Maratha commander Santaji Ghorpade

Santaji Ghorpade was a prominent general during the reign of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. Santaji Ghorpade belonged to the senior Ghorpade clan of the Maratha Empire. Santaji and Dhanaji Jadhav together had launched several successful campaigns against the Mughals. When Aurangzeb treacherously captured Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and killed him, Malhoji Ghorpade also attained martyrdom while fighting with Chhatrapati Sambhaji and Santaji Ghorpade was the son of Malhoji Ghorpade. The entire Maratha Empire was enraged by this incident and everyone united. After Sambhaji Maharaj, his younger brother was crowned on the post.

Aurangzeb was camping with his huge army at a place called Tulapur in Maharashtra. Santaji and Dhanaji suddenly attacked Tulapur. Santaji, well versed in guerrilla warfare, along with his Maratha heroes attacked Aurangzeb's army like a wounded tiger. Santaji, along with his companions, started cutting the Mughals like carrots and radishes. The Mughals started shouting loudly due to the sudden attack of Santaji's Marathas in Tulapur. On one side, the entire Mughal army was busy saving Aurangzeb's life, while on the other side, the Marathas were piling up the corpses of the Mughals. The Marathas entered the Mughal camp. There was so much massacre that Aurangzeb somehow managed to save his life and ran away. The Marathas cut the two gold urns placed on top of Aurangzeb's camp and returned to the Sinhagarh fort.



The next day, when the morning came, Aurangzeb was shocked to see the scene of the death of the Mughals. After this incident, panic spread among the Mughals and their army. According to Mughal historian Kaafi Khan, any Mughal soldier who faced the dreaded Santaji was either killed or imprisoned. Eventually, the situation became such that the Mughal army would panic on hearing the name of Santaji. Just two days after this incident, Santaji attacked the Raigad fort. He killed the army of Mughal Sardar Zulfikar Khan, who had imprisoned Chhatrapati Sambhaji's wife Yesubai, and created a massacre in the Raigad fort as well. He captured the Mughals' priceless treasure, horses and five elephants and brought them to Panhala.

Now it was the turn of Mukarram Khan, who had imprisoned Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj by treachery and deceit. Mukarram Khan was appointed as the governor of Maharashtra's Kolhapur and Konkan provinces by Aurangzeb.Start writing...In December 1689, the Marathas surrounded Mukarram Khan's huge army and repeated the same scene of massacre that they had done in Tuljapur. In a fierce battle, Santaji Ghorpade chased Mukarram Khan and killed him. Seeing the plight of Mukarram Khan, who was covered in blood, the Mughal army took him to the jungles and fled, but Mukarram Khan died there in agony. By killing Mukarram Khan, the Marathas avenged the death of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.

Pleased with the courage and bravery of Santaji Ghorpade, in 1691, Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj declared him the Commander-in-Chief of the Maratha Empire. After this, Santaji with double the courage headed towards Karnataka with a Maratha army of 15 to 20 thousand. After crossing the Krishna river, they declared victory of the Maratha Empire in Mughal areas one after the other and drove away Aurangzeb's army from there. Aurangzeb kept running here and there in the Sahyadri mountains out of fear of the Marathas. For 27 years, the Marathas made Aurangzeb run around so much that it became difficult for him to live. Finally, after the continuous defeat of the Mughals at the hands of the Marathas, Aurangzeb became disappointed and went to his hole. It was Santaji Ghorpade who cut off Aurangzeb's nose with his war campaigns and also proved Aurangzeb a fugitive in history.

Santaji Ghorpade was born in 1660 in the house of Mahaloji Ghorpade. He was skilled in guerrilla warfare. He was the sixth Maratha commander during the reign of Rajaram Bhosale. He also supported Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Sambhaji Maharaj in the war. He remained loyal to the Maratha Empire throughout his life and served selflessly for Swarajya till his death.


No matter how long the journey was, Santaji would complete it in the shortest possible time and while doing so he would also lead his army in the truest sense. This would be even more accurate in difficult battles. From this we can guess his expertise.



During the reign of Rajaram, Santaji Ghorpade received the rank of "Panchhajari Adhikari" (Commander of 5,000 soldiers).



Santaji fought many battles along with Dhanaji Jadhav. During the period 1689-1696, both Santaji and Dhanoji continuously attacked the Mughals together. The union of these two was truly a union of strength and wisdom. Santaji and Dhanaji together attacked Aurangzeb's general Sheikh Nizam and captured his army, elephants and horses, as he had his eyes on Panhala fort. Santaji defeated many of Aurangzeb's generals, took over the Mughal treasures, arms and livestock in Doderi, Qasim Khan, Alimardan Khan, Sheikh Nizam and Desor in Karnataka.


Santaji's political incompetence and his harsh words led to an incident that broke Dhanaji's relationship with Rajaram. Once while talking to Rajaram in Jinji fort, Santaji said to him in harsh words that "Chhatrapatis exist because of me and I can make or remove Chhatrapatis as per my wish". Due to this, he left from there and from here he departed from the Maratha Empire. After this, Dhanaji was made the new army chief and on knowing this, Santaji became even more angry.


Rajaram ordered Dhanaji to attack Santaji. Dhanaji lost the battle and fled. After all this, Santaji took Rajaram hostage and told him, "Today I am your loyal soldier. My anger was only that you were putting Dhana (Dhanji) on my level and trying to reach Gingee with his help. Now I will do whatever you say." That is why he let Rajaram go. Santaji Ghorpade was brave, loyal and full of military strategy, but he lacked the understanding of political strategy. For his bravery he was awarded the title of "Mamalkat Madar". His name was written in golden letters among the brave warriors of the Maratha Empire. This is an event of historical importance which is presented to you on the basis of Google and Marathi history. My aim is to bring the bravery of the Marathas in front of everyone.