Shivaji (19 Feb 1630 – 3 Apr 1680) was born in the hill fort of Shivneri near Pune to a Maratha commander of Deccan sultanate Shahji Bhonsle and Jijabai the daughter of a Mughal-aligned chieftain Lakhuji Jadhavrao. His spiritual guru was Samarth Ramdas. The desecration of Tulja Bhawani temple had made a deep impact on him leading to his wider conflict with Bijapur Sultanate.
Shivaji carved out an independent Hindu kingdom at the expense of the Mughals, Sultanate of Golkonda and Sultanate of Bijapur while effectively dealing with influential European powers. He was formally crowned in 1674 at Raigad and assumed the title Chhatrapati. He laid the foundation of the Maratha empire and his military strength expanded the Maratha sphere of influence, by capturing and building forts and forming the Maratha navy. Shivaji was a great administrator and he established well-structured administrative machinery for the efficient and progressive civil rule. He revived ancient Hindu traditions and promoted Hindu culture. He promoted the usage of Marathi and Sanskrit replacing Persian as the language for court and administration.
There were malicious attempts by Muslim rulers of Bijapur and Delhi to treacherously eliminate Shivaji. But, in their attempts to do so, he killed Bijapur’s commander Afzal Khan and chopped the fingers of Shaista Khan the commander of Aurangzeb’s army.
