section_path: Death and succession
section_name: Death and succession
paragraph_text: Death and succession
  
  The question of Shivaji's heir-apparent was complicated. In 1678, Shivaji confined his son Sambhaji to Panhala Fort for having an addiction to sensual pleasures or violating a Brahmin woman. Only to have the prince escape with his wife and defect to the Mughals where he fought against Shivaji in the Battle of Bhupalgarh. Upon returning home, unrepentant, he was again confined to Panhala Fort.
  
  Shivaji died around 3–5 April 1680 at the age of 50, at Raigad Fort, on the eve of Hanuman Jayanti. The cause of Shivaji's death is disputed. British records states that Shivaji died of bloody flux, after being sick for 12 days. In a contemporary work in Portuguese, in the Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, the recorded cause of death of Shivaji is anthrax. However, Krishnaji Anant Sabhasad, author of Sabhasad Bakhar, a biography of Shivaji has mentioned fever as the cause of death. Putalabai, the childless eldest of the surviving wives of Shivaji committed sati by jumping into his funeral pyre. Another surviving spouse, Sakwarbai, was not allowed to follow suit because she had a young daughter. There were also allegations, though doubted by later scholars, that his second wife Soyarabai had poisoned him in order to put her 10-year-old son Rajaram on the throne.
  
  After Shivaji's death, Soyarabai made plans, with various ministers, to crown her son Rajaram rather than her stepson Sambhaji. On 21 April 1680, ten-year-old Rajaram was installed on the throne. However, Sambhaji took possession of Raigad Fort after killing the commander, and on 18 June acquired control of Raigad, and formally ascended the throne on 20 July. Rajaram, his mother Soyarabai and wife Janki Bai were imprisoned, and Soyrabai was executed on charges of conspiracy that October.
  
  The question of Shivaji's heir-apparent was complicated. In 1678, Shivaji confined his son Sambhaji to Panhala Fort for having an addiction to sensual pleasures or violating a Brahmin woman. Only to have the prince escape with his wife and defect to the Mughals where he fought against Shivaji in the Battle of Bhupalgarh. Upon returning home, unrepentant, he was again confined to Panhala Fort.
  
  Shivaji died around 3–5 April 1680 at the age of 50, at Raigad Fort, on the eve of Hanuman Jayanti. The cause of Shivaji's death is disputed. British records states that Shivaji died of bloody flux, after being sick for 12 days. In a contemporary work in Portuguese, in the Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, the recorded cause of death of Shivaji is anthrax. However, Krishnaji Anant Sabhasad, author of Sabhasad Bakhar, a biography of Shivaji has mentioned fever as the cause of death. Putalabai, the childless eldest of the surviving wives of Shivaji committed sati by jumping into his funeral pyre. Another surviving spouse, Sakwarbai, was not allowed to follow suit because she had a young daughter. There were also allegations, though doubted by later scholars, that his second wife Soyarabai had poisoned him in order to put her 10-year-old son Rajaram on the throne.
  
  After Shivaji's death, Soyarabai made plans, with various ministers, to crown her son Rajaram rather than her stepson Sambhaji. On 21 April 1680, ten-year-old Rajaram was installed on the throne. However, Sambhaji took possession of Raigad Fort after killing the commander, and on 18 June acquired control of Raigad, and formally ascended the throne on 20 July. Rajaram, his mother Soyarabai and wife Janki Bai were imprisoned, and Soyrabai was executed on charges of conspiracy that October.