Siege of Bhupalgarh

01The prince in the enemy camp

In December 1678 Sambhaji, Shivaji’s eldest son, then about twenty-one and at odds with the court, left Sajjangad and joined Diler Khan, Aurangzeb’s commander in the Deccan. Diler Khan welcomed him and marched against Bhupalgarh, a fort where many families of the region had stored their goods for safety. The Marathas believed Sambhaji’s presence would make the garrison hesitate. Its commander, Phirangoji Narsala, the veteran who had defended Chakan in 1660, was reluctant to fire on his king’s son.

02Cruelty and return

The fort fell in April 1679. Diler Khan had many of the captured men maimed, cutting off a hand from each, and sold others into slavery; the Marathas remembered it with horror. Sambhaji saw this, and saw too that Diler Khan meant to send him to Aurangzeb as a prisoner. In December 1679 he escaped from the Mughal camp and returned to Panhala, where Shivaji received him. Four months later Shivaji died, and Sambhaji became Chhatrapati.

Person · 1630–1680 CE; crowned 1674Chhatrapati Shivaji MaharajBorn at Shivneri on 19 February 1630, Shivaji built a free Maratha state from a handful of hill forts around Pune, outfought Bijapur and the Mughals, escaped from Aurangzeb’s court, and was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad on 6 June 1674.Read →