Shivaji Raja as seen by a person during 1st Surat sack

This scene is reported by an Indian peon of Dutch East India Company. And it is one of my favorite for its liveliness.

There were talk in the Surat town, that Shivaji and his troop has finally left. But fear has so much engrossed the city that no one was ready to step out and have a look around. But one of the Indian peon of Dutch EIC volunteered to actually roam around and verify the news.
The peon in disguise went out and came back in the evening and reported, 


"I have been to all parts of the town and have seen houses of all the chief merchants burnt down to ashes. I took a walk in Maratha camp and no one suspected me. However there were no tents. I saw Shivaji, and he himself was sitting on the ground and there was no tent pitched in for him too, but only a cloth tied from the trees for the purpose of protection from sun, the booty laden on oxen and horses had been brought in and laid before him"

Sketch of Dutch East India Company
~unknown source~
(my thanks to the 'unknown' who provided it)

~Ref - Sir Gajanan Bhaskar Mehendale~

Officers of English East India Company arrested by Raja Shivaji.. and why?

Following are the 8 officers of English EIC arrested by Shivaji Maharaj.

1. Henry Revington.
2. Randolph Taylor.
3. Robert Ferrand.
4. Richard Napier.
5. Richard Taylor.
6. Philip Giffard.
7. Robert Ward. Doctor (Surgeon) by profession.
8. William Mingham. (Mostly Sailor and a gunman).

What are the probable irritants by which Shivaji Maharaj got upset over Englishmen behavior.

• English EIC had their one of the two main factories at Surat and Rajapur.
• After Shivaji Maharaj eliminated Afzal Khan (Adilshahi Commander) on 10 Nov. 1659, one of his officer (Mahmud Sharif) fled from Dabhol and arrived at Rajapur with 3 ships belonging to Afzal Khan.
• Adilshahi commander/soldiers/sailors who were with the ships asked Englishmen at Rajapur to keep one of their ship in return of the money which some of Adilshahi commander owes mostly to Rajapur factory.
• At the same time Maratha army of around 600 soldiers arrived at Rajapur and around 200 at Jaitapur in pursuit of Adilshahi forces and asked Englishmen to handover the ships and the Adilshahi commanders to them which Englishmen refused to obey.
• However, Adilshahi commanders agreed to surrender to Shivaji Maharaj. It is unknown what went wrong, but on next day or two the tried to escape and opened fire on Shivaji's force.
• Englishmen neither tried to stop them or brought them back.
• Getting upset over the scene, commander of Shivaji arrested Philip Giffard (English officer of Rajapur) and Velji (Broker for English factory of Rajapur) and carried them as a hostage.
• Henry Revington discoursed this incident with Surat council but they were not in favor of handing over Adilshahi ships and commanders to Shivaji in return of release of Philip and Velji.
• H.R (Henry Revington) wrote a letter to Shivaji for their release but instead of waiting for the answer, he invented a plan to rescue them by force, which he materialized after few days.
• This behavior is not expected from "merchants" and Shivaji Maharaj might have taken this as an insult to him.
• After few days Adilshahi officer (Siddi Jauhar) laid siege of Panhala fort.
• Henry Revington, Velji, Randolph Taylor along with some more Englishmen helped Siddi by providing   long barrel canons, grenades  and technical expertise. He did all this publicly by hoisting Union Jack with his little troop. 
• He not only provided the ammunition but also accompanied Siddi Jauhar in his camp with few of the English soldiers which Shivaji Maharaja could very well see from the top of the fort.
• This is again not expected from "merchants" who were on Indian soil for trading purpose and not to wage a war.
• This was done against the EIC's will and for which EIC rebuked him.
• Shivaji Maharaj later escaped from the siege of Panhala fort and began his south konkan expedition and during that expedition, he raided Rajapur and arrested above mentioned Englishmen as prisoners.
• English had openly joined the war against Shivaji Maharaj by providing Canons and grenades... and not to forget the Union Jack. 

Over the course of time we all came to know they were not only merchants.

~Reference - Sir Gajanan Mehendale~

Ashta Pradhan Mandal (Eight Cabinet Ministers)

It is a well known fact that Shivaji Raja had a Cabinet of Eight Ministers, which was commonly know in Marathi as Ashta Pradhan Mandal. Following is the designation of each post and their present day equivalent.

1. Peshwa - Prime Minister - Since Shivaji Maharaja's coronation it was also referred as            "Mukhya Pradhan". He was responsible for most of Military and General administration of the Kingdom.
2. Muzumdar - Finance Minister - Since the coronation, it was also referred as Amatya. He was responsible for the financial affairs of the kingdom.
3. Surnis - Minister for Land Revenue -  Since the coronation, it was also referred as Sachiv.
4. Vaknis - Minister for Internal and External Intelligence -  Since the coronation, it was also referred as Mantri. They used to submit reports on the activities in the field force and neighboring states.
5. Dabir - Minster for External Affairs -  Since the coronation, it was also referred as Sumant. Their responsibility was usually look after the relations with the other kingdoms, merchants like East India Company, Dutch East India Company etc.
6. Sarnaubat - Commander-in-Chief -  Since the coronation, it was also referred as Senapati. - Responsible for defense of the kingdom and regular military affairs.
7. Nyayadhish - Chief Justice - Responsible for Judicial affairs, can be considered as today's supreme court. Even King himself do not had greater authority than Nyayadhish in judicial matters. King can be accused of a crime and he could very well be subjected to punishment.
8. Panditrao - Head of Religious affairs - All the decisions pertaining to Religion was to be taken with his authority.

Some documented description of Shivaji Raja's personality.

There are 3 available descriptions of Shivaji Maharaj's personality available till date -
1 - John L'Escaliot, English Chaplin at Surat, says - 
"His person is described by them who have seen him to be of mean stature, lower somewhat than I am erect, and of excellent proportion, active in exercise and whenever he speaks seems to smile, a quick and piercing eye and whiter than any of his people".

2 - Frenchman Thevenot says -
"This Raja [Shivaji] is short and tawny, with quick eyes that show a great deal of wit. He eats once a day commonly, and is in good health".

3 - Parkaldas, Jai Shing's officer who was at Agra when Shivaji Maharaj visited Auranzeb, wrote -
"Shivaji looks lean and short. He is very handsome and fair. The mere sight of him is enough to tell he is brave and courageous man. He keeps beard".
~Courtesy - Sir Gajanan Mehendale~