by Abhijit Rajadhyaksha, 4 April 2010. Updated 28
There has been no other character in
Maratha history who has been so enigmatic and controversial as Sambhaji
Sambhaji, or Shambhu Raje as he was fondly called, was the eldest
son of the legendary Shivaji Maharaj. He was born on 14 May 1647
at Fort Purander.
Curiously Sambhajiraje has as many
loyalists as he has his share of critics. Some dismiss him as
hedonistic, reckless, and cruel, whereas some revere him as the
bravest Maratha king that ever lived. Perhaps the truth lies
somewhere in between. Sambhaji's reign was a short and very
tumultuous one to say the least. His life was abrupt and his death
so very tragic. But with his death Sambhaji achieved much more than
he did during his lifetime. He is still deified as a true Hindu
martyr, one who preferred death to an ignoble life of subservience.
Sambhaji's mother was Saibai, from the family of
the Nimbalkars of Phaltan.
She died early (on 5 September 1659, at Fort Rajgad) after a brief
illness, leaving young Sambhaji in the care of his grandmother, Jijabai. Shivaji
was away on various expeditions, so the young Sambhaji was
reared by his grandmother and his stepmothers.
Young Sambhaji was married to a minor, Jivubai,
who was renamed Yesubai. She was the
daughter of Pilajirao Shirke. It was a straightforward matrimonial alliance.
Pilajirao was a powerful Deshmukh (in the Konkan area) in the court of
Bijapur. After the marriage he provided Shivaji with access to the Konkan
belt. (Incidentally, Shivaji's second wife, Soyrabai (mother of Rajaram),
was also from the house of the Shirkes.)
Sambhaji had to face the cruelties of politics at a very young age.
When Mirza Raje Jaisingh cornered Shivaji, forcing on him a
humiliating treaty, a part of the agreement was that young Sambhaji
was to be kept as collateral against Shivaji's satisfactory
adherence to the agreement. Sambhaji was also to serve as a courtier
at the Mughal base of Aurangabad.
Sambhaji had been a part of Shivaji's entourage to Agra and his
subsequent confinement there. When Shivaji escaped from Agra,
Sambhaji was left behind in the care of some friendly Brahmins at
Agra and was only sent back to Maharashtra much later, once the
danger to his life had faded.
Sambhaji: the poet
Sambhaji was also known for being a patron of the arts. He employed a
learned man called Keshav Pandit Adhyaksh to read with him Valmiki's celebrated epic, the
Ramayan. As a reward, in 1684 he gave Keshav sixteen hundred small silver coins known as ladis.
king was no mean versifier. He is known to have written two
books of Hindi
poetry. The first was called Nakhshikh, in which he described the
pleasures of love. The second was named Nayakabhad. In it he sang
of the varying charms of the beauties who beguiled his leisure
moments (as referenced by Kincaid).
Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, nephew of another Sambhaji who died at a young age
It is alleged that Sambhaji always had a troubled relationship with his stepmother, Soyrabai. She harboured ambitions for her son, Rajaram. She wanted
Rajaram to succeed Shivaji as the next Maratha king. She allegedly
began to poison Shivaji's mind to that effect. 
According to historians such as KhafiKhan,
Mannucci, Duff, Kincaid and Sarkar (most of whom have based their
versions on the
Chitnis Bakhar), Sambhaji didn't help his cause either. As
alleged by the
Chitnis Bakhar,  rumours of Sambhaji's youthful
indulgences were reaching Shivaji's ears. There were even reports of
Sambhaji's misdemeanour towards the daughter of a minister (Annaji
Datto Surnis, as mentioned by historian Setu Madhavrao Pagdi. Annaji
Datto's daughter apparently committed suicide). Shivaji had always
maintained high standards regarding the behaviour of his men towards
women. Obviously he didn't take kindly to this news about the crown
prince. To make matters worse, Sambhaji didn't get along with many
of Shivaji's ministers. There were reports of Sambhaji interfering
in the tax collection efforts of these ministers. Apparently
Sambhaji sided with the ryot and often publicly ridiculed the
ministers whom he accused of being high handed and corrupt.
But many historians (Bendre and Shevde, the
novelists Shivaji Sawant and Vishwas Patil who have researched
Sambhaji extensively) have refuted allegations that cast aspersions
on Sambhaji's character. They
have laid the blame for Sambhaji's actions squarely on a clique of
ministers who resented Sambhaji and wanted Rajaram to replace him as
the crown prince. According to these historians, it was calumny
spread specifically to malign Sambhaji. Shivaji did detain
the crown prince in Fort Parnala at Parli. But what transpired
afterwards has definitely left doubts about Sambhaji's judgement.
Sambhaji and his wife Yesubai (this is disputed, as
Durgabai, another of Sambhaji's wives, was said to have accompanied
him) apparently took off in the night and joined
the Mughal forces of Diler Khan (again historians differ over this,
and maintain that it was a part of Sambhaji's tactics to mislead the
Mughal commander Diler Khan and blunt his attack on the Maratha
kingdom in Shivaji's absence, while the latter was away on his
Karnataka expedition). This took place sometime in 1678. But within
a year's time, the crown prince realised the folly of his actions
when he witnessed the atrocities of the Mughals on the ryot and
escaped back to the Maratha camp at fort Panhala (in 1680). Sambhaji
was apparently reconciled with his father, but was still kept under
surveillance at the fort (according to Jedhe Shakavali).
 Interestingly in a few
letters (e.g to one Kudalkar Shastri) in uncovered Sambhaji has
mentioned his stepmother Soyrabai as kind and loving.
 The famed Chitnis Bakhar
was a treatise on Maratha history. Written 120 years after the
death of Sambhaji by the descendent of a man (Balaji Avji
Chitnis) who was executed by
Sambhaji, its neutrality is sometimes questioned. One has to be
very circumspect before giving complete credence to this bakhar.
Even the Sabhadsad bakhar was written by Krishnaji Anant
Sabhasad - a contemporary of Shivaji's - in his later years,
when he was an employee of Rajaram (around four or five years
after Sambhaji's death). So it is not surprising that he has
many a kind word for Rajaram, and presents Sambhaji in a
negative light. Similarly, the Sivadigvijaya Bakhar,
though attributed to Khando Ballal Chitnis, the son of Balaji
Avji, in fact appears to have been written by someone else
(probably by one of the Chitnis descendents).
Rajaram was to be married in the same year. But because of
disharmony with Soyrabai, Sambhaji was not invited to his own
Then Shivaji's untimely death (on 3 April 1680) took place in
Fort Raigad. This was followed by a great deal of palace intriguing. Many of
Shivaji's ministers, such as Pralhad Niraji, Annaji Datto, Moropant Pingale,
Balaji Avaji Chitnis, Hiroji Farzand, etc, colluded with Soyrabai and
installed the ten year-old Rajaram as the next king. Balaji Avaji even
dispatched a letter addressed to the killedar (the fort commander) of Panhala to imprison Sambhaji with immediate effect.
Hanumante was asked to take Sambhaji into custody. But the message
was discovered by some of Sambhaji's well-wishers, who promptly
informed the prince of the conspiracy being hatched against his
person. Sambhaji and his men immediately took charge of the fort.
The killedar was executed. Two hundred of the conspirators were
arrested and put to death. Notable amongst the conspirators were
Khandoji Naik the messenger, Bahirji Ingle, Somaji Banki, Suryaji Kank
and Hiroji Farzand (Hiroji had managed to give them the slip, but was
re-arrested at Chiplun). Janardhan Hanumante was seized in
Kolhapur. Sambhaji then secured the support of some leading Maratha
nobles such as Hambirao Mohite (the sarnobat/commander-in-chief of the
Maratha army, who was incidentally Soyrabai's brother and also the
father-in-law of Rajaram - Rajaram's wife, Tarabai, was his daughter.
Nevertheless, he sided with Sambhaji, whom he considered the
rightful heir to the throne).
Sambhaji marched along with twenty
thousand troops to Fort Raigad. Yesaji Kank, an old Shivaji loyalist,
opened the fort gates for the prince. Raigad fell without much
resistance to Sambhaji. Even the killedar, Kanhoji Bhadwalkar,
switched sides to Sambhaji.
Sambhaji's mausoleum is at Vadu
One of Sambhaji's wives was
Soyra bai was imprisoned by Sambhaji on charges of plotting against
him and also poisoning the late king. Both she and her son Rajaram
were imprisoned. Soyrabai died within a week, put to death on
Sambhaji's orders, as alleged by a section of historians. 
In February 1681, Sambhaji declared himself the new
(king) of the Maratha throne. The king wanted Ramdas Swami, the aged
spiritual guide of Shivaji, to be present at the coronation
ceremony. But the old man politely declined citing health reasons,
and sent his emissaries instead. As some historians allege, Ramdas
was very much perturbed by the bloodshed that took place prior to
the coronation, and it was for this reason that he declined to be personally
present. But the
teacher did give Sambhaji a personal letter along with
his blessings. In the letter Ramdas Swami advised the young king to
follow in the footsteps of his great father, be more tolerant
towards his people, avoid making decisions in anger and haste, and he
advised Sambhaji to be more discreet and prudent in the future.
Heeding the saint's advice, Sambhaji decided to let bygones
be bygones. He released several of the conspirators. He even
reappointed Moropant Pingale as his Peshwa (the loyal Hambirao
Mohite was already commander-in-chief of the armed forces).
Then it so happened that Prince Akbar (the son of Aurangzeb), who had
rebelled against his father, sought refuge with Sambhaji, something
which was granted (Netaji Palkar the veteran ex-senapati who had
experience of the north, was sent
to receive the prince).
The discredited ministers once again decided to take their chances
by enlisting the help of the Mughal prince in overthrowing Sambhaji.
They tried to seduce Akbar over to their side, and even plotted to poison Sambhaji.
 This is only mentioned in the
text, Sivadigvijaya, and some English records. This
alleged incident is not repeated by other bakhars/historians.
But Prince Akbar, grateful for the protection he had received,
informed Sambhaji about the attempt to be made on his life. On
hearing the news, Sambhaji's fury was released once again. He
arrested the conspirators (Annaji Datto, Hiroji Farzand, Balaji Avji,
etc), and had them trampled under the feet of an elephant. Many of Soyrabai's kinsmen were also slaughtered in what was famously called
the 'Shirkan' (the genocide of the Shirkes).
Note: The name of Khando Ballal, son of Balaji Avji, figures in the material written about Sambhaji, which probably
indicates that Khando Ballal was pardoned on advice from Sambhaji's
wife, Yesubai, and he once again resumed his position in Sambhaji's service. Khando
Ballal was even said to have saved Sambhaji's life in an expedition
Khando Ballal also accompanied Rajaram during his hazardous journey
to Gingee, and remained his close aide in those years. Khando Ballal
also served Tarabai and later Shahu and was responsible for saving
Pant Pratinidhi from Shahu's wrath when Pant Pratinidhi, acting in
favour of Tarabai, went against the interests of Shahu. Khando
Ballal's son, Govind Chitnis, served Ramraja's cause and helped Balaji
Bajirao in installing Ramraja on the Maratha throne. Govind's grandson, Malhar Chitnis, wrote the famed
Chitnis Bakhar. His son, Balwantrao, served Chatrapati Pratapsinh at Satara.
But this incident sowed the seeds of
permanent distrust in Sambhaji's mind towards many of his men. This
also led to the prominence of a Brahmin from Kannauj by the name
of Kavi Kalash (Kalash the poet). Kalash soon became Sambhaji's
closest confidante and adviser.
According to some historians, Kalash took advantage of
towards his other ministers and widened the rift between them. Kavi
Kalash is still a much hated figure amongst a section of Marathas
and is often called 'Kalusha Kabji' (the evil instigator).
Alternatively, many historians swear by Kavi Kalash's devotion
towards Sambhaji, making him as much an mysterious personality as
Sambhaji's first campaign was in May 1680. He openly
challenged the Mughal viceroy, Khan Jehan, alias Bahadur Khan Koka.
The Maratha forces split into three, one attacking the Mughal
territory of Surat, the second raiding Khandesh, while the third
took on the imperial forces at Aurangabad. The attacks proved a success
for the Marathas and they came back with a rich array of booty.
Sambhaji and Habirrao Mohite even looted the Mughal camp at
Burhanpur, divesting it of twenty million rupees.
Sambhaji's second campaign was a daring attempt to capture the sea
fort of Janjira, which unfortunately proved a failure. He even lost
a brave officer by the name of Kondaji Farzand. Kondaji had managed
to befriend the guarding Siddis (Abyssinians) of Janjira. He had
gained their trust by citing his differences with Sambhaji. He
therefore managed to enter the fort and was about to capture it from within.
But, unluckily, Kondaji's plan was exposed at the last minute and he
was arrested and beheaded by the Siddis.
A second attempt by another
officer, Dadaji Raghunath, was also foiled, this time by the cruel
sea, when a fierce sea wrecked his attacking boats. A third
attempt was made when Siddi Misri, who was once a part of the Siddi
contingent of Janjira, switched sides to join the Marathas. Sambhaji
made him the commander of his naval fleet. Siddi Misri led the
Maratha navy against his fellow Siddis of Janjira. But Siddi Misri
lost the naval battle and was himself fatally wounded.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese had aligned themselves with the Mughals.
The Portuguese viceroy, Alvor, had allowed the Mughals to set up their
naval base in Portuguese territory. To punish the viceroy, Sambhaji
attacked Portuguese territory (1683-84), and at one point
surrounded Alvor himself. But as fate would have it, Aurangzeb sent
a large army to take on the Marathas, forcing Sambhaji to retreat.
Sambhaji then sent a contingent to ravage
the Mughal territory of
Khandesh, and a second contingent to attack the Mughul prince, Shah Alam, in the south (in
the Karnataka region). The Maratha forces met with
success and Shah Alam's forces had to retreat on several fronts.
Then there was also a campaign against Chikkadevraja, the king of
Mysore. Chikkadevraja had challenged the Marathas by intruding onto
their territory. Sambhaji dispatched an army against him, forcing Chikkadevraja to sue for peace.
It is said that to counter the barrage of arrows launched by a huge
array of archers from Mysore, Sambhaji made a battlefield
preparation of oil-laden rubber armour for his soldiers which
blunted their attack. At the same time he used oil-fired arrows to
subdue the enemy.
In the period between 1684-1686, Aurangzeb concentrated on his southern
campaign. Both Bijapur and Golkunda fell in quick succession, but
Sambhaji may have made a tactical error by not aligning himself with the
combined armies of Bijapur and Golkunda to face the Mughal onslaught
(although a group of historians maintain that Sambhaji cannot be
blamed for the inactivity of the Golkunda and Bijapur monarchs. They
lay the blame squarely on the monarchs of Golkunda and Bijapur for
the loss of their kingdoms. They accuse the Golkunda king of being
hedonistic and careless and the Bijapur king of being too young and
inexperienced). By 1687, the Bijapur troops who were not being utilised (mainly the
Hindus amongst them, who felt ignored by the bigoted Muslim emperor) joined the
Maratha ranks and captured almost one hundred and twenty towns which
were once a part of the Bijapur provinces.
By now Aurangzeb's rebel son, Prince Akbar (who had sought refuge with
the Marathas) was feeling the heat of his father's troops. He
therefore took leave of Sambhaji and fled to Persia. But the emperor
Aurangzeb was in no mood to forgive and forget.
With the Bijapur and Golkunda kingdoms annexed to the
Mughal empire, Aurangzeb decided to concentrate on Sambhaji. He wanted
to punish Sambhaji for harbouring his rebel son (and other rebels
such as the Rajput Durgadas).
In 1688, Aurangzeb sent Sarja Khan, an ex-Bijapuri officer, to recover
the lost Bijapur territory from the Marathas.
Sarja Khan was led into the jungles of Wai by
Sambhaji's erstwhile commander-in-chief, Hambirao Mohite. Though Sarja Khan and his
forces were routed by the Marathas, Hambirao Mohite became a
casualty of that battle. The death of his most trusted noble was a
great blow for Sambhaji.
To date, Sambhaji has continued to evoke mixed reactions. Some hail him
as the bravest Maratha warrior that ever lived, whereas some criticise him for his indolence and
a weakness for the good life. But
even his critics concede the man's genius. They report him spending
months in pleasure-seeking, only to emerge out of hibernation one
fine day, and put up a string of military successes, wiping out all
the blots of procrastination of which he may be accused.
Many attribute his split personality to the early plots of his step-mother and the ministers against him. This, according to these
historians, made him wary about the people around him. He wasn't able
to trust easily. As a result he gathered some less salubrious people around
him, who deliberately led him astray to suit their purposes. He
probably spent months under their baleful influence, only to be shaken
back into reality and good sense by some of Shivaji's old loyal
aides such as Hambirrao Mohite. But one has to understand that all
the historians who have written adversely about Sambhaji either
belonged to enemy camps (Mughal, British, or Portuguese) or have
based their reasons on the material of the Chitnis Bakhar.
After all, Sambhaji was raised by the same woman (Jijau, Shivaji's
mother and Sambhaji's grandmother), who raised the great Shivaji and
would have passed on the same values to Sambhaji as were passed on
to his father.
Also it must be noted that Sambhaji had
to face a formidable opponent in the form of the Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb himself, something which even the great Shivaji was
spared. Mughal might was several times greater that Bijapur's, and
to Sambhaji's credit he put up a brave fight against the Mughals. He
also added several territories to Shivaji's existing kingdom
including parts of the Portuguese empire in Konkan and Goa, tracts
of the Bijapur territory in Karnataka, and so on. As the acclaimed
historian Narhar Kurundar says, 'if five to six forts were indeed
lost to the Mughals, four to five were also wrested away from this
Another charge levelled at Sambhaji is
that he was an alcoholic and hedonistic person, very careless and
irresponsible in terms of the day-to-day administration of his
kingdom. Assuming that he consumed alcohol does not automatically
mean that he was negligent in his affairs. Most kings of his time
and those before and after him have been addicted to alcohol and
opium, including his younger brother Rajaram, and Jehangir and, for
that matter, even Aurangzeb. But that need not translate into
irresponsibility. His brief reign of eight years witnessed several
campaigns which would not have been possible without Sambhaji's
Sambhaji's capture and execution
At Kalash's insistence, Sambhaji decided to spend the hot summer of
1688 in a palace built by Kavi Kalash at Sangameshwar, a small but
climatically cool township twenty miles north from Vishalgad, and
twenty-two miles north-east of Ratnagiri (this may have proved a
mistake on the part of Sambhaji, as for once he was away from the
safe protection of the impregnable fort of Raigad).
The news of Sambhaji's whereabouts soon reached the Mughals. The Mughal commander, Muqarrab Khan, then devised a daring plan to capture Sambhaji in
person. He was helped in his endeavour by the estranged brother-in-law of Sambhaji,
Ganoji Shirke, who showed the Mughal army
the way through the adjoining dense forests, simultaneously
providing the Mughals with logistics and information about
The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb
In February 1688, Sambhaji and Kavi Kalash were surrounded and
captured. They were brought before Aurangzeb, who had himself
encamped at Akluj (near Pandharpur).
(Mughal historians mention that Sambhaji was in an
inebriated state at the time of his capture and surrounded by
courtesans. But recent evidence states that he was accompanied not
only by his wife (Yesubai) and ministers (Mhaloji Ghorpade, Dhanaji
Jadhav, and Santaji Ghorpade), but also by Ranganath Swami, the
leading disciple of his spiritual guru, Ramdas Swami. Then the
question arises of whether anyone would indulge in such
indiscretions in the company of such people. Also, as far as
accusations about Sambhaji's careless behaviour goes, there are
letters that record Sambhaji repairing a fallen bastion at Vishalgad
just two days before his capture. If Sambhaji was such an
irresponsible king then would he have looked into such minute
details of his kingdom? So, in fair conclusion, we can only derive
that Sambhaji was betrayed and cleverly captured by the Mughals.)
They were both humiliated in
public and paraded before the crowds in buffoons' attire. Aurangzeb
then offered Sambhaji an insulting proposition. Sambhaji should
surrender all his forts and the amassed Maratha treasure to the
Mughals. Secondly, he should reveal the names of all Mughal
officers who were secretly colluding with the Marathas, and thirdly
Sambhaji should convert himself to Islam and serve the emperor in
near future. In return Aurangzeb would spare Sambhaji's life.
But the fearless Maratha king scornfully retorted that he would
accept the emperors conditions only if Aurangzeb agreed to marry
off his daughter to him. Sambhaji then exchanged insult for insult.
This audacity incensed the emperor no end, and he ordered Sambhaji's execution. For three days Sambhaji was tortured at Vadu,
on the banks of the River Bhima, near Pune. Aurangzeb ordered the
blasphemous tongue to be pulled out, his eyes were gouged out, his limbs
Sambhaji was subjected to a very horrific ordeal. But he
bore it bravely until, on the third day, his head was
taken off his shoulders.
So ended the life of a controversial but brave king on 11 March 1689. In death he became a martyr, inspiring a Maratha fight back.
After Sambhaji's death, all Maratha nobles forgot their
differences, united under the banner of Chatrapati Rajaram (Sambhaji's
half-brother) and continued their struggle against the Mughals.
Sambhaji in chains
Bendre, W S and Patil, Vishwas - Works on
Duff, James Grant - History of the
Mahrattas, Associated Publishing House, New Delhi, 1971
Kincaid G A - A History of the
Maratha People, Oxford University Press, London, 1918