Sambhaji (Sambhajiraje Shivajiraje Bhonsle, Marathi pronunciation: [saːmˈbʱaːdʑiː ˈbʱos(ə)le]; 14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689), also known as Shambhuraje, ruled from 1681 to 1689 as the second king (Chhatrapati) of the Maratha Empire, a prominent state in early modern India.

He was later confined by his father at Panhala Fort, with theories suggesting that it was due to his addiction to "sensual pleasures" or for violating a Brahmin woman.

Early in his rule, Marathas under Sambhaji attacked and disrupted supply lines and raided into the Mughal territory, although they were unsuccessful in taking over main forts.

Desertions became common by the end of his reign, and he had alienated Maratha deshmukhs (land owners) by burning villages to deny supplies to the Portuguese.

[3]: 80, 91–95 [4] Sambhaji is viewed poorly by historians, who note that his personal problems—and war crimes committed by his soldiers—overshadowed his moderate military and administrative successes.

[5][page needed] Maratha soldiers under Sambhaji's command during his campaigns committed atrocities against civilians including massacres and mass rape.

[8] At the age of nine, Sambhaji was sent to live with Raja Jai Singh I of Amber as a political hostage to ensure compliance with the Treaty of Purandar that Shivaji had signed with the Mughals on 11 June 1665.

During the period between 1666 and 1668, Aurangzeb initially refused but later officially recognized the title of Raja that Shivaji assumed, on behalf of the Mughal Empire, after being pressed by Prince Mu'azzam.

Shivaji then sent Sambhaji with general Prataprao Gujar to take service under Prince Mu'azzam who was the Mughal viceroy at Aurangabad with Diler Khan as his deputy.

Sambhaji visited prince Muazzam at Aurangabad on 4 November 1667 and was then granted rights to territory in Berar on the pretext of revenue collection.

Jivubai was the daughter of Pilaji Shirke, who had entered Shivaji's service following the defeat of Deshmukh Suryaji Surve who was his previous liege.

Contemporary author Khafi Khan suggested that his imprisonment was for personal behavior including alleged irresponsibility and addiction to "sensual pleasures".

On 13 December 1678, Sambhaji escaped with his wife and rejoined Diler Khan for a year, taking with him a small retinue and leaving Sajjangad with the aim of reaching Pedgaon, the Mughal cantonment.

To this end, he devised a proposal to partition his kingdom between his two sons, with Sambhaji receiving the newly acquired regions of Karnatak and coastal Gingee, while Raja Ram was to be given the heartlands of Maharashtra.

[12]: 48  Shivaji's widow and Sambhaji's stepmother, Soyarabai after her husband's death installed the couple's ten-year-old son, Rajaram, on the throne on 21 April 1680.

The prince informed Sambhaji of the plot who then executed Soyarabai, her kinsmen from the Shirke family and Annaji Datto on charges of conspiracy.

Sambhaji's attack on Burhanpur, and granting refuge to prince Akbar, Aurangzeb's fugitive son compelled the latter to move south with the Mughal army.

Sambhaji had prepared well for the invasions and the Maratha forces promptly engaged the numerically strong Mughal army in several small battles using guerilla warfare tactics.

[31] At the start of 1682, a Maratha army later joined by Sambhaji personally, attacked the island for thirty days, doing heavy damage but failing to breach its defenses.

The Maratha then attempted to build a stone causeway from the shore to the island, but were interrupted halfway through when the Mughal army moved to menace Raigad.

][3]: 91 Much like his father Shivaji's Karnataka campaign, Sambhaji attempted in 1681 to invade Mysore, then a southern principality ruled by Wodeyar Chikkadevaraja.

[37][38] During his short reign, Sambhaji faced Mughal efforts to bring many Maratha Deshmukhs on their side, particularly after the demise of Bijapur and Golconda in 1686–87.

Defections had become common by the end of his reign; according to Stewart Gordon, he had "badly alienated" deshmukh families by "burning villages to deny supplies to Goa" during the conflict with the Portuguese.

The captured Sambhaji and Kavi Kalash were taken to the fort of Bahadurgad at Pedgaon in-present-day Ahmednagar district, where Aurangzeb humiliated them by parading them wearing clown's clothes and they were subjected to insults by Mughal soldiers.

[18]: 223  The ulema of the Mughal Empire sentenced Sambhaji to death on allegations of the atrocities his troops perpetrated against Muslims in Burhanpur, including plunder, killing, dishonour, and torture.

After his release, Shahu had to fight a brief succession war with his aunt Tarabai, Rajaram's widow who claimed the throne for her own son, Shivaji II.

The government of Sambhaji gave promises of safety to the Marathas who gained independence from the Mughals and asked them to carry out their previous work of cultivation in their territories.

[42] Sambhaji, in his letter of 3 June 1684, directed his prime minister Nilkantha Moreshwar to bring the agricultural land of the villages confiscated by the government under cultivation which otherwise would have remained uncultivated.

protector of dharma) for his role in shepherding the young Maratha empire, although not all commentators agree on the designation, which implies a religious aspect to his life and governance.

The first author to write an extensive history of the Marathas was James Grant Duff, whose 1826 work painted Sambhaji as an debauched and unfit ruler.