Settings

Sound

Volume

Ambient

Speed

Edge-pan

Enemy general

Tax rate 15%

CONTROLS & SHORTCUTS

L-drag select · R-click move/attack · WASD pan (S=down) · Q/E rotate · R/T tilt · middle-drag or Ctrl+drag orbit · wheel zoom · Space pause · E select all · X stop · G sneak · V roster · B strategic map · F centre · 1–9 groups (Ctrl+1–9 assign) · Alt+R-click rally point · dbl-click select kind · minimap click jumps · M mute · H help · Esc cancel

Rise of Swarajya — how to play

You are Shivaji, building Swarajya across the Maval country and, in time, taking the fort of Torna — by legitimacy or by the sword.

Controls

L-drag select · R-click move/attack · WASD/edge pan (incl. S down) · middle-drag or Ctrl+drag orbit (Unity-style) · Q/E rotate · R/T tilt · wheel zoom · Space pause · E select all · X stop · F centre · 1–9 recall group · Ctrl+1–9 assign group · M mute · H help · Esc cancel build

Touch: tap your unit to select · tap ground to move · tap a foe to attack · drag to box-select · two fingers to pan · pinch to zoom · twist two fingers to rotate.

Winning hearts

Each village has a sardar with his own temperament and allegiance. Resolve missions nearby, keep fear low, restore temples and dig wells, and a sardar will declare for Swarajya on his own. March troops in to coerce a village — but a fearful, hostile one will refuse.

The muster

Call the Muster and each allied sardar decides for himself whether to ride on Torna — weighing his allegiance, whether his own village is threatened, and whether you are winning. Not all will come. Warm neutrals may send token help.

Taking Torna

Hold the whole country and the garrison starves and surrenders — won without a sword. Or storm it: thin the garrison with the muster, then bring Shivaji to the gate. (Never send him alone into the arrows — he will withdraw.)

The land

The river blocks movement except at the ford (or a bridge you build). Forest hides your men and grants an ambush bonus. Caves let Shivaji meditate to restore legitimacy.

⚔ THE OATH AT RAIRESHWAR

The Maval country, 1645–46

In the hill temple of Raireshwar, a boy of fifteen put his hand on the linga and swore, with the young deshmukhs of the Maval valleys, that this land would be ruled by its own people — Hindavi Swarajya. His mother Jijabai had raised him on the Ramayana and on justice; his tutor Dadoji Konddev had taught him revenue, land and men. His father Shahaji served the very Sultanate the boy now set himself against.

His first object: Torna, a neglected mountain fort. Win the country's hearts, and the fort will follow.

An interactive model, not a historical record — see the 📜 Chronicle for what is history and what is adaptation.

📜 CHRONICLE — history & adaptation

Torna, 1646. History: Shivaji took Torna at ~16, largely without battle — boldness, persuasion, a weak garrison. Renamed Prachandagad. The treasure found there funded Rajgad.

Jijabai. His mother — the moral architect of Swarajya; raised him on epics, justice and devotion while administering Pune's revival.

Dadoji Konddev. Administrator-tutor; rebuilt Pune's lands and taught the boy revenue and statecraft — the game's just-tax lever is his lesson.

Shahaji Bhosale. Shivaji's father served Bijapur as a general. The Adilshahi were a state with its own order — this game shows their worst hand (extraction, reprisal), not their whole story.

Ganimi kava. The Maratha way of war: ambush from the hills, strike supply, vanish, never accept the pitched battle you cannot win.

The Mavale. Hill farmers of the twelve Maval valleys who became Shivaji's first soldiers — the muster's volunteers, not conscripts.

Deshmukhs & Patils. Hereditary district lords and village headmen; winning them won their whole holdings — as in the game.

The formula. Swarajya = Justice + Trust + Protection + Prosperity is the game's thesis distilled from his recorded statecraft, not a period text.

Adapted. Village names mix real Maval places with plausible ones; the map is a stylised slice; timers and numbers are game balance, not history.

After Torna. Rajgad rose from Torna's treasure and became his capital for 25 years. That campaign is this game's natural sequel.