Thread by @SanaatanTales

𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑨𝑷𝑨𝑻𝑰 𝑺𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑱𝑰 𝑮𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑷𝑨𝑫𝑬

🚩Senapati Santaji Ghorpade (1642-1697) the '𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐧 𝐃𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐫' whose name was terror to Mughals from Pune to Chennai.

🚩The man who put fear in the heart of Aurangzeb. Between 1689 and 1697 when he died, Santaji defeated and captured several Mughal generals in Maharashtra, Karnataka and today's Tamil Nadu.

🚩On one occasion Santaji came close to killing Aurangzeb and on another occasion he could have captured the emperor alive. The best part is that even Mughal history which is full of abuses and epithets for him records his exploits.

🚩 Santaji created such fear with his surprise and crushing raids on the Mughals that they were reduced to mocking themselves in the fear of Santaji. For example, when their horse refused to drink water on a river bank the Mughal soldier would ask the horse :

“𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒋𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒋𝒊 (𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓) 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓?".

🚩Santaji had always been a great commander but the best of him came only after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje, son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhonsle, heroically embraced death by torture instead of accepting Islam as asked by Aurangzeb after he was caught alive by Mughals in 1689.

🚩The fearless manner in which Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje courted death for the sake of religion steeled the hearts of the Marathas and set them on the path of avenging the death of their sovereign. Santaji was foremost amongst these.

🚩Soon after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje’s death, Santaji and Vithoji Chavan, another daring Maratha captain who was given the title of Himmat Bahadur, achieved an extraordinary feat of valor and dexterity that struck terror in the heart of Aurangzeb himself.

🚩On a rainy night they swooped down on the royal tent of Aurangzeb at his camp in Koregaon near Satara and brought the huge cloth edifice down by cutting its supporting ropes, leaving several dead.

🚩Aurangzeb was however saved because he was in the neighbouring tent of his daughter Zinnatunisa on that night. They decamped with the Golden Pinnacles (Kalash) that adorned the top of the royal tent and kept it as a trophy.

🚩On another occasion Santaji could have captured Aurangzeb alive when the emperor was passing through a remote area with a slender escort. Only a kind providence saved him.

🚩 On yet another occasion when Aurangzeb’s highest general Firoz Jung, father of the 1st Nizam who founded the State of Hyderabad, came to know that Santaji was just a few kilometers away from him in Karnatak he just fled the place with his army to avoid an encounter with him.

🚩Unfortunately Santaji was killed, not by a Mughal but a Maratha, as a result of an internal fued amongst the Marathas under Chatrapati Rajaram, second son of Chhatrapati Shivaji.

🚩But his memory as a great fighter is still cherished by all classes of people not just in Maharashtra but also Karnataka and part of Tamil Nadu where he fought many of his battles.

🚩His descendents founded many States including Sandur and Gajendragadh in Karnataka and the Jagirdari of Kapshi in Maharashtra.

Courtesy - Shrimant Uday Mahurkar

#𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒