Soyarabai

Soyarabai Bhosale (née Mohite) (died 1681) was one of the eight wives of Shivaji, the founder of Maratha empire in western India. She was mother of Shivaji's second son, Rajaram. She was the younger sister of Maratha army chief Hambirrao Mohite. She was executed in 1681, after she failed to dethrone Sambhaji, her stepson, and the elder son of Shivaji.

Early life

Born Soyarabai Mohite, she was married to Shivaji at a very young age in 1650. The marriage took place when Shivaji visited his father Shahaji at Bangalore with his mother Jijabai. Tukabai (née Mohite), the stepmother of Shivaji and paternal aunt of Soyarabai insisted on the marriage.

After the death of Jijabai in (1674), Soyarabai gained prominence in Shivaji's family and by extension, in the Maratha court politics. Soyrabai bore two children to Shivaji, a daughter Balibai and son Rajaram.

After Shivaji's death

Soyrabai was ambitious and wanted her son Rajaram to succeed Shivaji instead of the elder son Sambhaji. Sambhaji was not kept informed on the Shivaji's death and he was absent when Shivaji was cremated. After Shivaji's death in 1680, with the help of some of the courtiers, Soyarabai got her ten-year-old son, Rajaram, on the vacant throne on 21 April 1680. Her stepson and heir presumptive Sambhaji, was able to remove him from power with the help of Soyrabai's own brother and army chief Hambirrao Mohite. He imprisoned courtiers and formally assumed power as the Chhatrapati on 20 July 1680.

After Sambhaji seized power from Soyrabai, she tried every means to dethrone him. Soyarabai's henchmen tried to poison Sambhaji in August 1681, but he survived.The enraged Sambhaji ordered execution of Soyarabai.Kale says she was executed by burying in a wall, whereas Mehta claims that she was poisoned.

In a letter dated 27 Oct 1681, written by British Bombay council to Surat,it is mentioned that "Ramrajah's Mother oyra Baiis dead by report, poisoned by Shambhuji Rajah's contrivance "

After Sambhaji's death at the hands of the Mughals, Rajaram became the next Chhatrapati. During his reign, the Marathas were engaged in continuous warfare with Mughals.

In Popular Culture

*Ayesha Kaduskar portrays a young Soyarabai while Ruchita Jadhav portrays the older Soyarabai in the 2011 series Veer Shivaji
*Elakshi Gupta plays Soyrabai in the 2019 Bollywood film Tanhaji
*Ruchi Savarn portrays Soyarabai in the 2019 Marathi film Fatteshikast
*Shruti Marathe plays Soyarabai in 2022 film, Sarsenapati Hambirrao

References

See also

*Shivaji
*Chhatrapati Rajaram
*Maratha Empire

{{MarathaEmpire

Executed royalty
Executed Indian women
Indian female royalty
Marathi people
Women of the Maratha Empire
1680 deaths
People executed by poison
17th-century executions in India
Year of birth unknown
17th-century Indian women
17th-century Indian people