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Shivaji summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Shivaji.

Shivaji, or Sivaji, (born Feb. 19, 1630, or April 1627, Shivner, Pune, India—died April 3, 1680, Raigad), Indian king (r. 1674–80), founder of the Maratha kingdom of India. A devout Hindu, he grew up at a time when India was ruled by Muslims, and he found their religious persecution intolerable. Collecting a band of followers, he began in c. 1655 to seize weak outposts of the sultan of Bijapur. In 1659 he lured the sultan’s army to its destruction and, possessed of its horses and armaments, became overnight a formidable warlord. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb sent out his most prominent general and an army of 100,000 to capture him, but Shivaji made a daring escape. Gaining even more strength, he added a naval force to his military might. In 1674 he proclaimed himself an independent sovereign. He forged an alliance with the sultans in the south, blocking the spread of Mughal rule. His rule was noted for its religious tolerance.

Maharashtra Summary

Maharashtra, state of India, occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan plateau in the western peninsular part of the subcontinent. Its shape roughly resembles a triangle, with the 450-mile (725-km) western coastline forming the base and its interior narrowing to a blunt apex some 500 miles (800

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not

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Maharashtra summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Maharashtra.

Nashik: ghats along the Godavari RiverGhats along the Godavari River in Nashik, Maharashtra, India.

Maharashtra , State, west-central India. Area: 118,800 sq mi (307,690 sq km). Population: (2011) 112,372,972. Capital: Mumbai (Bombay). It is bordered by the Arabian Sea and by the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Goa and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It covers much of the Deccan plateau, containing the valleys of the Krishna, Bhima, and Godavari rivers. The population is a mixture of ethnic groups. Marathi is the state language. The region was divided into Hindu kingdoms in the 8th–13th centuries, which were followed by a series of Muslim dynasties. A Maratha kingdom ruled by 1674, and by the 18th century a Maratha empire had been established. The British gained control early in the 19th century. When India won independence in 1947, the area was known as Bombay state; it was divided on linguistic lines in 1960, creating Gujarat in the north and Maharashtra in the south. Its economy is based on agriculture and manufacturing; industries include oil refining and cotton textiles.

Nagpur Summary

Nagpur, city, northeastern Maharashtra state, western India. It lies along the Nag River and is situated almost at the geographic centre of the country. The landscape in and around Nagpur consists of low flat-topped hills, flat tablelands, and deep, black, fertile soils in the valleys of streams

Mumbai Summary

Mumbai, city, capital of Maharashtra state, southwestern India. It is the country’s financial and commercial center and its principal port on the Arabian Sea. Located on Maharashtra’s coast, Mumbai is India’s most-populous city, and it is one of the largest and most densely populated urban areas in

India Summary

India, country that occupies the greater part of South Asia. It is made up of 28 states and eight union territories, and its national capital is New Delhi, built in the 20th century just south of the historic hub of Old Delhi to serve as India’s administrative center. Its government is a

Shivaji Summary

Shivaji opposed the Mughal dynasty and founded the Maratha kingdom in 17th-century India. His kingdom’s security was based on religious toleration and on the functional integration of Brahmans, Marathas, and Prabhus. Shivaji was descended from a line of prominent nobles. At the time of his birth,