Soyarabai Bhosale (née Mohite) was the second wife of Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha empire in western India.
After the death of Saibai in 1659 and Jijabai in 1674, Soyarabai gained prominence in Shivaji's family and, by extension, in the politics of the Maratha court.
They poisoned the mind of Empress Soyarabai by saying that the eldest son of Shivaji (Sambhaji) should not be allowed to inherit the throne".
After Shivaji's death in 1680, with the help of those treacherous courtiers, Soyarabai finally got her son, the ten-year-old prince Rajaram, seated on the vacant throne on 21 April 1680.
[citation needed] In a letter dated 27 October 1681, written by British Bombay council to Surat, they claim that "Ramrajah's Mother (Soyra Bai) is dead by report, poisoned by Shambhuji Rajah's contrivance "[9] This has been declared a myth by various reputed scholars such as Dr. Sadashiv Shivade and Vasudeo Sitaram Bendrey, as Soyarabai died a year and a half after this date of her alleged murder and was cremated by Chhatrapati Sambhaji himself.