War of 27 years

War of 27 years was a series of battles fought between Marathas and Mughals from 1681 to 1707 in the Indian subcontinent. It was the longest fought war in the history of the Indian subcontinent. The Marathas eventually emerged victorious.

Background

Shivaji, the founder of Maratha empire, died in 1680. By that time, Marathas had emerged as a power to be reckoned with. After their conquest of many places in the south, the empire had spread across the entire stretch of Indian peninsula. It stood against Mughal expansion in the south. Hence this war took place. It started with an invasion of the Maratha empire by Mughals under Aurangzeb in 1681. It had three distinct phases:
# 1681 to 1689 - Fall of Raigad with capture of Sambhaji
# 1689 to 1699 - Fall of Gingee with death of Rajaram
# 1699 to 1707 - Victory for the Marathas under Tarabai, with the death of Aurangzeb

1681 to 1689 - Fall of Raigarh with capture of Sambhaji

Before his death, Shivaji had mastered the entire Deccan and emerged as a sole power to challenge the Mughals. The Bijapur kingdom was in decline. The Hyderabad kingdom was paying tribute to Shivaji. The Mughals failed to control the rise of the Marathas. Hence, Aurangzeb made the final attempt to subdue them. In the first half of 1681, many contingents were despatched to lay siege to Maratha forts on the border of present day Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. By the end of 1681, a Mughal general had laid siege to Fort Ramsej. But the Marathas did not succumb to this onslaught. The attack was well received.

Aurangzeb arrived at Khadki, the Mughal headquarters of the Deccan, made it his capital, and renamed it Aurangabad. Hereafter, it became the "de facto" Mughal capital. Mughal contingents numbered between 150,000 and 200,000.

1689 to 1699 - Fall of Gingee with death of Rajaram

The heroic death of Sambhaji rekindled the spirit of valor in the minds of Marathas, which made Aurangzeb's mission impossible. In the same year and at the same place where Sambhaji was tortured to death, Santaji Ghorpade attacked the imperial camp, defeated one of their units and brought disgrace to them. Now war was fought from the Malwa plateua to the east coast. Such was the strategy of Maratha commanders to counter the might of the Mughals. Maratha generals Ramchandrapant Amatya and Shankaraji Niraji maintained the Maratha stronghold in the rugged terrains of Sahyadri.

In several brilliant cavalry movements, Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav defeated the Mughals. Their offensive, and especially that of Santaji, struck terror into the hearts of the Mughals. In the battle of Attani, Santaji defeated Kasim Khan, a noted Mughal general.

1699 to 1707 - Marathas under Tarabai, their victory with death of Aurangzeb during retreat from the war

After death of Rajaram, his widow queen Tarabai assumed the charge of the empire. She herself took to the field and remained mobile and vigil during the crisis. In words of Jadunath Sarkar, 'It is her character that saved the nation in that awful crisis.' By 1705, Marathas had penetrated mughal possession of Central India and Gujarat. Nemaji Shinde defeated mughals in Malwa plateu. By 1706, Mughals started retreating from Maratha dominions. Aurangzeb died at Khultabad (Aurangabad) in 1707. Defeated mughals released grandson of Shivaji, Shahu from their captivity.