Editing Shivaji (section)

== Mode of warfare ==
Shivaji maintained a small but effective standing army. The core of Shivaji's army consisted of peasants of Maratha and [[Kunbi]] castes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roy |first1=Kaushik |title=Warfare in Pre-British India – 1500BCE to 1740CE |date=3 June 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-58691-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oh7ICQAAQBAJ&pg=PT149 |language=en}}</ref> Shivaji was aware of the limitations of his army. He realised that conventional warfare methods were inadequate to confront the big, well-trained cavalry of the Mughals, which was equipped with field artillery. As a result, Shivaji mastered [[Guerrilla warfare|guerilla tactics]] which became known as ''[[Ganimi kava|Ganimi Kawa]]'' in the [[Marathi language]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barua |first1=Pradeep |title=The State at War in South Asia |date=1 January 2005 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-1344-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FIIQhuAOGaIC&dq=Shivaji,+realizing+that+he+could+not+defeat+the+imperial+armies+inhttps://books.google.co.in/books&pg=PA40 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Paul |title=Masters of the Battlefield: Great Commanders from the Classical Age to the Napoleonic Era |date=25 July 2013 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=978-0-19-534235-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aRRZ3Zeb4NsC&pg=PA481 |language=en}}</ref> His strategies consistently perplexed and defeated armies sent against him. He realized that the most vulnerable point of the large, slow-moving armies of the time was supply. He utilised knowledge of the local terrain and the superior mobility of his light cavalry to cut off supplies to the enemy.{{sfn|Gordon|2007|p=81}} Shivaji refused to confront the enemy in pitched battles. Instead, he lured the enemies into difficult hills and jungles of his own choosing, catching them at a disadvantage and routing them. Shivaji did not adhere to a particular tactic but used several methods to undermine his enemies, as required by circumstances, such as sudden raids, sweeps and ambushes, and psychological warfare.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last1=Kantak |first1=M. R. |title=The First Anglo-Maratha War, 1774–1783: A Military Study of Major Battles |date=1993 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |isbn=978-81-7154-696-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cdXnVOKKkssC&q=Shivaji&pg=PA8 |language=en}}</ref>

Shivaji was contemptuously called a "Mountain Rat" by [[Aurangzeb]] and his generals, because of his guerilla tactics of attacking enemy forces and then retreating into his mountain forts.<ref name="Wolpert1994">{{cite book|author=Stanley A. Wolpert|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontoin00wolp|title=An Introduction to India|publisher=Penguin Books India|year=1994|isbn=978-0-14-016870-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontoin00wolp/page/43 43]|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Tinker1990">{{cite book|author=Hugh Tinker|url=https://archive.org/details/southasiashorthi0000tink|title=South Asia: A Short History|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=1990|isbn=978-0-8248-1287-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/southasiashorthi0000tink/page/23 23]|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Gordon93" />

=== Military ===
Shivaji demonstrated great skill in creating his military organisation, which lasted until the demise of the Maratha Empire. His strategy rested on leveraging his ground forces, naval forces, and series of forts across his territory. The [[Maval]] infantry served as the core of his ground forces (reinforced by Telangi musketeers from Karnataka) and supported by Maratha cavalry. His artillery was relatively underdeveloped and reliant on European suppliers, further inclining him to a very mobile form of warfare.<ref>{{cite book|first=M. R. |last=Kantak|title=The First Anglo-Maratha War, 1774–1783: A Military Study of Major Battles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cdXnVOKKkssC&pg=PA18|year=1993|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-696-1|page=9}}</ref>

=== Hill forts ===
[[File:Suvela Machi from Balekilla.jpg|thumb|[[Rajgad#Suvela Machee (south east)|Suvela Machi]], view of southern sub-plateaux, as seen from [[Rajgad#Bale Killa (centre)|Ballekilla]], [[Rajgad]]]]
{{Main|Shivaji's forts}}

Hill forts played a key role in Shivaji's strategy. Ramchandra Amatya, one of Shivaji's ministers,  describes the achievement of Shivaji by saying that his empire was created from forts.<ref>Abhang, C. J. (2014). UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS OF EAST INDIA COMPANY REGARDING DESTRUCTION OF FORTS IN JUNNER REGION. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 75, 448–454. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44158417</ref> Shivaji captured important Adilshahi forts at Murambdev ([[Rajgad]]), [[Torna Fort|Torna]], Kondhana ([[Sinhagad]]), and [[Purandar fort|Purandar]]. He also rebuilt or repaired many forts in advantageous locations.{{sfn|Pagadi|1983|p=21}} In addition, Shivaji built a number of forts, numbering 111 according to some accounts, but it is likely the actual number "did not exceed 18."<ref name="Naravane1995">{{cite book|author=M. S. Naravane|title=Forts of Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sIrfAAAAMAAJ|date=1 January 1995|publisher=APH Publishing Corporation|isbn=978-81-7024-696-1|page=14}}</ref> The historian [[Jadunath Sarkar]] assessed that Shivaji owned some 240–280 forts at the time of his death.{{sfn|Sarkar, Shivaji and His Times|1920|p=408}} Each was placed under three officers of equal status, lest a single traitor be bribed or tempted to deliver it to the enemy. The officers acted jointly and provided mutual checks and balances.{{sfn|Sarkar, History of Aurangzib|1920|p=414}}

=== Navy ===
{{Main|Maratha Navy}}
[[File:Sindhudurg watchtower.JPG|thumb|[[Sindhudurg|Sindudurg Fort]] provided anchorages for Shivaji's Navy]]

Aware of the need for naval power to maintain control along the [[Konkan]] coast, Shivaji began to build his navy in 1657 or 1659, with the purchase of twenty [[galivat]]s from the Portuguese shipyards of [[Vasai|Bassein]].<ref name="Roy2011">{{cite book|author=Kaushik Roy|title=War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740–1849|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zp0FbTniNaYC&pg=PA17|date=30 March 2011|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-136-79087-4|pages=17–}}</ref> Marathi chronicles state that at its height his fleet counted some 400 warships, although contemporary English chronicles counter that the number never exceeded 160.{{sfn|Sarkar, History of Aurangzib|1920|p=59}}

With the Marathas being accustomed to a land-based military, Shivaji widened his search for qualified crews for his ships, taking on lower-caste Hindus of the coast who were long familiar with naval operations (the famed "Malabar pirates"), as well as Muslim mercenaries.{{sfn|Sarkar, History of Aurangzib|1920|p=59}} Noting the power of the Portuguese navy, Shivaji hired a number of Portuguese sailors and Goan Christian converts, and made Rui Leitao Viegas commander of his fleet. Viegas was later to defect back to the Portuguese, taking 300 sailors with him.<ref name="Shastry1981">{{cite book|author=Bhagamandala Seetharama Shastry|title=Studies in Indo-Portuguese History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AsYcAAAAMAAJ|year=1981|publisher=IBH Prakashana}}</ref>

Shivaji fortified his coastline by seizing coastal forts and refurbishing them. He built his first marine fort at [[Sindhudurg Fort|Sindhudurg]], which was to become the headquarters of the Maratha navy.<ref name="RoyLorge2014">{{cite book|author1=Kaushik Roy|author2=Peter Lorge|title=Chinese and Indian Warfare – From the Classical Age to 1870|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=627fBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA183|date=17 December 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-58710-1|pages=183–}}</ref> The navy itself was a [[green-water navy|coastal navy]], focused on travel and combat in the littoral areas, and not intended for the [[high seas]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://optimizeias.com/new-naval-ensign-the-naval-prowess-of-chhatrapati-shivaji-that-has-always-inspired-the-indian-navy/ | title=New Naval Ensign: The naval prowess of Chhatrapati Shivaji that has always inspired the Indian Navy - Optimize IAS | date=3 September 2022 }}</ref><ref name="Misra1986">{{cite book|author=Raj Narain Misra|title=Indian Ocean and India's Security|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NhVz7mZCisC&pg=PA13|year=1986|publisher=Mittal Publications|pages=13–|id=GGKEY:CCJCT3CW16S}}</ref>