Yesubai

Yesubai (d. after 1719), was the wife of the second Maratha Chhatrapati Sambhaji.

She was the daughter of Pilajirao Shirke, a Maratha sardar (chieftain), who was in the services of Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Yesubai was taken prisoner along with her young son, Shahu when the Maratha fort at Raigad was captured by the Mughals in 1689. Aurangzeb never looked after them although they were carried with him, place to place. After Aurangzeb's death in 1707, his son, the new Moghul emperor Azam, released Shahu to incite divisions in Maratha ranks. The Moghuls, however, kept Yesubai captive for another decade or so to ensure that Shahu kept to the terms of the treaty he signed upon his release.

Finally in 1719, the Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath Bhat got her released when he negotiated a wide ranging treaty with the Moghuls that recognized Shahu as the rightful heir of Shivaji.