Part 3: Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Escapes From Agra
Around that time, Auganzeb was the Mughal ruler in Delhi. Aurangzeb was very angry with Shivaji… This is the third part of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Around that time, Auganzeb was the Mughal ruler in Delhi. Aurangzeb was very angry with Shivaji. Aurangzeb tried their best to gain dominance over Shivaji, but all their attempts failed. In the year 1666, he sent a Rajput ruler named “Mirza Raja Jai Singh” with his 1 lakh 50 thousand soldiers to attack Shivaji. Rajput attacked the shivaji. Shivaji lost this war which cost him the loss of 23 forts and also he had to pay a fine of 4 lakh Gold coins. Jai Singh suggested Shivaji accompany him to Agra to meet Aurangzeb for sanctioning the treaty. Also, Aurangzeb had sent a letter to Shivaji that he would be treated royally on arrival. Shivaji and his son, Shambhaji (9 years old) reached Aurangzeb’s darbar in Agra, he ignored him. He was made to stand in courtiers’ row and this angered Shivaji. When Shivaji tried to stage a walkout, he and Shambaji were arrested. On Shivaji’s request, his companions were left.
In order to escape from the prison, Shivaji made a plan. He allegedly acted sick and doctors were called. During treatment, Shivaji told the soldiers that he wanted to distribute sweets to the poor beggars, fakirs etc everyday so that they pray for his good health. These sweets and food items were packed in huge boxes. Initially, the guards checked the boxes every day and there were sweets in them. Later, the guard stopped checking the boxes as they thought that everyday it is the same. Shivaji realized that this was the right moment for escape. So Shivaji and his son hid in these boxes. One of Shivaji’s associates dressed as Shivaji and lay on the bed to fool the guards. The boxes were allowed to go outside without inspection. Once outside, Shivaji did not move towards Maharashtra, as he knew that soon Aurangzeb would follow him. So instead they went to Mathura as Aurangzeb's soldiers would not have guessed that he went to Mathura. He posed as a beggar and passed through Allahabad, Bundelkhand (Madhya Pradesh) and then to Golconda (Andhra Pradesh) and, with a journey of 60 days, reached Raigarh.
Soon after this, he fought several battles and by 1670 he managed to take back the majority of his Kingdom from the Mughals. In between when the Mughals were trying to gain dominance over Shivaji, the King of Bijapur, Adil Shah died naturally in the year 1672 and Shivaji took over Bijapur. Finally, on 6th June 1674, Shivaji was coronated with the title Chatrapati in a lavish ceremony following all the Hindu rituals at the Raigad Fort. And Shivaji Bhosale became the very Majestic “Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj” But the story doesn't end here, because Shivaji as a ruler never ruled the people, he ruled for the people, during his tenure as a king and even before that, he always respected people from every religion and caste. According to Shivaji, Swaraj is the birthright of every human. He wanted a world without biases, cruelty, religious conflicts and discrimination of any kind. There were thousands of people in his army who were Muslims, and not just in the army, several of his personal bodyguards were also Muslims.
He wanted to establish a Swaraj which was ruled by them and not by external people like Mughals and Britishers. Also, he respected every woman in the way he respected his mother. Unlike other kings, he used to send back the queens to their kingdom with respect and pride even after their king had lost the war to him. His majestic rule came to a sad end when Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj passed away on 5th April 1680 due to illness. However, he became immortal for us forever.
