Shahu

Shahu Bhosale I (1682–1749 CE) was the fifth Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire created by his grandfather, Shivaji. Born in the Bhonsle family, he was the son of Sambhaji, Shivaji’s eldest son and successor. Shahu, as a child, was taken prisoner along with his mother in 1689 by Mughal sardar, Zulfikar Khan Nusrat Jang After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, leading Mughal courtiers released Shahu with a force of fifty men, thinking that a friendly Maratha leader would be a useful ally. At that time he fought a brief war with his aunt Tarabai in an internecine conflict to gain the Maratha throne in 1708.Under Shahu’s reign, Maratha power and influence extended to all corners of the Indian subcontinent. He was a powerful ruler of the Maratha samrajya (kingdom) after Shivaji I and Sambhaji I. However, after his death, power moved from the ruling Chhatrapati to his ministers (the Peshwas) and the generals who had carved out their own fiefdoms such as Bhonsle of Nagpur, Gaekwad of Baroda, Sindhia of Gwalior and Holkar of Indore.