section_path: Early life
section_name: Early life
paragraph_text: Early life
  
  Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri, near Junnar, which is now in Pune district. Scholars disagree on his date of birth; the Government of Maharashtra lists 19 February as a holiday commemorating Shivaji's birth (Shivaji Jayanti). Shivaji was named after a local deity, the Goddess Shivai Devi.
  
  Shivaji belonged to a Maratha family of the Bhonsle clan. Shivaji's father, Shahaji Bhonsle, was a Maratha general who served the Deccan Sultanates. His mother was Jijabai, the daughter of Lakhuji Jadhavrao of Sindhkhed, a Mughal-aligned sardar claiming descent from a Yadava royal family of Devagiri. His paternal grandfather Maloji (1552–1597) was an influential general of Ahmadnagar Sultanate, and was awarded the epithet of " Raja ". He was given deshmukhi rights of Pune, Supe, Chakan, and Indapur to provide for military expenses. He was also given Shivneri fort for his family's residence (c. 1590).
  
  At the time of Shivaji's birth, power in the Deccan was shared by three Islamic sultanates: Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Golkonda; and the Mughal Empire. Shahaji often changed his loyalty between the Nizamshahi of Ahmadnagar, the Adilshahi of Bijapur and the Mughals, but always kept his jagir (fiefdom) at Pune and his small army.
  
  Scholar James Laine states that Shivaji was imbued with the dream of re-establishing a Hindu kingdom by his mother, Jijabai, who was aware of her Yadava heritage and considered her husband "a collaborator of low birth."
  
  Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri, near Junnar, which is now in Pune district. Scholars disagree on his date of birth; the Government of Maharashtra lists 19 February as a holiday commemorating Shivaji's birth (Shivaji Jayanti). Shivaji was named after a local deity, the Goddess Shivai Devi.
  
  Shivaji belonged to a Maratha family of the Bhonsle clan. Shivaji's father, Shahaji Bhonsle, was a Maratha general who served the Deccan Sultanates. His mother was Jijabai, the daughter of Lakhuji Jadhavrao of Sindhkhed, a Mughal-aligned sardar claiming descent from a Yadava royal family of Devagiri. His paternal grandfather Maloji (1552–1597) was an influential general of Ahmadnagar Sultanate, and was awarded the epithet of " Raja ". He was given deshmukhi rights of Pune, Supe, Chakan, and Indapur to provide for military expenses. He was also given Shivneri fort for his family's residence (c. 1590).
  
  At the time of Shivaji's birth, power in the Deccan was shared by three Islamic sultanates: Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Golkonda; and the Mughal Empire. Shahaji often changed his loyalty between the Nizamshahi of Ahmadnagar, the Adilshahi of Bijapur and the Mughals, but always kept his jagir (fiefdom) at Pune and his small army.
  
  Scholar James Laine states that Shivaji was imbued with the dream of re-establishing a Hindu kingdom by his mother, Jijabai, who was aware of her Yadava heritage and considered her husband "a collaborator of low birth."