Sambhaji, also known as Shambhuraje, was the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Kingdom, ruling from 1681 to 1689. He was the eldest son of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Kingdom. Sambhaji's rule was largely shaped by the ongoing wars between the Marathas and the Mughal Empire, as well as other neighbouring powers such as the Abyssinians of Janjira, Wadiyars of Mysore and the Portuguese Empire in Goa. After Sambhaji's execution by Aurangzeb, his brother Rajaram I succeeded him as the next Chhatrapati and continued the Mughal–Maratha Wars.
Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan Siddiqi also known as Chin Qilich Qamaruddin Khan, Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah and Nizam I, was the first Nizam of Hyderabad.
Abdullah Qutb Shah was the seventh ruler of the kingdom of Golconda in southern India under the Qutb Shahi dynasty. He ruled from 1626 to 1672.
Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, also known as Abul Hasan Tana Shah was the eighth and last ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, sovereign of the Kingdom of Golconda in South India. He ruled from 1672 to 1686. The last Sultan of this Shia Islamic dynasty, Tana Shah is remembered as an inclusive ruler. Instead of appointing only Muslims as ministers, he appointed Brahmin Hindus such as Madanna and Akkanna brothers as ministers in charge of tax collection and exchequer. Towards the end of his reign, one of his Muslim generals defected to the Mughal Empire, who then complained to Aurangzeb about the rising power of the Hindus as ministers in his Golconda Sultanate. Aurangzeb sent a regiment led by his son, who beheaded Tana Shah's Hindu ministers and plundered the Sultanate. In 1687, Aurangzeb ordered an arrest of Tana Shah, who was then imprisoned at the Daulatabad Fort. He died in prison in 1699.
Rajaram Bhonsle I was the third Chhatrapati of the Maratha Kingdom, who ruled from 1689 to his death in 1700. He was the second son of the Shivaji, the founder of the empire and younger half-brother of Sambhaji, whom he succeeded. His eleven-year reign was marked with a constant struggle against the Mughals. He was succeeded by his infant son Shivaji II under the regentship of his dowager Maharani Tarabai.
The Deccan wars were a series of military conflicts between the Mughal Empire and the descendants of the Maratha ruler Shivaji from the time of Shivaji's death in 1680 until the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707. Shivaji was a central figure in what has been called "the Maratha insurgency" against the Mughal state. Both he and his son, Sambhaji, or Shambuji, typically, alternated between rebellion against the Mughal state and service to the Mughal sovereign in an official capacity. It was common practice in late 17th-century India for members of a ruling family of a small principality to both collaborate with the Mughals and rebel.
Santaji Ghorpade (1660–1696) was a Maratha general and held the esteemed position of the 7th Senapati within the Maratha Empire during the reign of Chattrapati Rajaram I. He is widely regarded as one of the foremost experts in Guerrilla warfare. Santaji Ghorpade, in collaboration with Dhanaji Jadhav, conducted a series of successful campaigns against the Mughals from 1689 to 1696. His strategic acumen was demonstrated through the adept utilization of tactics such as guerrilla warfare, ambushes, and swift mobility, ultimately resulting in effective defeats of the Mughal Army. In recognition of his valor, Rajaram bestowed upon him the title of Mamlakat-Madar in 1690.
Tulapur is a village in Pune district, Maharashtra, India, associated with the last execution of Sambhaji, second Chatrapati of Hindavi Swarajya and son of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Madanna and Akkanna were two Brahmin brothers who rose to prominence in the 17th-century in the final two decades of the Golkonda sultanate. They helped Abul Hasan Qutb Shah come to power, who appointed them as ministers in his court. He made them responsible for collecting jizya taxes from the Hindus – predominant part of the Sultanate's population. By the 1680s, according to the colonial era Dutch India archives, they controlled all the tax collection and the exchequer of the Golkonda Sultanate. According to Gijs Kruijtzer – a historian specializing in Deccan Sultanates, the Madanna and Akkanna brothers can be viewed as early "nationalists" seeking the welfare of their people and the general public. They can also be viewed as "communalists" who criticized the Muslim elites as exploitative who do not care about non-Muslims, who serve the interest of their holy land in Arabia, and seek personal gain. The two brothers spent the taxes they collected in Golconda on the "welfare of the public", states Kruijtzer, which included furthering trade with the colonial Dutch, building public sarai, as well as restoring and building temples.
The Jedhe Shakawali. or Jedhe Chronology, is a bare record of events from 1618 to 1697, kept by the Jedhe Deshmukhs of Kari village, near Bhor in the Pune district. It is a valuable source for the political history of the formative period of Maratha Empire. It was first edited by B.G. Tilak and published by Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, Pune, in 1916.
The siege of Golconda was a siege of Golconda Fort between the Qutb Shahi dynasty and the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, occurring in January 1687, lasting 8 months. The fort was home of the Kollur Mine. The Golconda Fort was considered to be an impregnable fort on the Indian subcontinent. At the end of the siege, Aurangzeb and the Mughals entered Golconda victorious.
The siege of Bijapur began in March 1685 and ended in September 1686 with a Mughal victory. The siege began when Aurangzeb dispatched his son, Muhammad Azam Shah, with a force of nearly 50,000 men to capture Bijapur Fort and defeat Sikandar Adil Shah, the then Sultan of Bijapur, who refused to be a vassal of the Mughal Empire. The siege of Bijapur was among the longest military engagements of the Mughals, lasting more than 15 months until Aurangzeb personally arrived to organise a victory.
Mirza Muhammad Sultan was the eldest son of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and his second wife Nawab Bai. His younger brother Muazzam later became Emperor as Bahadur Shah I in 1707.
The history of Telangana, located on the high Deccan Plateau, includes its being ruled by the Satavahana Dynasty, the Kakatiya Dynasty (1083–1323), the Musunuri Nayaks (1326–1356), the Delhi Sultanate, the Bahmani Sultanate (1347–1512), Golconda Sultanate (1512–1687) and Asaf Jahi dynasty (1724–1950).
The Maratha Navy was the naval wing of the armed forces of the Maratha Confederacy, which existed from around the mid-17th century to the mid-18th century in the Indian subcontinent.
The Battle of Wai was fought in the fall of 1687 as a part of the Mughal–Maratha Wars. Maratha king Sambhaji sent his forces to counteract Shirja Khan, sent by Aurangzeb for the purpose of conquering Raigad.
Mubariz Khan was the Mughal governor of Gujarat and Hyderabad Subah. He was the governor of Golconda from 1713 to 1724 until he was killed during the Battle of Shakar Kheda where he fought against Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I. His is known to have ruled Golconda with a free hand and brought it under stable rule from constant Maratha Raids to extract Chauth. He is generally described as a proto-dynastic figure by John F. Richards.
Bahadur Khan Kokaltash was a foster-brother to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and the Subahdar of Lahore, Burhanpur and the Deccan. Aurangzeb had two foster-brothers, the other being Fidai Khan Koka, of which Bahadur Khan was Aurangzeb's favourite. Bahadur was the Senior General of the Mughal Empire and a closer companion to the emperor Aurangzeb. He was one of the military commanders of the Mughals who assisted in the deafeat of the Maratha Confederacy in three major battles, and lost one in his involvement in the Mughal–Maratha Wars. He was buried in his tomb, located in present-day Pakistan. His father Mir Abu’l-Ma'ali was given the title of Sayyid-e Khafi" by Aurangzeb. Through his son Shah Quli Khan, he had a grandson Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal.
Hyderabad Subah, also known as Golconda Subah, was a province of the Mughal Empire encompassing the eastern Deccan region of the Indian subcontinent. It was created in 1687, during the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, by the annexation of the Golconda Sultanate. Hyderabad Subah later began to secede in the 18th century, as the Mughal Empire declined, and became fully independent as part of the Nizam-administered Deccan.
The Execution of Sambhaji was a significant event in 17th-century Deccan India, where the second Maratha King was put to death by order of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The conflicts between the Mughals and the Deccan Sultanates, which resulted in the downfall of the Sultanates, paved the way for tensions between the Marathas and the Mughals. Following the death of Shivaji, his son Sambhaji ascended to the throne and conducted several campaigns against the Mughals. This led Aurangzeb to launch a campaign against the Marathas, resulting in the capture of the Maratha King by the Mughal general Muqarrab Khan. Sambhaji and his minister Kavi Kalash were then taken to Tulapur, where they were tortured to death.
