Shivaji House

The house was named after chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (9 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), was a Maratha sovereign who founded the Maratha Empire, which, at its peak, covered much of the Indian subcontinent, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km².Shivaji as an aristocrat of the Bhosle clan led a resistance to free the Maratha people from the Sultanate of Bijapur and the Mughal Empire and established a Hindavi Swarajya (“self-rule of Hindu people”). He created an independent Maratha kingdom with Raigad as its capital.He was crowned as Chhatrapati (“sovereign”) of the Maratha empire in 1674.

He established a competent and progressive civil rule with the help of a well-regulated and disciplined military and well-structured administrative organizations. He also innovated rules of military engagement, pioneering the “Shiva sutra” or ganimi kava (guerrilla tactics), which leveraged strategic factors like geography, speed, surprise and focused pinpoint attacks to defeat his larger and more powerful enemies. From a small contingent of 2,000 soldiers inherited from his father, he created a formidable force of 100,000 soldiers. He built and restored forts located strategically inland and on seashores for secure lands and coastline. He revived ancient Hindu political tradition & court conventions, and promoted Marathi and Sanskrit in court and administration usage.

Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri, near the Junnar city in Pune district in the year. His exact date of birth has been a matter of dispute among the various historians in the past. The Maharashtra state government now accepts the 3rd day of the dark half of Phalguna, year 1551 of Shaka calendar (Friday, 19 February 1630) as the true birthdate of Shivaji. Other suggested dates include 6 April 1627, or other dates near this day. He was named on the twelfth day after goddess Shivadevi whose temple was in the fort.