Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Deccan wars began in 1681 when Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb moved his army to the Deccan and ended with his death on the 17th of March 1707. The conflict lasted for 26 years and drained the Mughal Empire while establishing the Marathas as a major power.
Sambhaji was the thirty-one-year-old son of Shivaji who ascended to the Maratha throne in 1680 after his father's death. He was captured and executed by Mughal forces on the 11th of March 1689, an event that marked the end of the Maratha golden era.
The Maratha capital moved to Jinji, also known as Gingee, in the Tamil country after Rajaram fled Vishalgad. This location served as a strategic base that withstood sieges and allowed the Marathas to frustrate Mughal advances into the Deccan until 1700.
The Deccan wars drained the Mughal treasury and manpower, causing the empire to split into regional kingdoms like Hyderabad, Oudh, and Bengal. This decline paved the way for European colonial powers to establish themselves in India after Aurangzeb's death in 1707.
By 1705, Maratha army factions crossed the Narmada River to attack Mughal possessions in Central India and Gujarat. One faction led by Nemaji Shinde reached Bhopal while another under Khanderao Dabhade defeated Mahomed Khan's forces near Bharoch.