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Rajaram was the child of Shivaji Maharaj & Soyarabai. As a result, Sambhaji was not invited for Rajaram’s wedding and moreover he was not even informed of the sudden death of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj a few days thereafter. This process caused further widening of the rift between Sambhaji on one side, and Soyarabai on the other. This came as a rude and extremely sad shock to Shivaji. For almost one year, Sambhaji left Shivaji’s kingdom and joined Aurangzeb’s commander, Diler Khan as part of politics.
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The politics fuelled by the wife Soyarabai, of Shivaji Maharaj, with some other courtiers led to Sambhaji’s estrangement. Estrangement and reconciliation with his father During 1675-76 he led successful campaigns in Goa and Karnataka. He led and won his first war at Ramnagar at the age of 16. As a prince, Sambhaji proved his bravery and military brilliance on more than one occasion. Many visiting dignitaries at the coronation ceremony have written about his acumen, intelligence, personality and most important of all, his modesty. On June 6th, 1674 at the time of the coronation of Shivaji Maharaj, he was declared the prince of the Sovereign Maratha Kingdom. In 1666, he was married to Yesu bai, and later the couple had a son – Shahu.
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He was a scholar of Sanskrit and eight other languages. He was extremely handsome and possessed immense bravery.
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Sambhaji was a tiger cub in the true sense. Initially his stepmother, Soyarabai, also doted on him a lot. After her death, his paternal grandmother Jijabai looked after him. Sambhaji lost his mother Sai bai at the age of 2.
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