Lakhuji Jadhav
Lakhuji Jadhav was a prominent grandee of Sindkhed Raja in the present-day Buldhana district of Maharashtra state during the 16th century. He was Jahigirdar in the court of Nizam Shahi Sultans of Daulatabad in the present day Maharashtra.
His daughter was Jijabai, the mother of chatrapati Shivaji maharaj, founder of the Maratha Empire. She was born on 12 January 1598 and married at an early age to Shahaji Bhosale, a nobleman and military commander under the Adil Shahi sultans of Bijapur in present-day Karnataka.
He was one of the early exponents of guerilla warfare and he became one of the most important sardars in the Nizamshahi sultanate. He is known to be the victor of the famous fort of Devagiri.
Lakhuji Jadhav was murdered by treachery, along with his sons and a grandson, at the orders of the Nizam Shah in 1629, at the time that his daughter Jijabai was pregnant with Shivaji. His murder is mentioned in the badshahnama of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
One of the surviving descendants of Lakhuji Jadhav was Shambusing Jadhav who famously fought in the Battle of Pavankhind. His great grandson was the son of Shambusing Jadhav, the famous Maratha commander Dhanaji Jadhav.
