In 1680, Aurangzeb had realized that he would have to go to the Deccan himself to stop Shivaji. With a huge army of five lakhs, he left for the Deccan and before he could reach there, Chhatrapati died.
Aurangzeb felt that now it would be very easy to defeat the Marathas.
But Chhatrapati Sambhaji did not let him win until 1689. Due to the treachery of his own brother-in-law, Chhatrapati Sambhaji was caught and Aurangzeb got him killed in a very cruel and gruesome manner.
Rajaram, who had now become Chhatrapati, was only 20 years old and was immature in comparison to the experience of Aurangzeb. Once again he began to see the Deccan in his grasp.
This is where history tells us what aggressive culture Chhatrapati Shivaji laid the foundation of. Instead of surrendering in despair, the struggle continued under the leadership of Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav by making Rajaram the Chhatrapati.
Chhatrapati Rajaram was also killed in the year 1700.
Now accepting his two-year-old son as Chhatrapati, his widow Tarabai, who was the daughter of Chhatrapati Shivaji's general Hambirao Mohite, came forward and the fierce struggle continued. When the time came, Tarabai herself also entered the battlefield.
Santaji and Dhanaji made the Mughal emperor lose sleep.
The Marathas troubled the Mughals by attacking the rear of the army, their logistics and the ammunition of the artillery that was accompanying them. Everyone lived in fear as to when the Marathas would come from which direction and how much damage they would cause.
Once Santaji and his two thousand soldiers attacked Aurangzeb's camp at night on the lines of a surgical strike and cut the ropes of Aurangzeb's personal tent. All the people inside the tent were killed. But by chance Aurangzeb was not in his tent that night and hence he survived.
For 27 years the Mughal emperor roamed around in the forests of Maharashtra setting up camps. Every day he had to sleep with the fear that the Marathas might attack him.
For 27 years, a few thousand Marathas were fighting with lakhs of Mughals and giving them a tough time. For 27 years, the emperor was away from his capital. Lakhs of rupees were being spent on this military campaign. The Mughal empire was going bankrupt. Finally, Aurangzeb died in 1707. Even after 27 years of continuous war and struggle, the Marathas did not surrender. Thousands of Marathas were killed to achieve the goal set by Chhatrapati.
Where is this history even taught?
How many people even know the names of Tarabai, Santaji and Dhanaji, leave alone their valour?
