War of 27 years
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War of 27 years was a series of battles fought between Marathas and Mughals from 1681 to 1707 in the Indian subcontinent. It was the longest fought war in the history of Indian subcontinent.
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[edit] Background
Shivaji, the founder of Maratha empire died in 1680. By that time, Marathas had emerged as a power to be reckoned with. After conquest of many places in south, the empire had spread across entire stretch of Indian peninsula. It was not in the interest of mughal expansion policy in south. Hence this war took place. It started with invasion of Maratha empire by Mughals under the rulership of Aurangzeb in 1681. It had three distinct phases:
- 1681 to 1689 - Fall of Raigad with capture of Sambhaji
- 1689 to 1699 - Fall of Gingee with death of Rajaram
- 1699 to 1707 - Marathas under Tarabai, their victory with death of Aurangzeb during retreat from the war
[edit] 1681 to 1689 - Fall of Raigarh with capture of Sambhaji
Before his death, Shivaji had mastered entire Deccan and emerged as a sole power to challenge mughals. Bijapur kingdom was in decline. Hyderabad kingdom was paying tribute to Shivaji. Mughals failed to control the rise of Marathas. Hence Aurangzeb made the final attempt to subdue them. In the first half of 1681, many contingents were despatched to lay siege to Maratha forts on the border of present day Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. By end of 1681, mughal general laid siege to Fort Ramsej. But Marathas did not succumb to this onslaught. The attack was well received.
Aurangzeb arrived at Kirkee, mughal headquarter of Deccan, made it as his capital and renamed it to Aurangabad. Hereafter for practical purpose, it was the mughal capital. Mughal contingnets were in between 150,000 and 200,000.
[edit] 1689 to 1699 - Fall of Gingee with death of Rajaram
The heroic death of Sambhaji rekindled the spirit of valor in the minds of Marathas, which made Aurangzeb's mission impossible. In the same year and at the same place where Sambhaji was tortured to death, Santaji Ghorpade attacked imperial camp, defeated one of their portions and brought disgrace to them. Now war was fought from Malwa plateua to east coast. Such was the strategy of Maratha commanders to counter the might of the mughals. Maratha generals Ramchandrapant Amatya and Shankaraji Niraji maintained Maratha stronghold in the rugged terrains of Sahyadri.
In a number of brilliant movements of cavalry, Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav defeated mughals. It was their offensive, specially that of Santaji, which struck terror in the hearts of the mughals. In the battle of Attani, Santaji defeated Kasim Khan, a noted general of mughals.
[edit] 1699 to 1707 - Marathas under Tarabai, their victory with death of Aurangzeb during retreat from the war
After death of Rajaram, his widow queen Tarabai assumed the charge of the empire. She herself took to the field and remained mobile and vigil during the crisis. In words of Jadunath Sarkar, 'It is her character that saved the nation in that awful crisis.' By 1705, Marathas had penetrated mughal possession of Central India and Gujarat. Nemaji Shinde defeated mughals in Malwa plateu. By 1706, Mughals started retreating from Maratha dominions. Aurangzeb died at Ahmednagar in 1707. Defeated mughals released grandson of Shivaji, Shahu from their captivity.
