Chhaava

A messenger informs Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb of the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Although Aurangzeb acknowledges the loss of a formidable enemy, he announces a celebration. His courtiers are confident that the Maratha Confederacy will soon collapse. However, Shivaji’s son and successor, Sambhaji, quickly takes charge of continuing the resistance. He launches a sudden attack on Burhanpur, a key Mughal province. The city’s defenders are caught off guard by the Maratha army and are defeated in the assault. During the battle, Sambhaji steps on a trapdoor and falls into a chamber housing a lion. He bravely faces the animal and splits its jaw apart with his bare hands. Aurangzeb learns of the attack and realises that the Maratha resistance endures. He commences a huge military crusade to protect his authority.

Meanwhile, Sambhaji is welcomed home by his wife Yesubai, where he is formally crowned as the Chhatrapati. However, his stepmother, Soyarabai, and a few courtiers including Annaji Datto Sachiv, conspire to overthrow Sambhaji and install Soyarabai’s son, Rajaram, on the throne. Elsewhere, Aurangzeb’s army raids villages, committing mass murders, arson, and rapes while simultaneously taking several inhabitants as slaves and subjecting them to torture. Mirza Muhammad Akbar, Aurangzeb’s estranged son, seeks assistance from Sambhaji to rebel against his father. When Sambhaji hesitates, Akbar exposes his own discreet communication with Soyarabai and her intention to subvert the king; a devastated Sambhaji promises to protect Akbar and executes the treacherous courtiers while Soyarabai is confronted by Hambirrao Mohite, her own brother and Sambhaji’s loyal general.

Sambhaji implements guerrilla tactics to subdue Aurangzeb’s forces, who incur heavy losses due to the attacks and the Deccan’s challenging topography. Soyarabai soon dies of illness and Sambhaji takes the responsibility of Rajaram and arranges his wedding with Hambirrao’s daughter, Tarabai. Hambirrao later dies in one of the battles. Meanwhile, Aurangzeb feels insulted by the persistent defeats and vows to remain uncrowned until Sambhaji is crushed. Zinat-un-Nissa, his daughter, plans to imprison her brother, Mirza Akbar, but Sambhaji foils her plans, sticking to his oath. Upon discovering that several Jagirdars are apostatising, Sambhaji convenes a conference in Sangameshwar and inspires them to fight and sustain the Confederacy. However, Yesubai’s resentful brothers deceive Sambhaji and help the Mughals in locating him on a night while he is with a small army of 150.

The Mughal army implements its ambush and the Maratha soldiers are heavily outnumbered; Maratha generals Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav survive the onslaught and are instructed to leave and apprise Yesubai of the ambuscade. Sambhaji valiantly fights and kills many Mughal soldiers until he is captured alongside his friend and advisor, Kavi Kalash. Sambhaji and Kavi Kalash are carried off to the camps of Aurangzeb, who offers Sambhaji a chance to surrender and join hands with them, but he refuses to renounce his ideals and declares that the Marathas will continue to fight for “Swaraj”. Kavi Kalash is subsequently executed and Sambhaji is subjected to a 40 days brutal torture: salt is rubbed on his wounds; his fingernails are pulled out; hot iron rods are pierced into his eyes, and his tongue is torn out. Nevertheless, he remains defiant and eventually succumbs to his injuries; Aurangzeb is left dissatisfied and grieves over not having a son like him.

Elsewhere, Yesubai endorses the Maratha resistance on behalf of her husband and crowns Rajaram as the next Chhatrapati. A textual epilogue reveals that the Maratha Empire eventually triumphed and the Mughal Empire collapsed within three decades of Sambhaji’s passing.

Last Updated: August 20, 2025 at 13:10