SHIVAJI MAHARAJ BIRTH.

Those were very unsettled days. Shahjahan from the North had despatched a big army to conquer the Deccan. Pune, the principal town of Shahaji Raje’s Jagir was burned to the ground by Adilshah of Bijapur. Shahaji Raje was in real trouble. He found himself between the devil and the deep sea, and was constantly on the run. Jijabai was pregnant and the great question which worried Shahaji Raje was some place where she could remain in safety and peace. Then he remembered the Shivneri fort and decided to send Jijabai there. Shivneri was a strong fort near Junnar in Pune district. It had steep cliffs on four sides, strong fortifications and massive doors. This strong fort was then in charge of Vijayraj, a relative of the Bhonsales. He agreed to give protection to Jijabai. So Shahaji Raje left her there and marched against the Moghuls And then the golden day dawned. On the auspicious day of Phalgun Vadya Tritiya, in the year 1551 of the Shaka era, that is, on 19 February 1630, to the sound of pipes and drums playing in the ‘Nagar Khana’, Jijabai gave birth to a son. All the residents of the fort were overjoyed. On the twelfth day, with appropriate ceremony, the child was named ‘Shivaji’ as the child was born on Fort Shivneri.