16 interesting facts about the great Shivaji | Maratha empire

Facts about the founder of Marathas empire : Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was one of the divine king who found the Maratha empire and successfully brought back the legacy and sovereignty of India in the 17th century which was doomed by the Islamic invaders. He had put the foundation of Maratha empire in 1674 after successfully defeating the Mughal, Sultan of Bijapur, Siddis, Portugese, the English. He not just proven his strength on the mainland but also in the Indian Ocean. He is the father of Indian Navy.

Below are 16 interesting facts about the founder of Maratha empire : i.e. Shivaji Maharaj

1. He used to live in an unostentatious manner with his soldiers. No dancing girls or women, no drinking booths, no wine and other intoxicants were allowed in the camps.
2. He used to take only one meal a day.
3. People in town live in wonders of how Shivaji Maharaj and his army in their most of the expeditions achieved rapidity of movement without equipage and commissariat department. 
4. In the Surat expedition of 1664, Shivaji Maharaj was sitting or resting under a tree without any tent. Even in the Karnataka expedition there were only two tents, one for himself and another for ministers. While on the other side ,the Army of the Mughal used to take heavy equipments , tents and women (for pleasure) with them during their expeditions.
5. Chhatrapati Shivaji’s famous sword was preserved and regarded with nothing short of idolatrous veneration.
6. All houses of Gods, like temples, mosques , churches and Convents were exempted from plundering. Not even a single ruler around the world like Alexander ,Caesar or Napoleon, had shown such courtesy to society. 
7. Though Shivaji Maharaj had married several women for political gain, he never indulged himself in sexual excesses like Akbar ,Jahangir and Shahjahan. He led a noble Family life. Even in his youth he refused to accept the hand of the captive beauty of Kalyan.
8. Even his biggest opponent Aurangzeb on his death-bed at Aurangabad had shown guts and the generosity and vision to appreciate the virtues of Shivaji Maharaj who though dead, was present in the battle-fields in Spirit and was encouraging his soldiers.
9. On the advice of his Guru Samarth Ramdas, he had posed the colour of his flag as bhagva ( fringe) . And he was the one who had banned Jauhar of women which was his promise to Samarth Ramdas. Instead of doing Jouhar, women were said to chant the name of ” Ram-Ram “.
10. He was always awake and conscious of following every turn and winding of Aurangzeb’s treacherous policy. 
11. Women were neither killed nor made captives of War. People used to take advantage of the rule of not capturing women by escaping in female dress as was done during the Karanja loot.
12. From the Mughal side, Rai Bagin, a lady general who had fought against Shivaji had been defeated but she was released with all honour. During the Karnatak campaign, when the Desain of Belvadi after submission was ill-treated by one of his officers, Shivaji had the latter blinded and interned. 
13. He was always prepared for every emergency, peril couldn’t daunt him nor the success intoxicated him. 
14. The Bakhars record shows that Shivaji Maharaj used to get hypnotic fits wherein he sought the advice office Guardian goddess Bhavani. The words spoken by him during these ecstatic fits were written down by his Private Secretary Balaji Avaji. He had a great intuitive power.
15. People had begun to call him a superman, as a favorite of fortune, a man of destiny who had been born to avenge and restore Hinduism. 
16. He built new temples, repaired old ones and established idols in them. Donated a large sum of money for their expenses. Before his coronation, he had visited Chiplun and Pratapgarh and engaged himself in performing devotional ceremonies for several days. At the time of coronation, around 20,000 brahmins were present at Raigarh.