Lentorama 2022: It Happened on Easter

Day 35: It's good to be the Chhatrapati... sometimes

After the death of Shijavi I, ruler of the Maratha Empire, his widow, Soyarabai, maneuvered to get her son, Rajaram, made emperor. Rajaram, at all of 10 years old, was installed on the throne on April 21, 1680 (I'm guessing he was unaware that it was Easter Sunday). 

The only problem is that his older half-brother, Sambhaji, was still around and aiming to be emperor. He was a prison at the time that Rajaram was elevated, but upon hearing about this Sambhaji made plans to escape. He did so, taking control of a couple of forts along the way, and on July 20, 1680, he replcaed Rajaram on the throne. Sambhaji would survive a coup attempt not long after becoming emperor, and to make sure that didn't happen again he executed a number of people involved, including Soyarabai. 

Rajaram was spared, and finally became emperor when Sambhaji was captured by the Mughals (with whom the Marathas were having a series of wars) and executed. Rajaram would serve until his death in 1700 due to lung disease (someone liked his bidis a little too much), which fittingly kicked off another succession crisis between his various wives and children. On the plus side, his family still holds the throne of what has become Kolhapur state.