Prince Azam Shah, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s favoured son, remained close to him throughout his life and death. Prince Azam realised it was time to bury his father in the Deccan and travel to North India to take the throne after Aurangzeb’s passing. He had to leave behind a member of his group who had been taken prisoner by Aurangzeb: Shivaji’s grandson Shahuji (later Chhatrapati Shahu I). As a result, Shahuji was “injected back into the Maratha polity”
According to historian Richard Eaton’s book, A Social History of the Deccan, 1300-1761, Shahuji performed a “pilgrimage” on foot to Aurangzeb’s grave when a succession battle ensued. Shahuji had been taken prisoner and held captive for eighteen years by Aurangzeb. It was Aurangzeb who got Shahuji’s father, Sambhaji, tortured and executed. Then why did Shahuji make a “pilgrimage” to Aurangzeb’s grave?
This week’s protests to remove Aurangzeb’s tomb resulted in the need for a curfew and the burning of parts of Nagpur. Comments and rebuttals following the February release of the Vicky Kaushal film Chhavva sparked the most recent dispute. The film Chhavva is based on Sambhaji’s life.
Some have attempted to draw attention to Shahuji’s journey to the Mughal emperor’s burial amid the unrest surrounding Aurangzeb’s mausoleum, which is located in the obscure city of Khuldabad.
Shahuji’s visit to Aurangzeb’s grave, however, must be viewed within historical and political frameworks. In May 1707, Prince Azam freed Shahuji. Shahuji and his aunt Tarabai Bhosle, who presided over the Maratha realm on behalf of her son Shivaji-II, engaged in a protracted conflict.
An internal Maratha war had been arranged by the Mughals. The intention of Shahuji’s release was to split Maratha politics. Historian Richard Eaton claims that both Maratha factions requested Mughal assistance in their conflict, which continued for decades after Shahuji’s release.
The divided Maratha state and the succession dispute that the Mughals had triggered with his release must be considered in the context of Shahuji’s foot journey to Aurangzeb’s tomb. Tarabai Bhosle was up against Shahuji for the Maratha state. Following Sambhaji’s execution by Aurangzeb, Tarabai assumed the throne as the bride of Rajaram, Sambhaji’s brother.
Beyond the rivalry and ambition between the Mughals and Marathas, the Mughal-Maratha rivalry was complicated. The Marathas had their own grievances if Azam Shah was engaged in combat with his brother, Bahadur Shah I. Here’s why Shahuji, who would go on to become a Maratha ruler, went to the tomb of Aurangzeb amid the ongoing outcry over one of history’s most contentious rulers.
It is necessary to comprehend Shahuji’s captivity by Aurangzeb for nearly twenty years in order to comprehend him and his struggles. The Mughal-Maratha war, which started with Shahuji’s grandfather Shivaji, was the cause of that. Aurangzeb was greatly disturbed by Shivaji’s disobedience, particularly after his audacious assault on Aurangzeb’s maternal uncle Shaysta Khan.
According to Satish Chandra’s A History of Mediaeval India (1526-1748), Aurangzeb ultimately dispatched his most competent commander and mansabdar, Jai Singh, to vanquish Shivaji. Shivaji was finally forced to give up some of his forts and visit Aurangzeb’s court in 1665 when the Treaty of Purandar was signed. There is historical debate over why Aurangzeb held Shivaji under house imprisonment. Nonetheless, everyone agrees that the following year, Shivaji managed to get out of Aurangzeb’s captivity.
He raided Surat (now in Gujarat) and other Mughal lands after Shivaji lost the jagir of Berar. After Shivaji’s death in 1680, his son Sambhaji took over and led a huge raid on Burhanpur, but Aurangzeb was busy with his campaigns in Bijapur and Goloconda. His war with Marathas would be the next.
In 1689, when Sambhaji was fighting the Siddis in Maharashtra and the Portuguese in Goa, he was ambushed at Sangameshwar (Maharasthra), captured, tortured and executed on Aurangzeb’s orders. Sambhaji’s son, Shahuji, and one of his wives were taken captive in Aurangzeb’s court. This was an attempt to keep the Maratha heir in the Mughal court. Sambhaji was succeeded by Rajaram, his brother, whose wife Tarabai would become an important force in the Maratha state.
Shahuji was 25 when he was released in 1707 by Prince Azam. Azam wanted to leave the Deccan for North India to fight a battle of succession with his brother, Bahadur Shah I (Muazzam), writes Richard Eaton. While moving northwards, he wanted to leave the Marathas divided. He was successful in achieving it.
Shahu’s release led to the expected conflict in the Maratha state. While Bahadur Shah I ascended the Mughal throne after executing his brother, Azam, the Marathas saw the succession battle go on for years before Shahuji emerged as the clear winner.
On being told that Shahuji was back, Tarabai initially took him for an impostor. It took some real explaining for her to be convinced that it was the real Shahuji who was taken captive 18 years ago. Then, began the argument that the Maratha prince had, in fact, “become a Mughal who knew Persian”. “She (Tarabai) deployed a number of arguments intended to prevent her supporters from defecting to this stranger-prince, who had suddenly arrived in their midst. She pointed to his 18 years spent in the Mughal camp, his fluency in Persian, and his refined courtly manner—all suggesting that, culturally, the Maratha prince had ‘gone Mughal’ and therefore was not to be trusted,” writes Richard Eaton.
Tarabai even claimed that Shahuji’s contestation to her rule was being supported by the Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, and termed his claim “treasonous”. Finally, when Shahuji walked to Aurangzeb’s tomb on foot and paid his respects, Tarabai’s arguments were confirmed, writes Eaton. Aurangzeb died in Ahmednagar (now renamed Ahilyanagar) and he was buried in Khuldabad, a walled city in the district of Aurangabad, 130km away. His wish was to be buried within the Chishti Sufi shrine of Zaynuddin Shirazi.
Both factions sought Mughal assistance in their claims to power as a number of Tarabai’s troops eventually drifted towards Shahuji’s camp. Both sides engaged in combat in Khed, which is 22 miles from Pune on the Bhima River, in October 1707. The Mughal army was on Shahuji’s side here. With an army led by Zulfiqar Khan’s Mughals and important Maratha sardars like Balaji Vishwanath, Shahuji advanced on Satara, the capital of the Marathas. The two sides fought at Khed, which is close to Pune.
Many Maratha leaders had at this point acknowledged Shahuji’s potential and believed he was the legitimate heir to the Chhatrapati title. Tarabai was forced to retire when her position was weakened by the loss of important generals and men. Shahuji’s forces not only secured victory but also drove Tarabai out of Pune. Herefater, Shahu coronated himself in 1708.
Another key flashpoint was Panhala, a strategically important fort. Between 1710 and 1711, Tarabai’s forces launched multiple attempts to regain control, but Shahuji’s supporters managed to hold their ground. In the next three years, Tarabai’s faction laid siege to Satara, the seat of Shahuji’s power. Despite a prolonged siege, Shahuji retained it, reinforcing his position as the dominant ruler of the Marathas. Both separate kingdoms of Satara, ruled by Shahuji, and Kolhapur, led by Tarabai, existed and sought Mughal support, particularly regarding the right to collect taxes on behalf of the empire.
As Shahuji consolidated power, the Peshwa emerged as a dominant institution. The title, derived from Persian, had existed in Deccan states like the Bahmanis, Bijapur and Ahmednagar. Shivaji, Rajaram, Tarabai all had Peshwas, but under Shahuji, the office became hereditary and politically powerful, side-lining even the king. This shift began in 1713 when Shahuji sought to win over the powerful naval commander, Kanhoji Angria.
He entrusted Balaji Vishwanath, a Chitpavan Brahmin with strong administrative ties, to negotiate. Balaji demanded the Peshwa title first, which Shahuji granted. Using diplomacy and shared Konkani roots, Balaji secured Kanhoji’s allegiance, which further helped in weakening Tarabai.
Meanwhile, Tarabai faced internal threats. Her son, Shivaji II, was deemed unfit to rule, and a palace coup led by his step-mother Rajas Bai in 1714 ousted her. Rajas Bai’s son, Sambhaji II, was crowned, and Tarabai and her son were imprisoned in Panhala. Tarabai remained captive for 16 years, during which her son died. In 1730, after Shahuji defeated Sambhaji, he offered Tarabai a choice—stay imprisoned or live in Satara. Accepting her fate, she chose Satara, where she spent 18 more years under house arrest, fading into political obscurity, though her story was not over yet.
Peshwas’s influence grew even more, which aided Shahuji in strengthening his hold on power. For fifteen years until the death of his favoured wife in 1748, Shahuji maintained his position of political dominance. He thought about adopting a distant Bhosle relative because he had no heir.
However, Tarabai, 73, stunned the court at this moment by disclosing Ramraja, her secret grandchild. Important court officials affirmed Ramraja’s assertions, despite Shahuji’s senior wife dismissing it as a fabrication. By 1749, Shahuji’s health had begun to deteriorate. The Peshwa became the real ruler during this difficult period when the Maratha monarch turned to Nana Saheb. Following Shahuji’s passing, Ramraja was crowned king in 1750.
This time, Tarabai sought control over him but Ramraja was not like his predecessor and asserted his independence, writes Eaton. In response, Tarabai imprisoned Ramraja in November 1750, later declaring him an impostor. She even ordered the execution of an officer who attempted to help him escape. Eventually, Tarabai and Nana Saheb reached a truce. The Peshwa swore loyalty to Ramraja, while Tarabai recognised his rule. Their pact was sealed on September 14, 1752, at Jejuri.
From that point on, Tarabai ruled Satara as a strong dowager, giving commands and managing state affairs while the Peshwa publicly submitted to her authority. The Shahuji vs. Tarabai succession dispute transpired and concluded in this manner. Shahuji did visit Aurangzeb’s mausoleum, it is true, but only because it was necessary at the time. He intended to establish his authority in the Maratha rule after avoiding it for more than 20 years, and he required assistance against Tarabai’s party. This is not to imply that the Mughals and Marathas did not occasionally unite, but their alliances were only temporary and motivated by political necessity.
