Sambhaji (Sambhajiraje Shivajiraje Bhonsle, Marathi pronunciation: [saːmˈbʱaːdʑiː ˈbʱos(ə)le]; c.14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689), also known as Shambhuraje, was the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire, ruling from 1681 to 1689.

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

[4] At the age of nine, Sambhaji was sent to live with Raja Jai Singh I of Amber as a political hostage to ensure compliance of 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.

After Shivaji returned from his Southern campaign (Dakshin digvijay), he stationed Sambhaji at Sajjangad, hoping to improve the latter's attitude.

A liaison was already established between Sambhaji and Diler Khan, now the sole person in charge of Mughal affairs in south Dakhan.

[9]: 48  Shivaji's widow and Sambhaji's stepmother, Soyrabai after her husband's death installed the couple's son, Rajaram, a lad of 10, on the throne on 21 April 1680.

The prince informed Sambhaji of the plot who then executed [17] 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.

[23] For five years, Akbar stayed with Sambhaji, hoping that the latter would lend him men and money to strike and seize the Mughal throne for himself.

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.

[28] The Marathas under Shivaji came into conflict with the Siddis, Muslims of Abyssinian descent settled in India, over the control of the Konkan coast.

[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.

Sambhaji returned to counter them and his remaining troops were unable to overcome the Janjira garrison and the Siddi fleet protecting it.

[33] In order to deny this support to the Mughals, Sambhaji invaded the Portuguese territories of Bardez and Salcette with 20,000 Maratha soldiers.

According to an account by Padre Francisco de Souza, Marathas looted, destroyed Churches and raped Christian women.

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

[38][39] 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 Gordon Stewart, he had "badly alienated" deshmukh families by "burning villages to deny supplies to Goa" during the conflict with the Portuguese.

Accounts of Sambhaji's confrontation with the Mughal ruler and following torture, execution and disposal of his body, vary widely depending on the source, though generally all agree that he was tortured and executed on the emperor's orders.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.

[40] 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.

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.

It also called back the people who had absconded because of their inability to pay taxes and asked them to carry on their previous work of cultivation.

[49] Sambhaji in his letter of 3 June 1684 addressed to Hari Shivdev (Subhedar and Karkun of Tarf Chaul), directed his Peshwa Nilkantha Moreshwar to bring the agricultural land of the villages confiscated by the government under cultivation which otherwise would have remained uncultivated.

Hari Kavi also authored Subhashitaharavalli and composed the Sanskrit biography Shambhuraja Charitra on Sambhaji's life and romance in 1684.

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.