Tarabai Bhosale (Pronunciation: [t̪aːɾabaːi]; née Mohite) was the regent of the Maratha Empire of India from 1700 until 1708. She was the queen of Rajaram Bhonsale, and daughter-in-law of the empire's founder Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. She is acclaimed for her role in keeping alive the resistance against Mughal occupation of Maratha territories after the death of her husband, and acting as the regent during the minority of her son, Shivaji II. Family and early life Tarabai came from Mohite clan. She was the daughter of Commander-in-Chief Hambirrao Mohite of Shivaji Maharaj, the founder-king of the Maratha empire. Hambirrao's sister Soyarabai was the queen of Shivaji Maharaj and the mother of his younger son Rajaram I. Tarabai married Rajaram Maharaj at the age of 8 in 1682, becoming his second wife. After the death of his step-brother and predecessor Sambhaji Maharaj, Rajaram ruled the Maratha Empire from 1689 to 1700, when his first wife Jankibai was the empress consort. On Rajaram's death in March 1700, Tarabai proclaimed her infant son, Shivaji II (later known as Shivaji I of Kolhapur) as Rajaram's successor and herself as the regent. Tarabai In Command As the regent, Tarabai took charge of the war against the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's forces. Tarabai was skilled in cavalry movement and made strategic movements herself during wars. She personally led the war and continued the fight against the Mughals. A truce was offered to the Mughals in such a way that the Mughal emperor promptly rejected it and Tarabai continued the Maratha resistance. By 1705, Marathas had crossed the Narmada River and made small incursions in Malwa, retreating immediately. In 1706, Tarabai was captured by Mughal forces for a brief period of 4 days but she escaped after the Mughal camp - in which she was being held - was ambushed by the Marathas. The Maratha country was relieved at the news of the death of Aurangzeb who died at Ahmadnagar and buried at Khuldabad near Aurangabad, Maharashtra in 1707. Of the years 1700–1707, Jadunath Sarkar, a prominent Indian historian especially of the Mughal dynasty, has opined: "During this period, the supreme guiding force in Maharashtra was not any minister but the dowager queen Tarabai. Her administrative genius and strength of character saved the nation in that awful crisis." Battle with Shahu In order to divide the Maratha onslaught, the Mughals released Shahu I, Sambhaji's son and Tarabai's nephew, on