Rani Tarabai

Tarabai is also the name of a small town in São Paulo, Brazil.
Tarabai (1675-1761) was a queen of the Maratha Empire in India. Her husband was Chhatrapati Rajaram, son of Shivaji the Great.
Tarabai was the daughter of the famed Maratha general Hambirao Mohite. She was the niece of Soyarabai, the second wife Chatrapati Shivaji.

War with the Mughals
The Marathas were continually at war with the Mughals, and in 1700 the Maratha capital Satara was besieged and surrendered to the Mughals.
At about the same time Rajaram, who was the king at that time, died. Then Tarabai assumed control in the name of her son, Sambhaji II.
Tarabai was skilled in cavalry movement, and made strategic movements herself during wars.
She personally led the war and continued the onslaught on the Mughals.
A truce was offered to the Mughals in such way that it was promptly rejected by the Mughal emperor, and Tarabai continued the Maratha resistance.
By 1705, Marathas had crossed the Narmada and entered Malwa, which was in Mughal possession. There they defeated several Mughal garrisons.
Many well-known commanders, including Udaji Pawar and Hybatrao Nimbalkar, excelled in this offensive. This aggressive Maratha
strategy brought ruin upon the Mughals. They were defeated and withdrew from Maratha country.
During this uncermonious withdrawal, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb died at Khultabad Dist Aurangabad

Political intrigues
In order to divide the Maratha onslaught, the Mughals released Shahu on certain conditions. He immediately challeneged Tarabai and Sambhaji II for leadership of the Maratha polity.
Shahu eventually prevailed thanks to his legal position and in part to the Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath' diplomacy, and Tarabai was sidelined for some time. She established a rival court in Kolhapur in 1713.
After Shahu's death in 1749, Tarabai helped conduct Ramaraja to the kingship. Afterwards, however, she denounced Ramaraja on the grounds that
he was not her grandson as he claimed. During this period of weakened royal power, Tarabai exercised great influence in the Maratha state.
She headed one of several factions vying for control within the increasingly fractious confederacy.
Hailed as Bhadrakali, her name is still celebrated in countryside in parts of Maharashtra.
Noted historian Jadunath Sarkar has written about her, "In that awful crisis her character and strength saved the nation".

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was coronated a sovereign king, in 1674. His administration was centralised and had 8 misters to look after the affairs of the state. At this time his vast kingdom included whole of costal Maharashtra, Karnataka, and parts of Gujrat and Tamilnadu.
In 1680, he was succeeded by his son Sambhaji, then 23 years old. Some accounts describe Sambhaji as irresponsible, addicted successor; while others describe him as a shrewd and responsible king.
After Shivaji's death, Aurangzeb marched on Deccan with the intention of ending the Maratha empire. After a struggle of 9 years Sambhaji was captured and killed by Aurangzeb. Sambhaji's younger brother Rajaram, succeeded him. Enraged by Sambhaji's brutal death, the Marathas lead by Rajaram fought Aurangzeb. He fought for nearly 10 years, until his death. His wife Tarabai continued the struggle. She shifted the capital of Maratha empire to Karaveer (Kolhapur). With the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 the Maratha struggle ended. Marathas fought for nearly 30 years against the Mughals. This was the toughest time for Marathas. For most of the time they fought without a king and without a kingdom.