Shivaji's civil administration was in a sense an extension of the army, as it was dependent upon the effectiveness of the militia in imposing blackmail payments of chauth rather than mere spasmodic plunder; sometimes an extra payment, sandeshmukhi, was demanded, the ruler's direct perquisite. That such a system, based for the most part on compulsion, could be established and maintained points to a corresponding fundamental weakness in the Mughal administration of the Deccan. 

As Raja, Shivaji had appointed eight ministers, each dealing with a specific brief, rather as a cabinet minister would have, of whom the senior was the Peshwa, the prime minister. On the road to Rajgad from Poona is a memorial pillar showing Shivaji being visited by the goddess Tulaja Bhavani, who had given him a sword, the Bhavani sword, before an important battle, and also showing his seal. A Sanskrit inscription on the pillar declares: 'The Kingdom of Shivaji will be ever-increasing like a crescent moon, and this seal belongs to the son of Shivaji.' Shivaji had built his capital, Raigad, with treasure won at Torna, and there he had installed his mother, Jija Bai, a devout and higher caste Hindu than her husband. She had had great influence over her son, instilling in him deference for the Hindu holy things, 'Gods and Cows, Brahmans and the Faith'. 

Raigad was considered during Shivaji's time to be one of the strongest forts in India, and in 1978 at a Fort Exhibition at Lucerne, a model of it was displayed as the best hill fort in the world. There are 1400 steps up to the fort, but for anyone to whom this is too daunting a prospect, the hire of a 'doly' can be negotiated with the locals, A 'doly' is a coarsely woven round basket supported on two pillars that were a special feature in Maharashtra. In 1675 Shivaji made yet another attack on Shivneri but still that prize eluded him; he died in 1680 of dysentery, aged only 53. Had he lived as long as Aurangzeb, had he come to a better understanding of the British, the history of India over the next two centuries might well have been different. 

A son of Shivaji, Shambuji, succeeded him but almost at once rivalries within the ruling clan brought about a weakening of their power and a reduction of their territories, since Aurangzeb had now embarked upon a sustained campaign to break the confederacy. Sambhuji was captured by the emporer in 1689 and, having refused all terms, was, with his ministers, put to a lingering death. His son Shahu was spared and brought up at the Mughal court, while Raja Ram, another son of Shivaji was crowned and promptly besieged by the Mughals at Raigad. He escaped in the guise of a mendicant and after a seven-month siege the fort fell; great treasures and a golden throne of Shivaji were part of the Mughals' prize but the fort itself they gave into the keeping of the Abyssinian Sindhis of Janjira. Raja Ram moved his government to Gingee and after his death in 1700 his widow, Tara Bai, acted as regent from Satara. Between 1699 and 1703 Aurangzeb captured at least eight Maratha forts, including Sinhgad, Torna, Raigad and Satara, but most of these were taken by bribery and with no real strength behind their occupation. They were often recaptured by the Marathas. Sinhgad was retaken in 1705, during the monsoon.

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