Why Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj escape through sweet boxes?

Hello readers, how are you all? Hope everyone is having fun and staying healthy. Welcome to Gaurav Sangrah Today we are going to get information about a very special personality among Freedom Fighters, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

• who contributed a lot for the freedom of India from Mughals in Indian History.
• who had sword of Bhavani's mother.
• who use to kill the Mughals with the claws of a tiger.
• who never bowed down to the Mughals.

So let us begin the story of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

Who was Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ?

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was born on 19 February 1630 at Shivneri Fort, Puna, Maharashtra. Many people believe that Shivaji is named after Lord Shiva but it is not. His mother Jijabai named Shivaji after her clan goddess Shivaimata. Shivaji's father, Shahji Bhonsle, was mostly absent due to state affairs so Shivaji's mother Jijabai and his guru (mentor) Dadu Kothe educated Shivaji Maharaj.

Shivaji's mother Jijabai used to narrate mythological stories like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita to Shivaji since childhood. His guru Dadu Kothe taught Shivaji tactics, ethics, horse riding, archery, marksmanship etc. Seeing the brutality of the Mughals, Shivaji vowed to establish self-government at the age of 15 years. At the age of 16, Shivaji formed his army with his friends and invaded the fort of Tornak and conquered the fort.

Why Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj escape through sweet boxes?

A conspiracy was hatched by Aurangzeb to kill Chhatrapati Shivaji. Aurangzeb wrote a letter and invited Shivaji to his court but Shivaji did not wanted to go Agra. Shivaji knew that Aurangzeb was not as upright as he appeared. He was making plan against Shivaji. Shivaji's friend Jai Singh promised Shivaji that he will take the responsibility of sending him back happily. Jai Singh use to work under Aurangzeb.

Shivaji Maharaj was ready to go to Agra with his son Shambhaji. When he reaches Agra, he was not welcomed. At that time, Shivaji was somewhat aware of the plot. But when he reached Aurangzeb's court and Aurangzeb ignored the gift, Shivaji realized that he had been taken prisoner. Aurangzeb placed Shivaji under house arrest in a mansion, where Jai Singh's son Ramsingh was entrusted with the responsibility of looking after Shivaji.

Shivaji Maharaj Escape

Shivaji was also clever. He feigned illness and stopped going out of the palace. Day by day he started getting sicker and started pretending that he could not get up from the bed. So Shivaji called Ramsingh and said that he wanted to give sweets to the Brahmins and the poor so that with the blessings of those people I may recover quickly. Ramsingh ordered big boxes of sweets from the palace. Shivaji and his son Shambhaji sat in the boxes of sweets and left Agra. Ram Singh (son of Shivaji's friend Jai Singh) was also involved in Shivaji Maharaj's plan.

Why was Shivaji Maharaj known as Mountain Rat?

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was also called 'Mountain Rat'. Shivaji Maharaj knew his field very well. They used to climb the mountains easily, attack the enemy suddenly and get far ahead on the other side of the mountain pass. Enemies pursued Shivaji and stayed back on the mountain. Shivaji Maharaj used to move from one mountain to another like a rat making overnight rates.

attack on soldiers

Shivaji Maharaj was of kind nature. Shivaji used to include the person who surrendered to Shivaji in his group. Since that person also had knowledge of the surrounding areas, it was easy for Shivaji to climb the mountains. Hence the British used to contemptuously call Shivaji Maharaj the mountain rat. Shivaji was also known as Guerrilla war Policy (Raid war) because of his sudden attack on the enemy.

Why is Shivaji Maharaj known as the Father of Indian Navy?

Shivaji Maharaj thought logically to protect his territory. He established a navy to protect the sea area from Arabs, Portuguese, British, sea pirates. He sent some of his trusted men to foreign to learn the technique of building sea vessels from their engineers. A commanding and disciplined navy including 200 warships was organized. The Navy was started to protect the sea area from Bhiwandi to Goa.

How did Shivaji Maharaj kill Afzal Khan?

Chhatrapati Shivaji would suddenly come out of the forests and attack the enemies, so the enemies used to plan to kill Shivaji. Once Afzal Khan planned to kill Shivaji. Afzal Khan wrote to Shivaji and invited him to meet him.

Shivaji understood that this was some trick of the treacherous Afzal Khan, so Shivaji wrote a counter letter to Afzal Khan and said that if he wants to meet, he will come but he have to come to the location which Shivaji says. Afzal Khan was all set to kill Shivaji so he came to meet Shivaji at the place Shivaji told him.

Afzal Khan, who is seven feet tall, strong, with a huge body, comes and hugs Shivaji. Shivaji was also clever before coming to meet Afzal Khan wearing a metal armor inside his clothes and a weapon like tiger claws in his fingers so as not to be seen. As Afzal Khan pressed Shivaji's body tight, Shivaji attacked Afzal Khan with his weapon in hand and killed Afzal Khan.

Names of forts conquered by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj?

Shivaji Maharaj used to rule over 370 forts. But the Mughals captured some of the forts of Shivaji Maharaj. By invading the Mughals, Shivaji recovered some of his forts.

Names of some forts are:

1. Sinhgarh
2. Shivneri
3. Sindhudurg
4. Pratapgarh
5. Torna
6. Raigad
7. Vijayaduga
8. Rajgarh, and many more

What are the causes of Shivaji Maharaj's death?

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj died on 4 April 1680 in India. If we go by Gujarati month, he died on Chaitra Punam Sunday in 1902. In the matter of Shivaji Maharaj's death, there are many theories behind this. Sages believed that Shivaji Maharaj used to ride a horse for fifteen to sixteen hours day and night. Some believed that Shivaji's third wife, Soyrabai, poisoned Shivaji Maharaj to give the throne to her child and some people also say that Shivaji Maharaj died due to severe fever for 12 days.

Conclusion:

Here I would like to conclude my article. In this article we have seen that Shivaji use to deal with his enemies, how much fast he was in solving problems, how many forts he had won and much more. We have got a lot of information about the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

So, readers, how did you like the history of our Freedom Fighter Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj? What did you learn from this article? Which is your favorite paragraph in this article? If you wish to add something in the article then you can tell in the comment section below.

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We will come back very soon in another article with such interesting information of Indian history, till then take care and keep on reading Gaurav Sangrah.