हिंदीOn this day

Siege of Jinji

SideMarathasChhatrapati Rajaram
1690vs
VictorMughal empireZulfiqar Khan

For eight years one of the strongest forts of the south held the Maratha king and tied down a large Mughal army far from the Deccan.

Date: 1690–1698 CEWhere: Gingee (Senji) fort, Villupuram district, Tamil NaduType: Siege
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Result

The Mughals took the fort in 1698, but Rajaram had already escaped to Maharashtra.

01Three hills, one fort

Gingee is built over three rocky hills, Rajagiri, Krishnagiri and Chandrayandurg, joined by walls. Shivaji had taken it in 1677 on his southern campaign. After Sambhaji’s death Rajaram made his way there in disguise and set up his court. Zulfiqar Khan invested the fort in 1690, but the siege dragged on for years. Maratha armies under Santaji and Dhanaji came to its relief, and Mughal officers were said to be in no hurry to end it.

02The escape

Late in 1697 Rajaram slipped out of Gingee and reached Vishalgad in Maharashtra. The fort fell to the Mughals in January 1698. By then the war had moved back north, and the Marathas had a king among them again.

Chhatrapati Rajaram
Person · 1670–1700 CE; Chhatrapati 1689–1700Chhatrapati RajaramShivaji’s younger son took charge in February 1689, days after Sambhaji was seized, and kept the Maratha state alive for eleven years while Aurangzeb’s whole army sat in the Deccan. He did it from the far south, from the fort of Jinji.Read →
Why it matters

Jinji kept the Maratha state alive in its darkest decade by giving its king a refuge the Mughals could not reach.

People

Chhatrapati RajaramRuler
1670–1700 CE; Chhatrapati 1689–1700

Chhatrapati Rajaram

Third Chhatrapati, who held Swarajya from Jinji