pandit, conducted the coronation.
7	(a)	Sumant handled foreign affairs in the Ashtapradhan.
8	(b)	Chauth was roughly 25% of land revenue.
9	(b)	Sambhaji was captured at Sangameshwar and executed in 1689.
10	(b)	Rajaram based his resistance at the fort of Jinji (Gingee).
11	(b)	Tarabai was regent for Shivaji II from 1700 to 1707.
12	(b)	Shahu was crowned Chhatrapati at Satara by 1708.
13	(c)	Balaji Vishwanath was appointed Peshwa by Shahu in 1713.
14	(a)	The Sayyid Brothers used Maratha help to depose Farrukhsiyar in 1719.
15	(a)	Correct order: Surat sack (1664), coronation (1674), Sambhaji's execution (1689), Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa (1713).