The Misunderstood Chhatrapati

Regardless of the merits of the films being made on Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, his legacy deserves its own reckoning.

With ‘Chhava,’ the Vicky Kaushal-starrer based of the late Shivaji Sawant’s acclaimed book crossing the Rs. 500 crore mark globally in less than two weeks, and a raft of films on Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj released last year (among them ‘Dharmarakshak Mahaveer Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj’ and ‘Shivrayancha Chhava’) Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s son is firmly in the national consciousness. Yet for much of history, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj has existed in the margins, a figure eclipsed by the legend of his great father and, later, the rise of the Maratha empire.

History is often cruel to those who come after great men. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, the son of the great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, has long been overshadowed by the towering legacy of his father. While the Maratha empire owes its foundation to the latter, it was Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj who took on the mantle in turbulent times, facing enemies both within and outside his fledgling kingdom. If history is to be recast with a fairer lens, it would reveal a ruler of exceptional resilience, a warrior who, though doomed by intrigue and betrayal, waged a ceaseless struggle against the mighty Mughal empire.

To read Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj merely as a tragic figure is to miss the larger drama of his life. His story is not one of squandered potential but of a man who was born into an impossible war and chose to fight rather than bow.

When Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj died in 1680, the kingdom he had carved out of the Deccan was still young, its foundations unsteady. The Marathas were not yet an empire but a confederation of ambitious warlords bound by the sheer will and genius of King’s vision. His death triggered a succession crisis. Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj, Shivaji Maharaj’s younger son, was backed by a faction led by his second wife Soyarabai. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, though the rightful heir as the elder son, executed the plotters and established his authority.

Unlike his father, who had perfected guerrilla warfare against the Mughals, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was thrust into the thick of battle almost immediately, inheriting a Maratha state facing an existential crisis. Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had left Delhi to personally lead a massive military campaign in the Deccan. His goal was the complete destruction of the Marathas and the Deccani Sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, just 23 when he took the throne in 1681, had to fight an empire at the peak of its power.

Yet if Aurangzeb expected an easy conquest, he badly miscalculated. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj did not merely defend – he attacked. He launched raids deep into Mughal territory, forcing the emperor to divert troops and resources away from his primary campaign. By a twist of fate, the rebellion of Prince Akbar, Aurangzeb’s beloved son was to have fateful consequences for Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.

The story of Akbar’s rebellion is one of the lesser-known dramas of Mughal history. Disillusioned by his father’s rigid orthodoxy, Akbar, who was sent to subjugate the Rathores during the Rajput revolt of 1679, allied with them.

However, the wily Aurangzeb outmanoeuvred his son, forcing Akbar, along with the valiant Durgadas Rathore, to seek asylum with Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in the Deccan.

For a brief moment, there was the possibility of a joint Maratha-Rajput-Mughal resistance against the emperor. If this had materialized, Aurangzeb would have faced an insurmountable challenge. Unfortunately, the Marathas, stretched thin by war, could not fully commit to Akbar’s cause. By 1685, the rebel prince had slipped away to Persia, where he would live out his days in exile. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, however, remained undeterred. His war against the Mughals continued.

His military campaigns, though often overlooked, were remarkable. As detailed by Govind Sakharam Sardesai in his classic ‘New History of the Marathas’ (1946), Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj led successful incursions into the Mughal-held territories of Malwa, plundering Burhanpur in 1681, a move that rattled Aurangzeb’s confidence. He also outmanoeuvred Portuguese forces in Goa and fought the Siddis, ensuring that the Marathas retained their dominance along the Konkan coastline. Had he been given time, he might have further expanded his father’s vision, making the Maratha empire not just a regional power but a dominant force in the subcontinent.

But time was not on his side. In 1689, betrayal led to his capture by the Mughals. The torturous end that followed, days of relentless agony ending in his brutal execution, is among the more horrifying episodes of Indian history. It is also a glorious example of man battling superhuman odds to preserve his faith.

If Aurangzeb expected the Marathas to cower in fear, he miscalculated. As Jadunath Sarkar and G.S. Sardesai observe, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj’s martyrdom galvanized the Maratha people, who rose as one against Mughal tyranny to avenge their ruler’s death, thus sowing the seeds of an empire that would eventually outlive the Mughals themselves.

The real tragedy of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj is not that he died young, but that history has failed to place him in the pantheon of India’s great rulers. He was not just the son of a great king but a ruler who stood against the most powerful empire of his time and refused to kneel. And in that refusal, he secured his place in history, not as a failure, but as a warrior who never surrendered.