Original Photo Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj - Great Maratha King James Laine's Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic MP3

Are you proud to be a Maharashtrian - Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy 

Family Tree of Shivaji Maharaj in Marathi

Original photo of Shivaji for more photos click here

Raigad Darbar - Courtyard Where Shivaji Used To Hold Meetings With His Ministers

King Shivaji's View Of Darbar

King Shivaji's View Of Darbar

Throne Of Shivaji - Made From 5 Metals Or PanchDhaatu

हिंदुस्थानचे आराध्यदैवत छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराज यांची तुलना अलेक्झांडर ते नेपोलियनपर्यंतच्या अकरा जागतिक योद्ध्यांशी करून छत्रपती शिवराय हे विविध पैलूंनी आणि उदाहरणांवरून एक अद्वितीय पुरुष असल्याचा संशोधनात्मक निष्कर्ष जागतिक इतिहासावर प्रदीर्घ अभ्यासानंतर डॉ. हेमंतराजे गायकवाड यांनी इंग्रजी आणि मराठीत मांडला आहे. यावर विविध देशांमध्ये इतिहास अभ्यासकांमध्ये नव्याने चर्चा सुरू झाली असून त्यावरील भाष्य..

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दिल्लीच्या मोगल घराण्याचा सहावा बादशहा औरंगजेब, फ्रेंचच्या क्रांतिकारकांचा नेता नेपोलियन, स्कॉटलंडचा कट्टर देशभक्त, लढाऊ विलियम वॉलस्, रोमचा साम्राज्याचा सामर्थ्यशाली ज्युलिअस सीझर, रोमन सैन्यांतील गुलामांचा नेता स्पाटीकस, वयाच्या २७व्या वर्षी कार्थेजचा सेनापती झालेला हानीबाल, फ्रान्सचा आंदोलक रिचर्ड द लायन हार्ट, अचूक लक्षवेधांसाठी प्रसिद्ध असलेला ‘हून’चा ऍटिला, स्वीडीश साम्राज्याचा महाशक्तीशाली ऍडॉल्फस गस्टावस, मंगोलियाचा कत्तलकिंग चिंगीझ खान आणि मॅसिडोनियाचा जगप्रसिद्ध सम्राट सेनानायक अलेक्झांडर द ग्रेट या अकरा जागतिक स्तरावरील योद्ध्यांमध्ये वस्तुनिष्ठ कसोट्यांवर पारखून पाहता आपले शिवाजी महाराज शंभर नंबरी सोने आहे. शिवाय इतिहासाच्या दालनात लखलखणारा चौसष्ट पैलूंचा स्वयंप्रकाशी हीरा आहे.

कोणत्याही दोन ऐतिहासिक व्यक्तींची तुलना हुबेहूब जुळणे शक्य नाही. तथापि, अशा तुलनेपासून वर्ण्य व्यक्ती मनात ठसण्यास मदत होते. शिवाजी महाराज अनेक बाबतींत लोकोत्तर पुरुष होऊन गेले. त्यांनी आपल्या राष्ट्राचे गुणावगुण बरोबर ओळखून लोकांचा स्वाभिमान जागृत केला आणि त्यांची एकी करून त्यांस नानाविध पराक्रम करण्यास उद्युक्त केले. शिवाजींपेक्षा जास्त पराक्रम गाजविणारे किंवा जास्त देश जिंकून त्यांच्यावर राज्य करणारे पुरुष इतिहासात पुष्कळ आढळतील. पण त्यांच्याइतका गुणसमुच्चय एका व्यक्तींत एकत्रित झालेला सहसा आढळत नाही. फार काय शिवाजी महाराजांत अमुक एक दोष दाखवा असा प्रश्‍न कोणी केल्यास आपणास बहुधा निरुत्तर व्हावे लागते. या सर्वांमध्ये साम्य बरेच आहे. निष्ठा व कल्पक बुद्धी, लोकांवर छाप बसविण्याची विलक्षण हातोटी, राष्ट्र उर्जितावस्थेत आणण्याची अनावर उत्कंठा इत्यादी महान पुरुषांस अवश्यमेव लागणारे गुण सर्वांमध्ये बसत होते.

द्वंद्व : अलेक्झांडर, सीझर, हानीबाल, ऍटिला, रिचर्ड, चिंगीझ खान, ऍडाल्फस, अकबर, औरंगजेब व नेपोलियन या सर्वांनी आपल्या बलाढ्य व शक्तिशाली सैन्यांच्या आधारावर घनघोर युद्धे केली. पण यापैकी कुणीही शिवाजी महाराजांनी अफझलखानाविरुद्ध जसे द्वंद्व युद्ध केले तसे ‘वन टू वन’ (द्वंद्व) केले नाही. इतिहासाचा अभ्यास केल्यावर असे लक्षात येते की बहुधा सर्व राजे-महाराजे हत्तींवर आरुढ होऊन रणांगणापासून दूर एखाद्या टेकडीवरून युद्धाची पाहणी करीत असत. रणांगणातील रक्ताचे शिंतोडेसुद्धा काहींच्या अंगावर कधीही उडाले नाहीत.

थर्मोपिली : अलेक्झांडर, सीझर, हानीबाल, ऍटिला, रिचर्ड, चिंगीझ खान, ऍडाल्फस, अकबर, औरंगजेब व नेपोलियन यांनी युद्धांमध्ये भाग घेतला. रणांगणांतील घनघोर युद्धांचे यश हत्ती, घोडे, उंट, तोफा, बंदुकी, सैन्यसंख्या, सेनापतींची रणनीती इत्यादी बाबींवर अवलंबून असते. सर्व युद्धांमध्ये एक सारखेपणा पाहायला मिळतो. तुलनेने प्रचंड सैनिकी संख्याबळ व श्रेष्ठ दर्जाची युद्धसामग्री यांचा नेहमी विजय होत असतो. क्वचित सेनापतींची युद्धनीती व सैन्यांचे मनोबल युद्धाचे पारडे भारी करू शकतात. पण भूप्रदेशाचे ज्ञान कसे बाजी मारू शकते हे लिओनिडासने पहिल्यांदाच जगाला थर्मोपिलीच्या युद्धात दाखवून दिले. हेच धोरण स्वतंत्रपणे बाजीप्रभूने घोडखिंडीत अवलंबिले व शिवाजी महाराज आणि स्वराज्यासाठी आपले रक्त सांडून ती खिंड पावन केली. थर्मोपिलीसारखी लढाई कोणत्याही योद्ध्याने केली नाही. फक्त शिवाजी महाराजांनी केली.

स्मारके : अलेक्झांडर, सीझर, हानीबाल, ऍटिला, रिचर्ड, चिंगीझ खान, ऍडाल्फस, अकबर, औरंगजेब व नेपोलियन या सर्वांनी नवी शहरे, मशिदी व महाल स्वत:च्या गौरवासाठी उभारले.याउलट शिवाजी महाराजांना असे करण्याची अमाप संधी होती. पण त्यांनी स्वत:च्या नावाने शहर किंवा किल्ला बांधला नाही. तसेच त्यांनी कोणत्याही शूर मावळ्याचे नाव एखाद्या वास्तूलासुद्धा दिले नाही. कारण शिवाजी महाराजांच्या दृष्टीत सर्व मावळे समान पराक्रमी होते. 

सरेआम कत्तल : अलेक्झांडर, सीझर, हानीबाल, ऍटिला, रिचर्ड, चिंगीझ खान, अकबर, औरंगजेब या सर्वांनी सरेआम कत्तल केली. चिंगीझ खानाने ग्रेन्चच्या युद्धात जगातील सर्वात जास्त बिनयांत्रिक कत्तल केली. ऍटिलाच्या क्रौर्यामुळे त्याला ‘स्कर्ज ऑफ गॉड’ (देवाचा चाबूक) म्हटले जात असे. याच्याविरुद्ध आपण सुरतेच्या मोहिमेत पाहिले आहे की, अगदी तीव्रपणे डिवचले गेल्यावरसुद्धा शिवाजी महाराजांनी आपला तोल सुटू दिला नाही व सरेआम कत्तलीची घोषणा केली नाही. म्हणूनच इतिहास त्यांना ‘जिनावा संकेत’चे जनक म्हणू शकतो.

कैद : या योद्ध्यांपैकी फक्त चिंगीझ खान, रिचर्ड व सीझरला कैद झाली. चिंगीझ खान त्या वेळेस फार लहान होता व त्याने पाच वर्षांची कैद मुकाट्याने भोगली. रिचर्ड व सीझरने रीतसर खंडणी देऊन स्वत:ची सुटका करू घेतली. वॉलसलाही फितुरीने पकडले गेले व देशद्रोहाच्या आरोपावरून मृत्युदंड दिला गेला. शिवाजी महाराज हे एकुलते एक योद्धे आहेत ज्यांना आमंत्रण देऊन त्यांना आग्य्रााला बोलावले गेले व सन्मानाऐवजी नंतर कैद फर्माविली गेली. ते स्वत: तर निसटलेच पण त्यांचे १५०० साथीदारसुद्धा सुरक्षितपणे मायदेशी परतले. हे पलायन जगातील सर्वात धक्कादायक पलायन आहे. नेपोलिअनला दोन वेळा कैद झाली. पहिल्यांदा तो एल्बाहून निसटला. पण सेंट हेेलेनामधून तो निसटू शकला नाही व तेथेच त्याचा मृत्यू झाला.

बंड : शिवाजी महाराजांविरुद्ध कधीही बंड झाले नाही. त्यांनी स्वराज्याची ज्योत अशा प्रकारे प्रज्ज्वलित केली होती की ते आग्य्रााच्या नजरकैदेत असतानासुद्धा स्वराज्यातील एकही सरदार फितूर झाला नाही. अपवाद फक्त संभाजीचा जो पूर्वी आपण पाहिलाच आहे.

नवीन युद्धनीती : सर्व योद्ध्यांनी संपूर्ण समाजाची सुधारणा करून स्वतंत्र आरमाराची स्थापना करण्यासारखे कार्य केले नाही. ते शिवाजी महाराजांनी केले. त्याच तोडीचे नसले तरी तसे एक कार्य म्हणजे हानीबालने आल्पसच्या बर्फाच्छादित शिखरांवरून आपले गजदल इटलीत उतरविले. ‘गनिमी कावा’ या युद्धनीतीचे श्रेय जग महाराजांना देते.

‘शिवाजी महाराज हे सार्वकालीन सर्वश्रेष्ठ राज्यकर्ते होते’, या मताशी सारेजण सहमत असतील. तसेच ‘शिवाजी महाराज हे व्यक्ती म्हणूनसुद्धा आजपर्यंतच्या ज्ञातमानवी इतिहासातील सर्वश्रेष्ठ मानव आहेत’ हे महाराजांच्या व्यक्तिमत्त्वाचे मूल्यमापनही उभं जग, संशोधक, अभ्यासक मान्य करतील.

Artwork Of Shivaji's Seating Place

10th Jun 2010.
When Shivaji came to Madras
Did Chatrapati Shivaji slip into Madras incognito to offer prayers at a local temple in 1677? Historical records and local legend have different tales to tell…

Photos: V. Ganesan

The stuff of legends: The Kalikambal temple, Chennai (right) and the plaque commemorating Sivaji's visit.

The city of Madras was just 38 years old in 1677 when it faced one of the greatest challenges to its survival — an invasion by Chatrapati Shivaji no less. Details of the danger that loomed over the city are given in J. Talboys Wheeler's book, Madras in the Olden Time, published by Higginbothams in 1882 and it makes for an interesting tale.

The Great Maratha or the Mountain Rat, depending on whose point of view you took, his followers' or Aurangzeb's, was no stranger to the English, having twice attempted to lay waste the rich town of Surat where the East India Company had a factory. On both occasions, the first in 1664 and the second in 1670, Shivaji had plundered Surat but had not been able to penetrate the defences of the English in their factory. During the second attack a valiant resistance was put up in particular by Streynsham Master, a member of the Council at the factory. In 1665 Streynsham Master was asked to succeed Sir William Langhorne, Governor of Madras, as and when the latter's term ended. By 1667 Sir William had gone and Master had taken his place. Almost the first issue he had to deal with was Shivaji's visit.

Shivaji's progress through the neighbouring country — he was on his way to capture Vellore and Gingee — was followed by the English in Fort St. George and the natives in the small town of Madras with considerable nervousness. Their apprehension was not in any way lessened by the tales that Master could relate of Shivaji's prowess in battle. Consequently, on May 9, 1677, a resolution was passed by the Council to strengthen the defences of the city. As everyone waited with bated breath, Shivaji came close to the city and on May 14 sent a Brahmin and two others with a message asking the Council at Fort St. George for some “cordial stones and counter poisons”. He offered to pay for these. Deciding that it would be best not to press payment for “such trifles” the English sent what he wanted along with “such fruit as their gardens could afford” through a messenger. In addition, they also propitiated the Brahmin through gifts of three yards of broadcloth and some sandalwood. The thrifty English, however, noted mournfully in some detail that the total cost of the gifts came to 60 pagodas, for which, of course, no compensation could be asked.

A few days later the messenger was back, with a demand for more cordials and counter poisons and an offer to pay for the second consignment. The demands were complied with once more, the suggestion of payment being brushed aside again. A third demand soon came, this time for some English engineers. This was felt to be asking for too much and the Council politely declined to send any. Having done this, they braced themselves for an invasion but nothing happened. Shivaji had moved on. Having conquered Gingee and Vellore, he reappeared in the vicinity in 1678 and by August of that year his brother was camping near Kanchipuram with an army that was 1,500 strong. It was rumoured in Golconda and faithfully relayed to the English in Madras that Shivaji had given orders to his army to advance, conquer the fort at Poonamallee and then lay waste “Sadraspatam, Madraspatanam and Pulicat”. Once again there was an alert of an imminent attack but Madras was fortunate enough to escape. Shivaji abruptly decided to march on and after “some terrible engagements” with the Naik of Mysore went back to his own kingdom.

Shrouded in mystery

Wheeler's record has it that Shivaji never came to Madras proper and passed by its outskirts. Or did he? Local tradition has it that one night, unknown to anyone, the Great Maratha slipped into the city. It was entirely in keeping with his nature and his shrewd desire to assess enemy preparedness for war. It is said that he came and offered worship at the temple of Kalikambal on Thambu Chetty Street. It is a well-known fact that Shivaji was a worshipper of the Goddess Bhavani and perhaps he had a sudden urge to offer prayers at a shrine dedicated to the Goddess.

A portrait of Shivaji on horseback hangs at the temple even now and below it a board that commemorates the visit. It gives the date of the visit as October 16, 1677. Master was to remain Governor of Madras for four more years and fortunately did not have to face any further challenges of a similar nature. He is remembered more today for building the St. Mary's Church inside Fort St. George and the establishment of a High Court of Judicature. But if Shivaji had sacked Madras, would we not all be Marathi Manoos?

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Maratha links to Chennai temple

It was the collapse of the temple tower at Srikalahasti in
Andhra Pradesh that spurred experts to inspect the ‘rajagopurams’
(towers) characteristic of Chennai’s temples. What they discovered
were not cracks or fissures but rare sculptures including one of the
Maratha king Shivaji, which embellish the intricate carvings on these
structures.

“While climbing up the tiers of different temple towers across the
city, we stumbled upon rare idols whose existence was unknown,” said
an expert.

After the Srikalahasti temple tower collapsed in late May, it was
reported that the 236-feet-tall ‘rajagopuram’ in Srirangam, Tiruchi
too had a crack. A team from Chennai, consisting of officers from the
Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) department, IIT
professors, highway department officials and sthapathis (sculptors),
then rushed to Srirangam to conduct an inspection. Soon afterwards,
the team also visited other temples across Chennai and its suburbs to
check the strength of these towers, which usually grace the entrance
to the shrines.

“We noticed a sculpture of Tamil poet Tiruvalluvar sitting
cross-legged, with some palm leaves in his hand, at the Kalikambal
temple in Broadway. Another sculpture depicting the marriage of Shiva
and Parvathi was found at the Karneeswarar temple in Saidapet,” said
an official. “The Kalikambal temple also has a rare painting and a
sculpture showing Goddess Kali blessing Chhatrapati Shivaji.” It is
said that Shivaji visited the temple in the year 1677 and offered
prayers to the deity.

Historical records indicate that Shivaji’s army came down south up to
Kancheepuram, then under the sway of the Nawab of Arcot, who owed
allegiance to the British. Legend has it that he visited the temple
one night during a recce after he heard that the presiding deity was
Kali, his favourite goddess. A long line of Maratha kings, who were
descendants of Shivaji, later controlled the Thanjavur region for
nearly two centuries.

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27 Maratha Year War That Changed Course Of Indian History

Schoolchildren in India learn a very specific blend of Indian history. This school version of history is stripped of all the vigor and pride. The story of Indian civilization spans thousands of years. However for the most part the schoolbook version dwells on the freedom struggle against British and important role played in there by the Indian National Congress. We learn each and every movement of Gandhi and Nehru, but not even a passing reference is made to hundreds of other important people and events.

My objection is not to the persons Gandhi or Nehru. However the attention they get and the exposure their political views and ideology gets is rather disproportionate.

And thus it comes no surprise to me that rarely we talk about an epic war that significantly altered the face of Indian subcontinent. The war that can be described the mother of all wars in India. Considering the average life expectancy that time was around 30 years, this war of 27 years lasted almost the lifespan of an entire generation. The total number of battles fought was in hundreds. It occurred over vast geographical expanse spanning four biggest states of modern India- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. For time, expanse and human and material cost, this war has no match in Indian history.

It started in 1681 with the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s invasion of Maratha empire. It ended in 1707 with Aurangzeb’s death. Aurangzeb threw everything he had in this war. He lost it all.

It’s tempting to jump into the stories of heroics, but what makes the study of war more interesting is the understanding of politics behind it. Every war is driven by politics. Rather war is just one of the means to do politics. This war was not an exception.

Shivaji’s tireless work for most of his life had shown fruits by the last quarter of seventeenth century. He had firmly established Marathas as power in Deccan. He built hundreds of forts in Konkan and Sahyadris and thus created a defense backbone. He also established strong naval presence and controlled most of the Western ports barring few on end of Indian peninsula. Thus tightening the grip on trade routes of Deccan sultanates, he strangled their weapons import from Europe and horses import from Arabian traders. These Sultanates launched several campaigns against Shivaji, but failed to stop him.

On the Northern front, several Rajput kings had accepted to be the vassals of Mughals. Aurangzeb had succeeded to the throne after brutal killing of his brothers and imprisonment of his father. With Rajput resistance mostly subsided and the southern sultanates weakened, it was only matter of time before Marathas were in his cross-hair.

At the time of Shivaji’s death in 1680, Maratha empire spanned an area far more than the current state of Maharashtra and had taken firm roots. But it was surrounded by enemies from all sides. Portuguese on northern Coast and Goa, British in Mumbai, Siddies in Konkan and remaining Deccan sultenates in Karnataka posed limited challenge each, but none of them was capable of taking down the Marathas alone. Mughal empire with Aurangzeb at its helm was the most formidable foe.

For the most part, Aurangzeb was a religious fanatic. He had distanced Sikhs and Rajputs because of his intolerant policies against Hindus. After his succession to the throne, he had made life living hell for Hindus in his kingdom. Taxes like Jizya tax were imposed on Hindus. No Hindu could ride in Palanquin. Hindu temples were destroyed and abundant forcible conversions took place. Auragzeb unsuccessfully tried to impose Sharia, the Islamic law. This disillusioned Rajputs and Sikhs resulting in their giving cold shoulder to Aurangzeb in his Deccan campaign.

Thus in September of 1681, after settling his dispute with the royal house of Mewar, Aurangzeb began his journey to Deccan to kill the Maratha confederacy that was not even 50 years old. On his side, the Mughal king had enormous army numbering half a million soldiers, a number more than three times that of the Maratha army. He had plentiful support of artillery, horses, elephants. He also brought huge wealth in royal treasuries. Teaming up with Portughese, British ,Siddis, Golkonda and Bijapur Sultanates he planned to encapsulate Marathas from all sides and to form a deadly death trap. To an outsider, it would seem no-brainer to predict the outcome of such vastly one sided war. It seemed like the perfect storm headed towards Maratha confederacy.

Enormous death and destruction followed in Deccan for what seemed like eternity. But what happened at the end would defy all imaginations and prove every logic wrong. Despite lagging in resources on all fronts, it would be the Marathas who triumphed. And at the expense of all his treasure, army, power and life, it would be the invading emperor who learned a very costly lesson, that the will of people to fight for their freedom should never be underestimated


Timeline – Marathas under King Sambhaji (1680 to 1689):

After the death of Shivaji in 1680, a brief power struggle ensued in the royal family. Finally Sambhaji became the king. By this time Aurangzeb had finished his North missions and was pondering a final push in Deccan to conquer all of the India.

In 1681 sambhaji attacked Janjira, but his first attempt failed. In the same time one of the Aurangzeb’s generals, Hussein Ali Khan , attacked Northern Konkan. Sambhaji left janjira and attacked Hussein Ali Khan and pushed him back to Ahmednagar. By this time mansoon of 1682 had started. Both sides halted their major military operations. But Aurangzeb was not sitting idle. He tried to sign a deal with Portughese to allow mughal ships to harbor in Goa. This would have allowed him to open another supply route to Deccan via sea. The news reached sambhaji. He attacked Portughese territories and pushed deep inside Goa. But Voiceroy Alvor was able to defend Portughese headquarters.

By this time massive Mughal army had started gathering on the borders of Deccan. It was clear that southern India was headed for one big conflict.

Sambhaji had to leave Portughese expedition and turn around. In late 1683, Aurangzeb moved to Ahmednagar. He divided his forces in two and put his two princes, Shah Alam and Azam Shah, in charge of each division. Shah alam was to attack South Konkan via Karnataka border while Azam Shah would attack Khandesh and northern Maratha territory. Using pincer strategy, these two divisions planned to circle Marathas from South and North and isolate them.

The beginning went quite well. Shah Alam crossed Krishna river and enterd Belgaum. From there he entered Goa and started marching north via Konkan. As he pushed further,he was continuously harassed by Marathas. They ransacked his supply chains and reduced his forces to starvation. Finally Aurangzeb sent Ruhulla Khan for his rescue and brought him back to Ahmednagar. The first pincer attempt failed.

After 1684 monsoon, Aurangzeb’s another general Sahabuddin Khan directly attacked the Maratha capital, fort Raygad. Maratha commanders successfully defended Raygad. Aurangzeb sent Khan Jehan for help, but Hambeerrao Mohite, Commander-in-Chief of Maratha army, defeated him in a fierce battle at Patadi. Second division of Maratha army attacked Sahabuddin Khan at Pachad, inflicting heavy losses on Mughal army.

In early 1685, Shah Alam attacked South again via Gokak- Dharwar route. But Sambhaji’s forces harassed him continuously on the way and finally he had to give up and thus failed to close the loop second time.

In april 1685 Aurangzeb rehashed his strategy. He planned to consolidate his power in the South by taking expediations to Goalkonda and Bijapur. Both were Shia muslim rulers and Aurangzeb was no fond of them. He broke his treaties with both empires and attacked them. Taking this opportunity Marathas launched offensive on North coast and attacked Bharuch. They were able to evade the mughal army sent their way and came back with minimum damage.

On Aurangzeb’s new Southern front, things were proceeding rather smoothly. Bijapur fell in September 1686. King Sikandar Shah was captured and imprisoned. Goalkonda agreed to pay huge ransom. But after receiving the money, Aurangzeb attacked them in blatant treachery. Soon Goalkonda fell as well. King Abu Hussein of Goalkonda was captured and met the same fate as Sikandar Shah.

Marathas had tried to win mysore through diplomacy. Kesopant Pingle, (Moropant Pingle’s brother) was running negotiations, but the fall of Bijapur to mughals turned the tides and Mysore was reluctant to join Marathas. Still Sambhaji successfully courted several Bijapur sardars to join Maratha army.

After fall of Bijapur and Goalkonda, Aurangzeb turned his attention again to his main target – Marathas. First few attempts proved unsuccessful to make a major dent. But in Dec 1688 he had his biggest jackpot. Sambhaji was captured at Sangmeshwar. It was in part his own carelessness and in part because of treachery. Aurangzeb gave him option of converting to Islam, which he refused. Upon refusal, Aurangzeb, blinded by his victories, gave Sambhaji the worst treatment he could ever give to anyone. Sambhaji was pareded on donkey. His tounge was cut, eyes were gorged out. His body was cut into pieces and fed to dogs.

There were many people who did not like Sambhaji and thus were sympathetic to Mughals. But this barbaric treatment made everyone angry. Maratha generals gathered on Raygad. The decision was unanimous. All peace offers were to be withdrawn. Mughals would be repelled at all costs. Rajaram succeeded as the next king. He began his reign by a valiant speech on Raygad. All Maratha generals and councilmen united under the flag of new king, and thus began the second phase of the epic war.

27 Years War TimeLine – Marathas under King Rajaram (1689 to 1700)

To Aurangzeb, the Marathas seemed all but dead by end of 1689. But this would prove to be almost a fatal blunder. In March 1990, the Maratha commanders, under the leadership of Santaji Ghorpade launched the single most daring attack on mughal army. They not only attacked the army, but sacked the tent where the Aurangzeb himself slept. Luckily Aurangzeb was elsewhere but his private force and many of his bodyguards were killed.

This positive development was followed by a negative one for Marathas. Raigad fell to treachery of Suryaji Pisal. Sambhaji’s queen, Yesubai and their son, Shahu, were captured.

Mughal forces, led by Zulfikar Khan, continued this offensive further South. They attacked fort Panhala. The Maratha killedar of Panhala gallantly defended the fort and inflicted heavy losses on Mughal army. Finally Aurangzeb himself had to come. Panhala surrendered.

Maratha ministers had foreseen the next Mughal move on Vishalgad. They made Rajaram leave Vishalgad for Jinji, which would be his home for next seven years. Rajaram travelled South under escort of Khando Ballal and his men. The queen of Bidnur, gave them supplies and free passage. Harji Mahadik’s division met them near Jinji and guarded them to the fort. Rajaram’s queen was escorted out of Maharashtra by Tungare brothers. She was taken to Jinji by different route. Ballal and Mahadik tirelessly worked to gather the scattered diplomats and soldiers. Jinji became new capital of Marathas. This breathed new life in Maratha army.

Aurangzeb was frustrated with Rajaram’s successful escape. His next move was to keep most of his force in Maharashtra and dispatch a small force to keep Rajaram in check. But the two Maratha generals, Santaji ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav would prove more than match to him.

They first attacked and destroyed the force sent by Aurangzeb to keep check on Rajaram, thus relieving the immediate danger. Then they joined Ramchandra Bavadekar in Deccan. Bavdekar, Vithoji Bhosale and Raghuji Chavan had reorganized most of the Maratha army after defeats at Panhala and Vishalgad.

In late 1691, Bavdekar, Pralhad Niraji , Santaji ,Dhanaji and several Maratha sardars met in Maval region and reformed the strategy. Aurangzeb had taken four major forts in Sahyadrais and was sending Zulfikar khan to subdue the fort Jinji. So according to new Maratha plan, Santaji and Dhanaji would launch offensives in the East to keep rest of the Mughal forces scattered. Others would focus in Maharashtra and would attack a series of forts around Southern Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka to divide Mughal won territories in two, thereby posing significant challenge to enemy supply chains. Thanks to Shivaji’s vision of building a navy, Marathas could now extend this divide into the sea, checking any supply routes from Surat to South.

The execution began. In early 1692 Shankar Narayan and Parshuram Trimbak recaptured Rajgad and Panhala. In early 1693 Shankar Narayan and Bhosale captured Rohida. Sidhoji Gujar took Vijaydurg. Soon Parshuram Trimbak took Vishalgad. Kanhoji Angre, a young Maratha Naval officer that time, took fort Kolaba.

While this was in work, Santaji and Dhanaji were launching swift raids on Mughal armies on East front. This came as a bit of surprise to Aurangzeb. In spite of losing one King and having second king driven away, Marathas were undaunted and actually were on offensive. From Khandesh, Ahmednagar to Bijapur to Konkan and Southern Karnataka, Santaji and Dhanaji wrecked havoc. Encouraged by the success, Santaji and Dhanaji hatched new action plan to attack Mughal forces near Jinji. Dhanaji Jadhav attacked Ismail Khan and defeated him near Kokar. Santaji Ghorpade attacked Ali Mardan Khan at the base of Jinji and captured him. With flanks cleared, both joined hands and laid a second siege around the Mughal siege at Jinji

Julfikar khan, who was orchestrating Jinji siege, left the siege on Aurangzeb’s orders and marched back. Santaji followed him to North, but was defeated by Julfikar Khan. Santaji then diverted his forces to Bijapur. Aurangzeb sent another general Kasim Khan to tackle Santaji. But Santaji attacked him with a brilliant military maneuver near Chitaldurg and forced him take refuge in Dunderi fort. The fort was quickly sieged by Santaji and the siege only ended when most of the Mughal soldiers starved and Kasim Khan committed suicide. Aurangzeb sent Himmat Khan to reinforce Kasim Khan. Himmat khan carried heavy artillery. So Santaji lured him in a trap in the forest near Dunderi. A sudden, ambush style attack on Mughals was followed by a fierce battle. The battle ended when when Himmat Khan was shot in head and died. All his forces routed and Santaji confiscated a big cache of weapons and ammunition.

By now, Aurangzeb had the grim realization that the war he began was much more serious than he thought. He consolidated his forces and rethought his strategy. He sent an ultimatum to Zulfikar khan to finish Jinji business or be stripped of the titles. Julfikar khan tightened the Siege. But Rajaram fled and was safely escorted to Deccan by Dhanaji Jadhav and Shirke brothers. Haraji Mahadik’s son took the charge of Jinji and bravely defended Jinji against Julfikar khan and Daud khan till January of 1698. This gave Rajaram ample of time to reach Vishalgad.

Jinji fell, but it did a big damage to the Mughal empire. The losses incurred in taking Jinji far outweighed the gains. The fort had done its work. For seven years the three hills of Jinji had kept a large contigent of mughal forces occupied. It had eaten a deep hole into Mughal resources. Not only at Jinji, but the royal treasury was bleeding everywhere and was already under strain.

Marathas would soon witness an unpleasant development, all of their own making. Dhanaji Jadhav and Santaji Ghorpade had a simmering rivalry, which was kept in check by the councilman Pralhad Niraji. But after Niraji’s death, Dhanaji grew bold and attacked Santaji. Nagoji Mane, one of Dhanaji’s men, killed Santaji. The news of Santaji’s death greatly encouraged Aurangzeb and Mughal army.

But by this time Mughals were no longer the army they were feared before. Aurangzeb, against advise of several of his experienced generals, kept the war on. It was much like Alexander on the borders of Taxila.

The Marathas again consolidated and the new Maratha counter offensive began. Rajaram made Dhanaji the next commander in chief. Maratha army was divided in three divisions. Dhanaji would himself lead the first division. Parshuram Timbak lead the second and Shankar Narayan lead the third. Dhanaji Jadhav defeated a large mughal force near Pandharpur. Shankar Narayan defeated Sarja Khan in Pune. Khanderao Dabhade, who lead a division under Dhanaji, took Baglan and Nashik. Nemaji Shinde, another commander with Shankar Narayan, scored a major victory at Nandurbar.

Enraged at this defeats, Aurangzeb himself took charge and launched another counter offensive. He laid siege to Panhala and attacked the fort of Satara. The seasoned commander, Prayagji Prabhu defended Satara for a good six months, but surrendered in April of 1700, just before onset of Monsoon. This foiled Aurangzeb’s strategy to clear as many forts before monsoon as possible.

In March of 1700, another bad news followed Marathas. Rajaram took his last breath. His queen Tarabai, who was also daughter of the gallant Maratha Commander-in-Chief Hambeerrao Mohite, took charge of Maratha army. Daughter of a braveheart, Tarabai proved her true mettle for the next seven years. She carried the struggle on with equal valor. Thus began the phase 3, the last phase of the prolonged war, with Marathas under the leadership of Tarabai.

The signs of strains were showing in Mughal camp in late 1701. Asad Khan, Julfikar Khan’s father, counselled Aurangzeb to end the war and turn around. This expedition had already taken a giant toll, much larger than originally planned, on Mughal empire. And serious signs were emerging that the 200 years old Mughal empire was crumbling and was in the middle of a war that was not winnable

Mughals were bleeding heavily from treasuries. But Aurangzeb kept pressing the war on. When Tarabai took charge, Aurangzeb had laid siege to the fort of Parli (Sajjangad). Parshuram Trimbak defended the fort until mansooon and retreated quietly at the break of monsoon.The mughal army was dealt heavy loss by flash floods in the rivers around. These same tactics were followed by Marathas at the next stop of Aurangzeb, Panhala. Similar tactic was followed even for Vishalgad.

By 1704, Aurangzeb had Torana and Rajgad. He had won only a handful forts in this offensive, but he had spent several precious years. It was slowly dawning to him that after 24 years of constant war, he was no closer to defeating Marathas than he was the day he began.

The final Maratha counter offensive gathered momentum in North. Tarabai proved to be a valiant leader once again. One after another Mughal provinces fell in north. They were not in position to defend as the royal treasuries had been sucked dry and no armies were left in town. In 1705, two Maratha army factions crossed Narmada. One under leadership of Nemaji Shinde hit as deep North as Bhopal. Second under the leadership of Dabhade struck Bharoch and West. Dabhade with his eight thousand men,attacked and defeated Mahomed khan’s forces numbering almost fourteen thousand. This left entire Gujarat coast wide open for Marathas. They immediately tightened their grip on Mughal supply chains.

In Maharashtra, Aurangzeb grew despondent. He started negotiations with Marathas, but cut abruptly and marched on a small kingdom called Wakinara. Naiks at Wakinara traced their lineage to royal family of Vijaynagar empire. They were never fond of Mughals and had sided with Marathas. Dhanaji marched into Sahyadris and won almost all the major forts back in short time. Satara and Parali forts were taken by Parshuram Timbak. Shankar Narayan took Sinhgad. Dhanaji then turned around and took his forces to Wakinara. He helped the Naiks at Wakinara sustain the fight. Naiks fought very bravely. Finally Wakinara fell, but the royal family of Naiks successfully escaped with least damage.

Aurangzeb had now given up all hopes and was now planning retreat to Burhanpur. Dhanaji Jadhav again fell on him and in swift and ferocious attack and dismantled the rear guard of his imperial army. Zulfikar Khan rescued the emperor and they successfully reached Burhanpur.

Aurangzeb witnessed bitter fights among his sons in his last days. Alone, lost, depressed, bankrupt, far away from home, he died sad death on 3rd March 1707. “I hope god will forgive me one day for my disastrous sins”, were his last words.

Thus ended a prolonged and grueling period in history of India. The Mughal kingdom fragmented and disintegrated soon after. And Deccan saw rise of a new sun, the Maratha empire.


Reflection: Strategical Analysis:

In this war, Aurangzeb’s army totaled more than 500,000 in number (compared to total Maratha army in the ballpark of 150,000). With him he carried huge artillery, cavalry, muskettes, ammunition and giant wealth from royal treasuries to support this quest. This war by no means a fair game when numbers are considered.

The main features of Aurangzeb’s strategy were :-

Use of overwhelming force to demoralize the enemy – This tactic had proved successful in Aurangzeb’s other missions. Thus he used this even in Maharashtra. On several occasions giant Mughal contigents were used to lay siege to a fort or capture a town.

Meticulously planned sieges to the forts – Aurangzeb knew that the forts in Sahyadri formed backbone of Maratha defense. His calculation was to simply lay tight siege to the fort, demoralizing and starving the people inside and finally making them surrender the fort.

Fork or pincer movements using large columns of infantry and cavalry – With large number of infantry and cavalry, pincer could have proved effective and almost fatal against Marathas

Marathas had one advantage on their side, geography. They milked this advantage to the last bit. Their military activities were planned considering the terrain and the weather.

The main features of Maratha strategy were :-

Combined offensive-defensive strategy – Throughout the war, Marathas never stopped their offensive. This served two purposes. The facts that Maratha army was carrying out offensive attacks in Mughal land suddenly made them psychologically equals to Mughals launching attack in Maratha land, even though Mughals were a much bigger force. This took negative toll on Mughal morale and boosted morale of their own men. Secondly, these offensive attacks in terms of quick raids often heavily damaged enemy supply chains taking toll on Mughal army.
The forts formed backbone of Maratha defense. Thanks to Shivaji, the every fort had provision of fresh water. The total forts numbered almost 300 and this large number proved major headache to Aurangzeb.

Defense of forts till onset of Monsoon – Forts are an asset in rest of the year, but are a liability in monsoon as it costs a lot to carry food and supplies up. Also the monsoon in coasts and ghats is severe in nature and no major military movement is possible. Thus Marathas often fought till Monsoon and surrendered the fort just before Monsoon. Before surrendering they burned all the food inside. Thus making it a proposition of loss in every way. Often times Marathas surrendered the fort empty, but later soon won it back filled with food and water. These events demoralized the enemy.

Offensive attacks in terms of evasive raids – Marathas mostly launched offensive attacks in the region when Mughal army was away. They rarely engaged Mughal army in open fields till later part of the war. If situation seemed dire, they would retreat and disperse and thus conserve most of their men and arms for another day.
The rivers Bhima, Krishna , Godavari and the mountains of Sahyadri, divide entire Maharashtra region is in several North- South corridors. When Mughal army traveled South through one corridor, Marathas would travel North through another and launch attacks there. This went on changing gradually and in the end, Maratha forces started engaging Mughals head on.

A noted historian Jadunath Sarkar makes an interesting observation. In his own words, “Aurangzeb won battle after battles, but in the end he lost the war. As the war prolonged, it transformed from war of weapons to war of spirits, and Aurangzeb was never able to break Maratha spirit.”

What Marathas did was an classic example of assymetric defensive warfare. The statement above by Mr. Sarkar hides one interesting fact about this assymetric defense. Is it really possible to lose most of the battles and still win the war?

The answer is yes, and explanation is a statistical phenomena called “Simpson’s paradox.”. According to Simpsons paradox, several micro-trends can lead to one conclusion, however a mega-trend combining all the micro-trends can lead to an exact opposite conclusion. Explanation is as follows.

Say two forces go on war, force A with 100 soldiers and force B with 40 soldiers. Now say in every battle between A and B, the following happens.

If A loses, they lose 80% of the soldiers fighting.
If B loses, they only lose 10% of the soldiers fighting.
If A wins, they lose 50% of the solders fighting.
If B wins, they lose only 10% of the soldiers fighting.

In the case above, the ratio of (resource drain of A / resource drain of B ) is higher than (initial number of A soldiers / initial number of B soldiers). So even if A wins battle more than 50% of the time, they will lose their resources faster and, in the end, will lose the war. All B has to do is keep the morale and keep the consistency.

One of the most famous warrior in ancient Indian history seems to agree with the conclusion above. In “Bhishma- perva” of Mahabharata, pitamah Bhishma begins the war-advice to king Yudhisthira with a famous quote -
“The strength of an army is not in its numbers”


It was not Shivaji’s personality but his vision and his values was what Deccan fought for. They imbibed that vision and made it their own. After that, they were not fighting for their hero, they were fighting for themselves. The secret of why people simply refused to surrender to Mughal power can be found not in Shivaji’s heroics, but somewhere else. The secret lies in the reforms he brought.

During the short span of his governance, Shivaji brought a manifold of reforms. For the purpose of discussion, I will divide them into four categories. Governance reforms, political reforms, defense reforms and social reforms.

Governance reforms deserve first attention. After the coronation, Shivaji put in place fully functioning governance consisting of Ashta-Pradhan (eight ministers). These eight men were noted statesmen in their era. They laid foundation of formal economic policy, foreign policy and other functions of government.

One key aspect differentiated Shivaji’s governance through ministers from the prevailing “watan and jahagir” type of governance – division of work based on function rather than geography. To put in management terms, this was “horizontal decentralization” where each minister was responsible for only one function, say judiciary branch, but was responsible for the entire empire. This was much better than vertical decentralization of “watan” system, where one person would be named in charge of all affairs of a small region. Horizontal decentralization helped keep uniformity across the whole empire and made it easy for people to migrate, do business, and remain one political entity. Also when divided this way, different branches of government keep check on each other and stop each other from running amok. These ministers kept military focused on the military objectives. They checked personal rivalries between individual commanders. In addition these ministers provided a crucial diplomatic support complementing the military ventures.

Second, Defense strategy reforms. The combined choice of Guerrilla warfare as tactics, the reliance on light infantry and and a solid line of more than 300 strengthened forts represents Shivaji’s coherent defense strategy. Unlike Rajputs, who stuck to their code of warriors even as Mughal and Persian invaders broke every possible rule of ethics, Marathas retaliated in tit-for-tat way. They preferred guerrilla warfare for defense and engaged in open field battles only when necessary. They never disrespected the women like Khilji and Ghori did, so they were certainly ethical minded. But they never shied from attacking their enemies at night if required. They were more committed to the political objective than the personal objective of bravery.

Additionally Shivaji launched Navy. Though the Maratha ships were smaller and the weapons inferior in technology, they gave Marathas capabilities to open a sea front. This sea front played a big role in the 27 year war by blocking Aurangzeb’s supply chains from Surat.

Several social reforms were introduced as well. It is largely this statesmanship of Shivaji that laid the foundation of indefatigable Maratha resistance. Common people fought because ,for them, going back to the horrors of previous governance was simply not an option.

On the economic front, there was a taxation reform. The previous empires had followed a system of taxation that was predatory or at times outright cruel. They had appointed Jameen-dars that collected tax on their behalf. The amount that was to be deposited in the royal treasury was fixed, but the amount that was to be collected from the peasants was left to Jameen-dars. These jameen-dars exploited this opportunity to fill their treasures, driving the farmers to bankruptcy. Over the years these Jameen-dars had built big castles, had their own armies, their own courts and they enjoyed being mini-kings.
Shivaji scrapped this system of taxation and introduced taxes where the amount that was to be collected from the peasants was fixed. The appointed officers were given only limited mandate and authority to carry out their duty – to collect taxes. They were often transferred, preventing them from developing too strong local ties. If in any year it did not rain and the farmers lost their crops, the taxes were waived.

Shivaji’s fiscal policies were conservative. Thus no magnificent monuments like Taj Mahal or Royal Mughal gardens were built by Shivaji. But it was him for whom his nation was ready to die. This fiscal conservative bend shows a striking resemblance to another visionary leader. After the American revolutionary war, Thomas Jefferson refused to pay for the extravagant ballroom maintained by British Viceroy in Virginia colonies noting that ” such mansions represent colossal waste of taxpayer money”.
By contrast, Deccan Sultanates and Mughals had shown little interest in welfare of people. During the 22 years that took to build Taj Mahal, three times there was severe draught and hundreds of thousands of people died. But Shahjahan focused all the money and efforts on building a tomb for his wife.

It’s indeed an irony that that Taj Mahal has become symbol of India while the forts that cradled the first “swaraj”, first rule of people, languish in desolation.

Epilogue:

For centuries , the mountains and valleys, towns and villages of Deccan had gotten used to being a pawn in the game of power. They changed hands as kingdoms warred with each other. They paid taxes whoever was in a position to extract them. For the most part they remained in a sleepy slumber, just turning and twisting in their bed.
Once in a while they sent their sons to fight in battles without ever asking why exactly the war is being launched. Other times they fought amongst themselves. They were divided, confused and did not have high hopes about their future.
This was the condition of Deccan when Shivaji launched his first expedition of fort Torana in 1645. By the time of his death mere 35 years later, he had transformed Deccan from a sleepy terrain to a thundering volcano.

Finally, here was a man whose vision of future was shared by a large general audience. An unmistakable characteristic of a modern concept of “nation-state”. Perhaps the most important factor that distinguishes Shivaji’s vision is that it was “unifying”. His vision went beyond building an army of proud warriors from warrior castes. It included people from all rungs of society sharing a common political idea and ready to defend it at any cost. His vision went far beyond creating an empire for himself in Maharashtra. It included a building confederacy of states against what he thought were foreign invaders. He was trying to build an Alliance of Hindu kingdoms. He went out of his way to convince Mirza-Raje Jaisingh to leave Aurangzeb. He established relations with the dethroned royal family of Vijaynagar for whom he had tremendous respect. He attempted to unify the sparring Hindu power centers.

And they responded. Sikhs in Punjab, Rajputs in Rajasthan, Nayaks in Karnataka, rulers of Mysore, the royal family of Vijaynagar were of valuable help to Shivaji and later to Marathas. It was certainly a step towards a nation getting its soul back.

While he was creating a political voice for Hindus, Muslims never faced persecution in his rule. Several Muslims served at high posts in his court and army. His personal body guard on his Agra visit was Muslim. His Naval officer, Siddi Hilal was Muslim. Thus Shivaji’s rule was not meant to challenge Islam as a personal religion, but it was a response to Political Islam.

Last but not the least, we must give due respect to one more thing. The seeds of every political revolution can be traced back to a spiritual one and this was no exception. The “Bhakti” movement in Maharashtra that began with 12th Century saint Dnyaneshwar and spearheaded by saint Tukaram (who was contemporary of Shivaji), played a role of social catalyst of immense effect. It created a forum, a pool in society where everyone was welcome. The shackles of cast system were not broken, but were certainly loosened. Once people were on the same page spiritually, it was easier for Shivaji to get them on the same page politically.

It’s tempting for a Maharashtrian to claim the root of success of Marathas solely be in Maharashtra. But at the height of it’s peak, only 20% of Shivaji’s kingdom was part of Maharashtra. When Marathas launched northern campaigns in 18th century, it was even more less. Soldiers in Maratha army came from diverse social and geographical backgrounds including from areas as far away as Kandahar to West and Bengal to East. Shivaji received a lot of support from various rulers and common people from all over India.

Thus limiting Marathas to Maharashtra is mostly a conclusion of a politician. It must be noted that the roots of Maharashtra culture can be traced to both ancient Karnataka and Northern India. Shivaji himself traced his lineage to Shisodia family of Rajputs. Maharashtrians should not be ashamed to admit that their roots lie elsewhere. In fact they should feel proud that land of Maharashtra is truly a melting pot where Southern and Northern Indian cultures melted to give birth to a new vision of a nation. Shivaji was far more an Indian king than a Maratha king.

Dear readers, here ends the story of an epic war. I hope this saga gives you a sense of realistic hope and a sense of humble pride. All you might be doing today is sitting in a cubicle for the day ,typing on keyboard. But remember that the same blood runs in our fingers that long long time ago displayed unparalleled courage and bravery, the same spirit resides within us that can once soured sky high upon the call of freedom.

Jai Hind !!

Biography: An everflowing spring of inspiriation

The biography of Shivaji Maharaj has an answer for any problem faced by a Hindu or Indian politicians; however for this purpose the biography should be read with shrewdness and insight. If read by Hindus with the immoderate vision of Gandhi with respect to non-violence, truth, pleasing Muslims, or the coloured spectacles of Nehru who with the concept of `all religions are equal’ meted out inferior treatment to Hindus, then Hindus will not even become aware of when they were circumscribed! Gandhi, Nehru and their descendants had created terror in the minds of the people about what they would have to suffer if they even uttered the name of Shivaji Maharaj. In fact Shivaji Maharaj has been totally eliminated from the history text books at the Secondary school level. History on Shivaji Maharaj is taught and finished in the III or IV standards as if they are fairy tales for children to read and forget. Politicians have ensured that youths and adults do not get any inspiration from the biography of Shivaji Maharaj simply because it is an everflowing spring of inspiration for Hindus! This is a small effort made to get a sip of water from this this pure spring on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj tomorrow! - Compiler: Shri. Sanjay Mulye, Ratnagiri

Shivaji Maharaj’s inspiration to protect Hinduism!

Since childhood Shivaji Maharaj was fully aware that he had to fight the Mughals. In his book 'Chatrapati Shivaji Maharajanche Saptaprakaranatmak Charitra’ Malhar Ramrav Chitnis has described the mindset of Prince Shivaji when living with his father Shahajiraje at Vijapur. He pens Prince Shivaji’s thoughts as, “ We are Hindus. These Yavans (Muslims) are inferior to us. There is none more inferior than them. I am distressed by serving them, eating food served by them, flattering them or even greeting them. It is so wrong to see the ridicule of one’s own religion. As we walk down the road we see cows being slaughtered. At that time I feel like beheading the killers and the distress grows even more. What is the use of living to see a cow being tormented ? I am compelled to remain silent because of being reprimanded by my father otherwise I feel like killing the one indulging in cow slaughter. It is not at all good to be in the company of Muslims. So also it is inappropriate to go to the court (darbar) of the emperor or to visit every wealthy man.” As soon as he returned from the Vijapur court he would bathe and change clothing. It is at this very age that young Prince Shivaji showed his valorous nature by chopping off the hand of a butcher who was dragging a cow for slaughter in another kingdom !
Inspiration endowed by Chatrapati Shivaji is very clear from the above incidents. The biographer has strengthened this further in the following words of Shivaji Maharaj, “ We are Hindus. The entire southern region has been invaded by the Muslims and our religion is going downhill. Hence one should not hesitate to sacrifice even one’s life to protect religion. By doing so one would add to one’s treasure of valorous deeds”. Soon thereafter by taking the vow of Raieshvari and conquering the `Torana’ fort Shivaji Maharaj revealed his nature to the world.
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Talk about Muslims in Shivaji’s army and their valorous deeds!

Today people are talking of the concept of `equality of religions’ in society. The Congress party is trying to depict him as non-communal and secular. Nowadays some Hindu protagonists are trying to drag Shivaji Maharaj into the camp of secularism by making statements such as `there were Muslim soldiers in his army’. Really these are pearls of wisdom by these so-called ardent (hypocrite) lovers of Hinduism!
In this context the author of the book `Marathi Riyasati’ and a great historian, Sardessai writes, “ Towards 1649, 500-700 Pathans from Vijapur came to Shivaji Maharaj in search of jobs. Though he did not approve of employing them, with the counsel of Gomaji Naik Pansabal that `these people have come after hearing about your popularity so please do not disappoint them. If you remain adamant that you will employ only Hindus and that you do not need others then you will not be able to establish a kingdom. So include all eighteen communities of all four varna (classes) of society and should allow them to carry out their own duties’ he employed the servitors of Radho Ballal Korde. However these Hindu protagonists are ignorant about facts in this context that the monarch also ensured that there were spies to keep watch on those Muslim soldiers !
If these 500- 700 soldiers made any attempt to divide the army then as was prevalent in those days he would also not hesitate to punish them (by throwing them over the cliff). It was not like today when a perpetrator of the India Parliament instead of being hanged goes scot free simply because he is a Muslim! In this context a historian researcher Mr. Ninad Bedekar says, “ A new idea that Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had `several’ Muslims in his army is being projected. I will quote a few names. You can give me the rest ! When Prince Shivaji came to the Jagirs of Pune, Indore and Supe, of the representatives of Shahajiraje only three were Muslims, namely Siddi Ambar Bagdadi, Jainkhan Peerzade and Bahalimkhan. Of some more Muslims associated with Shivaji Maharaj were Nurkhan Beg the chief of his infantry. But the truth is that later at some juncture all these people were driven off because no mention of their names is made anywhere in the historical annals. After 1675 B.C. these people are nowhere in the picture. That way the British army also employed Indians as soldiers. Afzal Khan who attacked Shivaji Maharaj employed 3000 Maulas in his army, so can we call him secular ? Then why is this cord (like an iguana) of secularism wound tightly around necks of Hindus alone ? Claiming that Shivaji Maharaj was secular simply because he had a few Muslim soldiers in his army is an indicator of an over liberal intellect.
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Promotion of Sanskrut in honour of Hinduism!

In the fight for independence and establishing his own kingdom, in every aspect Shivaji Maharaj did everything possible to promote Hinduism. His assembly of eight ministers was formed based on Hindu ideals. One comes across this concept of eight ministers in the Ramayan and the Mahabharat. King Dashrath too had eight ministers. In the Shantiparva of the Mahabharat also it has been suggested that exchange of thoughts of eight ministers is necessary. During the coronation ceremony Maharaj changed the Persian names of the ministers to Sanskrut as follows –
Persian Sanskrut Peshva Panta Pradhan Majmuadar Panta Amatya Vakiya navis Mantri Shuru navis Panta Sachiv Dabir Sumant Sar-e- naubat Senapati Sadra, Muhatsib Panditrav, Danadhyaksha Kazi-ul- kujat Nyayadish
Giving Sanskrut names was a hobby of this great king. In September 1665, that is around the time of Dasra before leaving on a journey he named all the forts from his kingdom. Malhar Ramrav Chitnis in the biography of the monarch, `Chatrapati Shivaji Maharajanche Saptaprakaranatmak Charitra’ has spoken about the forts as, `From place to place Maharaj would build a new fort to frighten the enemy. Varugad, Bhushangad, Mahimagad, Vardhangad, Sadashivgad, Macchindragad are some of them’. In the book `Marathyancha Itihas’ it is said, “Shivaji Maharaj loved Sanskrut. There are several points to testify this. He changed the names of forts to Raigad, Vishalgad, Suvarnagad, Vijaydurg, Prachandgad and Pandavgad.”
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Cosequences of not receiving inspiration from the biography of Shivaji Maharaj

Lokmanya Tilak was the first to start the celebration of the birth anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj. He was followed by Svantrya Veer Savarkar in 1908 in London. Both these leaders were fully aware of the importance of this biography, but Gandhi and Nehru kept strict vigilance on this text ever since independence of India. That is why how a handful of Muslims invaded and destroyed Hindu kingdoms and gained control over the Hindu empire is not known to most Hindus after 1920. In fact it is because of this misguidance that they accepted the division of India without offering any resistance to it. Non- acceptance of this biography which would have inspired Indians has resulted in return of Muslim powers in the name of Pakistan and Bangladesh, to overpower Hindus. It is because the incidents in which Shivaji Maharaj tore open Afzal Khan’s abdomen and chopped off Sahishtekhan’s fingers, were kept secret that today we compromise by releasing hard core terrorists in return for release of the kidnapped daughter of an Indian Muslim Minister, Mufti Mohammed. India’s External Affairs Minister flies to the Kandahar desert in a special plane only to release criminals who have butchered Hindus ! In Kashmir Bitta Karate who beheaded 16 Hindus is released on parole ! In the 13 days after killing Afzal Khan Shivaji Maharaj conquered 16 forts and in contrast within a year of independence of India our politicians lost 1/3rd of our motherland in Kashmir to enemies ! Fearing Shivaji’s valour, till he was alive, Aurangzeb did not dare to even talk about conquering South India. Yet today the cunning, crafty Musharraf arrives in India to disrupt an Agra conference or dares to hang the Indian tricolour upside down on his personal aircraft.

Subjects being fully aware of the struggle between righteousness and unrighteousness!

Just as Maharaj was fully aware that he had to fight the Mughals so also were his subjects. The situation was such that people were worried whether Maharaj would return alive from the Agra jail. Despite that the leaders of home rule (svarajya) and the Maulas did not get unnerved and as per the plan of Shivaji Maharaj they protected the home rule. The Maulas were prepared to sacrifice even auspicious events in their families and were willing to face the jaws of death. Sinhagad, Pavankhind, Agra,... how many more forts do you want me to quote ? In this struggle between righteousness and unrighteousness many parents lost their sons and several women were widowed. They were all fully aware of why they were fighting the Mughals. These women clearly choose widowhood to being raped by Mughal sardars to retain their marital status namesake. Compare this attitude to the tantrums thrown by relatives of victims of the plane hijacked by terrorists to Kandahar. Both the central government and the majority of people of India seemed to forget with whom they were fighting this battle. The entire country is testimony to this.
The politicians of today and most of the people are still unaware of why we drove off the British from India. The Indian heroes have not shed blood in vain, to allow Aurangzeb to assume the throne of Hindustan, which Mountbatten had to vacate. If only we were to understand this then we would not have played cricket matches with Pakistan which is all set to wipe out Hindus in Kashmir, the land of Sage Kashyap. We would also not have given refuge to Bangladeshi infiltrators and would have driven off the Chinese ambassadors who stake a claim on Arunachal Pradesh. All this is a consequence of not being inspired for independence and home rule by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj!

Beautiful flowers blossom from the creeper of Bharatiya Rajdharma!

When describing Shivaji Maharaj his admirer Mr. M.S. Vabgaonkar writes, “ Shivaji is a beautiful flower which has blossomed from the Bharatiya creeper of rajdharma. The great promoter of Bharatiya Rajdharma, Kautilya in His holy text the Arthashastra, has imagined an ideal king and two thousand years later this king has taken birth in the form of Shivaji. The king described by Kautilya was one who emphasised on spying, who took full responsibility for procuring all the benefits of an attack onto himself, who was disinterested in worldly and sexual pleasures and was well versed in law and religion besides having an unblemished character and punishing subjects only when required. Even this has proved right as per Kautilya’s description in case of Shivaji. After 1920 the creeper of Bharatiya rajdharma was nurtured with the manure of `equality of all religions’, pleasing Muslims, etc. and from it sprang a number of poisonous flowers in the form of Mohandas-Jawaharlal or Manmohan-Soniya. To stop the blossoming of such vicious flowers, the Bharatiya rajdharma creeper must be punished with the support of the Sanatan Vedic religion and then watered with pure water from the Ganga in the form of the biography of Shivaji Maharaj! When this happens, from every leaf of the creeper will spring beautiful flowers like Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Only then will this creeper reach the skies!

History of forts of Maharashtra is history of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and history of his battle for God, religion, justice & freedom of Maharashtra. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was true king of fort. On his whole life he was ruled on more than 375 forts. Many of them were built-up by him. He build and maintain all types of forts e.g. Ocean Forts, Castles, Mountain Forts and too many mores.
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is well- known as all time great worrier. He was fight at time with many enemies and not only fight but also defeat all of them and spread his empire in all directions.
Forts of Maharashtra were backbone of his victorious campaign. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was excellent general co-coordinator, administrator, leader but one more most important thing he had that he was master in choosing and using places for battlefield. Forts build by him like Pratapgad, Sindhudurg are victims of his architectural skills. Every fort of Maharashtra has too many memories of his successful and famous battles. Age of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was golden age of history of forts in Maharashtra.
He founded the Hindu kingdom in the Deccan against all odds, fighting against the mighty Mughals. He inspired and united the common man to fight against the tyranny of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, by inculcating a sense of pride and nationality in them. At the age of 16, he took a pledge to establish a sovereign Hindu state. His life appears like a fairy tale to children. He clearly outstands all the rulers and generals of India by the exemplary life he lived and is thus respected by the entire cross section of Indians. Shivaji is to India what Napolean was to Europe.


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छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराज

महाराजांचं जिवंत असताना काढलेले एकमेव स्केत्च. 

असे म्हंटले जाते कि सुरात च्या लुटीच्या वेळेस हेय स्केत्च काढले होते, कितवी ती माहित नाही.

महाराजांच्या काळातील सोन्याचे होण व शिवराई 

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Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India PDF Download

James Laine's Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India was published by Oxford University Press.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj - Source of Inspiration

He founded the Hindu kingdom in the Deccan against all odds , fighting against the mighty Mughals.He inspired and united the common man to fight against the tyranny of Mughal ruler Aurangjeb, by inculcating a sense of pride and nationality in them.

At the age of 16, he took a pledge to establish a sovereign Hindu state.He clearly outstands all the rulers and generals of India by the exemplary life he lived and is thus respected by the entire cross section of Indians. Shivaji's military skills could be compared to those of Napolean.

He raised a strong army and navy, constructed and repaired forts, used gureilla warfare tactics,developed a strong intelligence network,gave equal treatment to the people from all religions and castes based on merit, and functioned like a seasoned Statesman and General. He appointed ministers with specific functions such as Internal security,Foreign affairs,Finance,Law and Justice,Religious matters,Defence etc.

He introduced systems in revenue collection and warned the officials against harassment of subjects.He thought ahead of times and was a true visionary.In his private life, his moral virtues were exceptionally high.His thoughts and deeds were inspired by the teachings of his mother Jijabai,teacher Dadaji Konddev,great saints like Dnyaneshwar & Tukaram and the valiancy and ideals of the Lords Rama and Krishna.

The tiny kingdom established by Chhatrapati Shivaji known as "Hindavi Swaraja" (Sovereign Hindu state) grew and spread beyond Attock in Northwest India (now in Pakistan)and beyond Cuttack in East India in course of time, to become the strongest power in India. After the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji & his son Sambhaji, their prime ministers or ‘the Peshwas' became the defacto rulers. The Peshwas and the Maratha Sardars (Chieftans) like Shindes of Gwalior, Gaekwads of Baroda & Holkars of Indore contributed to the growth of the Maratha Confederacy.

The history of India is incomplete without the history of Marathas and Shivaji is the nucleus of Maratha history. Shivaji has been a source of inspiration and pride to the past generations and will continue to inspire generations in future. We salute this legend and humbly dedicate this website to him.
Marathas are a blend of the Warrior and Agrarian classes, speaking Marathi and generally having their roots in Maharashtra. They are also found in large Nos in Karnataka, Goa, and Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat. There are contradictory theories about the Historic origins of Marathas and hence are not discussed here.

A few Maratha clans claim themselves to be Kshatriyas (Warriors). Some such families were the Bhosales, Ghorpades, Jadhavs, Nimbalkars, Mores, Manes, Ghatges, Dafleys, Sawants, Shirkes, Mahadiks and the Mohites. The prominent Maratha families mentioned above were serving under the Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar and Adil Shah of Bijapur. These families are generally referred as the 96 clans or kulis which comprise of 96 different main clans with their different sub clans. Marathas are descendents of Rashtrakuts, Mauryas, Pariharas/Parmar (Pawar), Pratiharas, Shilahars, Kadambas, Yadavas, Chalukyas and many other royal clans in India.

Maloji Bhosale (c.1552-1606) then the patil of verul joined Nizam Shah with a small band of cavalry. His son, Shahaji (1599-1664) served under Nizam Shah and Adil Shah, and came to prominence as a leading General. His son Shivaji (1627-1680) established the Hindavi Swarajya (Sovereign Hindu state), which happened to be the nucleus of the Maratha power that came into being later on. The Marathas, who had been till then serving as Deshmukhs (Jagirdars) to the Muslim rules, now had their own king and kingdom.

The majority of Marathas, however belong to the peasantry class. The dividing line between the Kshatriya classes and the peasantry classes has become thin with the passage of time.A lot of matrimonial alliances are also taking place amongst them, unlike those in North or South India. The Maratha army and the administration also had people from all castes taking pride in it.

The fanatic Brahmins of those times had refused to coronate Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and subsequently Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur since they didn't consider Marathas, as 'Kshatriyas'. The Brahmins declared that 'Only Kshatriyas are entitled to be crowned as the Kings' and Marathas being 'Shudras' were not entitled to be crowned. Chhatrapati Shivaji brought Gagabhat of Varanasi to establish his lineage with the Sisodias (Rajputs) of Rajasthan & testify his being Kshatriya, whereas the great social reformer Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj extended the vedic rights to non brahmins and empowered them do the jobs of the brahmins.

Rajarshi Shahu realised the falacy in the caste system and corrected it by bringing all the sections of the society on one platform to fight this brahmin fanatism. Throughout his life, he struggled for the upliftment and education of the downtrodden. . It is a worthwhile to see the majority lot of Maharashtrians identifying themselves as Marathas. It is a case of inculcation of pride in masses, a case study for sociologists.

Marathas consider themselves to be the saviours of Hinduism who fought the onslaught of fanatic Mughal Emperor Aurangjeb. It is generally agreed by Historians that had the Maratha power not been there after the Mughals, the whole of India would have become Pakistan after Independence.

The death of Chhatrapti Shivaji in 1680 and his son Sambhaji in 1687 pushed the Maratha kingdom in the period of instability upto 1707. The tiny Maratha kingdom , established by Chattrapati Shivaji was expanded by the Peshwas, who were the Brahmin Prime Ministers. The real credit for expanding the Maratha kingdom goes to Bajirao Peshwa I(1721-1740) . The Peshwas subsequently ruled the Maratha Kingdom as defacto rulers. The Maratha Sardars or chieftanslike Gaekwads of Baroda, Shindes of Gwalior, Holkars of Indore expanded the power in North India and became powerful after the Peshwas.They then established their own kingdoms.

At one time, the Marathas rule spread from Attock in Paktoonistan to Bengal (beyond Cuttack) in East India to become a Maratha confederacy. The Great Maratha, 'Mahadji Shinde' was the kingmaker at Delhi who played a dominant role in deciding the fate of Delhi rulers but never thought of occupying the throne for himself.

In the battle that took place near Delhi ,after the Mughal power declined, the Marathas conclusively defeated Afgan-Rohila forces led by Shah Abdali & Najib Khan in 1756. Najib Khan surrendered to the Marathas and became their prisoner. This battle liberated Punjab from the Muslim dominion after 800 years. The Marathas chased and drove the Afghans back to Afghanistan. Thereafter Najib Khan woed Malharrao Holkar to his side and in return secured his release. Thus Marathas released Najib Khan. He again invited Shah Abdali for his second invasion in 1759. Marathas formed alliance with the Jat King Suraj Mal of Bharatpur This alliance led by Shrimant Sadshiv Rao Bhau and Shrimant Vishwas Rao (the Peshwa Shrimant Balaji Baji Rao's son) won spectacular victories and captured Delhi and Kunjapura. This was the time when the entire North & Central India was in the Maratha Command.

Here the alliance developed cracks about handling of Delhi matters and ultimately split. Suraj Mal withdrew from the alliance. The Marathas then marched upto Panipat and blockedg the way of the Afghans back to Afghanistan, instead of continuing their attacks to completely defeat the partly defeated Abdali and Najib Khan. Seeing their way back to their homeland blocked, the Afghans in turn, blocked the way of the Marathas back into the Deccan. This standoff continued for a few months, while the Afghans cut-off all supplies to the huge Maratha army. The Afghans with Najib Khan meanwhile recaptured Delhi and Kunjpura.

On the decisive day of 14th January 1761, the Marathas decided to break-through the Afghan blockade and re-enter Deccan. The disastrous battle saw about one hundred thousand Maratha troops killed in a matter of eight hours. Nanasaheb Peshwe (Balaji Bajirao) lost his brother, Sadashivrao, and also his first son, Vishwasrao, in this battle. Nanashaeb , unable to bear the shock also died shortly. It was one of the worst defeats for Marathas, Hinduism & the Indian Nationalist Forces. The dream of bringing India under one unified Hindu rule was thus shattered. The Afghans too suffered heavy losses and decided enough was enough and went back to Afghanistan. Abdali never returned to India after this stormy campaign. The Peshwas also lost control on the Maratha empire thereafter and the Maratha Generals like Shindes (Gwalior) and Holkars (Indore) consolidated themselves after this, in the North & Central India.

For Marathas 'Panipat is a synonym for Disaster' and it haunts even the present generation of Marathas.
The Marathas were at the forefront in the 1857 mutiny against the British and gave wholehearted support for the same. Though they could muster support from a few Hindu Kingdoms in the North, most of them refused to oblige them. The lack of planning, proper co-ordination within Hindu rulers, lack of diplomatic efforts, firearms & communication facilities led to the failure of this mutiny. The Marathas have also whole-heartedly supported the Independence movement especially the ‘Quit India’ movement of 1942 in large Numbers. Thus Marathas have carved out a place of pride for themselves in the History of India. It is a community of Natural Nationalists.

The Marathas hold 'Chhatrapati Shri Shivaji Maharaj' ,who brought pride to this community at a very high esteem. This community became dominant in the politics of Maharshtra State after the formation of a Marathi speaking Maharashtra state in 1960.The community has prospered through the effective use of co-operative movement and brought employment in rural areas by establishing Sugar Factories,Spinning Mills,Banks,Milk Dairies and other institutions in co-operative sector. The co-operative sector holds complete control over this community in the countryside.

Socially, the present day Marathas find themselves sandwiched between the Brahmins and Backward classes (including the Scheduled castes and tribes). The Brahmins acquired a higher social status thru the advancement made by them in Education, thereby acquiring good jobs in the private sector as well as the Government jobs and generally residing in towns & cities. The Backward classes got the Government jobs by virtue of their castes whereas the Brahmins overpowered them there in open competition. The only saving grace for this community is the small pieces of Ancestral lands they own and a few jobs created by them in the co-operative sector. The lands have also got reduced to a few thousand sq.ft (gunthas) over a period of time, due to family partitions. Though the present generation Maratha youth is taking education they find it difficult to get jobs competing with the Brahmins and other urban classes.

The leading lights of this community are Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur, Late Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda ,Late Yashwantrao Chavan (Ex-Deputy PM),Late Vasantraodada Patil(Ex CM Maharshtra),Late Balasaheb Desai (Ex Home Min. Maharashtra ,Shri. Yeshwantrao Mohite (Ex-Fin Min of Maharashtra),Prof. Shivajirao Bhosale,Late Vithalrao Vikhe Patil,Late Shivajirao Patil (Mathadi workers Leader).In the present generation Sharad Pawar (Leader of NCP) occupies the prime position.
Attempts made by Late Shivajirao patil and now Mr Shasikant pawar to unite this commninity under the banner of ‘Akhil Bhartiya Maratha Mahasangh’ have met with little success. The idea of Maratha Mahasangh was to put forth the views of this community to the Government on a common platform.

Another organization ‘Maratha Sewa Sangh’ headed by Mr Purushottam Khedekar have formed a new Religion called ‘Shiv Dharma’on January 12, 2005. This was basically to oppose to the Brahmin oriented Hindu religion which is full of blind beliefs and superstitions, inculcated in the minds over generations. This religion has found very little or negligible support from the maratha community since it stands on Brahmin hatred rather than sound fundamental ideology. This religion seeems to be a confused lot with social demands than religious or spiritual requirement.

On 14th Feb 2003 Smt. Shalinitai Patil a senior MLA of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)addressesed the convention of Maratha Mahasangh at Kolhapur. Amongst other things She demanded "Reservation of seats in Government jobs & Educational institutions based on Economic considerations rather than Caste basis". A point the 'meritorious'amongst the forward castes have been making for so long.

Maratha Mahasangh general secretary Rajendra Khondre had resented two decisions taken on May 25, 2004, by the Sushilkumar Shinde government and said that they had triggered a wave of resentment in the Maratha community. The first pertained to reservations for backward castes in the cooperative sector. Until recently, Maratha youths could get jobs in sugar factories, spinning mills, dairies and banks in the cooperative sector. "But now, the job opportunities for them in this sector, which controls the rural economy of Maharashtra, have shrunk considerably," Khondre said. The second decision relates to the reservation of jobs in the Class I and super Class I categories in the government for backward castes. The Maratha Mahasangh, an influential body representing the community, has opposed this.
The Marathas have by and large peacefully accepted the social changes due to the Shahu-Ambedkar -Phule legacy and their own 'Bahujan Samaj' concept(i.e taking all sections of the society together). A word very often referred by politicians and used by Sh.Kanshiram for his political party. This gentleman incidently was influenced with 'Bahujan samaj' concept in Maharshtra while working at Ordnance Factory Khadki, Pune.
Present day Marathas find it difficult to accept the reservations extended to the creamy layers amongst the backward classes and the second generation of those who have availed the benefit once, whereas a maratha student coming from a lower middle class/poor family is denied the seat due to his caste. Some sections of Marathas had in the past demanded reservation for them in the backward classes. The going goes tough for Marathas as jobs in pulic as well as private sector are shrinking and they are getting hit where it matters the most; in employment. Still the community continues to live with pride inheriting the rich legacy and history.
This was a small effort to tell you about the Maratha community in an impartial way.

How Shivaji Maharaj Killed Afzalkhan!!

Shivaji Maharaj, armed himself with a weapon called wagh nakh (tiger claw), and chilkhat (armour) prior to the meeting.Afzal Khan attempted to stab Shivaji in the back with a dagger as they embraced at the onset of their meeting. Shivaji was unharmed due to the armour he wore under his clothes, and he counter attacked Afzal Khan with a wagh nakh and bich'hwa, spilling his blood and entrails on the ground. Thereupon Afzal Khan's deputy, Krishnaji Bhaskar Kulkarni and his bodyguard Sayyed Banda attacked Shivaji with swords but Jiva Mahala, Shivaji's personal bodyguard fatally struck them down with a 'dandpatta' (medieval weapon). Afzal Khan managed to stumble out of the tent to get help but was immediately slain by Shivaji's associate Sambhaji Kavji, before he could alert his commanders or raise an alarm.

Shivaji Painting

Bhavani Talvar

Eighteenth century painting of a Maratha Soldier ( by Franois Balthazar Solvyns)

The extent of Maratha Empire

Bhosale family ancestry Chhatrapati Shivaji (1630-1680) Chhatrapati Sambhaji (1657-1689) Chhatrapati Rajaram (1670-1700) Queen Tarabai Chhatrapati Shahu (alias Shivaji II, son of Chhatrapati Sambhaji) Chhatrapati Ramaraja (nominally, grandson of Chha

Shivaji in Marathi - click image to view clearly

Shivaji Maharaj

Duplicate same to same Aurangjeb's darbar at dresden

Afzalkhancha vadh

Raja Sambhaji's Bodyguard

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 1
Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj
An Analysis
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 2
A Note of Acknowledgement. . .
I would wish to thank Shri. Ambareesh Phadnavis, who
painstakingly translated and compiled this article, originally
written by Shri. Narahar Kurundkar, as a preface for Shriman Yogi.
- Manish Zanpure
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 3
Index
Introduction . . . ............................................. 4
Sambhaji, his son... ........................................... 5
Shahaji, his father . . . ...................................... 7
Jaavli - A turning point... .................................... 9
Afzal Khan . . . .............................................. 10
The escape from Panhala . . . ................................. 12
Shaistekhan . . . ............................................. 13
Shaistekhan and Surat . . . ................................... 14
Mirza Raja Jaisingh . . . .................................... 15
The Revival . . . ............................................. 16
Coronation . . . .............................................. 17
The Conquest of South . . . ................................... 18
Death . . . ................................................... 19
Shivaji and Navy . . . ........................................ 20
Attempt of an analysis . . . .................................. 21
Personal traits . . . ......................................... 22
How Small Shivaji Was... ...................................... 23
Conclusion . . . .............................................. 27
Epilogue on Coronation Controversy . . . ...................... 28
References .................................................... 31
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 4
Introduction . . .
The Character of Shivaji is one of the most enigmatic
characters in the history of India. There are people who deify him
and put him on the pedestal of god. Few of them are on the way of
declaring him as an incarnation of Lord Shiva. Many myths are now
associated with him. Many others view that he was a mere local
Maratha chieftain who was rebelling against the Mughal Empire and
completely overlook the role he played in Hindu revival in India.
Many others, who cannot comprehend the pragmatic approach of Shivaji,
which was most practical given his humble beginnings, brand him as a
mere plunderer and looter and equate him with ordinary dacoits.
Between these two poles of emotions, Shivaji, the man, is on the
verge of extinction. This is an attempt to resurrect him.
In the process of understanding Shivaji, few events need to be
understood. In the long list of those events, first one is about his
grandfather, Maloji Bhonsale and his great grandfather Babaji
Bhonsale. Documents suggest that Maloji was a Jagirdar of Pande-
Pedgaon. He inherited substantial part of his jahagir. Shahaji was
born in 1602, Maloji died in 1607 in the battle of Indapur. Shahaji
was 5 years old when this tragedy struck. Maloji, at the time, was a
Bargir serving Lakhuji Jadhav of Sindkhed Raja, a place in central
Maharashtra.
Jijabai gave birth to six children. First four did not survive.
Fifth and sixth were Sambhaji and Shivaji respectively. Shivaji’s own
marital life was not very different from his father. He never gave
importance to any of his queens and rarely entertained their
interference in politics. He performed all the duties as a husband
and kept his wives in as much comfort as possible, but no importance.
To study Shivaji, we need to view him as a part of a chain of
three men constituting his father Shahaji, he himself, and his son,
Sambhaji. Without understanding the other two, one cannot hope to
comprehend Shivaji.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 5
Sambhaji, his son...
Whether Sambhaji consumed alcohol? Was he charged for rape of a
woman? Was he involved in orgies with women? Can his behavior with
Soyarabai, Moropanta, Annaji Datto, be justified? All these questions
are difficult to answer and are muddled in mutually contradictory
dubious claims. The personal qualities are anyways not of any use
while determining the greatness of an individual in politics.
Shivaji arrived at the conclusion that Maratha state will have
to fight a decisive war with Mughals, somewhere in 1660-1664. He knew
that the Shaistekhan campaign was just a beginning. Mughals had
started deploying their armies on the frontiers of Maratha Kingdom in
Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya-Pradesh since 1679. The news that
Aurangzeb himself is coming to invade Deccan reached Maharashtra in
January 1680, just 2-3 months before death of Shivaji. By that time,
Mughals had already deployed 150,000 to 200,000 men. The clashes
began in the very week Shivaji died. Moropant Pingle (the Peshwa),
Hambirrao Mohite (chief of armed forces), Annaji Datto (head of
finance department) were preparing to face this impending invasion.
Since 1678, Shivaji was continuously purchasing weapons, firearms,
and was upgrading his armies, his forts and his navy in anticipation
of this final showdown.
This much-anticipated invasion started in 1681 with 250,000 men,
new king, and opponent Aurangzeb himself with all the might of Mughal
Empire behind him. In spite of this, the continuous warfare from 1681
to 1685 resulted in retreat of Mughals from Maratha territory and
redeployment of troops against Adilshah and Kutubshah. All
capabilities of Sambhaji in his territorial administration, his
strategic understanding, his ability to boost the morale of troops,
his ability to make right moves were at stake and were thoroughly
tested and sharpened. Shivaji never had to face such an enemy in his
entire lifetime like Sambhaji. This feat demands immense patience and
will power. Therefore, given the fight that Sambhaji put forth,
should we give weight age to adjectives like frivolous, incapable,
impatient, and all other jargons used by Marathi chroniclers OR the
adjectives used by Dutch and English as patient, and stubborn warrior
is an individual choice.
The personal character of Sambhaji was not that bad either, as
against that portrayed by some Bakhars. Many a Maratha Sardars were
mildly addicted to alcohol, hemp, opium etc. Rajaram, second son of
Shivaji, was highly addicted to opium.
Aurangzeb himself was addicted to alcohol until his death.
However, that never interfered with politics. Aurangzeb captured and
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 6
brutally murdered Sambhaji in 1689. By that time, the result of
warfare was as follows- Sambhaji had conquered three fourth of
Portuguese Empire in Goa and assimilated it into Maratha state. The
region in Karnataka under Maratha rule doubled. The Maratha army
doubled itself in numbers and became better equipped. Five-six forts
in Maharashtra were lost. Gained three-four new ones; Aurangabad,
Burhanpur, Goa, plundered. Dhanaji Jadhav illusively kept the Mughal
army, 75,000 strong, away from Maharashtra in Gujarat. Thus, we can
see Shivaji’s understanding of politics inherited in Sambhaji.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 7
Shahaji, his father . . .
Shahaji was a Sardar in Nizamshah’s court at Ahmednagar.
Nizamshah willingly sacrificed Lakhuji Jadhav for Shahaji. Yet,
Shahaji went to Adilshah in 1624. Despite of valiantly fighting for
Adilshah for two years, he returned to Nizamshah in 1626. He again
changed his loyalties and became Mughal Sardar in 1630. Yet again,
after valiantly fighting for Mughals, he returned to Nizamshah in
1632. In all these transitions, he maintained his Jagir in Pune at
his discretion. He maintained an army that was loyal to him and him
alone, irrespective of the power he was serving. He initiated the
policy of uniting Deccan against North Indian Mughals. Many notable
people like Khavaskhan, Kutubshah, Madanna and Akanna of Golconda,
Murar Jagdev supported this united Deccan policy that Shahaji
initiated. Shivaji repeatedly pronounced this policy. Sambhaji
considered himself as a patron of Adilshah and Kutubshah.
Shahaji appointed Dadoji Kondadev, as his chief administrator of
Pune Jagir. He himself was administrating his Jagir in Bangalore,
Karnataka. It was his vision that he distributed his property between
two sons in 1636. The Karnataka Jagir was for elder son Sambhaji and
Pune Jagir for younger son Shivaji. He made Adilshah to appoint
Dadoji Kondadev as Subhedar of Pune and gave him control of some army
(about 5000 strong) 15-20 forts, and entire administrative personnel
in the form of a Peshwa, an accountant and others. Shivaji took his
oath on Rohireshwar of establishing a Hindavi Swarajya in presence of
Dadoji. The first letter bearing the official seal of Shivaji is
dated 28th January 1646. It is difficult to comprehend that young
Shivaji who was a teenager of 15 years, had all this blueprint of
establishing a Hindu Swaraj along with seals and official letterheads
in his mind. One has to accept the vision and power of Shahaji that
was guiding him, correcting him and shaping him.
Shahaji was carving a kingdom of his own in Karnataka. He was
doing exactly the same thing through Shivaji in Maharashtra as well.
At both places, the administrators, Shahaji in Bangalore and Shivaji
in Pune were calling themselves as Raja, were holding courts, and
issuing letters bearing official seals in Sanskrit. Adilshah was
weary of this and in 1648; two independent projects were undertaken
by Adilshah to eliminate these two growing kingdoms in its territory.
Shivaji defeated Adilshah’s general Fateh Khan in Pune, Maharashtra.
At the same time, his elder brother Sambhaji defeated Adilshah’s
other general Farhad Khan in Bangalore. The modus operandi of Maratha
troops on both the frontiers is similar, again reinstating the
guiding vision of Shahaji. The subsequent treaty that was signed
between two Bhonsale brothers and Adilshah to rescue Shahaji, who was
held captive by Adilshah, marks the first Mughal-Maratha contact. In
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 8
1648-49, Adilshah captured Shahaji in order to blackmail his two sons
to cede the territory conquered by them and accept Adilshah’s
supremacy. Shivaji wrote a series of letters to Dara Shikoh (Subhedar
of Deccan), pledging to be subservient to Mughals. Mughals recognized
Shivaji as a Mughal Sardar and pressurized Adilshah to release
Shahaji. In return, Shivaji ceded Simhagad, and Sambhaji ceded
Bangalore city and Kandarpi fort in Karnataka.
We can see the coherency in actions of Shivaji and Sambhaji. The
men assisting both the brothers were loyal to Shahaji and were
trained under him. Even though Shivaji was administrative head of
Pune Jagir, many people appealed to Shahaji against Shivaji’s
decisions up to 1655. Up to this point, Shahaji’s word was considered
final in all of the important matters. Until this point, Shivaji was
not at all free to take all the decisions on his will. There was a
higher power that was controlling his activities. Gradually after
1655, this interference went on diminishing, and Shivaji started
emerging more and more independent.
Thus, if we see these three men in a link, Shahaji, Shivaji and
his son Sambhaji, all the actions of Shivaji start making sense. In
this way, we are better able to grasp the greatness of the man,
Shivaji.
Shivaji had himself coronated as a Kshatriya King in 1674.
Shahaji initiated this policy. The Ghorpade clan of Marathas
considered themselves as descendents of Sisodiya Rajputs. Shahaji
attested his claim on the share in Ghorpade’s property from Adilshah
long before 1640. In reality, there is no connection whatsoever
between Sisodiya Rajputs and Bhonsale clan. Nevertheless, Maloji
started calling himself as Srimant Maloji Raje after becoming a
bargir. Shahaji legalized this claim of being a Rajput from Adilshah.
This was of great help to Shivaji at the time of his coronation in
1674. It is interesting to see that even after coronating himself as
a Hindu Emperor, Shivaji continued writing letters to Aurangzeb,
referring him as Emperor of India, and stating that he was a mere
servant of Great Aurangzeb. We can see the basic pragmatic mindset of
Shivaji which was fueled by great dream of establishing Hindu Self
ruling state.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 9
Jaavli - A turning point...
Jaavli’s conquest is of prime importance, to grasp the vision of
Shivaji. This region was so difficult to conquer that Malik Kafur,
who defeated the Seuna Yadav Dynasty of Devgiri in the 13th century,
lost 3000 men in the attempt. Mahmud Gavan too was defeated while
conquering this region. It was one of the most isolated regions in
entire India, and remained aloof from Muslim dominance throughout
history. Shivaji maintained an amicable relationship with Chandrarao
More of Jaavli. Chandra Rao was a title given to the Ruler of Jaavli.
The real name was Daulat Rao More. After death of Daulat Rao, Shivaji
made Yashwantrao as ruler of Jaavli. These events are of 1647, when
Shivaji was 17. Here again we see the vision of his father working.
Later, in 1649, Afzal Khan was appointed Subhedar of Vai region, to
mitigate the growing influence of Shivaji in Jaavli. Mohammad
Adilshah was ill; Afzal Khan was busy in Karnataka expedition. Taking
advantage of this situation, Shivaji attacked Jaavli in 1656 and
conquered it in one stroke. Yashwantrao fled to Raigadh, which
Shivaji subsequently captured after three months. Yashwantrao was
captured and sentenced to death for his activities against Maratha
State and Shivaji proclaimed assimilation of Jaavli in his Kingdom.
Strategically, this valley is of immense importance as it oversees
the routes into Konkan and Goa.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 10
Afzal Khan . . .
This is one of the most dramatic moments in Shivaji’s life that
gave him pan-Indian fame. Shivaji began his work in 1645. He defeated
Adilshah in 1648 and after the treaty, Afzal Khan was appointed as
Subhedar of Vai in 1649. Shivaji conquered Jaavli in 1656
nevertheless. Given this background, Afzal was marching to destroy
Shivaji. There is an added perspective to this relation as well.
Shivaji’s elder brother, Sambhaji, was killed in battle due to
treachery of Afzal Khan in early 1650’s. Shivaji had pledged to kill
Afzal Khan as a vengeance. Therefore, there was a personal touch to
this struggle as well.
Afzal Khan was aware of Shivaji’s valor and courage; his record
of deceit, his pledge to kill him for settling the score. Afzal
himself was valiant and master of all deceitful tactics. He had a
record of being ever alert. Yet, it is an enigmatic choice to make on
his part to leave his army behind and meet Shivaji alone. Certain
Persian documents suggest an explanation stating that it was Jijabai,
Shivaji’s mother, who guaranteed safety of Afzal Khan. It was a
notion that his mother heavily influenced Shivaji. No one knows
exactly what happened in that meeting. Shivaji had planned this
strike for almost 4-5 months. Afzal was just an opening move in his
campaign. It was a plan of Shivaji to kill Afzal and establish terror
in the mind of Adilshah. Many Marathi records state that it was Afzal
who struck first. However, this is not definitive, looking at the
depth of planning by Shivaji that preceded it. It was in plans of
Shivaji to finish Afzal Khan. Therefore, who struck first is a matter
of speculation, given Afzal’s infamous and felonious record of
deceit. Shivaji had planned his entire expedition taking death of
Afzal for granted.
Afzal wanted to avoid Jaavli, but Shivaji’s moves forced him to
enter the difficult terrain. In May-June 1659, Adilshah issued orders
to all the local zamindars to help Afzal. However, most of the
deshmukhs in the region backed Shivaji. The main collaborator of this
alliance was Kanhoji Jedhe, a special man of Shahaji. Thus, here
again we see the influence of Shahaji working in favor of Shivaji.
The local Zamindars preferred to fight for Shivaji and refused to
cooperate with Adilshah is itself testimony to this fact. Shivaji’s
stature had not grown so much yet to influence the decision of
masses. The basic outline of Shivaji’s strategy was -
To Kill Afzal Khan at Pratapgarh in the meeting OR in the
battle that would follow.
Destruction of his army stationed at the base of Pratapgarh by
Armies of Silibkar and Bandal.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 11
Destruction of Afzal’s troops on Jaavli-Vai road by Netaji
Palkar.
Destruction of Afzal’s armies in the Ghats by Moropanta
Pingle.
Subsequent hot pursuit of fleeing Adilshahi forces.
To capture Panhalgadh and Kolhapur and Konkan, and invade the
territory in Karnataka up to Bijapur as soon as possible.
This entire strategy was planned for 3-4 months. This was a huge
campaign. Shivaji was not a fool to waste all this planning. Shivaji
had planned the killing of Afzal. Who struck first in that meeting is
speculative. Nevertheless, looking at this holistic planning, I think
it did not matter to Shivaji whether Afzal struck first OR not. Afzal
was infamous for many such deceitful killings in his life. Therefore,
given his past record, it is not garrulous to assume that Afzal
struck first. However, nothing definitive is known about it. The
weapon used by Shivaji, according to Marathi resources, was Tiger-
Claw and a curved Dagger, Bichwa. It is possible that even a Sword
was used.
Dutch reports state that while Shivaji was advancing towards
Bijapur after Afzal’s defeat, even his father Shahaji was approaching
Bijapur with huge army simultaneously. Thus, we can see the plan on a
grand scale. However, somewhere, something went wrong. Shivaji’s
forces came as close as 16 miles from Bijapur and waited for three
days. Shahaji’s forces from Karnataka reached 5 days late and
returned from 20 miles. (It is said that) Certain Persian documents
buttress this Dutch claim. Thus, one of the delicately planned
campaigns was not completed to its fullest. This is last reference of
Shahaji in Shivaji’s political life. Hereafter, Shivaji grew without
support OR shadow of his father. Adilshah sent Rustum-e-jaman to
destroy Shivaji. However, for the first time, Shivaji entered into a
classical head-on cavalry charge, and completely out maneuvered and
defeated Adilshahi forces 10,000 strong. Shivaji had 5000 horses at
his command.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 12
The escape from Panhala . . .
Shivaji is one of the most enigmatic person and King in Hindu
history. His friends could not understand him. His enemies could not
understand him too. The only person in those times, who could
understand Shivaji, was Aurangzeb. It was the vision of Aurangzeb
when he predicted the danger that Shivaji can be as early as 1646,
when he was governor of Deccan in his first term. During his second
term as governor of Deccan, Shivaji plundered Mughal territory of
Junnar and Bhivandi in early 1650’s. These forays of Shivaji
coincided with Shahjahan’s ill- health. Hence, Aurangzeb had to
return to North to participate in the battle of succession with his
brother Dara. Nevertheless, he warned Adilshah and Kutubshah about
this upcoming danger of Shivaji. Shivaji again entered a treaty with
Mughals in June 1659, to deal with impending Afzal Invasion. At the
same time, Shaista Khan, maternal uncle of Aurangzeb, was appointed
as governor of Deccan. By that time, in late 1659, Siddhi Jauhar,
Adilshah’s last attempt to control Shivaji, had cornered Shivaji in
Panhalgadh. Taking advantage of this, Shaista Khan invaded the
Maratha state, occupied Pune, and besieged the ground fort of Chakan.
However, Shivaji escaped from Panhalgadh to Vishalgadh in July
1660, due to valiant effort of his 600 men, most of which died in
order to keep Shivaji safe. The hero of the battle was Bajiprabhu
Deshpande, who is immortalized for his sacrifice in the pass of Pavan
Khind. Figuratively, the battle of Pavan Khind can be compared with
the Battle of Thermopylae fought in 480 BC. 300 Greeks and 900 others
under the Spartan King Leonidas defended the pass for 3 days against
large Persian army under Xerxes. Coincidently, even Bajiprabhu had
300 men to defend the pass against 10,000 Adilshahi forces. The
battle of Pavan Khind is excellent example of superior use of terrain
to the benefit of a small but disciplined army. They held on until
the signal of Shivaji’s safety arrived. All of them were slain
thereafter.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 13
Shaistekhan . . .
This is yet another example of Shivaji’s cunningness. Shivaji
had defeated a few of Shaistekhan’s generals, namely, Kartalab Khan,
and Namdar Khan. However, the pinnacle was the surprise attack on
Shaistekhan in Mughal stronghold, in his bedroom! Shivaji chose the
month of Ramadan to attack Shaistekhan. Shaistekhan was staying at
Lal Mahal, which was childhood home of Shivaji. Therefore, he knew
everything there was to know about the place. Less than 100 men, led
by Shivaji, attacked this palace, which was surrounded by Mughal army
as strong as 150,000 in pitch darkness of 7th night of Ramadan. It
was a total frenzy. In the darkness, Shivaji and his men were killing
anybody who came in their way. About 50 Mughal soldiers, 6 elite
women, 6 common women, many eunuchs, Shaistekhan’s son, his son in
law, some of his wives, and daughter in laws were killed in this
attack. Shaistekhan was attacked in his bedroom and lost his three
fingers. He escaped, however. Shaistekhan was attacked in April 1663.
He stayed in Pune for 6 months and tried to whitewash his failure.
But, to no avail. In December, Aurangzeb transferred Shaistekhan to
Dhaka as governor of Bengal.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 14
Shaistekhan and Surat . . .
It is possible to stun the world around you by doing something
extraordinary. All the magicians do that. However, that was not the
business of Shivaji. The period, for which the world has been
stunned, Shivaji retained his poise and did something extraordinary
which used to, gave him a lasting success. After the defeat of Afzal
Khan, he went on to conquer Konkan, South Maharashtra and forayed up
to the region as deep as Bijapur. After attacking Shaistekhan, he
retook the lost Konkan. It was his political understanding that he
used to attain lasting success by a swift campaign followed by a
stunner. Shaistekhan tried to contain Shivaji for 6 months, but to no
avail. Aurangzeb had no issues with surprises, but what next? This
was his realistic question. Shaistekhan left for Bengal in December
1663, and in January 1664, Shivaji plundered Surat. If Afzal episode
gave Shivaji a pan-Indian popularity, this task of looting Surat made
him an international celebrity where he was discussed in all the
Muslim and a substantial part of the Christian world. With this act
he formally declared war on Aurangzeb.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 15
Mirza Raja Jaisingh . . .
Most of the contemporary chroniclers have taken for granted the
soft corner for Shivaji in Mirza Jaisingh’s heart. There are about 26
letters available, which suggest that Jaisingh was one of the most
trusted generals of Aurangzeb. After defeating Shivaji, it was
Jaisingh’s suggestion that Shivaji be called to Delhi. Aurangzeb
accepted it. It was Jaisingh’s suggestion that Shivaji be kept in
house arrest. Aurangzeb accepted it. It was Jaisingh’s suggestion
again that he must not be harmed, for any injury to his health may
culminate into a rebellion amongst recently subdued Marathas. It was
Jaisingh’s reasoning that Shivaji be kept as captive in Delhi to
blackmail Marathas, but must not be harmed. Aurangzeb accepted this
suggestion too. Later, he has publicly admitted the folly of his of
accepting this particular suggestion of Jaisingh. Aurangzeb was in
favor of killing off Shivaji. Jaisingh shows a complex mixture of
emotions when it comes to Shivaji and Sambhaji. He was seeing a Hindu
state coming into existence in spite of all odds. Nevertheless, he
was a faithful servant of Aurangzeb.
It was not very sensitive of Jaisingh to keep nine-year-old
Sambhaji as captive in his camp until all the terms of the Maratha -
Mughal treaty were implemented. As a politician, Jaisingh was brutal
and ruthless. However, he had an emotional side as well. It is
documented that both Shivaji and Mirza Jaisingh had deployed
mercenary assassins to finish each other. However, both failed.
The clauses of the treaty were also quite harsh on the part of
Marathas. Shivaji had to cede 23 forts and region giving revenue of
400,000 rupees to Mughals. Shivaji was left with 12 forts and region
of 100,000 rupees. Shivaji had to accept supremacy of Aurangzeb and
forced to serve Aurangzeb as an ordinary Jagirdar. Shivaji and
Marathas were practically finished, thanks to the shrewd politics of
Jaisingh and Aurangzeb.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 16
The Revival . . .
Shivaji laid low for 3 years after his escape from Agra.
Meanwhile, he implemented various land reforms in his lands. Shivaji
and his minister Annaji Datto were the main pioneers of the land
reforms introduced. He started the practice of giving regular wages
to soldiers. From 1669 onwards, he unleashed himself on Mughal and
Adilshahi territory in Maharashtra. His revival was further
instigated by growing fanaticism of Aurangzeb shown by his
destruction of Hindu temples like Kashi Vishweshwar and Mathura and
countless others along with imposition of Jiziya Tax on Non-Muslims.
He not only regained the lost territory but also conquered new one.
The expansion of Maratha state was alike in land and sea. Entire
western Maharashtra, parts of Southern Gujarat and Northern Karnataka
were brought under Maratha dominion. Land reforms were introduced
which increased his popularity amongst the masses immensely. At the
time of his coronation in 1674, his influence was substantial enough
for others in India to recognize him as a formidable power.
Especially, his rebellion against Aurangzeb made him a hero amongst
the new generation of Hindus.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 17
Coronation . . .
In 1674, Shivaji successfully proved his Kshatriya descent using
the documents that his father had already attested through Adilshahi
government. He performed all sorts of rituals, thread ceremony,
marrying his own wives again. That was the time when religion was
very much influential.
According to Hindu theology, Coronation OR Rajya-Abhishek is a
holy ceremony of immense socio-political importance. King being
incarnation of Vishnu, his land was his wife, and all his subjects
were his children. An authorized OR Coronated King was an incarnation
of Vishnu himself.
By that time, the mentality of a common Hindu in India was that
ruler is always a Muslim. In addition, ruler of Delhi was considered
as Emperor of India. The Bahamani Kingdom, at its zenith, considered
themselves as Vazirs of Delhi Sultanate, who in turn considered
himself as subordinate of Caliph. Since the rulers were Muslims,
Indian Muslim Emperors usually portrayed India as a part of Islamic
Caliphate. Allah-ud-din Khilji had his rule attested from the ruler
of Iran. Aurangzeb had his rule on India attested from the Caliph of
Ottoman Empire in Turkey. Even Adilshahi, Kutubshahi considered ruler
of Delhi as Emperor of India. There were many Rajput Hindu Kings
before Shivaji. However, no one had himself Coronated according to
Vedic tradition. Even the mighty Hindu Vijaynagar Empire did not have
a King that was Coronated according to Vedic Tradition. This very
ancient ritual of Rajya-Abhishek had disappeared from India after
1000 AD. People knew of this ritual only from stories in the Ramayana
and Mahabharata.
Gagabhat resurrected this ritual again after studying Vedic
literature and Coronated Shivaji. This was a revolutionary event,
considering the rigid religious society existing at the time. On one
had, Shivaji was relating himself with Rama, Yudhishthira and
Vikramaditya. On other hand, he was appealing to emotions of all
Hindus in India, stating that they have a Formal Hindu Empire in
India, which was fighting for the cause of Hindus. According to Hindu
Puranas, the lineage of Kshatriya Kings was lost in Kaliyuga. By
performing this ritual, Shivaji was symbolically stating that
Kaliyuga was over and Satya Yuga had begun. He was making a statement
that a new age had begun.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 18
The Conquest of South . . .
He undertook the conquest of south in 1677 and carved a Maratha
empire in Southern Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. This was the pinnacle of
his tactical, strategic, diplomatic and military achievements. In
doing so, he entered into a strategic alliance with Kutubshah. He
also persuaded Adilshah the importance of a United Deccan Front
against impending Mughal invasion, a vision that was long propounded
by his father, Shahaji.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 19
Death . . .
Shivaji’s last days were marred with few internal conflicts
between his council of ministers and his son. The Chief of Army
HambirRao Mohite backed Sambhaji, while the other ministers backed
his wife Soyarabai’s claim that Rajaram be named as successor of
Shivaji. Moreover, at this very time, Shivaji was a patient suffering
from Bloody flukes, and Mughal armies were gathering on the
Frontiers. His cremation was not carried out on all its decorum,
because, the Maratha-Mughal clashes began in that very week. Later,
Sambhaji performed all the rituals with funeral games lasting for 12
days. He died on 3rd April 1680.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 20
Shivaji and Navy . . .
Shivaji started building his own naval forces since 1656, well
before he killed Afzal Khan. This explains the canvass of his vision.
Maratha-Portuguese relations were always strained. The decision of
Shivaji to build a navy was essentially to contain European forces.
Portuguese authorities issued orders to be wary of the Maratha Navy
from 1659. After the great Ramraja Chola of 11th century, no Indian
dynasty gave importance to the Navy. Vijaynagar, Adilshah, Kutubshah,
Nizamshah, Mughals were seeing the increasing Portuguese influence.
However, no one treated Navy as essential component of their armed
forces. The Construction of Naval forts like Sindhu-durga in 1664,
Vijay-durag, and Khanderi-Underi, his naval conquest of Basnoor and
Gokarna in 1665 are of immense importance while trying to grasp the
personality of this man. Portuguese had issued Inquisition in Goa and
were forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity, well before
Shivaji’s birth. He defeated Portuguese for the first time in 1667,
and Sambhaji and later the Peshwas continuously perpetuated his anti-
Portugal policy. The reasons of this policy were not only political,
but theological too. English were not a considerable force at the
time.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 21
Attempt of an analysis . . .
It is observed that among his contemporaries, hardly anyone
could grasp his vision. Shivaji always tried to befriend the Hindu
Sardars. However, he could not garner support from the people of his
contemporary generation. All his Contemporary Hindu big shots were
serving Islamic empires and fighting against his Kingdom. They were
seeing a Hindu Kingdom coming into existence. However, they had
nothing to offer except jealousy. The New generation, however, was
heavily influenced by his work and his ideology. The proof for this
statement is that Aurangzeb could not defeat the Marathas in spite of
27-year long warfare.
Repeatedly he entered into treaty with Mughals, Adilshah,
Kutubshah, and Portuguese. However, he was never the first to breach
the treaty with Adilshah OR Kutubshah. His policy towards Mughals and
Portuguese was always that of adversary. He did not harm English and
French and was neutral towards them. His policy towards Adilshah and
Kutubshah was that of potential strategic partners. Adilshah never
accepted alliance of Marathas completely and chose suicidal path.
Kutubshah did and put up a united front against the Mughal onslaught.
Chhatrasaal Bundela was one of the many young men who were inspired
from Shivaji. He went on to liberate his own homeland, Bundel Khand
from Mughals. Sikhs were influenced by Maratha upheaval. Guru
Gobindsinghji came to Deccan for establishing contact with Marathas
but Aurangzeb gruesomely killed him in Nanded. It is unfortunate that
Maratha-Sikh relation could not develop.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 22
Personal traits . . .
He was known to be very vigilant about honor of women; even
Persian documents praise him for this quality. His personal character
was very clean, quite anomalous with respect to his contemporaries.
It is a well-documented fact that he was tolerant towards masses of
all religions and never indulged himself in any of the heinous deeds
that the marauding Muslim and Christian forces had inflicted upon
India. It is proven by Shejvalkar, that although Shivaji was
courageous, he did not use horse as his frequent mode of
transportation. Usually, he used a Palaquin. Seven-Eighth of his
life, he spent on forts. The modus operandi of Shivaji and subsequent
Marathas involved thorough initial planning of the campaign,
accepting no more risks than are necessary, and as far as possible,
rarely indulging in personal adventures.
It is important to understand limitations of Shivaji and to
certain extent, subsequent Marathas. In 17th century, European rulers
had renaissance as their ideological backbone. Shivaji did not have
such ideological pool to derive inspiration. The Bhakti Movement was
one of the probable sources that might have influenced Shivaji in his
formative years. This differentiates Shivaji from Cromwell and
Napoleon. He was not a hedonist, nor a socialist. He never thought of
educating the downtrodden castes and reforming the Hindu society,
eliminating caste system. He never indulged in literacy campaign OR
establish printing press. He always purchased firearms from English
OR Dutch. It does not seem that Shivaji cared for the whereabouts of
white Europeans. Before his birth, Galileo had invented the
telescope, Columbus had discovered America, Magellan had
circumnavigated the globe, Issac Newton was his contemporary. Like
all great men, Shivaji was a product of his own time. His greatness
lies in his understanding of his contemporary time with all its
subtle undercurrents.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 23
How Small Shivaji Was...
The first fact to strike is that he created a kingdom. There
must have been over 500 Dynasties in India. Each had a founder. One
among them was Shivaji. The rest had an opportunity to do so because
of the reigning confusion. Vassals of a weak King would declare
independence with the central power helpless to prevent it. A
powerful general used to dethrone a weak King and raise his own
Kingdom. This had been the usual way of establishing a new dynasty.
The new King inherited the existing Army and the bureaucratic
structure automatically. In Shivaji’s case however, we find out that
he had to raise everything from nothing, who did not have the benefit
of a ready strong army; who, on trying to establish himself, had to
face the might of Great Powers; with neighboring Bijapur and Golconda
powers still on the rise and the Moghul Empire at its zenith. Shivaji
was carving away a niche out of the Bijapur Empire that had
assimilated more than half of Nijamshahi and was on its way to
conquer entire Karnataka. Here is somebody who, from the start, never
had the might to defeat his rivals in a face-to-face battle, who saw
the efforts of 20 years go down the drain in a matter of 4 months;
but still fought on to create an Empire with 29 years of constant
struggle and enterprise. It would be easy to see how small he was
once we find which founder to compare him to in the annals of Indian
history, on this issue. A typical Hindu power had certain
distinguishing traits. It is not that they did not emerge victorious
in a war. Victories - there have been many. However, their victory
did not defeat the adversary completely. The latter’s territory did
not diminish, nor his might attrite. The victory rarely resulted in
expansion of Hindu territory. Even though victorious, Hindus used to
become weaker and stayed so. In short, it is plain that they faced
total destruction in case of defeat and high attrition in case of
Pyrrhic victory.
A new chapter in Hindu history begins with Shivaji wherein
battles are won to expand the borders while strength and will power
is preserved in a defeat. Secondly, the Hindu Rulers used to be
astonishingly ignorant of the happenings in neighboring Kingdoms.
Their enemy would catch them unaware, often intruding considerably
into their territory and only then would they wake up to face the
situation. Whatever be the outcome of the battle, it was their land
which was defiled. The arrival of Shivaji radically changes this
scenario and heralds the beginning of an era of staying alert before
a war and unexpected raids on the enemy. Thirdly, the Hindu Kings
habitually placed blind faith in their adversaries. This saga
terminates with Shivaji performing the treacherous tricks. It was the
turn of the opponents to get stunned. In the ranks of Hindu Kings,
the search is still going on for somebody to compare with Shivaji on
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 24
this point. . His lifestyle was not simple. Having adopted a choice,
rich lifestyle, he was not lavish. He was gracious to other
religions. On that account, he may be compared with Ashoka, Harsha,
Vikramaditya, and Akbar. However, all of these possessed great
harems. Akbar had the Meenabazaar, Ashoka had the Tishyarakshita.
Shivaji had not given free reign to his lust. Kings, both Hindu and
Muslim, had an overflowing, ever youthful desire for women. That was
lacking in Shivaji. He had neither the money to spend on sculptures,
paintings, music, poetry or monuments nor the inclination. He did not
possess the classical appreciation needed to spend over 20 crores to
build a Taj Mahal as famine was claiming over hundreds of thousands
of lives; nor was he pious enough to erect temple after temple while
the British were systematically consuming India.
He was a sinner; he was a practical man like the rest of us.
Khafi Khan says he went to Hell. He would not have enjoyed the
company of the brave warriors who preferred gallant death to
preservation of their land. It would have ill suited him to live with
the noble Kings who would rather indulge in rituals such as Yadnya
than expand the army. For the Heaven is full of such personalities.
Akbar adopted a generous attitude towards Hindus and has been
praised for that. However, it is an elementary rule that a stable
government is impossible without having a contented majority. Akbar
was courteous to them who, as a community, were raising his kingdom
and stabilizing it for him. The Hindus he treated well were a
majority in his empire and were enriching his treasury through their
taxes. The Hindus had no history of invasions. They had not destroyed
Mosques. They were never indulged in genocides against Muslims. They
had not defiled Muslim women nor were they proselytes, as compared to
Abrahmic fanatics found in Muslims and Christians. These were the
people Akbar was generous to. On the contrary; Muslims were a
minority community in Shivaji’s Empire. They were not the mainstay of
his taxes. They were not chalking out a Kingdom for him. Besides,
there was a danger of an invasion and Aurangzeb was imposing Jiziya
Tax on Hindus. Yet, he treated Muslims well. That was not out of fear
but because of his inborn generosity.
Shivaji's expertise as a General is, of course, undisputed.
However, besides that, he was also an excellent Governor. He believed
that the welfare of the subjects was a responsibility of the ruler.
Even though he fought so many battles, he never laid extra taxes on
his subjects. Even the expenditure for his Coronation was covered by
the taxes on the collectors. In a letter he challenges, "It is true
that I've deceived many of my enemies. Can you show an instance where
I deceived a friend?" This challenge remains unanswered.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 25
He funded establishment of new villages, set up tax systems on
the farms, used the forts to store the farm produce, gave loans to
farmers for the purchase of seeds, oxen etc, built new forts, had the
language standardized to facilitate the intra-government
communication, had the astrology revived and revised, encouraged
conversion of people from Islam to Hinduism. He was not a mere
warrior. Moreover, he believed that charity begins at home. His
brother in law, Bajaji Nimbalkar, was forcibly converted to Islam. He
called for a religious council and had him reconverted to Hinduism.
He reconverted many people who were forcibly converted to Abrahmic
faiths, Islam OR Christianity. Even after conversion, when nobody was
ready to make a marital alliance with Bajaji’s son, Mahadaji, Shivaji
gave his own daughter to Bajaji’s Son in marriage, and set an example
in society.
Secondly, and most important of all, to protect his Kingdom, his
subjects fought for over 27 years. After Shivaji's demise, they
fought under Sambhaji. After Aurangzeb killed Sambhaji, they still
fought for over 19 years. In this continued struggle, a minimum of
500,000 Moguls died (Jadunath Sarkar's estimate). Over 200,000
Marathas died. Still in 1707, over 100,000 Marathas were fighting.
They did not have a distinguished leader to look for inspiration.
There was no guarantee of a regular payment. Still, they kept on
fighting. In these 27 years, Aurangzeb did not suffer a defeat. That
was because Marathas simply lacked the force necessary to defeat so
vast an army. Jadunath says, "Alamgir won battle after battle.
Nevertheless, after spending crores of rupees, he accomplished
nothing, apart from weakening his All India Empire and his own death.
He could not defeat Marathas". When the Peshawai ended
(A.D.1818), there was an air of satisfaction that a government of law
would replace a disorderly government. Sweets were distributed when
the British won Bengal in Plassey (A.D.1757). Where ordinary man
fights, armies can do nothing. In long history of India, Kalinga
fought against Ashoka. After Kalinga, Maharashtra fought with Mughals
from grass-root level. The greatness of Shivaji lies here in his
ability to influence generations to fight for a cause.
Why was Shivaji successful in making common man identify with
his kingdom? The first reason is his invention of new hit and run
tactic. He showed people that they can fight Mughals and win. The
insistence was always on survival and maximum attrition of enemy in
his territory and successful retreat. He gave his men the confidence
that if they fight this way, they will not only outlast the Mughals,
but also defeat them. He gave way to traditional notions of chivalry
and valor on battlefield, for which Rajputs were famous. Instead, he
focused on perseverance, attrition, survival at all costs, series of
tactical retreats and then finishing off the foe. His land reforms
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 26
were revolutionary which further brought his subjects emotionally
closer to him. He took care of their material needs, which is of
utmost importance. He started the system of wages in his army. And
third reason is Hindu Ethos and hatred towards Muslim supremacy
prevalent in masses. In this light, the above facts demonstrate the
excellence of Shivaji as founder of a dynasty, which ended political
supremacy of Islam in India.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 27
Conclusion . . .
Shivaji fits in all the criteria of Chanakya’s ideal King.
Considering the prevalent socio-political scenario, it is fallacious
to try and fit Shivaji in classical Kshatriya values of chivalry and
nobility. Shivaji was religious; but he was not a fanatic. Although
ruthless and stubborn, he was not cruel and sadist. He was
courageous, yet not impulsive. He was practical; but was not without
ambition. He was a dreamer who dreamt lofty aims and had the firm
capacity to convert them into reality.

Shri. Narahar Kurundkar
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 28
Epilogue on Coronation Controversy . . .
There have been few controversies existing regarding the
Coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
This controversy has been fueled and used to create the famous
Brahmin-Maratha dispute in Maharashtra. I strongly oppose such
mischief mongers and believe that both these communities are pillars
of Maharashtrian society and need to move ahead hand in hand.
While criticizing any historical personality, I think, we must
think from the reference frame existing during that time. Trying to
apply present values and understanding of ethics to the people of
past is a big fallacy and nothing is more misleading and specious
than this.
The controversy arose due to following reasons.
Firstly, according to Hindu theology, in kali-yuga, there are
only 2 varnas; Brahmins and Shudras. There are no Kshtriyas and
Vaishyas. The opposition of Brahmins to recognize Shivaji as a
Kshatriya has the roots in this deep rooted belief. Shivaji proved
his descent by tracing his lineage to Sisodiya Rajputs of Rajasthan.
In fact, this was done by Shahaji itself in 1630's.
The Second issue was- Many Brahmins in past, like Krishnaji
Bhaskar emissary of Afzal Khan, were killed by Shivaji himself. It is
a well known fact that Brahma-Hatya (Murder of Brahmin) is one of the
biggest sins that are described in Hindu theology. No one was
supposed to kill a Brahmin. Since Shivaji had killed Brahmins,
according to theology, it was a crime with no Prayashchitta
(repentance ritual). But, Gaga Bhat being an authority on Vedic
literature argued that there were some repentance rituals which were
described in scriptures which could wash the sin of a man who had to
kill a Brahmin in extreme situations. Also, he reasoned that since
Brahmins that were killed by Shivaji were not practicing Brahmins,
but were just by birth, it is possible to have a repentance ritual
for the killings of Brahmins in such cases.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 29
Thirdly, for being a Kshatriya OR Brahmin OR Vaishya, one has to
be a Dwija (twice born). According to Hindu theology, man comes to
birth on second instance when he has performed the thread ceremony OR
Upanayan Sanskar. After that ceremony, man enters Brahmacharya-
Ashram. After this stage, he can marry and enter Grihastha-Ashram.
Shivaji was already married to 8 ladies. So he entered Grihastha-
Ashram without going through Brahmacharya-Ashram and was an immoral
act according to scriptures. This was a technical fault. So thread
ceremony was performed on Shivaji and he formally became a
Brahmachāri. Then he remarried to his wives again and formally became
a Grihastha. Now he was eligible to be Coronated as a King.
After he became a Coronated King, he was conferred the authority
OR the Raja-Danda to punish Brahmin culprits to death as well. No sin
whatsoever, as a Coronated King is considered an incarnation of Lord
Vishnu himself.
Shivaji performed all these ceremonies and rituals of repentance
and others elaborately. There were too many rituals to perform.
Hence, it was a bit costly affair. He recovered the money by looting
Mughal treasury soon after the Coronation. He also levied a surcharge
over the Feudal Lords. He did not levy a single penny extra tax on
the common man.
Today, we may laugh on this ritualistic society. But at that
time, it was the norm of society. Shivaji himself abided to it. Hindu
society had become too rigid and ritualistic. And don't forget, this
was a revolutionary thing happening. It was something that was
unheard of in real life. It was heard only in myths and tales. It
takes time for a Rigid Society to accept this change. But the work of
Shivaji and authority of Gaga Bhat were in favor of this very
aberrant ceremony. Hence it was materialized.
We should not forget the ritualistic society that existed then,
and was at its lowest ebb due to Islamic supremacy.
Maratha movement was a part of overall Hindu revival. Everybody
in this world is motivated by selfish reasons. But, along with the
ambition to establish an Empire, their ambition also was to end the
socio-political Islamic Supremacy in India. Although they lasted for
170 years, from 1645-1818, they succeeded in loosening and throwing
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 30
the shackles of Islamic supremacy to a very large extent. Sikhs,
Ahoms, Jats, later Rajputs, Bundelas and many others were also an
important part of this overall Hindu Revival.
People from different states refuse to acknowledge this fact. It
is pity that many people from other states feel Mughals were much
closer to them than Marathas. This is partly because of certain illdeeds
of Marathas themselves.
The contribution of Marathas towards nationalistic Hindu Revival
was rarely understood in medieval days. And it is misunderstood in
this era by many people of other states.
I think, we need to polish and present our image in history with
vehemence so that we can give our ancestors due credit...
- Ambareesh Phadnavis.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – An Analysis Page 31
References
* Raja Shiva Chhatrapati – B M Purandare
* Selected works of V K Rajwade
* Narahar Kurundkar
* Shejvalkar
* Shivaji and his Times - Jadunath Sarkar
* Riyasat -- Sardesai
* Six glorious epochs of Indian History -- V D Savarkar
* Hindu Pad Paatshahi -- V D Savarkar
* Sabhasad Bakhar
* History of India - Grant Duff
* Works of Vincent Smith
* Shriman Yogi - Ranjit Desai
* The article is crudely based on Preface of the novel Shriman Yogi by Shri. Ranjit
Desai. This Preface is written by Shri. Narahar Kurundkar.

Letter to Shivaji Maharaj By Ramdas Swami

This Quran is hand-written by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb

This Quran is hand-written by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (RA) nearly 400 years ago(During 1636-44 & 1653-58).

It is 13.5 kg in weight, 39.5 CM long and 20 CM wide. It has Golden and silver colored graving.

Every page has a different perfumery smell and to avoid fire accidents the pages are fire proofed.


Police captured the person, M.G. Sukumar (from Kerala), who was trying to sell it for 5 Crore Rupees.

Shivaji koriv RAJMUDRA

Indian currency note with Shivaji Maharaj.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

People's king

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj … a magical name … a benevolent king worshipped in Maharashtra even today … his charisma is still alive ….His name commands respect … and perhaps his life personifies the idea of an ideal man … ‘the maryada purushottam’
Unfortunately his name has been used politically to flare up parochial or communal sentiments … or often dragged in caste conflicts in modern day politics … people of Maharashtra revere him … admire him … worship him … but very few actually understand his role and importance in shaping their identity. Outside Marathi speaking world .. very few are aware of his heroic, almost mythical legend …. and some feel strangely aggrieved for sacking of Surat and for some he is merely a Hindu King fighting against Islamic rulers … but this is very myopic view of who he was ….
It is difficult to bring alive the texture of his complex personality … guage the depth of his visionary thinking and understand the secret behind his popularity and unflinching support of soldiers and people he commanded. However, I will try to pick some interesting anecdotes … aided by great sketches by Shri Dinanath Dalal … to remember and celebrate the legend of Chhatrapati Shivaji…

the matrubhakt

1. He respected his parents and walked diligently on the arduous path that was shown by them.
Shivaji was truly a matru bhakta, and he had immense respect for his father Shahaji Raje Bhosle … who was a seasoned warrior in Bijapur court …. His father tried his best to create an independent kingdom but failed … but Jijamata sowed the seeds of Maratha independence and groomed young Shivaji to perfection and he inculcated those ideals with dedication. Historians do not have a consensus on whether Shivaji was literate …. or illiterate like Akbar or Haidar Ali … but he was taught about good governance, lessons from epics like Ramayana & Mahabharata, Legal system, political affairs and battle craft very early in his life.

Good governance and progress was top priority

2. Swarajya was for public good, not for seizing corrupt power
The ethos of Swarajya was people’s rule for people’s good … Shivaji was a trustee of this Swaraj … albeit he did not establish a democratic state … He was a military dictator with all powers centrally controlled by him … but the core philosophy of this nation was not hindutva … it was own rule for own people … Maratha warriors used to fight as mercenaries and join Mughal or Nizam or Bijapur armies … Their bravery was filling treasures of these invading sultanates and people of Maharashtra were at the receiving end … no ruler accepted them or cared for their welfare … Why don’t we have Swarajya that looks after our own interests? This lead to the rebellion Shivaji started … His official seal tells us a lot about the guiding principles of rule he wanted to establish …
“pratipachchandra lekhev vardhishnurvishwawandita shahasuno shivasaishya mudra bhadray rajate”
‘Ever-Increasing Like The Crescent Moon, The Kingdom Of Shivaji, The Son Of Shahaji, will always seek the welfare of the people.’
Shivaji’s welfare schemes can become a separate research thesis but I will mention a few of his policies … His revenue system was not based on land ownership but was proportional to crop output … there were no jahgirdars or deshmukhs extorting money from people … every penny collected had to be deposited to the treasury … revenue department employees were given salaries and had no business to take money collected from people. He cancelled Watans which allowed some aristocrats to raise private armies to arm twist people and create their own fiefdoms … and he did not even spare his own relatives from this policy. Shivaji’s cavalry was strictly instructed not to pass through fields and not disturb farmers or destroy crops … He even had environment policy in a way … If his men needed wood, they had to take owner or farmer’s permission and compensate him with government rate for using his produce. His people were not allowed to cut mango and coconut trees since they were linked to peoples’ livelihood.

Ruthless Justice

3. Justice, equality and upright Moral conduct by officers were uncompromisable norms -
Shivaji was known for his respect for women and he always demanded honest behavior from his people … A judgment he delivered in his teens established him as a king who cared for people and respected their dignity. Patil of village Ranjhe was accused of assault and rape … victim committed suicide and her father came to Shivaji for justice … This Patil was duly tried in his court and after examining evidence and recording witnesses, Shivaji punished the Patil by cutting his one arm and one leg … This harsh punishment was executed to send out a message that law is equal for everyone and rulers had to take special care in maintaining high standards of conduct. His people were happy that they finally got a king whom they could go to with their sorrows … a king who respected their dignity …

4. He had the ability to spot talent and reward it with open heart … he identified good valiant loyal people to work with him … he allowed them to grow without any insecurity and these very men stood by him with fierce loyalty … many of his childhood friends became warriors and martyrs … names like Tanaji Malusare, Yesaji Kank, Kanhoji Jedhe helped him realize his dream

Battle of Pawan Khind

Some of his bravest men were won over from the enemy camp … Bajiprabhu Deshpande who fought valiantly and allowed Shivaji to escape the siege of Panhala was once an enemy … a warrior working in Bhor for Bandal aristocrats … But Shivaji won his loyalty with his big heart and the dignity with which he treated prisnoers of war … Baji Prabhu Deshpande thwarted 3,000 Adil Shah soldiers with 300 Marathas with last man stand and saved Shivaji’s life … He was in his late sixties when he fought this battle

Slaying of Afzal Khan

5. He was master of guerrilla warfare, smart negotiations, reliable spy network and confidence to take on much superior opponents – See how he tackled Afzal Khan’s threat.
A) Became a mughal ally and forced Adil Shah to release his father Shahaji with honor
B) Did not get provoked by Afzal Khan’s attack on temples and charge impulsively on a much superior army on an open field.
C) He was perfectly aware of the strength of his enemy army and induced them to enter thick jungles of Javli valley, where their big guns and artillery became a liability more than asset
D) He created rumors that he was scared and was about to surrender
E) Identified wrestlers who had physique similar to Afzal and practiced hand to hand combat with them
F) His army had encircled Afzal’s army in the jungle and regardless of whether Shivaji was alive, Afzal would not have escaped the jungle alive … However, Afzal’s slaying made things easier
G) He did not want any anarchy to prevail if he was killed and had appointed Netaji Palkar as his successor

Raid on Lal Mahal

6. He was a fearless warrior himself
Shaista Khan, Aurangzeb’s maternal uncle was camped in Pune with his 1,00,000 men … he was sent to crush Maratha army … Maratha army was still in phase of infancy and direct action would have been suicidal … Shivaji led a commando style attack on Lal Mahal his erstwhile mansion where Shaista Khan was camped and attacked him with 40 soldiers in the night … Shaista Khan’ son was killed in the raid … Shaista Khan escaped with three fingers cut but withdrew with his army after this demoralizing attack … He was transferred to Bengal by livid Aurangzeb

Kartalab Khan trounced

Earlier he trounced large Mughal army led by Uzbek general Kar-talab Khan in the battle of Umbar Khind near Mumbai … Shivaji’s secret movement to tactical location and input from spy network trapped Kar-talab’s much larger army in thick jungles with supply lines cut off … starving, thirsty, hungry Kar-talab had no option but to surrender.

Battle of Purandar

7. It is good to take a few steps back and use diplomacy when you are weak.
Angered by Shaista Khan’s debacle, Aurangzeb sent an army of 1,50,000 led by Mirza Raja Jai Singh (Rajput king of Jaipur who was Aurangzeb’s vassal) and Diler Khan, a fiercely loyal Pathan general. Their brief was simple …finish Shivaji and his dream … But it was not as easy as Mirza thought … Shivaji had built hundreds of battle hardened forts … each led by hand picked Kiledars who did not fear enemy in large numbers … It took more than six months for this army to capture Fort Purandar … Kiledar Murar Baji Deshpande fought with just 1500 warriors and cavalry men … Mughals successfully exploded a mine and floodgates opened for the invading Mughals … sensing imminent defeat Murar Baji launched a frontal attack with 800 cavalry men and fought till death … after inflicting 3000 deaths on the Mughal side his men retreated with his mortal remains and continued to fight with perseverance … Shivaji did not want more loss of life on his side and decided to negotiate with Jai Singh … He surrendered 23 forts, accepted Mughal supremacy and made his son a mansabdar of Mughal army … and egged Jai Singh to finish Adil Shah of Bijapur … at the same time helped Adil Shah indirectly so that he lost his strength but was not wiped off completely.

Escape from Agra

8. Courage and wit in face of death – Jai Singh saw Shivaji as an ally and wanted him to visit Agra … Shivaji agreed … but he was humiliated in Aurangzeb’s court … he was received by a clerk and not an official dignitary … he was made to stand behind Rao Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur whom Shivaji’s men had routed … Shivaji stormed out of Aurangzeb’s court in protest in order to protect his self respect … Aurangzeb ordered his arrest and kept him in Fidai Husain Khan’s kothi … Kotwal of Agra … Faulad Khan was asked to keep him in custody … Shivaji used spy network, diplomacy and wit over next few months to secure his escape … he sent back most of his men … feigned fatal illness and expressed desire to start religious charity … started talking like a monk who had lost interest in everything … and one fine day just escaped … to fool chasing army he ran northwards to Mathura and not southwards to Deccan … His swift movements on horse secured his return to Deccan …. It is said that he completed this journey within a month riding 7-8 hours every day at an average of 60 miles of distance covered in a day … He dressed up as a sadhu and returned to Fort Raigad … He spread rumors about his prince Sambhaji’s death in order to distract Mughals and secure safe return for Sambhaji who was kept in Mathura for a few weeks and brought to Deccan separately.

Perhaps first Indian king to build a strong Navy ... to counter British and Portugese

9. Sea power is as important as land power – Few years ago he allowed British led by Henry Revington to setup a trading station in Rajapur … but he repented this decision when the same British helped Bijapur army in siege of Panhala with modern long range canons … it was a hard lesson learnt … He sensed that British had political ambitions and were growing in their military prowess steadily …. He established a fighting navy under Daulat Khan and Mayanak Bhandari … built several sea forts like Khanderi-Underi, Kulaba, Suvarnadurga, Gheriya, Sindhudurga, Padmadurga to counter rivals like Siddis, British, Portugese … He tried his best to uproot Portugese from Goa … though he could not succeed he weakened them and confined their presence to a small patch on Konkan coast.

Alliance with Qutb Shah

10. Forge strategic alliances – Shivaji met Sultan of Goalconda – Qutb Shah and entered into a non aggression pact and both promised each other military support. This laid foundations for growth in South India and Shivaji spread his empire till Gengee, Thanjavur and coastal Karnataka … He knew that Aurangzeb would attack one day to destroy his kingdom and it would be important to have strategic depth in South Deccan to fall back upon.

What did you do my son?

11. His discipline was impartial – misguided and ill treated by step mother … Shivaji’s crown prince Sambhaji felt alienated and suffocated … He wanted to prove his worth independently … In impulsive emotional rage he joined Diler Khan’s army … Diler shrewdly used Sambhaji to attack Maratha fort of Bhupatgad … Marathas meekly surrendered the fort since they saw their own prince on the forefront of invading Mughal army … Shivaji saw this as a threat to Swaraj and ordered his troops to treat Sambhaji like enemy if he attacked any of Maratha positions and fire canons at him without hesitation … Diler Khan cut hands of 800 Maratha soldiers in spite of surrender …. Sambhaji realized his folly and returned to Shivaji … He was kept under house arrest for his act …

Netaji Palkar being taken back in Hinduism

12. He was a proud Hindu, But did not follow religious diktats blindly and his policies were secular – Aurangzeb had captured Netaji Palkar and converted him to Islam … He fought in Kabul for Mughals with his new name Mohammad Quli Khan … Netaji’s guilt brought him back to Maharashtra … He expressed his desire to become a hindu again … a few militant brahmins opposed this move but Shivaji took him back with resolute action … He argued that religion was matter of personal choice and he was doing nothing wrong by taking Netaji back since he was forcefully converted to Islam.

Henry Oxinden paying respects on behalf of East India Company

13. Shivaji was a visionary, marked by exceptional moral standards … lets look at some snippets written about him by contemporary foreign travelers and observers ….
Abbe Carre was a French traveller who visited India around 1670; his account was published as Voyage des Indes Orienteles mele de plusiers histories curieuses at Paris in 1699. Some quotes: “Hardly had he won a battle or taken to town in one end of the kingdom than he was at the other extremity causing havoc everywhere and surprising important places. To this quickness of movement he added, like Julius Caesar, a clemency and bounty that won him the hearts of those his arms had worsted.” “In his courage and rapidity he does not ill resemble that great king of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus.
Francois Bernier wrote in his Travels in Mughal India. “I forgot to mention that during pillage of Sourate, Seva-ji, the Holy Seva-ji! Respected the habitation of the reverend father Ambrose, the Capuchin missionary. ‘The Frankish Padres are good men’, he said ‘and shall not be attacked.’ He spared also the house of a deceased Delale or Gentile broker, of the Dutch, because assured that he had been very charitable while alive.”
Sir E. Sullivan “ Shivaji possessed every quality requisite for success in the disturbed age in which he lived: cautious and wily in council, he was fierce and daring in action; he possessed an endurance that made him remarkable even amongst his hardy subjects, and an energy and decision that would in any age raised him to distinction.
Cosmo De Gaurda “Such was the good treatment Shivaji accorded to people and such was the honesty with which he observed the capitulations that none looked upon him without a feeling of love and confidence. By his people he was exceedingly loved. Both in matters of reward and punishment he was so impartial that while he lived he made no exception for any person; no merit was left unrewarded, no offence went unpunished; and this he did with so much care and attention that he specially charged his governors to inform him in writing of the conduct of his soldiers, mentioning in particular those who had distinguished themselves, and he would at once order their promotion, either in rank or in pay, according to their merit. He was naturally loved by all men of valor and good conduct.”
14. His life is full of inspiration and learning for every youngster with an urge to achieve and excel in life … Such is resolute courage of Shivaji to create a nation out of nothingness … There are many who use his name today in contemporary Maharashtra … So let me end by giving each of them with a fitting reply from his life and times
For Shivsena & MNS – who often compare their own conduct to his Shiv Shahi – Those who use Shivaji’s name have no right to roam around in expensive cars, asking for bribes, creating ruckus and hooliganism on streets … Yes Shivaji gave us pride and identity … but that pride resulted in constructive action and not in gundagardi
For NCP, Congress & Organizations like Sambhaji Brigade who play caste politics – Shivaji did not waste his time in living hedonist lifestyle or building big palaces … He was a pragmatic dreamer …. his own life was simple but his big dreams were for people he ruled … not for self …. He thought beyond caste identity … For Shivaji … Whole of Maharashtra was one nation united under the saffron Jari patka flag … each of them was equal…
For BJP, RSS & Hindutvawadis – Shivaji was pious but not fanatic … He respected other religions and people’s liberty to practice their own religion …. His governance was not based on Hindu ideology …. it was smart, people centric efficient secular state … He did not bother building large temples and spending public funds on religion …. He built forts and a formidable ships to strengthen hands of his army
For those who worship so called divine Godmen like Swami Samartha, Sai Baba and create karmakanda around them – Shivaji didn’t have to depend on propaganda of miracles … His life is full of miraculous success he created with his no nonsense approach …. and he had very simple idea of spirituality – Do your duty properly …. In a letter he tells his step brother Vyankoji Raje …. Don’t waste time in pilgrimage … fight bravely and I would love to see you build your own kingdom in South India.
Credits -
All sketches drawn by legendary painter Dinanath Dalal, taken from Maharaj, a book written by Babasaheb Purandare. IT is a book published by Purandare prakashan …. I urge them to come up with fresh prints. With no commercial interest and with due respect to copyrights
References-
1. Maharaj – B M Purandare
2. Jadunath Sarkar’s essays
3. Marathi Riyasat – G.S. Sardesai
4. Shri Shejwalkar’s writings
5. G B Mehendale – Interview in Maharashtra times

Coins of Maratha rulers include the gold and which were issued by Shivaji and his successors and the southern Maratha family. The gold coins of both the kings were of `pagoda` type. The coins of Shivaji bore `Chhatrapati` in Nagari on one side and `Sri Raja Siva` on the other side of the coin. Some `pagodas` show a figure of Lord Shiva on one side and a granulated surface on the other without any inscription. These coins were ascribed to the South Maratha family. These gold coins are rare but the copper coins found in large numbers. The legends are the same in the copper and gold coins of Shivaji. The coins of the other rulers continue to use the title `Chhatrapati` on one side and the name `Sri Raja Shahu` or `Sri Sarabharaja` on the flip side of the coin.

The historical evidences say that Shivaji had minted only one set of gold coins in his time. During the time of his coronation, seven lakh coins were showered upon him and issued for the first time. The coins are now rare as Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had most of them melted as a result of his enmity with Shivaji Maharaj. With the usurpation of power by Balaji, the Peshwa, Maratha power grew and a great Maratha confederation was formed. In 1695, it reached its zenith and dominated Central India and influenced the north and east of the country. The power of this confederacy was broken by the Durrani invader Ahmad Shah at the battle of Panipat in 1761. At the time of the transference of the power of Marathas into the hands of Peshwas and their confederacy, they issued their own coins. They retained the name of the Mughal rulers and followed the pattern of the Peshwas` coins in silver. They set up a mint at Pune which came to be known as `Muhiabad Puna` on the coins. In addition to that, an umpteen number of mints issued coins under the Maratha power.

Some of the mints where the coins were issued at the time were Bagalkot, Mulher, Chandor, Kolaba, Sangli, Miraj, Panhala, Balwantnagar (Jhansi), Jalaun, Kalpi, Kunch, Balanagar Gadha (Gadha Mandla), Ravishnagar (Sagar). Moreover, on the coins of western mints the symbol of goad or the letter `Sri` in Nagari was found. The eastern mints had a bold trident and a cross with three forks at each end. During this period, copper coins were also issued though less is known about them. Even the Marathas issued some coins form Salsette near Mumbai. The coins bore the mint name `Sashthi` on one side of the coin and the Hijri era on the flip side of the coin in Nagari letters.

“Is there a greater hero, a greater saint, a greater bhakta and a greater king than Shivaji? Shivaji was the very embodiment of a born ruler of men as typified in our great Epics. He was the type of the real son of India representing the true consciousness of the nation. It was he who showed what the future of India is going to be sooner or later, a group of independent units under one umbrella as it were, under one supreme imperial suzerainty.” - Swami Vivekananda
This exhibition show-cases the unique place of Chhatrapati Shivaji in the history of India, at a time when Hindus were experiencing great oppression and humiliation : they were being killed, their wives and children taken in slavery, their temples were being broken, and they were being discriminated against in various forms, such as in the matter of charging custom duties, restrictions on their fairs and festivals, their dismissal from government posts, large-scale conversions as a part of openly declared policy of the Mughal State, imposition of the religious tax Jiziya for being a Hindu.. These discriminatory acts were then going almost unchallenged, although the Hindus formed more than 90% of the country at that time.

Shivaji, who was endowed with talents of the highest order and a clear vision, was the only one who stood-up to the injustice. He had also an inspiring and endearing personality which spontaneously commanded respect, loyalty and the highest sacrifices from his devoted soldiery and peasants. To create his Swarajya, a bold mission, inspired by the highest ideals imbibed by him from his mother and the saints of Maharasthra, he had to rouse the sleeping conscience of the Hindus, and show them that it was possible to successfully defy the Mughal power, cast off foreign domination and win freedom from the rule of the Muslim powers.

He had however to contend with Aurangzeb, one of the ablest, but also the most cruel of all Mughal Emperors. In the present exhibition attempt has been made to present, through paintings, sketches, line drawings and contemporary documents, the unique role that Chhatrapati Shivaji has played not only in the history of India, but also in the preservation of Her culture and spirituality, as he stood against the enemy that wanted to erase it forever from this land. It is, thanks to Shivaji, for instance, that West and South India could retain their identities. Indeed, Marathis and Tamils alike, owe to the great Shivaji and the sacrifices of his men, the enduring wholesomeness of their traditions - social, cultural and religious – whereas the same cannot be said about the North of India. Indeed, except for some parts of the non-Kashmir Himalayas, the rest of India had to bear the rules and directions of the Shariat, which had evolved in far off Arabia during 7th and 8th centuries, and was sought to be imposed in the 17th century with all its inherent vehemence, by an Emperor entirely committed to its principles and philosophy.

This exhibition is relevant today because Shivaji embodied all the qualities that politicians should possess in 21st century India, but do not always have: he was just, firm and stood for the weak; he was an honest and able administrator; he confronted the enemy and was not cowed into submission; he was devoted to Mother India who appeared to him as Bhavani; he was ruthless with his enemies, but spared women, children and his own people ; he would go to both Muslim and Hindu saints and endowed mosques as well as temples.

Let the spirit of Shivaji float on India again and deliver her from her present enemies.

The Scene of Mughal devastation in the Deccan - Shivaji Changes People's Psychology

Shivaji's life and achievements were such as to thoroughly justify Carlyle's "Great Man Theory". Before Shivaji, the scene in Maharashtra was one of sadness, helplessness, suffering and humiliation at the hands of the Muslim powers. This is best described in the words of Sabhasad, a contemporary observer and the author of Sabhasad Bakhara.

"Shivaji brought home to the minds of his people how the foreign Muslim rule inflicted hardship and wrongs upon their homeland and their religion. He narrated to them graphic stories of what he had seen and heard. Was it not their duty to avenge the wrong? Even an effort in that direction was necessary and laudable. Why remain content with the gifts conferred by the foreigners or with their own paternal acquisitions only? We are Hindus; this whole country is ours, and yet it is (still) occupied and held by the Muslims. They desecrate our temples, break our idols, loot away our wealth, forcibly convert our people to their religion, kill cows openly. We will suffer this treatment no more.

"We possess strength in our arms. Let us draw the sword in defence of our sacred religion, liberate our land, and acquire new areas and wealth by our own efforts. We are as brave and capable as our ancestors in old times. If we undertake this sacred task, God will surely help us. All (noble) human efforts are so helped. There is nothing like good luck or bad luck. We are the masters of our soil and makers of our freedom".

Shivaji's message was no demagogue's attempt to win people to his point of view. His depiction of the oppression under Muslim rule was a reality. Sardesai, the eminent Maratha historian, gives the contents from an old (17thcentury) paper thus: "Complete darkness prevails under Muslim rule. There is no fair ascertainment of facts nor justice. The officials do what pleases them. Violation of the honour of women, murders, (forcible) conversion of the Hindus, demolition of temples and shrines, cow-slaughter, and similar (low and despicable) acts and atrocities prevail under that (Mughal, Bijapur?) government". These feelings were strengthened by actual events. Thus Nizam Shah (Bijapur) had openly murdered Jija Bai's father, his brothers and sons. Bajaji Nimbalkar of Phaltan was forcibly made a Musalman.

These were bold and stirring words, and did not fail to ignite the fire of freedom and desire for regaining the lost honour, in the masses, a fire which ultimately engulfed the whole Mughal empire and made it dependent on the support of the Marathas. Shivaji was thus the father of the Freedom Movement in Maharashtra and a source of inspiration to the Hindus throughout India. When he visited Agra, and later Haidarabad, the Hindus looked upon him with utmost pride and admiration. Yet his war against the Mughals and Bijapur was not against Muhammadans in general or their religion but for the honour and rights of the Hindus and their religion, then both being discriminated against and suppressed under inspiration and direction of a foreign religion, culture and values.

Shivaji was right in thinking that only by arms would his people be able to secure their rights which were far superior to those of the foreign intolerant Muslim rulers – Mughal, Nizam Shahi or Qutb Shahi. Shivaji thus changed the psychology of the masses, assisted by the awakening created by the saints of Maharashtra, and filled them with fresh confidence to fight the Muslim rulers and wipe off their rule. His words, matched by action, transformed the Marathas into a nation before which he eloquently placed "the higher ideal of Swarajya, and political emancipation from the chains of grinding slavery that held down his country for centuries together".

The first painting depicts the scene of Mughal devastation in the Deccan as described in the 17th century paper mentioned above.

Scene of the Mughal devastation in the Deccan; Shivaji takes up the challenge.

Shivaji in a trance in Bhawani's temple, "Shiva! meet Afzal Khan fearlessly. My blessings are with you".

Shivaji's historic meeting with the Bijapuri General Afzal Khan (10th November 1659)

Afzal Khan, the dreaded Bijapuri Commander, had advanced from Bijapur to Wai laying waste the whole country. His march till Wai had been an unrelieved calamity. Shivaji's men had not till now faced a regular army equipped with artillery etc. At the first council he called, Shivaji found that every one around him was scared of the bold bad man "who would shrink from no act of cruelty and treachery". They all advised him to make peace. But how could he trust a man like Afzal Khan who had murdered Kasturi Ranga, the Raja of Sera, whom he had invited to his tent under promise of safety to make submission. Also it meant submission to Bijapur and ruining all his dreams of establishing "Swarajya".

This was a most critical moment in Shivaji's career. If he submitted to Afzal Khan, all his hopes of independence and future greatness would be gone for ever. If he declined to negotiate, it would mean war with Bijapur. Shiva was in a dilemma. After pondering for a fortnight, he decided to meet Afzal Khan alone at a meeting. A legend says that the care-worn Maratha fell asleep in which state he had a vision of goddess Bhawani who urged him to face Afzal Khan boldly. On waking up Shivaji decided in favour of hostilities with Bijapur. He however agreed to meet the Khan, who, it is believed, had hoped to arrest or kill Shiva at the interview, not at Wai but near th fort of Pratapgarh. Afzal Khan agreed.

On Shivaji's orders, an open pavilion, richly decorated was erected on the crest of an eminence below the fort of Pratapgarh. Shivaji prepared himself for any eventuality. To prevent detection of the steel claws in the palm of his left hand and a short dagger up his right hand sleeve, he had put on a long white flowing robe with broad long sleeves.

Shivaji now insisted that Afzal Khan should come to the tent for meeting accompanied by only two body-guards and that he too would come with only two body-guards, accompanied by their respective Brahmin envoys.

When Shivaji was coming out of Pratapgarh fort, his mother blessed him saying that victory would be his. At the time of the meeting on 10th November 1659, only Afzal and Shivaji were present in the tent. The body-guards and the Pandits were below the platform.

We have a detailed account of the high drama which resulted in Afzal Khan's death and rout of his army. Afzal, a tall and well-built man, was first to arrive in the tent pitched for his reception. Shivaji was seemingly unarmed "like a rebel who had come to surrender, while the Khan had his sword and dagger at his side … Shivaji mounted the raised platform and bowed to Afzal. The Khan rose from his seat, advanced a few steps, and opened his arms to receive Shiva in his embrace. The short slim Maratha's head came only up to the shoulders of his opponent. Suddenly, Afzal tightened his clasp, and holding Shiva'a neck fast in his left arm with an iron grip, while with his right hand he drew his long straight-bladed dagger and struck at the side of Shiva. The hidden armour rendered the blow harmless. … In a moment Shiva recovered from the surprise, passed his left arm round the Khan's waist and tore his bowles open with a blow of the steel claws. Then with the right hand he drove the bichwa into Afzal's side ….. Shivaji jumped down from the platform and ran towards his own men outside. The Khan cried out ":Treachery! Murder! Help! Help! The attendants ran up from both sides; Saiyid Banda faced Shivaji with his long straight sword and cut his turban in two, making a deep dint in the steel cap beneath. Shivaji quickly took a rapier from his bodyguard, Jiv Mahala, and began to tarry. But Jiv Mahala came round and cut off Saiyid's right hand and killed him.

Meanwhile the bearers placed the wounded Khan in his palquin and started for his camp. But Shambhuji Kavji slashed at their legs, made them drop the palquin and then cut off Afzal Khan's head, which he carried in triumph to Shivaji.

Thus Shivaji by endangering his own person extricated his nascent kingdom from a very dangerous situation by turning back the tide of the Bijapuri troops and by outwitting the dreaded Afzal Khan.

In the next painting the artist has tried to recreate the whole sequence of events.

Shivaji's historic meeting with the Bijapuri General Afzal Khan and latter's death (10th November 1659)

Baji Prabhu's Sacrifice (13th July 1660)

It is one of the famous incidents doing as much proud to Shivaji as to his followers who served him with total devotion. Within about 18 days of Afzal Khan's death, Shivaji captured Panhala, the capital of the Western Bijapuri district. Within a short time the surrounding districts of Kolhapur and Vasantgarh, Khelna (re-named Vishalgad by Shivaji), Rangna and some other minor forts also surrendered to him.

When Shivaji was in Panhala, he was besieged by Salabat Khan (Siddi Jauhar), and Fazl Khan (Afzal Khan's son), commanding Bijapuri troops. After nearly five month's long siege, Shivaji found himself in a fatal trap. On a dark night (13th July 1660), when it was raining heavily, Shivaji, leaving a part of his forces to hold Panhala fort as long as possible, slipped out of the fort through the back gate with a small body of `troops and made way for Vishalgad, but was detected and hotly pursued by a strong Bijapuri force under Fazl Khan, Siddi Halal etc. Shivaji had to cover 27 miles to reach Vishalgad where he would be safe.

Though he marched all night, Shivaji was hopelessly outnumbered, hotly pursued by Bijapuri troops carrying mahtabs for light. Fortunately the hilly road led through a narrow pass known as Ghod Khind (horse ravine) at the eastern entrance of Vishalgad, where a few men could hold at bay a large force.

Baji Prabhu, the Deshpande of Hirdas Maval, volunteered to defend the mouth of the pass with half the troops till Shivaji should reach Vishalgarh and signal his safe arrival there by gun fire.

Baji Prabhu and his heroic band fought with exemplary valour, beating back three vigorous assaults. He breathed his last only after he had heard the gun-fire informing Shivaji's safe arrival in Vishalgarh.

In the next sketch, the brave defence put up by Baji Prabhu at the mouth of the pass is shown. Shivaji with a small band, after escaping from the back-door of Panhala fort, has crossed the pass and can be seen galloping fast towards the ascent of Vishalgad. In another section of the sketch, the salvo of a gun from Vishalgad informs the fatally wounded Baji Prabhu of the safe arrival of Shivaji. The sacrifice of Baji Prabhu "is gratefully remembered to this day by the Maratha nation and is typical of the way in which Shivaji was served throughout his career".

Baji Prabhu's memorable sacrifice to save his master's life (13 July 1660)

Shivaji's Night attack on Shaista Khan at Pune which nullifies all the Mughal gains at one stroke (5th April 1663)

It is one of the most famous exploits of Shivaji early in his career and has never been forgotten by successive generations in India. Shaista Khan, the maternal uncle of Emperor Aurangzeb, and the new Governor of Deccan, had made Shivaji's position precarious by his furious offensive. He had even occupied Pune (9th May 1660). Shivaji had already lost Chakan (August 1660), Kalian (May 1661), and in March 1663 the Maratha commander Netaji Palker was worsted in a sanguary fight and he had to escape losing much of the booty being brought from the Mughal territory. During these three years (February 1660 – April 1663) Shivaji had lost practically all the 'Swarajya' which he had won with great effort during the past many years and this was despite his many victories, such as at Umbar Khind (February 1661), Mira Dongar (1662), capture of Rajapur etc. He was completely non-plussed as what to do with Shaista Khan sitting pretty in Pune. At last he decided to extricate himself from this situation by some daring act to be executed by himself personally, as he had done about four years ago in case of Afzal Khan.

Within a month of the defeat of the Maratha army under Netaji Palkar, Shivaji dealt a masterly blow at the Mughals, a blow "whose cleverness of design, neatness of execution and completeness of success" made Shivaji's name a household word throughout India. He surprised and wounded the Mughal Viceroy of the Deccan in the heart of his camp, in his very bed chamber, within the inner ring of his body guards and female slaves.

In the early hours of the night (5th April 1663) Shivaji with 400 picked Mavles entered the Mughal camp through the main gate saying that they were a party of the Deccani soldiers of the Mughal army going in to relieve those who were already on duty. It was the month of Ramzan. The Khan and his household after breaking their day's fast, had retired to their beds before midnight. As the moon set, the camp and the Lal Mahal (Shivaji's own palace) were enveloped in darkness, with a few dim lights showing how the people were stationed at different points. Shivaji with 50 men quietly entered the palace through a hole made in the weak kitchen wall behind. They then rushed towards the bed-chamber, cutting the cloth partitions, striking people in their beds, and making a loud clamour which only added to the confusion. Amidst shrieks, shouts and confusion all around, Shivaji and his party left the scene and escaped to Sinhagad from where they had come. Later, it was discovered that though Shaista Khan had managed to save his life, his fore fingers were cut off by the blow of Shivaji's sword when he was jumping out of the window.

This unbelievably successful attack on the Mughal Governor of the Deccan in the most protected area of the Mughal camp, surrounded by thousands of troops, immensely enhanced the reputation of Shivaji's daring, while causing bitter humiliation at the Mughal court, but the most evident and fruitful result of this daring raid was the retreat of Shaista Khan to Burhanpur for safety and his subsequent transfer to Bengal. At one stroke Shivaji had nullified all the gains of the Mughals achieved during 1660-63.

In the next painting, some of the Maratha soldiers are shown entering the palace at Pune through a hole made in the kitchen wall, some have reached the stair case and they are beckoning others to follow, while Shivaji has already reached the sleeping chamber of Shaista Khan and is about to strike him. The Khan, however, managed to leap through the window to safety though losing his forefingers in the process.

Shivaji's night attack on Shaista Khan, the Mughal Governor of the Deccan in Pune, in midst of his military camp (5th April 1663)

स्वराज्यावर चालून आलेला अफजलखाना सारखा मातब्बर व बलाढ्य शत्रू , छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराजांनी वाघनखाने मारल्यामुळे “वाघनखं” हे हत्यार इतिहासात अमर झाले, तसेचजनसामान्यांच्या कुतूहलाचा विषय ठरले.
त्यापूर्वी १७ व्या शतकात वाघनखाला शस्त्र म्हणून अधिकृतमान्यता नव्हती. त्याकाळी ते डाकू व दरोडेखोरांचे हत्यार म्हणून ओळखले जात असे.
वाघनखं हे प्रामुख्याने भारतातविकसित झालेले, सहज वाहून नेण्याजोगे व स्वसंरक्षणासाठी वापरले जाणारे शस्त्र आहे. वाघनखासारखी वेगळी व शत्रूला चकीत करणारी हत्यारे बनविताना त्या-त्या प्राण्यांच्या पंजाचा, वार करण्याच्या पध्दतीचा अभ्यास केला जात असे. वाघनखांप्रमाणेच अस्वली कट्यार, सिंहाचा पंजा अशी हत्यारे मध्ययुगात अस्तित्वात होती, पण त्यांना वाघनखांप्रमाणे प्रसिध्दीचे वलय लाभले नाही.
वाघनखं हे लोखंडापासून बनविलेले शस्त्र असून धातूच्यापट्टीवर चार धारदार, टोकदार, अर्धवर्तुळाकार (आतल्या बाजूस वळलेली) धातूची नखे असतात. ही नखं ज्या धातूच्या पट्टीवर बसवलेली असतात, त्या पट्टीच्या दोन टोकांना अंगठीसारख्या कड्या असतात. या कड्या पहिल्या बोटात व करंगळीत अडकवून मूठ बंदकेल्यास वाघनखं हातात बेमालूमपणे लपून जात.

वाघनखं

वाघनखांची रचना ही खास कातडी फाडून स्नायूंना टरकावण्यासाठी केलेली आहे. वाघनखाने शत्रूला पूर्णपणे मारणे शक्य नसले तरी त्याला जखमी करून नामोहरम करता येत असे. वाघनखं शत्रूच्या पोटात खुपसल्यावर बाहेर काढणे कठीण असे. वाघनखं शरीरात खुपसल्यावर अत्यंतिक वेदनेमुळे शत्रू दूर जाण्याचा प्रयत्न करतो आणि याचमुळे वाघनखं जास्त खोलवर जाऊन नुकसान करतात. महाराजांनी अफजलखानाच्या पोटात वाघनखं खुपसल्यावर प्रतिक्षिप्त क्रियेने अफजलखानाने महाराजांपासून दूर जाण्याचा प्रयत्न केला त्यामुळे वाघनखं त्याच्या पोटात जास्त खोलवर घुसून पोट फाटले व आतडी बाहेर आली.
वाघनखांचा उपयोग शत्रूवर हल्लाकरणे याव्यतिरिक्त डोंगरकपार्‍या, किल्ल्याच्या भिंती तसेच झाडावर चढणे उतरणे यासाठी होत असे.
सिंहाचा पंजा: या शस्त्रात सिंहाच्या नखांसारखीच धातूची नखे असलेली पट्टी असते. पंजाच्या मागच्या बाजूस असलेलीधातूची पट्टी मनगटावर घट्ट बसते व नखे असलेली पट्टी बोटांच्या खालच्या बाजूस येते. या रचनेमुळे शस्त्रावर घट्ट पकड बसते, तसेच वार करणारा नखांचा भाग बोटांखाली लपल्यामुळे शस्त्र सहजासहजी शत्रुला दिसत नाही. या शस्त्राचा उपयोग ठोसा देणे, वारकरणे, ओरबाडणे यासाठी होतो.

वाघनखं

अस्वली कट्यार: याला अस्वलाचा पंजाही म्हणतात. याची पकड कट्यारीसारखीच असते, पण पुढच्या बाजूस पात्या ऐवजी अस्वलाच्या नखांसारखी धातूची नखे असतात. या शस्त्राचा वापर वार करणे व फाडून ओढणे यासाठी करतात.

————— ————— ——–
कट्यार हे मध्ययुगीन भारतीय उपखंडात प्रचलित असलेले पात्याचे शस्त्र होय. हिला ‘एच’ या रोमन अक्षराच्या (रोमन: ‘H’) आकारातली मूठ असते; जेणेकरून शस्त्रधारकाच्या मूठ आवळलेल्या बोटांवरून हिचे पातेसरळ फुटल्यासारखे दिसते. हिच्या संरचनेमुळे लक्ष्याला भोसकण्यासाठी हिचा वार करता येतो.
समारंभप्रसंगी गौरवचिन्ह म्हणूनही हिला महत्त्वाचे स्थान आहे.

कट्यार

कट्यार हे मराठा पध्दतीचे शस्त्र आहे. हे छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराजांचे आवडते शस्त्र होते. त्यांच्या कमरेला शेल्यामध्ये कट्यार नेहमीच असायची. छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराजांचा असा दंडक होता की, प्रत्येक सैनिकाजवळ तलवार, ढाल या प्रमुख शस्त्रांबरोबर एक छोटे शस्त्र असले पाहिजे, जसे शेल्यामधील कट्यार, अथवा अस्तनीमध्ये बिचवा. युध्दात वेळप्रसंगी हे शस्त्र वापरता येत असे.
कट्यार हे छोट्या शस्त्रांपैकीसर्वात प्रभावी शस्त्र आहे; त्यामुळे त्याला भारतभर प्रसिध्दी मिळाली व वेगवेगळ्याराज्यकर्त्यांनी आपल्या कारागिराकडून कट्यारी बनवून घेतल्या. त्या कट्यारींवर त्या-त्या प्रदेशांची छाप पडली व कट्यारीचे अनेक प्रकार तयार झाले. राजा, राणी व दरबारातील मान्यवर सतत आपल्याबरोबर कट्यार बाळगत असत. कट्यारीची लांबी १० इंच ते २० इंच च्या दरम्यान असते. कट्यारीचे पाते, नख्या व मूठ हे तीन भाग असतात. हे तीनही भाग अखंड धातूमध्ये ओतून कट्यार बनविली जाते. काही कट्यारींमध्ये हे तीनही भाग रिव्हेटने एकत्र जोडलेले असतात.
कट्यारीचे प्रकार:
१) मराठा कट्यार:- १० ते २० इंच लांबीची अखंड ओतीव असते, तिचा अर्धाभाग पकडण्यासाठी असून हाताचे संरक्षण करण्यासाठी दोनउभ्या पट्‌ट्या असतात.
२) मुघल कट्यार:- पाते, नख्या, मूठ असे कट्यारीचे तीन भाग रिबेटने जोडलेले असतात पाते बहुतांश:तलवारीच ेच वापरतात नख्या व मूठ यांच्यावर नक्षीकाम केलेले असते.
३) हैद्राबादी कट्यार:- याचे पाते लांब व रुंद असते ते पातळ पत्र्याचे बनविलेले असते. या कट्यारीत हाताचे संरक्षण करण्यासाठी मूठीवर संरक्षण कवचअसते, त्यामुळे मनगटापर्यंत हाताचे संरक्षण होते. हैद्राबादी कट्यारी १५ इंचापासून २५ इंचापर्यंत लांब असतात

४) मानकरी कट्यार:- शोभिवंत, मजबूत, जाडजूड व सोन्या चांदीचेनक्षीकाम केलेली असते.
५) सैनिकांची कट्यार:- साधी पण मजबूत असते.
६) स्त्रिया व मुले यांची कट्यार:- स्त्रिया व मुलांसाठी लहान आकाराच्या, कमी वजनाच्या शोभिवंत कट्यारी बनवल्या जात.
कट्यारीचे इतर प्रकारही आहेत जसे, जंबीया, खंजीर, खंजराली, पेशकबज इत्यादी.
चिलखत भेदी कट्यार
एक संहारक अस्त्र म्हणुन देखिल कट्यार वापरली जावु शकते ….हा एक कट्यारीचा उत्तम प्रकार असुन या कट्यारीत पात्याच्या टोकाकडील भागाजवळ पात्याची जाडी (रुंदी) जास्त असते ..पाते किंचित फ़ुगलेले असते ..त्यामुळे पात्याला जास्त ताकद मिळते .अशीकट्यार चिलखत देखिल फ़ाडुन आत वार करते ..
यांच्या पात्याच्या टोका जवळील(टिप) भाग वेगवेगळा असतो ..

wagh-nakhe-chikhalat-Chilkhat

वाघनखं आणि चिलखत

कधी कधी युद्धा मध्ये तुटलेल्या तलवारींची पाती देखिल वाया न घालावता त्यापासुन देखिल कट्यारी बनवल्या जात होत्या ..तुटलेल्या पात्यांना कट्यारीची मुठ बसवुन..हत्यार पुर्ण केले जात असे..म्हणुनच बरेच दा आपल्याला पात्याची कमी अधिक उंची कट्यारी दिसतात ..

 

हैदराबादच्या एका व्यक्ती सोबत मराठ्यांच्या पराक्रमांवर चर्चा झाली.त्या व्यक्तीने चर्चेदरम्यान एक गोष्ट अशी विचारली की,मराठे लपून हल्ला करायचे का? मैदानातून पळून जायचे का? मराठे लुटारू होते का? तो म्हणाला की आम्ही असे ऐकले आहे की मराठे लपूनछपून यायचे,लपून छपूनच हल्ला करायचे आणि लुटून पळून जायचे,खुल्या मैदानात मराठे यायला घाबरायचे.

मला त्याच्या बोलण्याचा अजिबात राग आला नाही कारण आपल्या देशात ...खो
ट्या इतिहासाच्या प्रसाराने अशा बऱ्याच अंधश्रद्धा मराठ्यांच्या बाबतीत पसरल्या आहेत.त्या व्यक्तीला मी सांगितले की लपून छपून हल्ला करून,अचानकपने आश्चर्याचा धक्का देणे, काही कळायच्या आत शत्रूला संपविणे हा मराठ्यांच्या गनिमी काव्याचा भाग होता.
आणि गनिमी कावा हा कमीत कमी सैन्य कामी आणून यश मिळविण्याचा एक मार्ग होता.

कारण प्रत्त्येक सैनिकाचा जीव महत्वाचा वाटायचा आमच्या राजाला. तरी तो व्यक्ती काहीना काही म्हणून मराठे असे होते,मराठे तसे होते असा म्हणायचा.त्यामुळे मी त्याला सरळ त्याच्या हैदाराबाद्चेच उदाहरण दिले.त्याला सांगितले की छ.शिवाजी महाराज नावाचा मराठा आपली अवाढव्य फौज घेऊन हैदराबाद मध्ये आला होता.

ती फौज तुमच्याच गोलकोंडा फोर्टमध्ये तशीच सोडून कोणताही अंगरक्षक सोबत न घेता तुमच्याच राजाच्या घरात भेटीसाठी गेला होता,महिनाभर राहिला आणि अशावेळी तुमचाच राजा घाबरला होता,कारण आपला राजा दिसत नाही म्हणून मराठा फौजेने हैदराबाद संपविण्याची योजना बनविली होती.

तेव्हा घाबरून तुमच्याच राजाने छ.शिवरायांना विनंती केली होती की कृपा करून आपल्या सैन्याला शांत करा.आणि तसे झालेसुद्धा.आपले छत्रपती दिसले तेव्हा मराठे शांत झाले होते.एवढेच काय तुमच्या राजाचा अवाढव्य,भयावह हत्ती येसाजी कंक नावाच्या मराठ्याने एकट्यानेच संपविला होता आणि सिद्ध केले होते की एक मराठा हत्तीच्या ताकदीचा असतो.उदगिरीच्या लढाईत जी लढाई खुल्या मैदानात झाली होती.

त्याच लढाईत इब्राहीम गार्दी सारखा तोफखान्याचा प्रमुख समोर असतांनासुद्धा थोड्याशा तोफ्खान्यासह मराठेच जिंकले होते.स्वाल्हेरच्या लढाईत खुल्या मैदानात ४०००० मराठ्यांनी ८०००० मुघलांना कसे कापले होते हे तुम्हाला माहिती आहे का?आणि ज्या औरंगजेबाला पूर्ण देश घाबरायचा त्याच औरंग्याला त्याच्याच दरबारात हाणून पडून बोलून, छाती ताणून ,ताठ मानेन निघून जाणारा राजा मराठाच होता.आणि जेव्हा देशातील सर्व शूरवीर शेपूट घालून बसले होते.

तेव्हा घरापासून ८०० कोस दूर खुल्या मैदानात अफगानांना टक्कर द्यायला निघाले आणि जीवाची बाजी लावली ती मराठ्यांनीच............असे म्हटल्यावर तो जरा गप्प राहिला........तरी म्हणाला की लुटायची काय गरज असायची?

मी त्याला म्हणालो की,मराठ्यांनी लुटली ती त्या त्या राजाची संपत्ती,लुटला शत्रूचा आत्मविश्वास आणि अहंकार आणि त्याचा त्या परीसरावरचा अधिकार..मराठ्यांनी कधीही कोण्या शेतकरयला लुटले नाही,कोण्या सामान्य माणसाला त्रास दिला नाही,कधीही कोणत्याही स्त्रीची अब्रू लुटली नाही.................असे म्हटल्यावर त्याला बोलायला मार्ग राहिला नाही..........मित्रांनो तुम्हाला जर कुणी असे विचारले तर तुम्ही सुद्धा हेच उत्तर द्या...........
छ.शिवाजी महाराज की जय.....

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छत्रपती शिवरायांच्या शस्त्रांपैकी ढाल,अंगरखा,बिचवा अशी अनेक शस्त्रे आज उपलब्ध नाहीत.परंतु त्यांच्या काही तलवारींपैकी तीन तलवारी जगदंबा,भवानी आणि तुळजा या आजही अस्तित्वात आहेत.वाघनखे व्हिक्टोरिया आणि अल्बर्ट संग्रहालयात आहेत. तलवारींपैकी जगदंबा हि तलवार लंडन मध्ये आहे.ती स्वतः बाबासाहेब पुरंदरे यांनी पाहिल्याचे नमूद केले आहे.दुसरी भवानी तलवार सध्याचे श्रीमंत छत्रपती उदयनराजे भोसले यांच्याकडे आहे,तर तुळजा तलवार हि सिंधुदुर्ग येथील शिवराजेश्वर मंदिरात आहे.
माझ्या मागील लेखात जगदंबा आणि भवानी तलवार एकच असल्याचे नमूद केले होते त्याबद्दल दिलगिरी व्यक्त करत आहे.

मराठा तलवार

मराठा तलवार

जगदंबा तलवार-
उगम – इ.स.१५१० साली आल्फोन्सो आल्बुकर्क याने गोवा जिंकला .त्याचा सेनापती डियागो फर्नांडीस याने लगेचच सावंतवाडीवर हल्ला केला,पण
हल्ला सपशेल फसला आणि पोर्तुगिजांचा दारूण पराभव खेमसावंत भोसल्यांनी केला.त्यावेळी हि पोर्तुगीज राजघराण्यातील (Imperial) तलवार खेमसावंत यांच्याकडे आली. (तलवारीच्या पात्यावर I.H.S. हि अक्षरे कोरली आहेत)
छत्रपतींना हि तलवार १६५९ साली भेट म्हणून देण्यात आली किंवा खेमसावंता वर झालेल्या जप्तीत ती छत्रपतींना मिळाली.

जगदंबा तलवार

जगदंबा तलवार

तलवारी संबंधीची करवीर संस्थानातील नोंद -
पंतप्रधान सरकार कदीम करवीर, शस्त्रागार तर्फे रावबहाद्दूर दादासो सुर्वे
नोंदणी जीनस – जगदंबा तलवार
जिनसाचे नाव | डाग आकार सहित | तपशील दास्तान | चालूकडे
तलवार सडक | १९७-११ | १९७-११ | हल्ली नाही
जगदंबा मेणावर
तपशील – नाकीत्यास हिरे ६,माणके ४४ ,पाचा १०
एकूण पराज हिरे १३,पाचा १८ , माणके ४६७
मिळून सबंध तलवार.

जगदंबा तलवार प्रतिकृती

चौथे शिवाजी – प्रतापसिंहराजे भोसले यांनी हि तलवार प्रिन्स ऑफ वेल्स याला भेट दिल्याचे सांगण्यात येते.
भवानी तलवार – शिवछत्रपतींनी वापरलेल्या अनेक तलवारींपैकी हि एक, परमानंद नेवासकर कृत शिवभारत मध्ये “मी तुझ्या तलवारीमध्ये आशीर्वाद बनून राहीन” अश्या अर्थाचा श्लोक होता, त्याचे नंतर भवानी आईने तलवार दिली असे रुपांतर झाले.असो…
तर हि भवानी तलवार रायगड पडला तेव्हा झुल्फिकार खानच्या हातात पडली असावी.त्याचवेळी शाहू छत्रपती,येसूबाई राणीसाहेब व इतर लोक कैद झाले.औरंगजेबाने येसूबाई आणि शाहू महाराजांची विशेष बडदास्त ठेवली येसूबाई यांना स्वतः चा शिक्का व चरितार्थासाठी काही वतने दिली,तसेच शाहूंना “सरकार राजा शाहू ” अशी पदवी दिली.
नंतरच्या काळात शाहू महाराज मोठे झाल्यावर औरंगजेबाने त्यांचे धर्मांतर करण्याचे ठरविले परंतु शाहू आणि येसूबाई राणी साहेबांनी त्यास विरोध दर्शविला त्यामुळे औरंगजेबाने तो विचार सोडून दिला आणि शाहूंचे लग्न बहादुर्शहा च्या मुलीशी लावले
त्या लग्नप्रसंगी औरंगजेबाने भवानी तलवार,अफझलखानची तलवार आणि काही रत्ने शाहूंना भेट दिली.नंतर हीच तलवार शाहू महाराजांबरोबर सातार्यात आली,तीच तलवार सातारा छत्रपती उदयनराजे भोसले यांच्या जलमंदिर मध्ये आहे.त्यावर ‘सरकार राजा शाहू’ असे कोरले आहे.
तुळजा तलवार - तिसरी तलवार म्हणजे सिंधूदूर्ग किल्ल्यातील शिवराजेश्वर मंदीरातील तुळजा फिरंग ही तलवार.सहजी महाराजांनी ती तलवार शिवाजी महाराजांना दिली असे सांगण्यात येते. यापैकी तिसरी तलवार असण्याची शक्यता इतिहास संशोधकांनी वर्तवल्यामुळे या तलवारीचं महत्त्व वाढलं आहे. या तलवारीला जतन कराण्यासाठी ती काचेच्या पेटीत ठेवण्यात आली आहे. तसेच पूजेसाठी तिची प्रतिकृती ठेवण्यात आली आहे.
संदर्भ साभार – भवानी तलवार ब्लॉग
महाराष्ट्र टाईम्स
रॉयल एशियाटिक सोसायटी
औरंगजेबाचे अखबार
शिवकालीन शस्त्रे – पुरंदरे

शिवरायाचा मृत्यु कि खून ?

संभाजीराजे आणि सोयराबाई यांचे नातेसंबंध :-

१. सत्ताप्राप्तीसाठी शिवरायांचे कुटुंबात कोणत्याही प्रकारचा संघर्ष नव्हता. सोयराबाईनी संभाजीराजांना शेवटपर्यंत स्व:पुत्रा प्रमाणे सांभाळले. तर संभाजीराजे सोयराबाईना नेहमी " निर्मल मनाची आई " असे म्हणत.

२. सोयराबाई व शंभूराजे यांचे भांडण लावायचा प्रयत्न ‘धूर्त’ मंत्र्यांनी केला. पण त्यात त्यांना यश आहे नाही. या उलट संभाजीराज्यांनी स्वराज्याचे वाटणीस विरोध केला.

३. राजाराम यांना राजसाबाई यांचे पोटी पुत्र रत्न झाले . तेव्हा राजाराम यांनी पुत्राचे नाव संभाजी असे ठेवले ( १६९७ ) जर संभाजी व राजाराम यानमध्ये संघर्ष असता तर राजाराम यांनी मुलाचे नाव संभाजी असे ठेवले असते का ?

शिवरायांचा खून का व कसा झाला :--

हजारो वर्षांची स्वराज्या विद्रोह्यांची दादागिरी शिवाजीराजे व संभाजीराजे यांनी संपवली त्यामुळे काही मंत्री आतून प्रचंड चिडले. म्हणून त्यांनी राज्यांचे कुटुंबात भांडण लावण्याचा अयशस्वी प्रयत्न केला.

अपयश आले तरी मोरोपंत, अण्णाजी, राहुजी सोमनाथ थांबले नाहीत. शिवरायांना संपवायचेच हा पक्का निश्चय त्यांनी केला होता. आण्णाजी दत्तो रायगडाच्या पायथ्याशी पाचाडला थांबला होता. गडावर राहुजी सोमनाथ हा अधिकारी होता. रायगडाची संपूर्ण नाकाबंदी करण्यात आली. कसल्याही प्रकारचा सुगावा लागणार नाही याची दक्षता या तिघांनी घेतली. म्हणून या कटाचा संशय येऊ नये यासाठी मोरोपंत आणि अण्णाजी दत्तो घटनास्थळा पासून दूर थांबले होते. हत्त्या करण्याचा कट रचणारे, प्रवृत्त करणारे जवळ थांबत नसतात. या प्रसंगी राज्यातील अत्यंत महत्वाची माणसे गडावर नव्हती. संभाजीराजे पन्हाळा गडावर होते. सेनापती हंबीरराव माहिते हे तळबीड या ठिकाणी होते. ते राजगड पासून २५० किलोमीटर आहे. शिवाजी महाराज यांचे कुटुंबातील सर्व नातेवाईक हे पाचाडला होते. असा स्पष्ट उल्लेख शिवभारतमध्ये आहे. ( संदर्भ :- वा.सी.बेंद्रे लिखित श्री. छ. संभाजी महाराज )

तीन एप्रिलचा दिवस उजाडला तेव्हा शिवरायांचे भोवती कपटी लोकांचे वलय होते. राहुजी सोमनाथने गडावरचे सर्व दरवाजे बंद केले. गडाची सर्व सूत्रे सोमनाथच्या ताब्यात होती. या सार्या परिस्थितीचा फायदा घेऊन शिवरायांवर विषप्रयोग झाला. संभाजीराजे व सरसेनापती हंबीरराव मोहिते यांना राज्यांचे खुनाची माहिती समजणार नाही याची खबरदारी घेण्यात आली. राज्यांचा अंत्यविधी हा घाई घाईत उरकण्यात आला.

दहा वर्षाच्या राजारामला सिंहासनावर बसउन शिवद्रोही मंत्री सत्ता ताब्यात घेउ इच्छित होते. म्हणून त्यांनी दहा वर्षाच्या राजारामाच्या राज्याभिषेकाची बातमी फुटू न देता राज्याभिषेक उरकला. शिवरायांचा खून व राजाराम यांचा झालेला राज्याभिषेक चोरून लपउन केला गेला. हि बातमी रायगडावरून फुटणार नाही याची दखल घेतली गेली. लगेच विरोधी मंत्र्यांनी संभाजीराजे यांना पकडण्याचे ( अटक) करण्याचे आदेशपत्र हंबीरराव मोहिते यांना दिले.... पण हंबीरराव यांना शिवरायांनी खाजगीत संभाजीला छत्रपती करा असे सांगितले होते. राजाराम हा दहा वर्षाचा आहे त्याला राजाकरणे हे स्वराज्य कपटी मंत्र्यांचे हातात देणे होईल अशी सूचना शिवरायांनी पूर्वीच " राजारामाचे सख्खे मामा सेनापती हंबीरराव मोहिते " यांना केली होती. हंबीरराव यांना फुटीर मंत्र्यांचे पत्रं मिळताच त्यांनी संभाजीराजे यांना त्याची माहिती कळवली.

वरील प्रसंग सिद्ध करतो कि सोयराबाई यांचा सख्खा भाऊ हा स्वतःच्या भाच्याला छत्रपती करायची संधी डावलून स्वराज्याचे हित पाहतो. पहा नीट पहा विचार करा सोयराबाईया संभाजी विरोधक नव्हत्या याचा हा पुरावा नव्हे काय?
तरीही हा खून सोयराबाई यांनी केला अशी अफवा अजानकार इतिहासकारांनी नंतर उठवली.

जेव्हा शिवरायांचा खून झाला तेव्हा राज्यांचे वय हे अवघे ५० वर्ष होते. राज्यांना कोणताही असाध्य रोग नव्हता. ते प्रधीर्ग आजारी नव्हते. राज्यांची प्रकृती निरोगी होती. वयाचे ५० व्या वर्षी राज्यांना अनैसर्गिक मृत्त्यू येणे कदापीही शक्य नाही.

शिवरायांच्या मृत्त्यू बाबद संशय निर्माण करणाऱ्या काही बाबी :--
१. शिवरायांचे धर्म परिवर्तनाचे कार्य.
२. शिवरायांनी इतर कुटीर वर्चस्वाला दिलेला शह.
३. रायगडावरील मंत्र्यांचा अंतर्गत विरोध.
४. तीन एप्रिलचे गडावरील संशयास्पद वातावरण.
५. शिवरायांचा घाई घाईत उरकण्यात आलेला अंत्यविधी.
६. पराक्रमी, विद्वान,चारित्र्यसंपन्न, जेष्ठपुत्र संभाजीराजे यांना धोका देऊन कोणतीही चूक नसताना कैद करायचे आदेश देऊन.... दहा वर्षाच्या कनिष्ठ राजारामला घाई घाईत छत्रपती करण्यामागचा कपटी मंत्र्यांचा हेतू काय असावा ?
७. शिवरायांच्याखुनाची, राजारामाच्या राज्याभिषेकाची, माहिती गोपनीय ठेवण्या माघे ब्राह्माण मंत्र्यांचा काय हेतू होता ?
८. संभाजी महाराजांचे सांत्वन करण्यापेक्षा त्यांना अटक करायला गेलेले मंत्री यांचा हेऊ काय होता ?
9. या सार्या प्रकारा नंतर संभाजीराजे यांनी सोयराबाई यांना मान दिला, गौरवले व राजाराम महाराज यांना प्रेमाने वागवले....... तर त्या गद्दार मंत्र्यांना कैद केले व पुढे त्यांना हातीचे पायाखाली देऊन ठार केले. हे काय दर्शवते

संभाजी महाराज यांना अटक करा व आम्हाला वाटेत भेटा असे आदेश कुटील मंत्र्यांनी हंबीरराव मोहिते यांना दिले होते .पण संभाजी महाराज यांना कपटाने कैद करायला निघालेल्या मंत्र्यांना ( मोरोपंत, अण्णाजी, प्रल्हादपंत..) हंबीरराव यांनी वाटेतच अटक केले ! त्यानंतर संभाजीराजे हे रायगडावर आले त्यांनी सर्व मातांचे सांत्वन केले.

सोयराबाई या निर्दोष होत्या हे सिद्ध करणारा एक भक्कम पुरावा म्हणजे संभाजीराजे २४ ऑगस्ट १६८० रोजी म्हणतात कि ' सोयराबाई या स्फटिका सारख्या निर्मल मनाच्या आहेत'. याचा अर्थ सोयराबाई या निर्दोष तर होत्याच पण त्या संभाजीराजे यांना आदर स्थानी होत्या. कुमंत्र्यांनीच सोयराबाई यांना संभाजी विरोधात भडकवण्याचा अयशस्वी प्रयत्न केला होता. [संधर्भ छ. संभाजी (पान २२१ ) वा. सी बेंद्रे.]

आता आपण शिवरायांचे मृत्युबाबत देशी आणि परदेशी साधनांचा विचार करू :--

पुढील संदर्भ साधनांची चिकित्सा करताना त्या साधनांचा काळ व कर्ता याचा विचार केलेला आहे. मराठी आणि संस्कृत साधनांचे लेखक हे एकाच जातीचे असल्याने सत्यशोधनात अडचणी येतात. तरी देखील अपराधीपणाची जाणीव त्या साधनात सापडते.

सुरवातीला आपण अमराठी साधने पाहूयात ......

१. इंग्रजांचे पत्र " शिवाजी महाराज यांचा मृत्यू रक्तातीसाराने झाला. "
२. पारसी कागदपत्र ( मासिरे आलमसिगरी - साकीमुस्तेखान ) " शिवाजी हे घोड्यावरून उतरले त्यांना अतिउष्णतेमुळे दोन वेळा रक्ताच्या उलट्या झाल्या. त्यामुळे त्यांचा मृत्यू झाला "
३. निकोलोमनुची ( असे होते मोगल ) - " शिवाजीराजे यांना रक्ताच्या उलट्या होऊन मरण आले "
४. दाघ रजिस्टर ( डच कागदपत्र - १६८० (पृष्ठ ७२४.२९) संदर्भ परयीच्या दृष्ठी. ) - " राज्यांवर विषप्रयोग केला असावा "

शिवाजीराज्यांनी राजारामाचा विवाह १५ मार्च १६८० रोजी प्रतापराव गुजर यांचे मुलीशी लाऊन दिला आणि अवघ्या १८ दिवसात शिवाजीराजे यांचा खून झाला. शिवाजीराजे रक्ताच्या उलट्या होऊन मरण पावले हे सारे जाणतात पण त्यांना रक्ताच्या उलट्या का झाल्या ? हे मात्र सारेच जाणत नव्हते कारण शिवद्रोही मंत्र्यांनी रायगडावरून वाराही बाहेर जाणार नाही याप्रकारे बंदोबस्त केला होता.

आता आपण मराठी -संस्कृत साधने पाहू :----

१. शिवदिग्विजय - " सोयराबाईंकडून राज्यांना विषप्रयोग झाला "
२. चिटणीस बखर - " सोयराबाईवरच आरोप ठेवते "
३. जेधे शकावली - " चैत्र शुद्ध शनिवार दिवसा दोन प्रहरी रायगडावर शिवरायांचे निधन झाले हंबीरराव मोहिते यांनी मोरोपंत, अण्णाजी, प्रल्हादपंत यांना कैद केले."

चिटणीस बखर,शिवदिग्विजय या १८१८ सालच्या असल्याने समकालीन नाहीत. पण त्या विषप्रयोग झाल्याचे बोलतात. फुटीरवादी मंत्र्यांनी विषप्रयोग केला पण सोयराबाई यांच्या नावाने अफवा पसरवली. हे वरील साधनांवरून लक्षात येते.

जेधे शकावली हि दैनंदिनी असल्याने स्पष्टीकरण नाही पण त्यात निधनानंतर लगेच मंत्र्यांना अटक केल्याचे स्पष्ट होत आहे. मंत्र्यांनी खून केला म्हणून त्यांना अटक केली असा स्पष्ट अर्थ निघतो.

बहुजन सामाज्याची दिशाभूल करण्यासाठी नंतर काही अजानकार इतिहासकरांनी शिवरायांचा मृत्यू हा " गुडघी रोगामुळे " झाला अशी अफवा पसरवली. (पण मित्रहो जगाच्या इतिहासात पूर्वी आणि आजही गुडघीरोग कोणालाही झाल्याचे उदाहरण नाही..) तर काही इतिहासकारांनी शिवरायांचा खून हा सोयराबाई यांनी केला असा कुप्रचार सुरु केला.

शिवरायांचा खून पचउन स्वराज्य हस्तगत करायचा कुटीर आणि गद्दार मंत्र्यांचा डाव होता त्यासाठी त्यांनी राजाराम यांचा राज्यभिषेक घाई घाईत उरकला.

कारण राजाराम हे १० वर्षाचे बालक होते. राजारामला नामधारी राजा करायचे व राज्यकारभाराची सर्व सूत्रे आपल्या हातात घ्यायची असा फुटीरवादी मंत्र्यांचा डाव होता. तसेच संभाजीराजे हे हुशार, धाडसी,पराक्रमी, होते म्हणून संभाजीराजे यांना अटक करायला मोरोपंत, अण्णाजी, प्रल्हादपंत हे पन्हाळागडाकडे निघाले पण वाटेतच या कपटी, स्वराज्यद्रोही, नरपशूना.... स्वराज्यप्रेमी, शिवभक्त, राजाराम यांचे सख्खे मामा हंबीरराव मोहिते यांनी अटक केली आणि संभाजीराजे यांचा रायगडावर अभीषेक केला. !

तात्पर्य :-

विषप्रयोग झाला हे सारे जाणतात. काही गलीच्छ विचारांना बळी पडून सोयराबाई ही यात सामील होत्या असे समजतात. पण त्याच वेळी शंभूराज्यांनी सोयराबाई यांना कधीच अटकही केले नाही व कोणताही त्रास दिला नाही उलट खुणानंतर ५-६ महिन्यांनी संभाजीयांनी सोयराबाई यांना गौरवले त्याचा सन्मान केला ! याचा वर पुरावा दिलेला आहे. म्हणजेच सोयराबाई या निर्दोष होत्या हे कोणीही खरा शिवप्रेमी कबुल करेल. म्हणजेच शिवरायांचा खून हा केवळ स्वराज्य बळकावण्यासाठी मंत्र्यांनी केलेला कुटीरवादीकावा होता हे सिद्ध होते.

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तरीही काही लोक खालील शंका उपस्थित करू शकतात :------>

१. शिवरायांवर विष प्रयोग झाला का ?

------> परिस्थिती तशीच आहे.

सुरवातीला आपण अमराठी साधने पाहूयात ......
१. इंग्रजांचे पत्र " शिवाजी महाराज यांचा मृत्यू रक्तातीसाराने झाला. "
२. पारसी कागद पत्र ( मासिरे आलमसिगरी - साकीमुस्तेखान ) " शिवाजी हे घोड्या वरून उतरले त्यांना अतिउश्नते मुळे दोन वेळा रक्ताच्या उलट्या झाल्या. त्यामुळे त्यांचा मृत्यू झाला "
३. निकोलो मनुची ( असे होते मोगल ) - " शिवाजीराजे यांना रक्ताच्या उलट्या होऊन मरण आले "
४. दाघ रजिस्टर ( डच कागदपत्र - १६८० (पृष्ठ ७२४.२९) संधर्भ परयीच्या दृष्ठी. ) - " राज्यांवर विष प्रयोग केला असावा "

वरील अमराठी साहित्य काय सांगते ?
शिवरायांना रक्ताच्या उलट्या झाल्या. हे कोणीही टाळू शकत नाही. शिवाजीराज्यांनी राजारामाचा विवाह १५ मार्च १६८० रोजी प्रतापराव गुजर यांचे मुलीशी लाऊन दिला आणि अवघ्या १८ दिवसात शिवाजीराजे यांचा मृत्यू झाला तोही रक्ताच्या उलट्या होऊन ! शिवाजीराजे रक्ताच्या उलट्या होऊन मरण पावले हे सारे जाणतात................. पण त्यांना रक्ताच्या उलट्या का झाल्या ? याचे उत्तर साहित्य त्यांचे भाषेत देते..
---------->

१. शिवदिग्विजय - " सोयराबाईंकडून राज्यांना विषप्रयोग झाला "
२. चिटणीस बखर - " सोयराबाईवरच आरोप ठेवते "

निष्कर्ष काय निघतो :--
१. कि सारे म्हणतात रक्ताचा उलट्या झाल्या.
२. दाघ रजिस्टर म्हणते विषप्रयोग झाला.

यातील कोणाकडे काहीही पुरावा नाही म्हणू हा गोंधळ होत आहे.

पण हे उघड आहे कि राजाराम यांचे लग्न झाले आणि १८ दिवसात शिवाजी वारले. लग्ना वेळी ते तंदुरुस्थ होते. कोणताही असाध्य रोग नव्हता. मग अचानक रक्ताच्या उलट्या का झाल्या ? या प्रश्नाचे उत्तर हेच आहे कि विषप्रयोग झाला.

2. मग नवीन प्रश्न निर्माण होतो कि तो कोणी केला ?

त्यासाठी आधी रायगडावर त्याप्रसंगा आधी परिस्थिती कशी होती हे पाहावे लागेल
रायगडावर शिवरायांचे घरात गृहकलश सुरु होता !! शिवाजी महाराज हे कोणी साधारण व्यक्ती नव्हते. महाराजांसारखे कुशल पारखी यांचे घरात गृहकलश !
ज्यांनी संपूर्ण भारतीय मूलनिवासी जनतेला एक जुठ केले , अनेक कुटुंबातील वाद आपल्या दरबारात योग्य न्यायाने मिटवले त्या महाराजांचे घरात गृहकलश !!! छे छे हे मनाला अजिबात पटत नाही ... ज्यांनी अफजलखानसारख्या महाकाय श्वापदाच्या आणि औरंगजेबासारख्या कुशाग्र बुद्धी असणाऱ्या बादशाच्या हातावर तुरी दिल्या. त्या महाराजांना आपल्याच घरातील वादावर हतबल व्हावे लागले हे मनाला पटत नाही. पण काय करणार भावना या भावनेच्या जागी राहतात आणि वास्तव हे वास्तव असते...... आणि वास्तव हेच आहे कि महाराज यांचे घरात गृहकलश होता !

गृह कलश होता हे वास्तव जड अन्तःकारणाने स्वीकारले तरी काही नवीन प्रश्न निर्माण होतात.गृहकलश काय होता ? त्याचे कारण काय ?
सोयराबाई यांना संभाजीराजे हे छत्रपती होणे पसंत नव्हते ! का ? तर त्यांचा १० वर्षाचा मुलगा त्यांना तेथे हवा होता !! पण राज्याभिषेकावेळी तर असे काही झाले नाही........ मग आताच का असे व्हावे कारण सोयराबाई यांचे मनात कोणीतरी विष कालवले..... मग हे विष कालवणारे कोण होते ? त्यांनी असे का केले ?
ते होते मंत्री........अण्णाजी दत्तो हे या कटाचे मुख्य सूत्रधार होते !!!! अण्णाजी दत्तो.. ज्या माणसाने एक दोन वेळा स्वराज्यसाठी तलवार हि उचलली तो अण्णाजी ! असे का वागला ?

कारण :---------->
A)संभाजी महाराज यांनी एक वेळा या आण्णाजीने केलेला भ्रष्टाचार उगडा केला होता ! त्याची बोच या अण्णाजी दत्तोच्या काळजात गेली होती.
B ) अण्णाजी दत्तोची विवाहित मुलगी हिचे संभाजी महाराज यांचे वर प्रेम होते ती त्यांचेकडे आकर्षित झाली होती. आणि त्यातून एक प्रसंगी तिने संभाजीराजे यांचे महालात जाऊन इच्छा व्यक्त केली होती. पण "पराविया नारी राखूमाई समान" या तुकोबांच्या विचारांशी नाते असल्याने व तसे संस्कार जिजाऊनी व शिवरायांनी केलेले असल्याने संभाजी महाराज यांनी तिला महालातून हाकलून दिले. त्यामुळे तिने स्वतःच्या कृतीचा पश्चाताप झाल्याने आत्महत्या केली. असे बरेच प्रसंग येथे देता येतील पण या दोन प्रसंगा वरून दत्तो का दात खाउन होता हे लक्षात येते.

शिवरायांवरील विषप्रयोगा आधीही काही मंत्र्यांनी बरेच वेळा शंभू महाराज यांना बदनाम करणे व संपवण्याचा प्रयत्न केला होता. सोयराबाई आधी त्यांनी शिवरायांचे मनात विष कालवायचे अनेक प्रयत्न केलेले होते.
तसेच शंभू महाराज यांना संपवण्याचे ही प्रयत्न याच मंत्री लोकांनी केले होते. सविस्तर माहितीसाठी आपण संभाजी ही कादंबरी वाचा.
तात्पर्य.....शिवरायांचे मंत्री हे कटकारस्थानी होते व त्यांनी संभाजी महाराज जिवंत असताना ही अनेक कारस्थाणे केली आणि ते शहीद झाल्यावर कारस्थानांचा वारसा त्यांचे वंशजांनी चालू ठेवला.

वर सिद्ध होते कि धूर्त मंत्री यांनी पहिल्यांदा शिवरायांचे मनात विष कळवायचा प्रयत्न केला. पण शिवराय यांचे स्वतःच्या पहिल्या मुलावर, स्वराज्याच्या भावी छत्रपतीवर प्रेम होते आणि असणार तसेच शिवराय हे दुसर्याचे ऐकणारे नव्हते , कान चुगल्याना बळी पडणारे नव्हते त्या मुळे धूर्त मंत्री यांचा हा प्रयोग फसला !

आता या मंत्री लोकांनी मोर्चा वळवला तो सोयराबाई यांकडे. सोयराबाई या सरळमार्गी,साध्या-भोळ्या,स्फटिक मनाच्या होत्या त्यांना या धूर्त मंत्र्यांच्या चाणक्यानीतीचा ठाव नव्हता. त्यामुळे त्या सुरवातीला या मंत्र्यांच्या कानचुगल्याना बळी पडल्या !!!

काही वेळ शिवरायांचे कुटुंबात वाद निर्माण झाला पण त्याला हे मंत्री जबाबदार होते. यासाठी पुरावा म्हणू संभाजीराजे यांचे पत्र घ्या.

संभाजीराजांचे 24 डिसेंबर 1680चे पत्र उपलब्ध आहे. त्यात ते म्हनतात ..
."राणीचे (सोयराबाईचे) मन स्फटिकासारखे निर्मळ होते. पण कुटिल मंत्र्यांनी दुष्ट सल्ला दिला की मोठ्या मुलाला गादी मिळता कामा नये. या सल्ल्याचा प्रभाव तिच्यावर पडला. "
आता हे स्पष्ट दिसत आहे कि शिवरायांचे घरात आणि संभाजीराजे यान वरील सर्व कटकारस्थानात फक्त आणि फक्त ब्राह्मण मंत्री होते ते अनेक वर्षापासून असे डाव आखत होते. त्या मंत्री गणाचे प्रतिनिधीत्व हे अण्णाजी दत्तो करत होते.

आता पुढे प्रश्न निर्माण होतो तो काय धूर्त मंत्री यांचे चाणक्यनीतीला बळी पडलेल्या सोयराबाई या विषप्रयोगात सामील होत्या ? काय त्यांना याची पुसटशी हि कल्पना होती ?

----> नाही ते शक्य नाही कारण "राणीचे (सोयराबाईचे) मन स्फटिकासारखे निर्मळ होते." असे खुद्द शंभू राजे बोलतात. अशी स्त्री असे करणे शक्य नाही. उलट त्यांना असा कट माहित असता तर त्यांनी पुढील घटना रोकली असती हे उघड आहे.

मग राहतात ते अण्णाजी दत्तो आणि त्यांचे सहकारी. बाकी कोणावर हि संशय घेता येणे शक्य नाही.

3. शेवटी आणखीन एक अण्णाजी दत्तो यांनी फार चुका केल्या हे कबुल पण काय ते शिवरायानवर विषप्रयोग करतील ?
---> हो ते करू शकतात.
कारण त्यांनी संभाजी महाराज यांवर विषप्रयोग केल्याचे इतिहासात दाखले आहेत पण ते फसले.
त्यांनी केलेल्या अनेक गुन्हे शंभू महाराज यांनी माफ करून हि अण्णाजी आणि कंपूने शिवरायांचे स्वराज्य हे मोगल पुत्र अकबराला विश्वासात घेऊन वाटून घेण्याचा कट केला होता. आणि आम्ही संभाजीला संपवायला तुम्हाला मदत करतो अश्या आशयाचे पत्र हि लिहिले होते मोगल पुत्राला ! पण त्यांचे दुर्दैव मागील कटात त्यांनी हंबीरराव यांना फितावण्याचा प्रयत्न केला व हंबीरराव यांनी त्यांनाच धडा शिकवला आता त्यांनी मोगल पुत्राला स्वराज्य वाटून घेण्याचे आमिष दाखवले पण याही वेळी मोगल पुत्र तडक शंभू राज्यांना हे पत्र देऊन मोकळा झाला ! आणि या शिवद्रोह्याना हत्तीचे पाया खाली द्यावे लागले.

आता तुम्हीच विचार करा :--
१. ज्या लोकांनी शिवरायाची शेवटची इच्छा (म्हणजे शंभूराजे यांना गादीवरबसवणे ) पूर्ण करायचे सोडून शंभूराज्यांना कैद करायचा कट केला.
२. एवढे होऊन हि शंभूराजे यांनी काही दिवस कारावास देऊन यांना मोकळे केले तर यांनी पुन्हा शंभू हत्तेचा कट केला. त्यातून सुटले
३. परत यांनी शिवरायांचे स्वराज्य मोगलाला फुकट वाटून देण्याचे पत्र दिले व शंभू महाराज यांना संपवण्याची इच्छा केली.

हे शिवरायांचे भक्त असतील का ? यांनी शिवरायांवर विष प्रयोग केला असणे शक्य नाही का ?

ll करू नका एवढ्यात चर्चा पराभवाची, रणात आहेत झुंजणारे अजून काही ll
ll विझून माझी चिता युगे लोटली तरीही विझायचे राहिले निखारे अजून काही ll

“Is there a greater hero, a greater saint, a greater bhakta and a greater king than Shivaji? Shivaji was the very embodiment of a born ruler of men as typified in our great Epics. He was the type of the real son of India representing the true consciousness of the nation. It was he who showed what the future of India is going to be sooner or later, a group of independent units under one umbrella as it were, under one supreme imperial suzerainty.” - Swami Vivekananda
This exhibition show-cases the unique place of Chhatrapati Shivaji in the history of India, at a time when Hindus were experiencing great oppression and humiliation : they were being killed, their wives and children taken in slavery, their temples were being broken, and they were being discriminated against in various forms, such as in the matter of charging custom duties, restrictions on their fairs and festivals, their dismissal from government posts, large-scale conversions as a part of openly declared policy of the Mughal State, imposition of the religious tax Jiziya for being a Hindu.. These discriminatory acts were then going almost unchallenged, although the Hindus formed more than 90% of the country at that time.

Shivaji, who was endowed with talents of the highest order and a clear vision, was the only one who stood-up to the injustice. He had also an inspiring and endearing personality which spontaneously commanded respect, loyalty and the highest sacrifices from his devoted soldiery and peasants. To create his Swarajya, a bold mission, inspired by the highest ideals imbibed by him from his mother and the saints of Maharasthra, he had to rouse the sleeping conscience of the Hindus, and show them that it was possible to successfully defy the Mughal power, cast off foreign domination and win freedom from the rule of the Muslim powers.

He had however to contend with Aurangzeb, one of the ablest, but also the most cruel of all Mughal Emperors. In the present exhibition attempt has been made to present, through paintings, sketches, line drawings and contemporary documents, the unique role that Chhatrapati Shivaji has played not only in the history of India, but also in the preservation of Her culture and spirituality, as he stood against the enemy that wanted to erase it forever from this land. It is, thanks to Shivaji, for instance, that West and South India could retain their identities. Indeed, Marathis and Tamils alike, owe to the great Shivaji and the sacrifices of his men, the enduring wholesomeness of their traditions - social, cultural and religious – whereas the same cannot be said about the North of India. Indeed, except for some parts of the non-Kashmir Himalayas, the rest of India had to bear the rules and directions of the Shariat, which had evolved in far off Arabia during 7th and 8th centuries, and was sought to be imposed in the 17th century with all its inherent vehemence, by an Emperor entirely committed to its principles and philosophy.

This exhibition is relevant today because Shivaji embodied all the qualities that politicians should possess in 21st century India, but do not always have: he was just, firm and stood for the weak; he was an honest and able administrator; he confronted the enemy and was not cowed into submission; he was devoted to Mother India who appeared to him as Bhavani; he was ruthless with his enemies, but spared women, children and his own people ; he would go to both Muslim and Hindu saints and endowed mosques as well as temples.

Let the spirit of Shivaji float on India again and deliver her from her present enemies.

The Scene of Mughal devastation in the Deccan - Shivaji Changes People's Psychology

Shivaji's life and achievements were such as to thoroughly justify Carlyle's "Great Man Theory". Before Shivaji, the scene in Maharashtra was one of sadness, helplessness, suffering and humiliation at the hands of the Muslim powers. This is best described in the words of Sabhasad, a contemporary observer and the author of Sabhasad Bakhara.

"Shivaji brought home to the minds of his people how the foreign Muslim rule inflicted hardship and wrongs upon their homeland and their religion. He narrated to them graphic stories of what he had seen and heard. Was it not their duty to avenge the wrong? Even an effort in that direction was necessary and laudable. Why remain content with the gifts conferred by the foreigners or with their own paternal acquisitions only? We are Hindus; this whole country is ours, and yet it is (still) occupied and held by the Muslims. They desecrate our temples, break our idols, loot away our wealth, forcibly convert our people to their religion, kill cows openly. We will suffer this treatment no more.

"We possess strength in our arms. Let us draw the sword in defence of our sacred religion, liberate our land, and acquire new areas and wealth by our own efforts. We are as brave and capable as our ancestors in old times. If we undertake this sacred task, God will surely help us. All (noble) human efforts are so helped. There is nothing like good luck or bad luck. We are the masters of our soil and makers of our freedom".

Shivaji's message was no demagogue's attempt to win people to his point of view. His depiction of the oppression under Muslim rule was a reality. Sardesai, the eminent Maratha historian, gives the contents from an old (17thcentury) paper thus: "Complete darkness prevails under Muslim rule. There is no fair ascertainment of facts nor justice. The officials do what pleases them. Violation of the honour of women, murders, (forcible) conversion of the Hindus, demolition of temples and shrines, cow-slaughter, and similar (low and despicable) acts and atrocities prevail under that (Mughal, Bijapur?) government". These feelings were strengthened by actual events. Thus Nizam Shah (Bijapur) had openly murdered Jija Bai's father, his brothers and sons. Bajaji Nimbalkar of Phaltan was forcibly made a Musalman.

These were bold and stirring words, and did not fail to ignite the fire of freedom and desire for regaining the lost honour, in the masses, a fire which ultimately engulfed the whole Mughal empire and made it dependent on the support of the Marathas. Shivaji was thus the father of the Freedom Movement in Maharashtra and a source of inspiration to the Hindus throughout India. When he visited Agra, and later Haidarabad, the Hindus looked upon him with utmost pride and admiration. Yet his war against the Mughals and Bijapur was not against Muhammadans in general or their religion but for the honour and rights of the Hindus and their religion, then both being discriminated against and suppressed under inspiration and direction of a foreign religion, culture and values.

Shivaji was right in thinking that only by arms would his people be able to secure their rights which were far superior to those of the foreign intolerant Muslim rulers – Mughal, Nizam Shahi or Qutb Shahi. Shivaji thus changed the psychology of the masses, assisted by the awakening created by the saints of Maharashtra, and filled them with fresh confidence to fight the Muslim rulers and wipe off their rule. His words, matched by action, transformed the Marathas into a nation before which he eloquently placed "the higher ideal of Swarajya, and political emancipation from the chains of grinding slavery that held down his country for centuries together".

The first painting depicts the scene of Mughal devastation in the Deccan as described in the 17th century paper mentioned above.

Scene of the Mughal devastation in the Deccan; Shivaji takes up the challenge.

Shivaji in a trance in Bhawani's temple, "Shiva! meet Afzal Khan fearlessly. My blessings are with you".

Shivaji's historic meeting with the Bijapuri General Afzal Khan (10th November 1659)

Afzal Khan, the dreaded Bijapuri Commander, had advanced from Bijapur to Wai laying waste the whole country. His march till Wai had been an unrelieved calamity. Shivaji's men had not till now faced a regular army equipped with artillery etc. At the first council he called, Shivaji found that every one around him was scared of the bold bad man "who would shrink from no act of cruelty and treachery". They all advised him to make peace. But how could he trust a man like Afzal Khan who had murdered Kasturi Ranga, the Raja of Sera, whom he had invited to his tent under promise of safety to make submission. Also it meant submission to Bijapur and ruining all his dreams of establishing "Swarajya".

This was a most critical moment in Shivaji's career. If he submitted to Afzal Khan, all his hopes of independence and future greatness would be gone for ever. If he declined to negotiate, it would mean war with Bijapur. Shiva was in a dilemma. After pondering for a fortnight, he decided to meet Afzal Khan alone at a meeting. A legend says that the care-worn Maratha fell asleep in which state he had a vision of goddess Bhawani who urged him to face Afzal Khan boldly. On waking up Shivaji decided in favour of hostilities with Bijapur. He however agreed to meet the Khan, who, it is believed, had hoped to arrest or kill Shiva at the interview, not at Wai but near th fort of Pratapgarh. Afzal Khan agreed.

On Shivaji's orders, an open pavilion, richly decorated was erected on the crest of an eminence below the fort of Pratapgarh. Shivaji prepared himself for any eventuality. To prevent detection of the steel claws in the palm of his left hand and a short dagger up his right hand sleeve, he had put on a long white flowing robe with broad long sleeves.

Shivaji now insisted that Afzal Khan should come to the tent for meeting accompanied by only two body-guards and that he too would come with only two body-guards, accompanied by their respective Brahmin envoys.

When Shivaji was coming out of Pratapgarh fort, his mother blessed him saying that victory would be his. At the time of the meeting on 10th November 1659, only Afzal and Shivaji were present in the tent. The body-guards and the Pandits were below the platform.

We have a detailed account of the high drama which resulted in Afzal Khan's death and rout of his army. Afzal, a tall and well-built man, was first to arrive in the tent pitched for his reception. Shivaji was seemingly unarmed "like a rebel who had come to surrender, while the Khan had his sword and dagger at his side … Shivaji mounted the raised platform and bowed to Afzal. The Khan rose from his seat, advanced a few steps, and opened his arms to receive Shiva in his embrace. The short slim Maratha's head came only up to the shoulders of his opponent. Suddenly, Afzal tightened his clasp, and holding Shiva'a neck fast in his left arm with an iron grip, while with his right hand he drew his long straight-bladed dagger and struck at the side of Shiva. The hidden armour rendered the blow harmless. … In a moment Shiva recovered from the surprise, passed his left arm round the Khan's waist and tore his bowles open with a blow of the steel claws. Then with the right hand he drove the bichwa into Afzal's side ….. Shivaji jumped down from the platform and ran towards his own men outside. The Khan cried out ":Treachery! Murder! Help! Help! The attendants ran up from both sides; Saiyid Banda faced Shivaji with his long straight sword and cut his turban in two, making a deep dint in the steel cap beneath. Shivaji quickly took a rapier from his bodyguard, Jiv Mahala, and began to tarry. But Jiv Mahala came round and cut off Saiyid's right hand and killed him.

Meanwhile the bearers placed the wounded Khan in his palquin and started for his camp. But Shambhuji Kavji slashed at their legs, made them drop the palquin and then cut off Afzal Khan's head, which he carried in triumph to Shivaji.

Thus Shivaji by endangering his own person extricated his nascent kingdom from a very dangerous situation by turning back the tide of the Bijapuri troops and by outwitting the dreaded Afzal Khan.

In the next painting the artist has tried to recreate the whole sequence of events.

Shivaji's historic meeting with the Bijapuri General Afzal Khan and latter's death (10th November 1659)

Baji Prabhu's Sacrifice (13th July 1660)

It is one of the famous incidents doing as much proud to Shivaji as to his followers who served him with total devotion. Within about 18 days of Afzal Khan's death, Shivaji captured Panhala, the capital of the Western Bijapuri district. Within a short time the surrounding districts of Kolhapur and Vasantgarh, Khelna (re-named Vishalgad by Shivaji), Rangna and some other minor forts also surrendered to him.

When Shivaji was in Panhala, he was besieged by Salabat Khan (Siddi Jauhar), and Fazl Khan (Afzal Khan's son), commanding Bijapuri troops. After nearly five month's long siege, Shivaji found himself in a fatal trap. On a dark night (13th July 1660), when it was raining heavily, Shivaji, leaving a part of his forces to hold Panhala fort as long as possible, slipped out of the fort through the back gate with a small body of `troops and made way for Vishalgad, but was detected and hotly pursued by a strong Bijapuri force under Fazl Khan, Siddi Halal etc. Shivaji had to cover 27 miles to reach Vishalgad where he would be safe.

Though he marched all night, Shivaji was hopelessly outnumbered, hotly pursued by Bijapuri troops carrying mahtabs for light. Fortunately the hilly road led through a narrow pass known as Ghod Khind (horse ravine) at the eastern entrance of Vishalgad, where a few men could hold at bay a large force.

Baji Prabhu, the Deshpande of Hirdas Maval, volunteered to defend the mouth of the pass with half the troops till Shivaji should reach Vishalgarh and signal his safe arrival there by gun fire.

Baji Prabhu and his heroic band fought with exemplary valour, beating back three vigorous assaults. He breathed his last only after he had heard the gun-fire informing Shivaji's safe arrival in Vishalgarh.

In the next sketch, the brave defence put up by Baji Prabhu at the mouth of the pass is shown. Shivaji with a small band, after escaping from the back-door of Panhala fort, has crossed the pass and can be seen galloping fast towards the ascent of Vishalgad. In another section of the sketch, the salvo of a gun from Vishalgad informs the fatally wounded Baji Prabhu of the safe arrival of Shivaji. The sacrifice of Baji Prabhu "is gratefully remembered to this day by the Maratha nation and is typical of the way in which Shivaji was served throughout his career".

Baji Prabhu's memorable sacrifice to save his master's life (13 July 1660)

Shivaji's Night attack on Shaista Khan at Pune which nullifies all the Mughal gains at one stroke (5th April 1663)

It is one of the most famous exploits of Shivaji early in his career and has never been forgotten by successive generations in India. Shaista Khan, the maternal uncle of Emperor Aurangzeb, and the new Governor of Deccan, had made Shivaji's position precarious by his furious offensive. He had even occupied Pune (9th May 1660). Shivaji had already lost Chakan (August 1660), Kalian (May 1661), and in March 1663 the Maratha commander Netaji Palker was worsted in a sanguary fight and he had to escape losing much of the booty being brought from the Mughal territory. During these three years (February 1660 – April 1663) Shivaji had lost practically all the 'Swarajya' which he had won with great effort during the past many years and this was despite his many victories, such as at Umbar Khind (February 1661), Mira Dongar (1662), capture of Rajapur etc. He was completely non-plussed as what to do with Shaista Khan sitting pretty in Pune. At last he decided to extricate himself from this situation by some daring act to be executed by himself personally, as he had done about four years ago in case of Afzal Khan.

Within a month of the defeat of the Maratha army under Netaji Palkar, Shivaji dealt a masterly blow at the Mughals, a blow "whose cleverness of design, neatness of execution and completeness of success" made Shivaji's name a household word throughout India. He surprised and wounded the Mughal Viceroy of the Deccan in the heart of his camp, in his very bed chamber, within the inner ring of his body guards and female slaves.

In the early hours of the night (5th April 1663) Shivaji with 400 picked Mavles entered the Mughal camp through the main gate saying that they were a party of the Deccani soldiers of the Mughal army going in to relieve those who were already on duty. It was the month of Ramzan. The Khan and his household after breaking their day's fast, had retired to their beds before midnight. As the moon set, the camp and the Lal Mahal (Shivaji's own palace) were enveloped in darkness, with a few dim lights showing how the people were stationed at different points. Shivaji with 50 men quietly entered the palace through a hole made in the weak kitchen wall behind. They then rushed towards the bed-chamber, cutting the cloth partitions, striking people in their beds, and making a loud clamour which only added to the confusion. Amidst shrieks, shouts and confusion all around, Shivaji and his party left the scene and escaped to Sinhagad from where they had come. Later, it was discovered that though Shaista Khan had managed to save his life, his fore fingers were cut off by the blow of Shivaji's sword when he was jumping out of the window.

This unbelievably successful attack on the Mughal Governor of the Deccan in the most protected area of the Mughal camp, surrounded by thousands of troops, immensely enhanced the reputation of Shivaji's daring, while causing bitter humiliation at the Mughal court, but the most evident and fruitful result of this daring raid was the retreat of Shaista Khan to Burhanpur for safety and his subsequent transfer to Bengal. At one stroke Shivaji had nullified all the gains of the Mughals achieved during 1660-63.

In the next painting, some of the Maratha soldiers are shown entering the palace at Pune through a hole made in the kitchen wall, some have reached the stair case and they are beckoning others to follow, while Shivaji has already reached the sleeping chamber of Shaista Khan and is about to strike him. The Khan, however, managed to leap through the window to safety though losing his forefingers in the process.

Shivaji's night attack on Shaista Khan, the Mughal Governor of the Deccan in Pune, in midst of his military camp (5th April 1663)

Jaipur Maps of 1665-66 A.D.

We find many recorded instances of the use of maps, plans or tarah, as these were called, of regions, forts, towns, temples, dams, pilgrim centers etc., by the Emperors, Rajput rulers and other important personages during the medieval times. Shivaji also took keen interest in maps and plans. Some of these tarah were prepared specifically for military purposes. Perhaps the richest and best preserved collection of maps and plans of the medieval period from Emperor Akbar's time till the beginning of the 19th century is in Kapad-dwara, Pothikhana, and Khas-Mohar collections of the Maharajas of Amber-Jaipur. Thus, whenever Mirza Raja Jai Singh, the Maharaja of Amber State (1623-67), was sent on an expedition, specially to a less familiar region, he would get the plan of the region prepared showing forts, hills, terrain etc. When in 1665 A.D. he was sent by Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor, to deal with Shivaji, who had succfessfully defied and humiliated all previous Viceroys and foiled all attempts to curb his rising power, Mirza Raja got prepared for him not only tarah of the Deccan but also a tarah specifically showing the forts of Shivaji, ports and important towns of the region.

One tarah is of the period immediately after the conclusion of the historic treaty of Purandar (13th June 1665), by which Shivaji handed over to the Mughals a number forts such as Lohgarh, Tikona, Kondana, Purandar, Karnala, etc., while retaining others such as Rajgarh, Latkangarh, Mahagarh, etc. Shivaji recovered the surrendered forts three years later in 1670 in a swift and remarkably successful offensive against the Mughal government.

These maps may seem a bid bizarre to us but were regarded as of much value by those for whom these were drawn.

The next Tarah of the Deccan showing Seva's (Shivaji's) forts

The tarah records the forts which Shivaji had to part with as per the terms of the Treaty of Purandar (13th June 1665) which Mirza Raja Jai Singh concluded with him on behalf of the Emperor and also records the forts which he retained.

Lohgarh (put in charge of Quvad Khan (Qubad Khan), new thanedarof Poona

Fort Tikona (Qubad Khan appointed in charge of the fort)

Kondana (Kundana) put in charge of Kunwar Kirat Singh (son of Mirza Raja Jai Singh)

Khada Kalan, Qasba Poona

Garh Purandhar

Garh Rudramal

Qasba Indrapur Bangi

Baramati Garh Sarup, also called Karnala under the direct control of the Emperor. No Qiledar has been sent there till now

Manikgarh, also called Tanka. Under direct control of the Emperor. No Qiledar has been sent there till now.

Tain ka Kot, Tal Konkana ka. Qiledar would go after the arrival of Seva's son who will accompany the Qiledar.

Garh Mraga (Uttara) in Patsahi Talak, Qiledar not yet sent.

Garh Okhadraka, gave to Seva (Shivaji)

Garh Khirattaka, also called Sagargarh
Cheval ka Bandar (Port). It is (now) under Emperor but no Qiledarhas yet gone there.

Garh Anasvari gave to Seva (Shivaji)

Garh Pal (gave to Seva)

Garh Bhurap (gave to Seva or Shivaji)

Garh Kaula gave to Siva

Garh Ankola under the Emperor, Qiledar not yet sent there.

Garh Torana, gave to Siva

Rajgarh, gave to Siva

Latkangarh, gave to Siva

Garh Raipur, gave to Siva

Mangarh. Under direct control of the Emperor. No Qiledar sent there till now.

Songarh, also known as Vishramagarh, under direct control of the Emperor. No Qiledar sent there till now.

Garh Dhusala, gave to Siva

Taligarh, gave to Siva

Mahagarh, gave to Siva

Parvalgarh or Muranjan under Patsah (Emperor), No Qiledar sent there till now.

Vikatgah also known as Pav, under Patsahi. No Qiledar appointed there till now.

Qasba Kalyan
Qasba Vahpuri
Garh Nartakka, also known as Siddhagarh, in Patsahi. No Qiledaryet appointed there.

Garh Paleskhol

Garh Maholi
Garh Bhandarattaka. All the above three under the Patshah (Badshah) Qiledar not sent there as yet.

Koh Ruparh in Patsahi talak. Qiledar not sent there as yet

Isagarh, under Quwad Khan's charge

Garh Junair (Junnar)

The Tarah (map) of the Deccan showing Shivaji's forts (c. 1665 A.D.)

The map of the Deccan (Tarah Dakshin ki)

This tarah of Dakshina (Deccan) mentions the following places:

Gove Bandar (the Port of Goa)
Tap Banda
Amo Ko Dhankeli
Yelapur
Atashavadi
Desh Shivappa Nayak Fort
Pargana Sansvad
Diyoga
Indapur
Javli
Purandhar
Vandugarh
Qasba Puna
Kangori
Indrani
Utadi
Adilivara
Soggada
Sivaneri
Meghagarh
Desh Zamindar Javar (Jawhar)
Rayera
Fort Kohaj
Mahjidavadi
Fort (kile) 10 kos from Maholi
Fort Chaunsala
Panveli
Avadhan
Kalyana
Fort Pali Kvar
Islamabad urf Singadi
Fort Pavar
Fort Sangsa
Tikona
Fort Karnala
Godha Fort
Qasba Pattana
Lohgarh

The Tarah (map) of the Deccan (c. 1665 A.D.)

Shivaji being received by Mirza Raja Jai Singh on the eve of the Treaty of Purandar (13th June 1665)

Mirza Raja Jai Singh of Amber was the most powerful and influential Hindu noble in the Mughal service at that time. After every Imperial commander had failed to check Shivaji's rapidly growing power, he was sent by Aurangzeb to deal with the Maratha hero. Mirza Raja, certainly the ablest military commander and diplomat of his time, conducted the campaign against Shivaji with great success. On 3rd March 1665 he had reached Pune and a few days later commenced the siege of Purandar fort. After a few months Shivaji thought it prudent to conclude peace, at least for the time being.

On 11th June 1665, Mirza Raja Jai Singh received Shivaji at the foot of the Purandar fort, then being besieged by him, its fall being imminent. Shivaji arrived in a palquin accompanied by six Brahmans. Jai Singh received Shivaji in the tent, embraced him and seated him by his side, "while Rajputs stood around to guard against any treacherous movement on the part of the slayer of Afzal Khan". From the tent, the fighting on the slopes of the fort could be seen. Shivaji now agreed to conclude the famous treaty of Purandar (12-13 June 1665).

The meeting cemented the ties between the Kachwaha house of Amber (Jaipur) and Shivaji. Later, on so many occasions, these ties were cited by the Jaipur rulers, Chhatrapatis and Peshwas in their correspondence. It was only Mirza Raja's oath assuring safe conduct for Shivaji that Aurangzeb did not dare to put him to death at Agra in 1666.

The historic meeting between the two renowned men of that time had great significance and paved the way for Shivaji's visit to Agra (May 1666), a visit which despite a few months of great anxiety and threat to Shivaji's life, ultimately ended on a happy note.

Details of the next painting
There is a spacious enclosure of the kanats. In the center of the enclosure is an open tent from which furious fight on the slopes of the Purandar fort can be seen. Armed Rajput warriors have formed a ring outside the kanat enclosure. Shivaji is accompanied by 2 Brahmins. His palquin is placed inside the enclosure at some distance. Mirza Raja is shown welcoming Shivaji. Mriza Raja is accompanied by his son Kirat Singh, Manucci (an Italian, then in Mirza Raja's service as chief gunner, and the author of Storia Do Mogor). Shivaji's high spirit is evident from his personality.

Mirza Raja Jai Singh of Amber receiving Shivaji Maharaj a day before concluding the Treaty of Purandar (12 June 1665)

Shivaji visits Agra

On 14th June 1665 Shivaji concluded the Treaty of Purandar with Mirza Raja Jai Singh after approval of the terms by Emperor Aurangzeb. By this Treaty Shivaji had to surrender two-third of his important forts. The Treaty was a set-back to him and he had to take stock of his position vis-avis the Mughal government. But how he could do that without personally assessing the actual state of the Mughal power.

It was natural for Shivaji to feel great hesitation in agreeing to visit Agra to meet the Emperor for which Mirza Raja Jai Singh was insisting so much and was urging the Emperor with equal force to receive a visit from the Maratha hero. "Test his hearty goodwill and convert him into a powerful supporter for the peace in the southern dominion", he had urged the Emperor. Jai Singh and his eldest son, Kunwar Ram Singh, stood guarantee for Shivaji's life and safety. The visit, though not without hazards in view of Aurangzeb's known character and dubious record, offered Shivaji an opportunity to get a 'realistic' idea of the power of the Mughal Empire and held forth other opportunities as well, making it worth a trial.

After making as perfect arrangements as possible for his work being carried in his absence, Shivaji set out from Raigad on 5 March 1666, with his son Shambhaji, and a select following of officials and servants and an escort of about 4000 men, for Agra. His arrival in Agra was to coincide with the 50th lunar birthday of Aurangzeb on which occasion a grand darbar was to be held on 12th May 1666. Emperor Aurangzeb had not visited Agra after wresting the crown from his father Shah Jahan till after the latter's death and hurried and unceremonial burial on 22nd January1666.

When presented before the Emperor, the latter did not exchange a word with Shivaji who was conducted to stand in the line of the mansabdarsof 5000 rank. When Khilats were presented to Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur and two or three other nobles of high rank, Shivaji was ignored. Shivaji angrily left the Court, loudly exclaiming words of displeasure at being slighted, and refused to see the Emperor again, or accept a mansab or a khilat. There are a number of cotemporary letters in Rajasthani which describe the whole sequence of developments. Shivaji remained in Agra till 18th August in virtual confinement till he managed to regain his freedom outwitting the most wily Emperor ever to occupy the Mughal throne.

Shivaji's captivating personality, courage, manliness and the manner he had remained unaffected by the Emperor's awe and defied his authority, raised his prestige immensely. Parkaldas, the Amber State official, who was present in Agra at that time wrote "….. Shivaji is a very brave highsouled man. The people had been praising his high spirit and courage before. Now that after coming to the Emperor's presence he has shown such audacity and returned such harsh and strong replies, the public extols him for his bravery all the more".

Shivaji at Agra

How Shivaji looked like and his image among the people (khalq)
We have very few accounts of how Shivaji looked like but none more detailed and informative than the one given by Parkaldas, an Amber State official, posted at Agra during the days when Shivaji arrived there, and later when he remained in strict confinement for more than three months. (11th May – 18th August 1666) there.

In his letter of 29 May 1666 from Agra, Parkaldas wrote to Kalyandas, the Diwan of Amber (later Jaipur State).

"….. You have asked me to let you have details regarding Shivaji's visit here. Well, he has come alone, with only one hundred retainers and his escort numbers from 200 to about 250 men in all. Among the latter, one hundred are silehdars (mounted on their own horses) and the rest are bargirs of the paga (mounted on horses supplied by the State). In his train, the camels are few, and are only meant for carrying baggage. The Banjaras are one hundred each with a pair of pack-oxen.

“When Shivaji rides out in a palki (in Agra), many footmen wearing Turkish caps, big like Khadauts, go before him. His flag is orange and vermillion coloured, with golden decorations stamped on it. At sight Shivaji's body looks lean and short. His appearance is wonderfully fair in complexion, and even without finding out who he is, one does feel instinctively that he is the ruler of men. His spirit and manliness are apparent. He is a very brave, high-souled man and wears a beard ….. The people had been praising Shivaji's high spirit and courage before. Now that after coming to the Emperor's presence he has shown such audacity and returned such harsh and strong replies, the public extols him for his bravery all the more …..”

In another letter dated 7 June 1666 Parkaldas informed his Diwan (Prime Minister) of Amber State, various news circulating in the Agra among the people (khalq) such as that Maharaja Jaswasnt Singh told the Emperor that Shivaji can fly at a height of 14-15 hath from the ground and can cover 40-50 kos on foot" whereupon the Prince (Muazzam) said, "I too had heard so at Aurangabad". People also say, wrote Parkaldas that "Shaista Khanhas written to the Emperor from the east (Bengal)"Your Majesty! Shiva is a great disturber of peace (bada ghanim). You (must) put him to death. If Your Majesty does not kill him, I will give up my mansab and become a faqir (medicant)". According to one news current among the people, the Princess (Jahanara Begum) told the Emperor, "Shiva has come (to Agra) trusting the word of a Rajput (Jai Singh) and the tek of a Rajput has hitherto been respected the Emperors and it becomes of you also to do the same". And lastly, Parkaldas added one juicy news. He wrote that a popular gossip current in Agra was that on account of Shivaji's fear, the Emperor goes for the Friday prayers under heavy security cover. Guards are posted at every step when he goes for the prayers".

Such was the image of Shivaji in the minds of the people, both discreet and judicious and also the common folk. His visit to Agra, though seemed at one time to be a fatal blunder, ultimately proved beneficial not only for Shivaji's high reputation but also for the lofty aim he wished to fulfil.

High esteem in which Shivaji was held by the Rajput nobles

Shivaji had won the hearts of one and all at Agra by his courage, dignified bearing, manliness and the principles and values which he symbolized and tried his best to uphold. One of the senior most officer of the Amber (later Jaipur) State who had immense curiosity about Shivaji at Agra as to how he looked like, in what manner he had come to Agra etc. etc., was Kalyandas, the Prime-Minister or Diwan of the State, who found in his own junior official Parkaldas, posted at Agra with Kunwar Ram Singh, a keen observer and a gifted narrator with fondness to describe in minute detail everything relevant to Shivaji's Agra visit (11th May – 18th August 1666). The result is a couple of remarkably informative letters in Rajasthani, like of which are not found in any other language, including Marathi, so far as Shivaji's visit to Agra is concerned.

In his letter of Shravan Vadi 12, S. 1723 (18 July 1666), Parkaldas narrated to his master the conversation between the Amber thakurs(feudal chiefs of Amber).

"One day, when Ballu Shahji, Tej Singhji and Ran Singhji were sitting together, Maha Singh Shekhawat said:
"Shivaji is very wise, he speaks the right word, after which no one need say anything more on the subject. He is a genuine Rajput and we have found him just what we had heard about him. He tells us such appropriate things marked by characteristic qualities of a Rajput that if they are kept in mind, they will prove useful someday". Then addressing Tej Singhji, Maha Singh said "It is sheer destiny that has brought him (Shivaji) here, but when there were a number of good men of high rank like you with the Maharaja, why did you not speak to him (against sending Shivaji to Agra). You should have reasoned and dissuaded the Maharaja". Upon this Tej Singhji said "The Maharaja listens to only one man, his Secretary, Uderaj ….."
Note :

1. Uderaj, the author of the letter-book "Haft Anjuman", and Secretary of Mirza Raja Jai Singh, turned a Musalman after the death of the Maharaja, whom he was suspected to have poisoned, to save himself from the anger of the Rajputs.

2. The aboe letter shows that Uderaj had played an important part in convincing his master Mirza Raja Jai Singh, the desirability of Shivaji's visit to Agra. Was he one of the conspirators to contrive Shivaji's visit to Agra so that he is finished off there, a conspiracy that failed due to the firm stand taken by Mirza Raja Jai Singh and his son Kunwar Ram Singh, and Shivaji's own ingenuity, and courage.

Chronology of developments during Shivaji's Stay at Agra based on contemporary Amber Records

(12 May – 17 August 1666)

6th March 1666 : Shivaji sets out for Agra to meet Emperor Aurangzeb

11th May 1666 : Reaches outskirts of Agra

12th May 1666 : Kunwar Ram Sinh of Amber receives Shivaji; Shivaji in Aurangzeb's Court (Diwan-i-Khas), where his famous encounter with the Emperor took place.

13th-15th May 1666 : Begum Sahiba, Nawab Jafar Khan, Maharaja Jaswant Singh (the last one perhaps tauntingly) ask Aurangzeb to punish Shivaji, otherwise Hindus and (particularly) bhumias will be emboldened and become defiant. Aurangzeb decides to put Shivaji to death. When Ram Singh comes to know it, he firmly says, "First kill me and my son and only after that Shivaji. He has come on our solemn assurance". Aurangzeb asks if Ram Singh would stand surety for Shiva. Kunwar Ram Singh readily agrees. 

Aurangzeb orders that the Kunwar Ram Singh and Shivaji should proceed to Kabul.

15th-20th May 1666 : Shivaji declines to go to Kabul, Departure for Kabul is postpond

16th May 1666 : Ram Singh made to sign a bond that Shiva would not leave Agra.

19th May 1666 : Proposal regarding Kabul posting of Ram sigh and Shivaji completely dropped.

29th May 1666 : Shivaji offers to pay to the Emperor two crores of rupees if all the forts surrendered by him by the Treaty of Purandar are restored to him and he is allowed to return. Aurangzeb curtly declines saying, "He has gone off his head … How can he be given leave to depart. Tell him firmly that he must not visit anybody, not even Kumar's camp". Strong patrols are posted around his residence.

7th June 1666 : Emperor asks Shivaji to handover all his forts. He offers to grant him mansab. Shivaji says, "I do not want a mansab and I have no control over the forts".

To pressurize Shivaji, the Emperor orderes Faulad Khan and his artillery men, "Go and finish off Shiva". Emperor also strongly objects to the news that troops are coming from Amber and also Shivaji's mulk. Kunwar Ram Singh explains, "They were called in view of posting at Kabul. Now they will all return".

One day Shiva came to Ram Singh and said "I thought your word carried much weight, but here you are requesting so much to the Emperor for me, but he is not accepting any thing. Hence you tell the Emperor, "Here is Shiva, He is no longer under my care. If you wish you may kill him". Kumar, "I will not leave you like that".

Two days ago (5th June) Kumar ordered his men to be on guard duty around Shivaji, and so they also are there.

[It was a clever move of Ram Singh to ensure safety of Shivaji. By posting his own guards on the ground that if Shiva ran away or committed suicide, he would be answerable, he ensured that no foul play was attempted by Faulad Khan etc.. "So Kumar goes and personally keeps a watch on Shiva's bed while Tej Singh and his Rajput retainers Arjunji, Sukh Singh Nathawat and other Rajput Thakurs patrol on all sides of him".]

Shiva tells Kunwar Ram Singh to take back the bond he (Ram Singh) had given. "Let the Emperor do what he likes with me", Shiva says, Kunwar Ram Singh tries to reassure and reason with Shivaji saying, "A letter has been sent to the Maharaja. Please wait till the reply comes".

Shivaji sends word directly to the Emperor through Siddi Faulad Khan that he had given leave to his troops and that they be given passport.

12th June 1666 : Orders are issued that if Shiva were to escape from Agra to Maujabad pargana, he be detained.

16th June 1666 : Shiva conveys to Emperor, "I wish to turn a faqir. Permit me to go to Banaras". Aurangzeb, "Very well, let him turn faqirand remain in Prayag fort. Bahadur Khan is Subahdar of that place, he will watch over him".

Aurangzeb had written to Mirza Raja Jai Singh about Shivaji but no reply has yet come.

(From Haft Anjuman – Mirza Raja Jai Singh to Kunwar Ram Singh c. July 1666.]

Tell Emperor that Shivaji should be detained there in a worthy manner (i.e. not as a prisoner) so that his officers may not despair of his return and they be induced to join Adil Shah (of Bijapur) and create disturbances against us; this policy will avoid the necessity of His Majesty sending a (fresh) army to this side. Press these points strongly with the Emperor".

13th July 1666 : "The Kunwar pays some money to Shiva as per hasb-ulhukm (of Mirza Raja Singh). Emperor's and Kunwar's patrols are around Shivaji. ….. I hear that Shiva has offered to give up all forts to the Emperor, "But let the Emperor give me congee for my country. My officers will not obey any letter from me. I shall go there for taking the forts", says Shivaji. The Emperor has declined. "This is what I have heard only just now. When Kumar asked Shivaji to surrender his remaining forts, Shiva replied "Your father gave the Emperor 23 of my forts and got Tonk pargana (as reward). You are now trying to give my other forts to the Emperor. Tell me what pargana you are thinking of gaining by it. Will it be Toda? On hearing this, Kumar remainedsilent".

18th July 1666 : "Affairs of Shiva continued to be just the same. Patrols are posted all round who are keeping a vigil on him with the same care. Sobha Chand Bakshi and Vimaldas check the patrols at night. Shivaji will continue to live like this for a good many days. Shiva says, "Emperor is not settling my matter. Otherwise I shall die and the Emperor would not get the forts". Kumwar has promised (Shivaji) to make a request again. Kunwar has paid Rs.66,000 to Shivaji to cover which the latter has issued a Hundipayable in the Deccan", writes Parkaldas.

22nd July 1666 : Shivaji gives away a horse, a saropao, male and female elephant and 1000 rupees to Kavindra Kavishvar with a promise to give one more elephant.

(There is no Rajsthani letter after 22nd July till 18th August 1666. During this period, Shivaji feigned illness and began to send out in the evening large baskets containing sweets for distribution among the Brahmins, medicants and poor. As days passed, the sentries became lax in checking the baskets. This gave an opportunity to Shivaji and his son, Shamhaji, to make good their escape by crouching down in separate baskets).

18th August 1666 : Ballu Shah to Kalyandas, the Diwan of Amber State, "This very morning Shivaji fled away from Agra. Orders be issued to all. All ghats are to be closed. If any one in the garb of a jogi or sanyasi passes that way, he should be questioned and searched". (Ballu Shah's letter was despatched four and half hour after day-break on the 18th August and was expected to reach Amber after three days at the earliest).

Shivaji in confinement at Agra - The six rings of guards

Four days prior to Shivaji's flight from Agra on 18th August 1666, his confinement was made all the more strict. Shivaji came to know that Emperor Aurangzeb had again ordered that he (Shiva) be put to death but later decided to keep him in the haveli of Raja Vitthaldas. When Shivaji paid a visit to Kunwar Ram Singh of Amber, who had stood by Shivaji till now and had agreed to stand as his (Shivaji's) surety also, the Kunwar did not meet him. Shivaji now understood that it was time to put his plan of escape in action before it was too late. To do so, surrounded as he was by six rings of guards to keep vigil on him, was no easy task. The sketch based on a contemporary Rajasthani letter shows the manner of his confinement thus:

1. In the innermost patrol or chauki were four Brahmins – Ram Kishan Brahman, Jevo Joshi, Shri Krishna Upadhyaya and Purohit Balram, all Kunwar Ram Singh's men. They were posted nearest to Shivaji's bed-chamber to attend upon him. From time to time, they used to go inside the room to have a look at him. On the18th August, when one ghari of night had remained, i.e. about 3.30 a.m., Shivaji had asked Purohit Balram to bring dry fruits for him which he ate, told the Purohit when questioned searchingly soon after Shivaji's escape.

2. Outside the entrance gate or deorhi of the haveli was posted a guard of musketeers with their guns loaded.

3. All around the haveli were posted Mina Chowkidars of Amber(later Jaipur), known to be expert watchmen.

4. Behind the Mina Chowkidars (watchmen) were Imperial troops ('Bagsaryas' in Parkaldas' letter of c. 23 August 1666). They formed the fourth ring of guards.

5. Behind them were posted Agra's dreaded Kotwal Faulad Khan'sahdis or gentlemen troopers.

6. And finally, there were Kunwar Ram Singh of Amber's Rajput Thakurs – Rin Singh and others.

"But Shivaji, in spite of all these guards escaped is a matter of real astonishment", writes the Amber official Parkaldas in his letter dated c.23 August 1666 to Kalyandas, the Diwan of Amber.

The adjoining sketch shows the arrangement of the six concentric circles of guards to keep vigil on Shivaji at the time of his flight from his confinement at Agra, as described by Parkaldas, an eye witness to the dramatic development there during 11th May – 18th August 1666. Emperor Aurangzeb acted as host of Shivaji during this period.

Shivaji in strict confinement at Agra (June-August 1666); the six rings of guards (Sketch based on a contemporary Rajasthani letter)

Shivaji's escape from Agra, flight in the garb of a Bairagi and arrival at Rajgarh which takes Jija Bai by surprise

On 18th August 1666, Shivaji escaped from almost a fatal trap laid by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb at Agra. He had met his arch enemy Aurangzeb for the first and the last time on the 12th May in Diwan-i-Khas. After that, net closed round him till he was entirely hemmed in a series of concentric circles of guards. His escape in these circumstances was nothing less than a miracle and a stunning blow to Emperor Aurangzeb. Which route he actually took for his flight is still debated but his safe arrival at Rajgarh, had an extremely happy and interesting ending. Dattaji Waqnis writes, "He went to the gate of Rajgarh, where his mother Jija Bai resided, and requested admittance to her presence. The guards informed her that some strangers Bairagis (religious mendicants) were at the gate of the fort and demanded to meet her. She ordered them to be admitted. When they came into her presence, Niraji Pant blessed her after the manner of the Bairagis; but Shiva came closer and threw himself at her feet. She did not recognize him and was surprised that a Bairagi should place his head on her feet. Shiva then laid his head on Jija Bai's lap and took off his cap. She immediately perceived by a mark on his head that he was her lost son, and clasped him to her bosom".

Details of the next painting

Shivaji and his son Shambhaji are being carried in large baskets out of a haveli at Agra. The guards fail to detect him and his son. Shambhaji was being left at Mathrua in safe protection of three Maharashtrian Brahmins, brothers-in-law of Moro Trimbak, the Peshwa.

A party of Bairagis seeks to meet Jija Bai at Rajgarh. Shivaji who had shaved off his head and moustaches at Mathura comes closer and throws himself at her feet. She recognizes him when he removes his cap.

Shivaji and his son escaping from Agra in baskets (18 August 1666) and later Shivaji's arrival at Rajgarh dressed as a Bairagi takes Jija Bai by surprise.

The Route of the Great Escape

(The route taken by Shivaji after his flight from confinement at Agra, 18th August 1666)

Till today no one knows the exact route which Shivaji took for reaching Rajgarh after a successful and sensational escape through six rings of guards as shown in the adjoining sketch. Rajgarh is 670 miles from Agra in a straight line but he must have covered nearly a thousand miles in reaching the safety of his home. The Akhabarat of 4th November 1666 mentions the news received from the Deccan that Shivaji and his son had reached Rajgarh.

The accompanying diagram shows the routes which different sources suggest Shivaji took in returning safely to Maharashtra.

Route No.I shown in Red is the one suggested by Sir Jadunath Sarkar. According to him, from Agra Shivaji first went in the opposite direction to Mathura to confuse his pursuers. Here he left his son (Shambhaji) under the care of trusted Maratha priests, reached Allahabad and then passing through Gondwana and the less inhabited areas of Golkonda and Bijapur, reached Rajgarh (12th September 1666) to the great surprise and happiness of Jija Bai, his mother.

Route No.II shown in Blue incorporates the information from the Marathi sources and is merely an extension of the first. According to it Shivaji also visited Varanasi, Gaya and Puri on the way and thereafter the route which he took passed through territories of Golkonda and Bijapur and ended at Rajgarh.

Route No.III shown in Green seems, the more likely route taken by Shivaji. It passed through Mathura, Dausa, Shahpura, Banswara, Rajpipla and Saler. About fifteen years later (1681 AD), when Durgadas Rathor escorted Prince Akbar (rebel son of Aurangzeb), to Shambhaji, he had taken the route which passed through Banswara, "Bharvargar Ghat" on the Narmada, Rajpipla and reached Saler on Jyestha Vadi 5, V.S. 1737 (29 April 1681) in "Shambhaji's mulak". This was the safest and the shortest route, the only dangerous area being that around Ahmedabad.

This route was safest as travelling through Rajasthan, even in the disguise of a Bairagi was more safe than covering more than 462 km. – the distance from Mathura to Allahabad in a straight line – and passing through three Mughal provinces, and then through none too friendly Golkonda and Bijapur States, to reach Rajgad. Shivaji had immense goodwill and respect for him among the Rajputs and who knows what arrangements Kunwar Ram Singh had made to facilitate Shivaji's escape and his safe return to his home land, to keep the 'tek' or pledge of his father, about which he was extremely sensitive, as the contemporary letters of Parkaldas from Agra amply show.

Shivaji's home coming from Agra (18th August-September 1666). The possible routes of the Great escape

Shivaji personally leading the Maratha troops in the battle of Dindori (17th October 1670)

Shivaji was returning after sacking Surat (3 October 1670) for the second time. His stern orders to the Mughal officers at Surat were to send every year Rupees12 lacs as annual payment or suffer the consequences. "War must pay for war. It is the Mughal Emperor who has brought war in Maharashtra. And therefore, he must bear the burden of war I have to wage against him", was his rationale for plundering the Mughal territories, including the towns and rich ports like Surat.

Arriving near Chandwad (Chandor) after crossing the Chandor range, he found that a large Mughal army under Daud Khan was barring his path. Daud Khan had correct information through his spies about Shivaji's movements and was ready to give battle. Shivaji's dilemma was how to send safely the vast treasure he was bringing from Surat and to minimize casualties.

Shivaji at once divided his army into four columns, each under a clever and resourceful commander and managed to send the treasure safely under a small escort by a secret route.

A fierce obstinate battle was fought for hours between the two sides between Vani and Dindori. Daud Khan, Ikhilas Khan, Sangram Khan and other important Mughal nobles fought with great courage using their artillery, though with limited advantage. On the Maratha side, Shivaji himself was conducting the operations in this one of the few open battles fought man to man,. The battle ended with about 3000 Mughal troops dead and a number of Mughal officers captured. The Marathas also captured about 4000 horses. The Mughal governor of Dindori, Siddi Hilal, was allowed to join Shivaji's service. In this way Shivaji won a great victory in this battle which neutralized Mughal power in this region for quite some time.

In this battle scene, Shivaji, mounted on a black horse, is directing the Maratha offensive against the Mughal troops of Daud Khan. The Maratha cavalry has managed to take the enemy in the rear while the famous Mavle infantry is engaging the enemy in a bitter hand to hand fight.

Shivaji personally leading the Maratha troops in the Battle of Dindori (17th October 1670)

Re-capture of Sinhagad by Tanaji; his heroic sacrifice (4th February 1670)

Sinhagad was a very important fort, 18 miles from Pune. From the foot of the fort, the climb is about 3 miles. It was considered as the most important of the forts which Shivaji had to surrender to Mirza Raja Jai Singh by the treaty of Purandar (12-13 June 1665). It was looked upon as the key to the western region and he who possessed Sinhagad was master of Pune.

No other fort was so well protected by men and nature. Artillery could have no effect upon it. Shivaji considered it impregnable. But Jija Bai insisted that it should be recovered at any cost for national honour.

Jija Bai sent for Tanaji, a close comrade of Shivaji, and his brother Suryaji, captains of the Mavle infantry. Tanaji immediately left amidst marriage festivities at home to fulfil his master's orders and came to Shivaji and Jija Bai as shown in the next painting (top left).

With about 300 Mavles, Tanaji arrived at the fort after night fall. A party of troops under Suryaji remained concealed near the main gate of the fort to rush when the gates were opened by their comrades. Tanaji with select followers scaled the walls of the fort with the help of an iguana (goh), put the sentries to sword, and opened the gates of the fort. The garrison was roused on hearing the alarm. In a single combat between Udai Bhan Rathore (Qiledar) and Tanaji, both fell down dead. Suryaji and his men then rushed through the gate and captured the fort. A huge bonfire announced the capture of the fort to Shivaji at Rajgad.

When it was dawn, the dead body of Tanaji was brought in a palanquinbefore Shivaji and Jija Bai who deeply grieved the loss. Shivaji exclaimed "Sinh ala par Sinh gela" i.e. Sinhagarh has been gained (conquered) but Sinh (lion Tanaji) has been lost. To immortalize Tanaji's exploit, Jija Bai sent for Tulsidas, a bard from Pune, and asked him to compose a ballad describing Tanaji's great exploit and sacrifice. The ballad recounts in touching and stirring strains the whole sequence of events which led to the re-capture of the fort. Tulsidas' balled is still recited before thousands of listeners whose hearts are passionately moved in strong sentiments of pathos and patriotism, writes G.S. Sardesai, who testifies to its historical accuracy.

Details of the next painting

The painting shows Tanaji scaling on a dark winter night the less abrupt side of the hill fort with picked Mavle infantrymen by means of rope fastened to an iguana near the Kalian gate. The garrison when woke up, put up stiff resistance. In a single combat, Tanaji and the Rajput Qiledar Udai Bhan Rathor, both fell down and dead, shown on the right side of the painting. Marathas who had managed to enter the fort opened the Kalian gate for their supporting columns. A signal blaze informed Shivaji at Rajgarh (9 miles southward) (top right) that the fort has been captured. But when Tanaji's body was brought in a palanquinbefore Shivaji, he deeply mourned the loss of his devoted captain and exclaimed "Sinh ala par Sinh gela" (middle left).

Re-capture of Sinhgad by Tanaji (4th February 1670) and his heroic sacrifice.

Shivaji's coronation ceremony at Raigarh (6th June 1674)

On 6th June 1674, Shivaji's coronation ceremony was performed according to the shastras by Vishweshwar, also called Gaga Bhatta, of Varanasi, a master of the four Vedas, the six philosophies and all the Hindu scriptures after he had gone through the genealogy brought by Balaji Avji Prabhu, Shivaji's secretary, which showed that the Bhonsles were a branch of the highly respected Sisodias of Mewar, the Kshatriyas of the purest Rajput clan.

As there was no unbroken tradition of the ceremonies performed an the occasion of the coronation of an independent sovereign, a body of learned men went through the Sanskrit texts and Smritis to find out the exact procedure, and information was also gathered from Mewar and Amber, two of the oldest Rajput States, on various points connected with Rajyabhisheka.

The daily religious ceremonies preliminary to the main occasion and visits to most of the important shrines in Maharashtra kept Shivaji busy. He performed worship of Mahadeva (Siva), Bhavani, and other deities for a number of days. On 6th June 1674 the formal coronation ceremony took place.

On the two sides of the throne, various emblems of royalty and government hung from gilded lance-heads – two large fish heads of gold, on the left several horses' tails, (the insignia of royalty) and a pair of gold scales, evenly balanced (the emblem of justice) on a very costly lance-head.

As Shivaji mounted the throne,. The priests lifted up their voices chanting holy verses and blessing the king who bowed to them in return. The crowd set up deafening shouts of Jai Jai. All the musical instruments began to play and the artillery of every fort in the kingdom fired salvos of all their guns exactly at this time. The main priest, Gaga Bhatta, advanced to the throne, held the royal umbrella of cloth of gold fringed with pearls over his head, and hailed him as Shiva Chhatrapati or Shiva the paramount sovereign.

The coronation ceremony was an event of great significance in the history of India. In case of all other rulers, the coronation had to be approved by the Mughal Emperor, but Shivaji did it as a bold challenge to the Mughal authority, and the title of Chhatrapati or paramount sovereign which he adopted symbolized this challenge. He could now claim devotion and loyalty of the people over whom he ruled and his treaties and promises now had greater sanctity as engagements of the head of a State and had more legal validity and assurance of permanence.

The formal assertion of his position as an independent king gratified every Hindu heart, harassed and oppressed by the Muslim governments and clerics drawing authority and sanction from the teachings and ideas alien to the culture of India.

Shivaji's Coronation ceremony at Rajgarh; adopts the title of Chhatrapati (Paramount Sovereign) (6th June 1674)

Shivaji with Ashtha Pradhan (1674)

The next sketch shows Shivaji deliberating with the members of his Ashtha Pradhan or the Council of Eight Ministers. It was formally created at the time of his Coronation Ceremony held on 6th June 1674. The choice of the term Ashtha Pradhan for his Council of Ministers was significant. In none of the Rajput States, some of which had been in existence since the 8th century, for instance Mewar, had there been a Council of Ministers with such a title. The painting shows Moro Trimbak Pingle, the Mukhya Pradhan or Peshwa (Prime Minister), Ramchandra Nilkantha, the Amatya (incharge of public income and expenditure or Revenue Minister), Annaji Datto, the Sachiv (Surnis or incharge of Royal correspondence), and Dattaji Trimbak, the Mantri(Personal advisor who also kept a record of the Kings doings and Court incidents) on the right side of the throne. On the left side are SenapatiHambir Rao Mohite, Ramchandra Trimbak the Sumant (Foreign Minister), Raoji Niraji, the Nyayadhish or the Chief Judge, and Raghunath Pandit, the Panditrao and incharge of religious matters.

The creation of the Council of Ministers not only shows Shivaji's methodical mind and administrative genius but also his desire to build his Swarajya on broad and solid foundations not deficient in an effective machinery for meeting the growing demands of different branches of the administration, and not merely a 'State' living on war and plunder.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj deliberating with the members of his Council of Eight Ministers (Ashtha Pradhan) (c.1674)

Shivaji's surprise visit to a fort to check observance of his regulations

We find detailed rules and regulations laid down by Shivaji to ensure the security of his forts, precautions against enemy's surprise attack, or betrayal by any of the garrison officers, and about keeping the forts well stocked with supplies. One of the rules was that the gates of the fort must be closed at the dusk time by the Havaldar and were not to be opened till the day break. If a Maratha commander with his troops were to seek entry into the fort at odd hours, he was to be refused, though, if enemy was pursing him, the garrison was expected to give him help by sending men to his assistance.

Shivaji always tested whether his rules were being implicitly followed or not. The account is about a widely believed incident. Shivaji came to a fort after dusk galloping fast with a small retinue and ordered the Havaldar to open the gates since the enemy was in his hot pursuit but the latter politely but firmly declined. Shivaji tried to prove his identity, showed the royal signet etc., but the officer expressed his regret and cited his master's strict orders in this regard. Shivaji threatened the Havaldar of most severe punishment but he stuck to his position though he offered to send his men from the fort to drive away the enemy. Shivaji then went away but later rewarded the Havaldar for faithfully observing the rules laid down by him.

In the next sketch, Shivaji with some mounted troops, their horses tired and perspiring, is ordering the Havaldar to open the fort gate. Some troops of the garrison are on the parapet looking down on the strange scene. The Havaldar is standing with folded hands but firmly declining to open the gates as it would amount to breaking the rules laid down by Shivaji himself. Some other men of the garrison are shown ready to come down with the help of rope ladders to Shivaji's aid.

Shivaji's surprise visit to a fort to check observance of his regulations.

Shivaji rewarding his troops after the capture of Salher, following a hard fought battle (January 1671 A.D.)

Chhatrasal Bundela with Shivaji (1670-71)

The next sketch shows the famous Bundela hero, Chhatrasal, meeting Shivaji.

Chhatrasal was the fourth son of brave Champat Rai, who was "hunted down" by order of Aurangzeb in 1661. At this time he was a young man of around twenty or so. Shivaji was already the most celebrated and heroic Hindu figure of his times, who had faced the Mughals on equal terms and whose exploits and achievements, courage and idealism had won for him respect throughout India. Chhatrasal offered to serve Shivaji in latter's war against Aurangzeb. But Shivaji suggested to him to open hostilities against Aurangzeb in Bundelkhand where he would gain many adherents. "Illustrious Chief! Conquer and subdue your foes. Recover and rule your native land …", Shivaji advised him.

In years to come, Chhatrasal kept a non-stop war against the Mughals in Bundelkhand, earned great respect and renown for his independent spirit, sense of honour, and love for his land and freedom, and finally carved out an independent state with its capital at Panna. When his eventful 81 years long life came to an end in 1731, the Mughal rule from Bundelkhand had been wiped off.

In the next sketch Shivaji, after alighting from his horse in standing, waiting for Chhatrasal to come near. Chhatrasal's horse is standing at some distance. Shivaji with extended hands is welcoming Chhatrasal.

Chhatrasal Bundela offering his services to Shivaji in latters fight against the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb "Illustrious Chief! kindle the fire of freedom in your native land (Bundelkhand), recover it from the Mughals and rule there", Shivaji.

Sending off a captured Muslim Lady - Shivaji's respect for Muslim sentiments

"Shivaji had always striven to maintain the honour of the people in his territories and was careful to maintain the honour of the women and children of Muhammadans when they fell into his hands. His injunctions upon this point were very strict", writes Khafi Khan in Muntakhab-ul-Lubab. As Khafi Khan was a bitter critic of Shivaji, his testimony, if one was needed at all, about Shivaji's attitude towards the Muslims becomes significant.

In defending the Hindu religion, Shivaji was in no way actuated by any hatred towards the Muslims or towards their religion. He ensured full religious liberty to all people in his State. He honoured all saints, both Hindus and Muslims. He had many devoted Muslim officers and servants. His chief naval commanders were Muslims. Shivaji's views in matters of religion were in line with the most liberal traditions of all religions and sects which originated in India; here tolerance of each other's views was the general rule rather than an exception. On the other hand toleration of other religions on equal footing is "exceptional and contrary to the Quranic Law". This is the main fundamental difference between the religions which originated in India and Islam which originated in Arabia.

Details of the next sketch

The sketch portrays the famous incident which "created universal admiration for Shivaji's character". During the raid on Kalyan (October 1667), the Bijapuri Governor Mulla Ahmed's young daughter-in-law, who was extremely beautiful, fell in the hands of a Maratha officer Abaji Sondev. Abaji sent the lady with a suitable escort to Poona thinking that she would be an acceptable present for his young master, but Shivaji, on her arrival exclaimed, "Oh, how nice would it have been if my mother were as fair as you are", implying that in that case, he too would have been equally fair, and at once sent her to her home with apologies for her capture. He also issued a stern warning that in future, during raids and war with the enemy, women on no account should be made to suffer or treated as booty.

Shivaji sending off a captured Muslim lady, the daughter-in-law of the Bijapuari Governor of Kalyan, honorably to her home "In future, during course of warfare and raids in the enemy country, women and children should on no account be touched", Shivaji.

Conversion of the Maratha General Netaji Palkar on Aurangzeb's orders and his re-conversion to Hinduism by Shivaji

In 1659, Netaji was Sar-i-Naubat or Master of the Horse in Shivaji's army. He was a famous cavalry leader and took part in most of the campaigns and battles till his desertion to Bijapur in January 1666 when Shivaji replaced him by another officer for his failure to turn up at the appointed time and place due to which Shivaji's attack on Panhala (16th January 1666) failed. In his letters, Mirza Raja Jai Singh of Amber (later Jaipur), then conducting the Mughal campaign against Bijapur in 1665, which Shivaji too had joined, refers to Netaji as 'the second Shiva'. When Netaji joined Bijapur, Mirza Raja won him over to the Mughal side by offering him a rank of 5000 and by meeting his other high demands. His desertion to the Mughals was a
serious loss to Shivaji.

After Shivaji's flight from Agra (18th August 1666) Netaji, on Aurangzeb's orders, was arrested (September 1666) and sent to Delhi. He was put in the custody of the police chief who made him submit a petition to be converted to Islam. He was even circumscised to make his conversion irrevocable and named Muhammad Quli and so were his wife and children. There are many references about him in the Akhbarat. He was sent to Afghanistan where we find him constantly asking for some new and better posting or something or the other to the undoubted chagrin of the Mughal authorities.

For ten years he served as a Muslim officer, a five hazari, and then Shivaji agreed to his request to permit him to return to Maharashtra and serve his motherland. On his return (June 1676) he was made a Hindu again by religious purification ceremony and given an important command.

In the next paintings Netaji Palkar is first shown being converted to Islam in Aurangzeb's presence and later being re-converted to Hinduism by a purification ceremony in Shivaji's presence.

Top: Forcible conversion of Netaji Palkar as per Aurangzeb's orders (Sept. 1667) Bottom: His re-conversion to Hinduism by Shivaji (June 1676)

Shivaji's grand procession in Haidarabad (February 1677)

Shivaji's historic visit to Haidarabad, the capital of the Qutb Shahi Kingdom of Golkonda, took place in February 1677. He was proceeding on his longest campaign – to Vellore, Paddapolam, Jinji, Tanjore, etc., and an alliance or tacit consent of Qutb Shah was desirable. Shivaji's envoy at Haidarabad court, Prahlad Niraji, and the then all powerful wazir of Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, Pandit Madanna, played an important part in arranging Shivaji's meeting with Qutb Shah and later in settling the terms. Qutb Shah was already paying Shivaji one lakh of hun as annual tribute. He showed his willingness to welcome Shivaji in his capital and to hold direct talks with the celebrated Maratha hero. We get an excellent account of Shivaji's visit in Shabhasad Bakhar, 91 Qalmi Bakhar and other sources.

Leaving Raigarh in the beginning of January 1877, with about 50,000 troops and a number of officers, he reached Haidarabad in early February 1677.

On entering the city, which was specially dressed and decorated for the occasion, Shivaji received a truly royal and spontaneous welcome. The Maratha army too was splendidly attired. It will be difficult to improve upon Sir Jadhunath Sarkar's lively description of the scene based on Sabhasad Bakhar and other sources.

"At the auspicious hour chosen for the interview, the Maratha army 50,000 strong entered the city. The citizens gazed with admiration, not unmixed with awe, at the men who had vanquished the greatest kings of North India and South India alike, caused wailing at the court of Bijapur and consternation amongst the peerage of Delhi. Here rode the fleet of hardy horsemen who had poured like a swift resistless flood to the farthest districts of the Mughal Deccan and carried their raids to the very gates of Bijapur and Golkonda. There tramped the Mavle infantry, whose feats were the theme of many a ballad and legend throughout the southern land, whose assault no fort had been able to withstand, and whose swords were dreaded by every foe. The leaders were men whose names had become household words; Hambir Rao Mohite, Anand Rao, ….. Suryaji Malusre, Yesaji Kank, the gigantic captains of the Mavles.

"But none of them attracted so much attention as the moving spirit of all this host. In the center of a brilliant throng of ministers and generals, rode a short spare figure, rendered still thinner by his recent illness and the fatigue of an unbroken march of 300 miles. His quick beaming eyes were glancing right and left, and a natural smile played on his long light brown face distinguished by Roman nose. The assembled citizens gave cheers for "Shiv Chhatrapati", flowers made of gold and silver were showered on him from the balconies crowded with ladies and the road-side alike. Every now and then the women came forward and waved lighted lamps round his person with verses of welcome and blessing. In his turn Shivaji also kept showering handful of gold and silver among the crowd …"

On arriving at the palace, Shivaji was warmly received by Qutb Shah. Shivaji stayed at Haidarabad for nearly a month, formally concluded an alliance with Golkonda State. The meeting, and the subsequent gains in Karnatak, including Jinji, Vellore, Kolar etc., were a high water mark in the extraordinarily successful career of Shivaji.

In the next painting, the artist has tried to portray the scene of grand the procession of Shivaji in Haidarabad in early February 1677 as described above.

Chhatrapati Shivaji's grand procession and warm welcome in Haidarabad, the capital of Qutub Shahi State of Golkonda (February 1677)

Shivaji captures Jinji and rebuilds the fort (May 1677 A.D.)

This was an achievement which not only shows Shivaji's remarkable farsightedness but also that he wanted to extend his Swarajya much beyond Maharashtra. Shivaji decided upon his Karnatak campaign in 1676. There were various reasons which impelled him to undertake his longest expedition which kept him away from Maharashtra for more than 14 months. His path in the north was blocked by the Mughal subahs of Gujarat and Malwa. Enormous sums had been spent on the coronation ceremony. Though he had secured a long belt of territory along the West coast, well protected by land and sea forts, the East coast regions of south India offered an outlet, both from the point of view of the kingdom and gainful commerce. Bangalore, Vellore, Tanjore, Jinji were rich and strategically important places and some of these had been his father's jagir. In 1676 none had anticipated his early death three years later and the campaign seemed to be full of wide ranging possibilities.

After paying a visit to the Golkonda ruler, Qutb Shah in his capital Haidarabad, where he was accorded a memorable welcome, and concluding a treaty aimed at preventing the Mughals from taking possession of the collapsing Bijapur state, Shivaji proceeded towards the eastern Karnatak. Visiting various shrines on the way and traveling via Nandiyal, Kadapa, Tirupati, Kalahastri, Shivaji arrived at Peddapolam, seven miles west of Madras, and sent a body of troops to capture Jinji belonging to Bijapur and secured its possession. (c. 13 May 1677). Shivaji then himself visited Jinji, pulled down its old fortifications and rebuilt the whole by strong permanent defences, and administrative buildings, both civil and military.

The highly successful Karnatak campaign created a "continuous line of Maratha possessions from Supa, Sampgaon, Kopal and Bangalore to Vellore, Jinji and Tanjore".

Details of the following paintings

In the First Part, Shivaji's army is shown besieging and capturing the Jinji fort (near Madras) and the Bijapuri flag is being taken down after surrender.

The Second Part, shows the scene after the Marathas had taken possession of Jinji. On the fort the ochre coloured flag of Shivaji can be seen. The old fortifications are being dismantled and new ones are being erected. Shivaji is examining the plans for the new constructions prepared by an architect who is standing near by. The artist has shown the inside view of the fort under re-construction.

Top: Capture of Jinji fort (near Madras). Bottom: Shivaji is examining the plans brought by an architect for rebuilding the fort and the buildings inside it (May 1677)

Shivaji's Karnatak Expedition

Chronology and the route

Shivaji sets out from Raigarh on his Karnatak expedition(beginning of January, 1677).

Reaches Haidarabad, the capital of Golkonda State in early February 1677.

Leaves Haiderabad in early March 1677.

Marches south towards Krishna (from Kurnool, levies 5 lakh huns).

Army halts at Anantpur, about 44 miles south of Kurnool), while Shivaji visits Nivritti Sangam (24 miles north-east south of Kurnool), Chakratirtha, Shri Shaila (37 miles east of Chakra Tirtha), all sacred religious places.

Shivaji leaves Shri Shaila in first week of April, 1677 and rejoins army at Anantpur.

Shivaji reaches Tirupati (probably by way of Nandiyal and Kadapa).

From Tirupati enters the plains of the east-coast and passing through Kalahasti arrives at Peddapolam, 7 miles west of Madras, about early May, 1677.

From Peddapolam sends a force through Conjeveram to capture Jinji and arrives at Jinji, captured on c. 13th May1677, and approves large scale changes in the fortifications and buildings.

From Jinji, Shivaji turns back to Vellore (arriving there about 23rd May).

Leaving a force to capture Vellore, the strongest fort in Southern India, Shivaji arrives at Wali-ganda-puram (28 miles north).

Shivaji crosses Vellar river and cantons his army at Tirumalavadi(12th July) 10m. due south of Tanjore where the envoy of the Nayak of Madura waits upon him. and stops at Tundumgurti (sends army to take possession of Elavanasur ,22 miles further north).

From Tundumgurti he moves 16 miles north-east to worship at Shiva temple at Vriddhachalam. (1-3 August)

On 23rd September Shivaji is at Vanikamvadi (40 miles south-west of Vellore)

October 3, Shivaji within 2 days march from Madras (Porto Novo pillaged, Arni surrenders to him and also some other forts of North Arcot).

Shivaji ascends Eastern ghats, takes possession of Kolar, Uskota, Banglore, Balapur and Sera, formerly in his father Shahji's jagir.

Shivaji returns through Bellary and Dharwar districts reaching Panhala fort in April 1678.

(In this 14 moths long Karnatak campaign, Shivaji annexed the territory "estimated to yield 20 lakhs of hun a year and included a hundred forts taken or built by him. Jinji was made the administrative head-quarters, with another Viceroy to administer thetableland of Mysore).

The route of Shivaji's Karnatak Expedition (1677-78 AD.)

Shivaji's Kingdom

At the time of Shivaji's death (4th April 1680), his kingdom included all the country (except the Portuguese possessions) stretching from Ramnagar in the north to Karwar in the south. The eastern boundary embraced Baglana in the north, then ran southwards along an irregular shifting line through the middle of Nasik and Pune districts, encompassed the whole of Satara district and much of the Kolhapur district. This area formed his Swarajya (as referred to in Marathi documents) or 'his' own kingdom. Besides, the Karnatak campaign (1677-78) added in the form of permanent acquisition. Western Karnatak ….. extending from Belgaum to the bank of the Tungabhadra opposite the Bellary district of the former Madras Presidency.

This consolidated portion of his kingdom formed three provinces, each under a viceroy. The northern division included the Dang and Baglana, Koli country south of Surat, part of Konkan north of Mumbai, Deccan pleateu (Desh) southwards up to Pune. It was under Moro Trimbak Pingle. The southern division comprised part of Konkan to the south of Bombay, Savantvadi and the North Kanara coast. This formed the viceroyalty of Annaji Datto. The southeastern division(under Dattaji Pant) comprised Satara district and Kolhapur district of Desh and in the Karnataka, Belgaum and Dharwar districts of Kopal (west of the Tungabhadra).

As a result of the Karnatak expedition (1677-78) the whole area "extending from the Tungabhadra opposite Kopal to Vellroe and Jinji i.e. the northern, central and eastern parts of the (former) Mysore state and portions of the Madras (Tamil Nadu) districts of Bellary, Chittur and Arcot" were added, but his early and unexpected death in April 1680 did not gave him time to consolidate these fresh conquests. His attempt to conquer Kanara highlands "including South Dharwar district and principalities of Sunda and Bednur" remained undecided in his life time.

Outside these settled or half-settled parts of his kingdom, there was a wide but very fluctuating portion of land subject to his power but not owning his sovereignty. This was the adjoining parts of the Mughal Empire (Mughlai in Marathi) on which Khandani or Chauth (one-fourth part of the assessed land revenue of the area) was regularly levied.

At the time of his death, his army consisted of 45,000 paga or household cavalry, 60,000 silahdars or mercenary horsemen who provided their own arms and mounts, and one lakh of Mavle infantry. The core of his army was formed by 30,000-40,000 regular and permanently enlisted cavalry in his own service.

The territory under Shivaji contained 240 well stocked and well administered forts for its defence, out of which 111 were built by him and 79 were situated in eastern Karnatak and modern Tamilnadu. Besides, his fleet had 400-500 ships which operated from various naval ports and marine forts. He regarded the Navy as valuable for protecting and expanding his kingdom, the expansion of the trade, and for securing for his subjects the same rights and freedom on the seas as the Europeans.

The apex body for administration of the kingdom was Ashtha Pradhan or the Council of Eight Ministers. The principles of Shivaji's administration and political ideals were such that these may be accepted even today without much change. To quote Sir Jadunath Sarkar, "He aimed at giving his subjects peace, universal toleration, equal opportunities for all castes and creeds, a beneficent, active and pure system of administration, a navy for promoting trade and a trained militia for guarding the homeland".

Shivaji's Kingdom - Western Part

Shivaji's Kingdom - Eastern Part

Shivaji's Navy & Shivaji, the father of the Maratha Navy - his object

Shivaji and his people had inherited a great military tradition, but the sea was a new element to them. There is no evidence in the past or in the history of the Yadavas of Devgiri of any attempt to build a naval power to rule the waves. Shivaji is, therefore, rightly hailed as the father of the Maratha Navy.

The coast line of the Konkan broken by many creeks, offered excellent shelter for ships, and the rocky islands near the coast presented excellent sites for naval strongholds. Quite early in his wonderful career, he realized the necessity of a strong fighting fleet for the peace of his country, the safety of his subjects, and the prosperity of his ports, which should not be at the mercy of other naval powers – the English, Portuguese, the Siddis, and Dutch.

A strong Navy, he knew, would ensure for the Maratha merchant vessels free navigation of sea and they would not be required to seek permission of Goa or obtain Portuguese pass-ports, which were given on certain conditions. By possessing a strong Navy, Shivaji could secure for his subjects the same rights and freedom on the seas as the Europeans and also a share in the maritime trade, besides ensuring against the possibility of being starved by blockade on land.

Having visualized the need of a powerful navy, Shivaji built a number of naval forts – Vijayadurg, Suvarndurg, Padmadurg, Jaigad, Sindhudurg etc. He also provided the naval bases with docks for the construction and repair of armed and trading vessels such as at Ratnagiri and Anjanwel, besides buildings a merchant fleet for conducting trade with distant Muskat and Mocha.

The strength of Shivaji's Fleet and types of ships

The precise strength of Shivaji's fleet is not known. According to Krisnaji Anant Sabhasad, Shivaji's fleet had two squadrons, each having two hundred ships of different class. Malhar Rao Chitnis mentions four to five hundred ships. The notices in English, Portuguese and Dutch records mention the number of Maratha ships on particular occasions but do not give the full strength of Shivaji's Navy. As new ships continued to be built and added to the Navy, from time to time, it seems that Sabhasad's figures of 400 ships is not exaggerated. The Maratha Navy had different types of fighting ships: Gurabs, Galbats or Gallivats, Pals and Manjhuas.

Naval Enterprises

Of his Naval expeditions, four are more prominently mentioned. In February 1665 he himself set out for Basrur with his army in a fleet, which, according to English Factory Records had 85 frigates and three great ships. In November 1670, a fleet of 160 sail was assembled at Nandgaon (in Kolaba district) under Daria Sarang, the Admiral of the Fleet. In 1675 Shivaji sent 40 vessels full of war material by sea to be used in the capture of Phonda, which, along with Karwar, were two important posts south of Goa. Sometime later, his naval forces occupied island of Kenery, but all attempts to subdue the island Janjira, the stronghold of the Siddis, from where thry carried out plundering raids against the mainland, failed.

When the Marathas were recovering under Raja Ram (younger son of Shivaji) after a turbulent period following Shivaji's death in 1680, Maratha Navy rose to the occasion to meet the great crisis. Under Kanhoji Angria, who was appointed the chief of the Navy with the title of Sarkhel by Raja Ram, Maratha Navy came to be respected by all the sea Powers of the coasts, both Indian and European.

Sindhudurg

Vijaidurg

The paper Scroll Fragment (Collection: Bharat Itihas Samshodhak Mandal, Pune) showing Gurab, Galbat and other types of war ships of that period. In the lower part of the scroll are shown the ships of the Maratha navy and some captured English ships. Shivaji's fleet of about 400 ships had all these kinds of ships.

हिंदुत्व म्हणजे काय? - पूर्ण पुस्तक  

ताजमहाल : द ट्रू स्टोरी’ (शिवाचे एक प्राचीन मंदिर ).. Please read it

 

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Shivaji Maharaj Family Tree

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