History of Rani Tarabai:

You must have often heard about those brave warriors of India who defeated foreign invaders for the sake of nation and religion. This list includes many names including heroes like Emperor Prithviraj Chauhan, Maharana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Peshwa Bajirao. You all might know about all this, but most of you might not be familiar with the history of 'Maharani Tarabai', the heroine of the Maratha Empire.

With her bravery and skill, Rani Tarabai saved the Maratha Empire from the Mughal invader Aurangzeb for many years. Rani Tarabai was born in 1675. She was the daughter of Hambirrao Mohite, the general of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. She was married to Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj, step brother of Sambhaji Maharaj and younger son of Shivaji Maharaj.

After the death of Maratha Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj in 1700, Tarabai coronated her 4-year-old son Shivaji II and declared him the Maharaja of the Maratha Empire. By placing her son on the throne, Tarabai protected the Maratha Empire from Aurangzeb and the Mughals. He directly fought Aurangzeb from 1700 to 1707 AD.

During these 7 years, Tarabai continued attacking the Mughals. She would motivate the army and keep changing forts. He started expanding the Marathas by winning the trust of the public and the army. During this time, Tarabai started attacking the Mughal territories from Surat right under the nose of Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb could not win over Tarabai till his death and he died in 1707.

In Publications Division's book 'Bharat Ki Nari Ratna', it is mentioned by historians, “That Maratha queen is like a tigress. Running from one end to the other, from one fort to another, she also considered the problems of the soldiers as her own. She endured the unbearable heat and slept on the ground. She would boost the morale of her soldiers and prepare a strategy to attack the territories captured by the Mughals. His thinking was so careful and his decisions so accurate that both skilled warriors and experienced politicians respected him both on the battlefield and in the court. The Maratha attacks, which initially appeared weak, had now gained so much strength that the foundation of the Mughal Empire was shaken.”

Let us tell you that after brutally killing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's elder son Sambhaji Maharaj and his mother Saibai in 1789, Aurangzeb attacked Rajgarh, the capital of Swaraj (nickname of Maratha Empire). For which he sent an army of 15,000 soldiers and they captured this fort.

Protected Jinji Fort from Mughals for 8 years

When the Mughals captured Raigarh, Tarabai and Rajaram Maharaj escaped safely. Then they reached Gingee Fort, now this place is in Tamil Nadu. This was the last fort of the Maratha Empire in the south. The Mughals wanted to capture this also. For this, Mughal commander Zulfikar Ali Khan struggled for 8 years.

Let us tell you that Zulfikar Ali Khan attacked Gingee Fort for the first time in September 1690. Due to deteriorating health of Rajaram, Tarabai took over the rule. From then till January 1698, the Mughal commander tried to conquer this fort and had to be defeated every time. Along with saving her fort, Tarabai had driven away the Mughals from Maratha land.

It is also said about Rani Tarabai that she used guerrilla warfare a lot. At the same time, he also adopted the bribery policy of Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb used to take advantage in war by bribing the generals of the enemy army. Apart from this, the Queen used other techniques of the royal army. Tarabai and his generals entered the enemy empire and started appointing their own tax collectors. In this way, she was increasing Maratha wealth by collecting taxes from the Mughal territories itself.

The Mughal courtiers were also impressed by Tarabai's bravery:

The Mughals were also impressed by the bravery and war tactics of Queen Tarabai. Bhimsen, an officer of the Mughal army, said about Tarabai, “Tarabai was a stronger ruler than her husband. He controlled the circumstances of that time so well that no Maratha leader did any work without his orders.” Let us tell you that she was also well versed in sword fighting, archery, cavalry, military strategy, diplomacy and all other subjects of statecraft.

Mughal historian Khafi Khan wrote about Queen Tarabai, “She ruled the hearts of Maratha officers. Due to the struggle of Maharani Tarabai, all her plans, her war campaigns and her continuous defeat of the Mughal army till Aurangzeb's death, the power of the Marathas kept increasing day by day.