The story of the Marathas starts with Shivaji for most of us. The action happened in what is called the Deccan and its geography and politics plays an important role. We must understand what the Deccan means, who ruled there and what was the condition of the Deccan part of India before, and when, Shivaji was born.

'I did not come here just to receive the royal honour. My son is a panch hazari Mansabdar under the Badshah. He can be made to stand wherever the Badshah wishes him to. But I am not a servant of the Badshah! I am a Raja in my own right!' The three of them returned, unable to convince Shivaji. They explained the situation to the Badshah when Ram Singh said, 'Alijah! It seems the hot Agra weather has not suited Raje. Please pardon him. He will present himself soon.' 'I can understand his fee...

Folklore has it that Chhatrasal sent a wandering bard to Pune with a message for Bajirao. The story goes that the Peshwa heard the bard singing outside his palace- Jo gati grah gajendra ki So gati bhai hai aaj Baaji jaat Bundel ki Baaji rakho laaj Meaning, 'Know you Baji rao; I am in that same sad plight in which a famous elephant was when caught by a crocodile. My valiant race is on the point of extinction. Come and rescue my honour.'

It was the arrival of Robert Clive, as the governor of Bengal which was to change the scene in India permanently. It is interesting to note that Robert Clive started his career as a mere clerk in East India Company. Clive met the emperor at Allahabad and got the permission for himself and the East India Company, the Diwani of the three provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The Diwani gave them the right to collect revenue and dispose of them without the responsibility for the provincial a...

Amir Ali is at his suave and impressive best when he manages to show his skills to Chetoo, the Pindari leader thereby earning his trust. But little did Amir Ali know of the savage ways of their torture and they way they killed, raped and murdered people.

Sambhaji's death was a big blow to the Marathas. He was the rightful heir and a daredevil; someone who could have challenged Aurangzeb had he not been given up by his own family members. The Marathas were not to give up so easily. The few years after Sambhaji's death were ruinous and confusing. Sambhaji's younger brother Rajaram, who was nineteen, and his mother Tarabai stayed at the Raigad fort. Yesaji Kank, a veteran since Shivaji's time, did not waste time to declare Rajaram as the king...

Badi Saheba addressed the august gathering, 'Usne asmzat-e-shahi ko lalkara hai. 'The very might of Bijapur has been challenged.' We need to take our revenge; put him in his place. It is for the sake of our religion. This kafir needs to be punished. Who is the brave man who can do this? Huh? Come on, I am waiting for one of you to pick up the paan.' Little did Afzal Khan know that Shivaji was well prepared and was going to kill him.

The flat plains of Panipat had seen the battle in 1526 and 1555 where Babar defeated Ibrahim Lodi and Akbar defeated the Afghan army led by Hemchandra, aka Hemu, who was captured and beheaded by Behram Khan. Now two and half centuries later, two mega armies stood waiting for a battle. What kind of enemy's strength are we talking of? There are many records, one of them is written by Kasiraj, a sixty year old man, who was part of Bhau's huge army. He wrote his Kasiraj bakhar, nearly nineteen...

Tipu formed a large corps of young Muslim lads whom he called his sons and now provided them with handsome young wives from the Hindu fold. These atrocities were perpetrated during the wet months of 1785. In Malabar he had converted, in one stroke, a hundred thousand Hindus to his faith. Portuguese missionaries wrote that 'he tied naked Christians and Hindus to the legs of elephants and made the elephants move around till the bodies of the helpless victims were torn to pieces.' In 1786 he ...

Suryaji was barely able to speak. He began, 'Maharaj, Tanaji realized we may not be able to climb the steep cliffs but he used his favourite ghorpad (Ghorpad is a monitor lizard in Marathi), Yashwanti. He tied a rope around its waist and it climbed up, securing a foothold using its sharp talons. We all were able to climb up soon. As soon as we entered the fort, the guards woke up and a fight began. We were outnumbered by the enemy troops- there were Arabs, Afghans, Rajputs and Pathans and ...

Nanasaheb had taken the Marathas to the largest extent possible. In south, the Peshwa had won against the Nizam. So there was no challenge there. While Delhi was the capital of the Mughal empire, the power seat was Pune. In 1758 it felt as if the Marathas could hold their power over Punjab sitting in Pune, 1500 kms away. This was a mistake in hindsight. To hold power in the country one had to take charge of the throne at Delhi which the Marathas were unwilling to do allowing the Mughal emp...

The founder of the Marathas, the most revered Chhatrapati Shivaji has fascinating anecdotes which are motivating, stirring and touch the listener.