Maharani's of Shivaji Raje

                        Shahaji Raje Bhosle

 

 Shahaji was the son of  Uma bai and Maloji Bhosale.He was born in 1594. His father was a soldier who eventually became Sar Giroh and was awarded the Jagirs of Pune and Supe district in the court of Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar. 

Shivaji's father Shahaji maloji Bhosle was in service of the Bikapuri Sultanate tripartite association between Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda as general.  He was a military leader of India in the 17th century, who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. 

 During the Mughal invasion of Deccan, he joined the Mughal forces and served Emperor Shah Jahan for a brief period. After being deprived of his Jagirs, he defected to the Bijapur Sultanate  in 1632 and regained control over Pune and Supe. In 1638, he also received the jagir of Bangalore after Bijapur's invasion of Kempe Gowda III's territories. He eventually became the chief general of Bijapur and oversaw its expansion. Shahaji married Jijabai the daughter of Lakhuji Jadhav another Maratha general in the service of Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar when both of them were children.

                                      Raje Shahaji Maharaj with Jija bai.

Jijabai bore Shahaji as many as eight children (six daughters and two sons). All the daughters died in infancy and only the two sons, Sambhaji and Shivaji, reached adulthood. Sambhaji was the elder son and Shivaji was the younger.

Shahaji was allowed to retain his jagir in the Pune region but was barred from living in that area as part of the Mughal-Bijapur treaty. Therefore, the jagir was placed under the nominal administration of his son Shivaji, with his subordinate Dadoji Kindadev as its manager. Shahaji was transferred to the southern part of the Bijapur Sultanate.

Shahaji spent the last 20 years of his life in the south, where the Bijapur and the  Golconda  Sultanates were trying to capture territories from the declining Vijayanagara Empire.

Shahaji beautified Bangalore by commissioning several gardens and also built a palace called Gowri Mahal, which according to popular tradition, was located in the present-day  Basavangudi extension. Besides, he also stayed at Kolar and Doddaballapura and spent summers at Nandi.

Shahaji appointed several Brahmins from the Pune region to the Bangalore administration. Meanwhile, Dadoji Kondadev revived the revenue system in Pune, and remitted surplus revenue to Shahaji's treasury in Bangalore.Shahaji Bhosle was very expert in the Guerrilla fight and brought his family into the limelight in the History.

Shahaji Raje was married to two more women after Jijabai named Tukabai and Narsabai.Tukabai, came from the Mohite family.Their son, Venkoji, ruled the Maratha kingdom of Tanjore. Tukabai's niece her brother's daughter, Soyrabai became the second wife of Shivaji.Narasabai give birth to Santaji Raje Bhosle.