After the torture and death of Chhatrapati Sambhai Maharaj , the valiant son of Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj ,Maratha confederacy was thrown in a disarray.
He was succeeded as leader of the Marathas by his younger brother Rajaram.
The Commander in chief of Maratha army, Mhaloji Ghorpade, who succeeded Hambirrao Mohite, died in the ambush at Sangameshwar.
A few days after Sambhaji's death, the capital Raigad fell to the Mughals and Sambhaji's wife and son were captured.
However, Sambhaji's single heroic death unleashed an unprecedented unity and heroic spirit among the Marathas.
Aurangzeb continued his grim war against the Marathas for another 18 years but could not destroy the Maratha state.
Aurangzeb spent the last 25 years of his life in the Deccan, in constant warfare to subjugate the Marathas. He died in 1707, right in Maharashtra, something Marathis still take pride in.
The torture to death of Sambhaji became a rallying call for Maratha resistance and the regalvanization and spread of the Maratha empire after Aurangzeb.
The Marathas eventually managed to create the Maratha Empire in India after their struggle with Aurganzeb ended. In 1737, within 50 years of the torture and death of Sambhaji, Maratha armies entered Delhi and had re-established Hindu rule over all of western, central and much of northern India.
It was the first time after 1192, when Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated by Mohammed Ghori, that a Hindu army was in control of Delhi. The Maratha empire would remain the foremost military power in India till they lost power to the British after 3 anglo-maratha wars, the last of which ended in 1818..
