Chhatrapati Shivaji
Chhatrapati Shivaji
Name: Shivaji
Bhonsle
Date of Birth: February 19, 1630
Birthplace: Shivneri
Fort, Pune district, Maharashtra
Parents: Shahaji
Bhonsle (Father) and Jijabai (Mother)
Reign: 1674–1680
Spouse: Saibai,
Soyarabai, Putalabai, Sakvarbai, Laxmibai, Kashibai
Children: Sambhaji,
Rajaram, Sakhubai Nimbalkar, Ranubai Jadhav, Ambikabai Mahadik, Rajkumaribai
Shirke
Religion: Hinduism
Death: April 3, 1680
Seat of Power: Raigad Fort,
Maharashtra
Successor: Sambhaji Bhonsle
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was
the founder of the Maratha Empire in western India. He is considered to be one
of the greatest warriors of his time and even today, stories of his exploits
are narrated as a part of the folklore. With his valor and great administrative
skills, Shivaji carved out an enclave from the declining Adilshahi sultanate of
Bijapur. It eventually became the genesis of the Maratha Empire. After
establishing his rule, Shivaji implemented a competent and progressive
administration with the help of a disciplined military and well-established
administrative set-up. Shivaji is well-known for his innovative military
tactics that centered around non-conventional methods leveraging strategic
factors like geography, speed, and surprise to defeat his more powerful enemies.
Childhood
& Early Life
Shivaji Bhosle was born on February 19, 1630 to Shahaji Bhosle and Jijabai in the fort of Shivneri, near the city of Junnar of the Pune district. Shivaji’s father Shahaji was in service of the Bijapuri Sultanate - a tripartite association between Bijapur, Ahmednagar, and Golconda, as a general. He also owned a Jaigirdari near Pune. Shivaji’s mother Jijabai was the daughter of Sindkhed leader Lakhujirao Jadhav and a deeply religious woman. Shivaji was especially close to his mother who instilled in him a strict sense of right and wrong. Since Shahaji spent most of his time outside of Pune, the responsibility of overseeing Shivaji’s education rested on the shoulders of a small council of ministers which included a Peshwa (Shamrao Nilkanth),a Mazumdar (Balkrishna Pant), a Sabnis (Raghunath Ballal), a Dabir (Sonopant) and a chief teacher (Dadoji Konddeo). Kanhoji Jedhe and Baji Pasalkar were appointed to train Shivaji in military and martial arts. Shivaji was married to Saibai Nimbalkar in 1640.
Shivaji turned out to be a born leader from a very young age. An active outdoorsman, he explored the Sahayadri Mountains surrounding the Shivneri forts and came to know the area like the back of his hands. By the time he was 15, he had accumulated a band of faithful soldiers from the Maval region who later aided in his early conquests.
Struggles
with Bijapur
By
1645, Shivaji acquired control of several strategic from under the Bijapur
Sultanate around Pune – Torna from Inayat Khan, Chakan from FirangojiNarsala,
Kondana from Adil Shahi Governor, along with Singhagarh and Purandar. Following
his success, he had emerged as a threat for Mohammed Adil Shah who gave the
order to imprison Shahaji in 1648. Shahaji was released on condition that
Shivaji kept a low profile and kept from further conquests. Shivaji resumed his
conquests after Shahaji’s death in 1665 by acquiring the valley of Javali from
Chandrarao More, a Bijapuri jaigirdaar. Mohammed Adil Shah sent Afzal Khan, a
powerful general in his employ to subdue Shivaji.
The two
met in a private rendezvous on November 10, 1659 to discuss terms of
negotiation. Shivaji anticipated it to be a trap and he arrived prepared
wearing armor and concealing a metal tiger claw. When Afzal Khan attacked
Shivaji with a dagger, he was saved by his armour and Shivaji retaliated by
attacking Afzal Khan with the tiger’s claw, mortally injuring him. He ordered
his forces to launch an assault on the leaderless Bijapuri contingents. Victory
was easy for Shivaji in the Battle of Pratapgarh, where around 3000 Bijapuri
soldiers were killed by the Maratha forces. Mohammed Adil Shah next sent a
larger army under the command of General Rustam Zaman who faced Shivaji in the
Battle of Kolhapur. Shivaji secured victory in a strategic battle causing the
general to flee for his life. Mohammed Adil Shah finally saw victory when his
general Siddi Jauhar successfully sieged the fort of Panhala on September 22,
1660. Shivaji recaptured the Fort of Panhal later in 1673.
Conflicts
with the Mughals
Shivaji’s
conflicts with the Bijapuri Sultanate and his continuous victories brought him
under the radar of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb saw him as a threat to
expansion of his imperial intent and concentrated his efforts on eradicating
the Maratha threat. Confrontations began in 1957, when Shivaji’s generals
raided and looted Mughal territories near Ahmednagar and Junnar. However,
Aurangzeb’s retaliation was thwarted by arrival of rainy season and battle for
succession back in Delhi. Aurangzeb directed Shaista Khan, Governor of Deccan
and his maternal uncle, to subdue Shivaji. Shaista Khan launched a massive
attack against Shivaji, capturing several forts under his control and even his
capital Poona. Shivaji retaliated back by launching a stealth attack on Shaista
Khan, eventually injuring him and evicting him from Poona. Shaista Khan later
arranged multiple attacks on Shivaji, severely reducing his holds of forts in
the Konkan region. To replenish his depleted treasury, Shivaji attacked Surat,
an important Mughal trading center and looted the Mughal wealth. An infuriated
Aurangzeb sent his chief general Jai Singh I with an army of 150,000. The
Mughal forces made considerable dent, sieging forts under Shivaji’s control,
extracting money and slaughtering soldiers in their wake. Shivaji agreed to
come to an agreement with Aurangzeb to prevent further loss of life and the
Treaty of Purandar was signed between Shivaji and Jai Singh on June 11, 1665.
Shivaji agreed to surrender 23 forts and pay a sum of 400000 as compensation to
the Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb invited Shivaji to Agra with an aim to use his
military prowess to consolidate Mughal empires in Afghanistan. Shivaji
travelled to Agra with his eight year old son Sambhaji and was offended by
Aurangzeb’s treatment of him. He stormed out of the court and an offended
Aurangzeb placed him under house arrest. But Shivaji once again used his wit
and cunning to escape the imprisonment. He feigned severe illness and arranged
for baskets of sweets to be sent to temple as offerings for prayer. He
disguised as one of the carriers and hid his son in one of the baskets, and
escaped on August 17, 1666. In subsequent times, Mughal and Maratha hostilities
were pacified to a large extent by constant mediation through Mughal Sardar
Jaswant Singh. Peace lasted till 1670, after which Shivaji launched an all-out
offense against the Mughals. He recovered most of his territories sieged by the
Mughals within four months.
Relationship
with The English
Initial
days of his reign, Shivaji maintained cordial relationships with the English
till they supported the Bijapuri Sultanate in a confrontation against him in
the capture of Fort of Panhala in 1660. So in 1670, Shivaji moved against the
English in Bombay for them not selling him war material. This conflict
continued in 1971, when again the English refused their support in his attack
of Danda-Rajpuri, and he looted the English factories in Rajapur. Numerous
negotiations between the two parties to come to term failed and the English did
not lend their support to his endeavors.
Coronation
and Conquests
After
having consolidated a considerable control over territories adjoining Poona and
Konkan, Shivaji decided to adopt a Kingly title and establish the first Hindu
Sovereignty in South, that was till now dominated by Muslims. He was crowned
the King of Marathas on June 6, 1674, at Raigadh in an elaborate coronation
ceremony. The Coronation was officiated by Pandit Gaga Bhatt in front of a
gathering of around 50,000 people. He took upon several titles like Chhtrapati
(paramount sovereign), Shakakarta (founder of an era), Kshatriya Kulavantas
(head of Kshatriyas) and Haindava Dharmodhhaarak (one who uplifts the sanctity
of Hinduism).
Post-coronation,
the Marathas under Shivaji’s directives launched aggressive conquest efforts to
consolidate most of the Deccan states under the Hindu Sovereignty. He conquered
Khandesh, Bijapur, Karwar, Kolkapur, Janjira, Ramnagar and Belgaum. He captured
forts at Vellore and Gingee, controlled by the Adil Shahi rulers. He also came
to an understanding with his step-brother Venkoji over his holdings over
Tanjavur and Mysore. What he aimed at was to unify the Deccan states under the
rule of a native Hindu ruler and protect it from outsiders like the Muslims and
Mughals.
Administration
Under
his reign, the Maratha administration was established where Chhatrapati was the
supreme sovereign and a team of eight ministers were appointed to oversee the
proper enforcement of various policies. These eight ministers reported directly
to Shivaji and were given a lot of power in terms of execution of policies
formulated by the King.
These eight ministers were –
(1)
The Peshwa or Prime Minister, who was head of general
administration and represented the king in his absence.
(2) The
Majumder or the Auditor was responsible for maintain the financial health of
the kingdom
(3) The
PanditRao or Chief Spiritual Head was responsible for overseeing the spiritual
well-being of the kindom, fix dates for religious ceremonies and oversee
charitable programs undertaken by the king.
(4) The
Dabir or Foreign Secretary was entrusted with the responsibility of advising
the king on matters of foreign policies.
(5) The
Senapati or Military General was in charge of overseeing every aspect of the
military including organization, recruitment and training of soldiers. He also
was the strategic advisor of the king in the time of a war.
(6) The
Nyayadhish or Chief Justice saw formulations of law and their subsequent
enforcement, civil, judicial as well as military.
(7) The
Mantri or Chronicler was responsible for keeping elaborate records of
everything the king did in his daily life.
(8) The
Sachiv or Superintendant was in charge of royal correspondence.
Shivaji
vigorously promoted the use of Marathi and Sanskrit in his court instead of
Persian, the existing Royal language. He even changed the names of the forts
under his control to Sanskrit names to accent his Hindu rule. Although Shivaji
himself was a devout Hindu, he promoted tolerance for all religion under his
rule. His administrative policies were subject-friendly and humane, and he
encouraged liberty of women in his rule.He was strictly against caste
discrimination and employed people from all caste in his court. He introduced
the Ryotwari system eliminating the need for middlemen between farmers and the
state and collecting revenues directly from the manufacturers and producers.
Shivaji introduced the collection of two taxes called the Chauth and
Sardeshmukhi. He divided his kingdom into four provinces, each headed by a
Mamlatdar. Village was the smallest unit of administration and the head was
titled as Deshpande, who headed the Village Panchayat. Shivaji maintained a
strong military force, built several strategic forts to secure his borders and
developed a strong naval presence along the Konkan and Goan coasts.
Demise
and Legacy
Shivaji
died at the age of 52 on April 3, 1680, at the Raigad Fort, after suffering
from a bout of dysentery. A conflict of succession arose after his death
between his eldest son Sambhaji and his third wife Soyrabai on behalf of her
10-year old son Rajaram. Sambhaji dethroned the young Rajaram and ascended the
throne himself on June 20, 1680.the Mughal-Maratha conflicts continued after
Shivaji’s death and the Maratha glory declined greatly. However it was
reclaimed by young Madhavrao Peshwa who reclaimed Maratha glory and established
his authority over North India.
Shivaji
Shivaji
Bhonsale I (Marathi pronunciation: [ʃiʋaˑd͡ʒiˑ
bʱoˑs(ə)leˑ]; c.19 February 1630 – 3 April
1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji, was an Indian ruler
and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha
clan. Shivaji carved out an enclave from the
declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the Maratha
Empire. In 1674, he was formally crowned the Chhatrapati of his realm at Raigad.
|
Shivaji I
- 1st Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire |
|
|
Reign |
1674–1680 |
|
Coronation |
6 June 1674 (first) |
|
|
24 September 1674 (second) |
|
Predecessor |
Position created |
|
Successor |
Sambhaji |
|
Born |
19 February 1630 |
|
Shivneri, Ahmadnagar
Sultanate (present-day Pune district, Maharashtra, India) |
|
|
Died |
3 April 1680 (aged 50) |
|
Raigad Fort, Maratha
Empire (present-day Raigad district Maharashtra, India) |
|
|
Spouse |
Sai Bhonsale |
|
Soyarabai |
|
|
Putalabai |
|
|
Sakvarbai |
|
|
Kashibai Jadhav |
|
|
Issue |
8 (including Sambhaji and Rajaram
I) |
|
House |
Bhonsle |
|
Father |
Shahaji |
|
Mother |
Jijabai |
|
Religion |
Hinduism |
Over the course of his life, Shivaji engaged in both alliances and hostilities with the Mughal Empire, the Sultanate of Golkonda, Sultanate of Bijapur and the European colonial powers. Shivaji's military forces expanded the Maratha sphere of influence, capturing and building forts, and forming a Maratha navy. Shivaji established a competent and progressive civil rule with well-structured administrative organisations. He revived ancient Hindu political traditions, court conventions and promoted the usage of the Marathi and Sanskrit languages, replacing Persian in court and administration.
Shivaji's
legacy was to vary by observer and time, but nearly two centuries after his
death, he began to take on increased importance with the emergence of the Indian independence
movement, as many Indian nationalists elevated him
as a proto-nationalist and hero of the Hindus.
Early life
Shivaji
was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri, near the city of Junnar, which is now in Pune district. Scholars disagree on his date of birth. The Government
of Maharashtra lists 19 February as a holiday
commemorating Shivaji's birth (Shivaji Jayanti). Shivaji
was named after a local deity, the goddess Shivai. Shivaji's
father Shahaji Bhonsle was a Maratha general who served the Deccan
Sultanates. His mother was Jijabai, the
daughter of Lakhuji Jadhavrao of Sindhkhed, a
Mughal-aligned sardar claiming descent from a Yadav royal family of Devagiri.
Shivaji
belonged to Maratha family of Bhonsle clan. His paternal
grandfather Maloji (1552–1597) was an influential general of Ahmadnagar
Sultanate, and was awarded the epithet of
"Raja". He was given deshmukhi rights of Pune, Supe,
Chakan and Indapur for military expenses. He was also given Fort Shivneri for
his family's residence (c. 1590).
At the
time of Shivaji's birth, power in the Deccan was shared by three Islamic
sultanates: Bijapur, Ahmednagar,
and Golkonda. Shahaji often changed his
loyalty between the Nizamshahi of Ahmadnagar,
the Adilshah of Bijapur and the Mughals, but always kept his jagir (fiefdom) at Pune and his small army.
Background and context
In
1636, the Adi
Sahi sultanate of Bijapur invaded the kingdoms
to its south. The sultanate had recently become a tributary state of
the Mughal Empire. It was being
helped by Shahaji, who at the time was a chieftain in the Maratha
uplands of western India. Shahaji was looking
for opportunities of rewards of jagir land in the conquered territories, the taxes on which he could
collect as an annuity.
Shahji
was a rebel from brief Mughal service. Shahji's campaigns against the Mughals,
supported by the Bijapur government, were generally unsuccessful. He was
constantly pursued by the Mughal army and Shivaji and his mother Jijabai had to
move from fort to fort.
In
1636, Shahaji joined in the service of Bijapur and obtained Poona as a grant. Shivaji and Jijabai settled in Poona.
Shahaji, being deployed in Bangalore by
the Bijapuri ruler Adilshah, appointed Dadoji Kondadeo as
administrator. Kondadeo died in 1647 and Shivaji took over the administration.
One of his first acts directly challenged the Bijapuri government.
Conflict with Bijapur
In
1646, the 16-year-old Shivaji took the Torna Fort taking advantage of
the confusion prevailing in the Bijapur and seized the large treasure he found
there. In the following two years, Shivaji took several important forts
near Pune, including Purandhar, Kondhana and Chakan. Also, He
brought Supa, Baramati and Indapur under his direct control. He used the money
found at Torna to build a new fort Raigad, which served as his capital for
over a decade. After this, Shivaji turned to the Konkan and took possession of the important town of
Kalyan. Bijapur government took note of these happenings and sought to take
action. On 25 July 1648, Shahaji was imprisoned by Baji Ghorpade under the
orders of Bijapuri ruler Mohammed Adilshah,
in a bid to contain Shivaji.
Shahaji
was released in 1649 after the capture of Jinji secured Adilshah's
position in Karnataka. During 1649–1655 Shivaji paused in his conquests and
quietly consolidated his gains. After his release, Shahaji retired from
public life, and died around 1664–1665 in a hunting accident. Following his
father's release, Shivaji resumed raiding, and in 1656, under controversial
circumstances, killed Chandrarao More, a fellow Maratha feudatory of Bijapur,
and seized the valley of Javali, near present-day Mahabaleshwar, from
him. In addition to the Bhonsale and the More families, many others
including Sawant of Sawantwadi, Ghorpade
of Mudhol, Nimbalkar of Phaltan, Shirke, Mane
and Mohite also served Adilshahi of Bijapur, many
with Deshmukhi rights. Shivaji adopted different strategies to subdue
these powerful families such as marrying their daughters, dealing directly with
village Patil to bypass the Deshmukhs, or fighting them.
Combat with Afzal Khan
Adilshah
was displeased at his losses to Shivaji's forces, which his vassal Shahaji
disavowed. Having ended his conflict with the Mughals and having a greater
ability to respond, in 1657 Adilshah sent Afzal Khan, a veteran general,
to arrest Shivaji. Before engaging him, the Bijapuri forces desecrated the Tulja
Bhavani Temple, holy to Shivaji's family, and the Vithoba
temple at Pandharpur, a major pilgrimage site for the Hindus.
Pursued
by Bijapuri forces, Shivaji retreated to Pratapgad fort, where many
of his colleagues pressed him to surrender. The two forces found
themselves at a stalemate, with Shivaji unable to break the siege, while Afzal
Khan, having a powerful cavalry but lacking siege equipment, was unable to take
the fort. After two months, Afzal Khan sent an envoy to Shivaji suggesting the
two leaders meet in private outside the fort to parley.
The two
met in a hut at the foothills of Pratapgad fort on 10 November 1659. The
arrangements had dictated that each come armed only with a sword, and attended
by one follower. Shivaji, suspecting Afzal Khan would arrest or attack
him, wore armour beneath his clothes, concealed a bagh nakh (metal
"tiger claw") on his left arm, and had a dagger in his right
hand. The precise transpirings are not recoverable to historical certainty
and remains enmeshed with legends in Maratha sources; however, they agree upon
the fact that the protagonists landed themselves in a physical struggle which
would prove fatal for Khan. Khan's dagger failed to pierce Shivaji's
armour, but Shivaji had him disemboweled; he then fired a cannon to signal his
hidden troops to attack the Bijapuri army.
In the
ensuing Battle
of Pratapgarh fought on 10 November 1659,
Shivaji's forces decisively defeated the Bijapur Sultanate's forces. More than 3,000 soldiers of the Bijapur
army were killed and one sardar of high rank, two sons of Afzal Khan and two
Maratha chiefs were taken prisoner. After the victory, a grand review was
held by Shivaji below Pratapgarh. The captured enemy, both officers and men,
were set free and sent back to their homes with money, food and other gifts.
Marathas were rewarded accordingly.
Siege of Panhala
Having
defeated the Bijapuri forces sent against him, Shivaji's army marched towards
the Konkan and Kolhapur, seizing Panhala fort, and defeating Bijapuri forces sent against them under Rustam
Zaman and Fazl Khan in 1659. In 1660, Adilshah sent his general Siddi
Jauhar to attack Shivaji's southern border, in alliance with the Mughals who
planned to attack from the north. At that time, Shivaji was encamped at Panhala
fort with his forces. Siddi Jauhar's army besieged Panhala in mid-1660, cutting
off supply routes to the fort. During the bombardment of Panhala, Siddi Jauhar
purchased grenades from the English at Rajapur to increase his efficacy, and also hired some
English artillerymen to assist in his bombardment of the fort, conspicuously
flying a flag used by the English. This perceived betrayal angered Shivaji, who
in December would retaliate by plundering the English factory at Rajapur and
capturing four of the factors, imprisoning them until mid-1663.
After
months of siege, Shivaji negotiated with Siddi Jauhar and handed over the fort
on 22 September 1660, withdrawing to Vishalgad; Shivaji retook Panhala in
1673.
Battle of Pavan Khind
Shivaji
escaped from Panhala by cover of night, and as he was pursued by the enemy
cavalry, his Maratha sardar Baji Prabhu Deshpande of
Bandal Deshmukh, along with 300 soldiers, volunteered to fight to the
death to hold back the enemy at Ghod Khind ("horse ravine") to give
Shivaji and the rest of the army a chance to reach the safety of
the Vishalgad fort.
In the
ensuing Battle
of Pavan Khind, the smaller Maratha force held back
the larger enemy to buy time for Shivaji to escape. Baji Prabhu Deshpande was
wounded but continued to fight until he heard the sound of cannon fire from
Vishalgad, signalling Shivaji had safely reached the fort, on the evening
of 13 July 1660. Ghod Khind (khind meaning "a
narrow mountain pass") was later renamed Paavan Khind ("sacred
pass") in honour of Bajiprabhu Deshpande, Shibosingh Jadhav, Fuloji, and
all other soldiers who fought in there.
Conflict with the Mughals
Until
1657, Shivaji maintained peaceful relations with the Mughal Empire. Shivaji
offered his assistance to Aurangzeb who then, was
the Mughal viceroy of the Deccan
and son of the Mughal emperor, in conquering Bijapur in return for formal
recognition of his right to the Bijapuri forts and villages under his
possession. Dissatisfied with the Mughal response, and receiving a better offer
from Bijapur, he launched a raid into the Mughal Deccan. Shivaji's
confrontations with the Mughals began in March 1657, when two of Shivaji's
officers raided the Mughal territory near Ahmednagar. This was followed by raids in Junnar, with Shivaji carrying off 300,000 hun in
cash and 200 horses. Aurangzeb responded to the raids by sending Nasiri
Khan, who defeated the forces of Shivaji at Ahmednagar. However, Aurangzeb's
countermeasures against Shivaji were interrupted by the rainy season and his
battle of succession with his brothers for the Mughal throne following the
illness of the emperor Shah Jahan.
Attacks on Shaista Khan and Surat
Upon
the request of Badi Begum of Bijapur, Aurangzeb, now the Mughal emperor, sent
his maternal uncle Shaista Khan, with an army numbering over 150,000 along
with a powerful artillery division in January 1660 to attack Shivaji in
conjunction with Bijapur's army led by Siddi Jauhar. Shaista Khan, with his
better–equipped and –provisioned army of 80,000 seized Pune. He also took the
nearby fort of Chakan, besieging it for a month and a half before
breaching the walls. Shaista Khan pressed his advantage of having a
larger, better provisioned and heavily armed Mughal army and made inroads into
some of the Maratha territory, seizing the city of Pune and establishing his
residence at Shivaji's palace of Lal Mahal.
In April
1663, Shivaji launched a surprise attack on Shaista Khan in Pune, along with a
small group of men. After gaining access to Khan's compound, the raiders were
able to kill some of his wives; Shaista Khan escaped, losing a finger in the
melee. The Khan took refuge with the Mughal forces outside of Pune, and
Aurangzeb punished him for this embarrassment with a transfer to Bengal.
In
retaliation for Shaista Khan's attacks, and to replenish his now-depleted
treasury, in 1664 Shivaji sacked the port city of Surat,
a wealthy Mughal trading centre.
Treaty of Purandar
The
attacks on Shaista Khan and Surat enraged Aurangzeb. In response, he sent
the Rajput Mirza Raja Jai Singh I with an army numbering around 15,000 to defeat
Shivaji. Throughout 1665, Jai Singh's forces pressed Shivaji, with their
cavalry razing the countryside, and their siege forces investing Shivaji's
forts. The Mughal commander succeeded in luring away several of Shivaji's key
commanders, and many of his cavalrymen, into Mughal service. By mid-1665, with
the fortress at Purandar besieged and near capture, Shivaji was forced to come
to terms with Jai Singh.
In
the Treaty
of Purandar, signed between Shivaji and Jai Singh
on 11 June 1665, Shivaji agreed to give up 23 of his forts, keeping 12 for himself,
and pay compensation of 400,000 gold hun to the Mughals. Shivaji
agreed to become a vassal of the Mughal empire, and to send his son Sambhaji,
along with 5,000 horsemen, to fight for the Mughals in the Deccan as a mansabdar.
Arrest in Agra and escape
In
1666, Aurangzeb summoned Shivaji to Agra (though
some sources instead state Delhi), along with his nine-year-old son Sambhaji.
Aurangzeb's plan was to send Shivaji to Kandahar, now in Afghanistan, to consolidate the Mughal empire's
northwestern frontier. However, in the court, on 12 May 1666, Aurangzeb made
Shivaji stand behind mansabdārs (military commanders) of his
court. Shivaji took offence and stormed out of court, and was promptly
placed under house arrest under the watch of Faulad Khan, Kotwal of Agra.
Shivaji's
position under house arrest was perilous, as Aurangzeb's court debated whether
to kill him or continue to employ him, and Shivaji used his dwindling funds to
bribe courtiers to support his case. Orders came from the emperor to station Shivaji
in Kabul, which Shivaji refused. Instead he asked for his forts
to be returned and to serve the Mughals as a mansabdar; Aurangzeb rebutted that
he must surrender his remaining forts before returning to Mughal service.
Shivaji managed to escape from Agra, likely by bribing the guards, though the
emperor was never able to ascertain how he escaped despite an
investigation. A popular legend says that Shivaji smuggled himself and his
son out of the house in large baskets, claimed to be sweets to be gifted to
religious figures in the city.
Peace with the Mughals
After
Shivaji's escape, hostilities with the Mughals ebbed, with Mughal sardar
Jaswant Singh acting as an intermediary between Shivaji and Aurangzeb for new
peace proposals. During the period between 1666 and 1668, Aurangzeb
conferred the title of raja on Shivaji. Sambhaji was also restored as a Mughal mansabdar with 5,000 horses. Shivaji at that time sent
Sambhaji with general Prataprao Gujar to serve with the Mughal
viceroy in Aurangabad, Prince Mu'azzam.
Sambhaji was also granted territory in Berar for revenue collection. Aurangzeb also permitted Shivaji to attack the decaying Adil
Shahi; the weakened Sultan Ali Adil
Shah II sued for peace and granted the rights
of sardeshmukhi and chauthai to Shivaji.
Reconquest
The
peace between Shivaji and the Mughals lasted until 1670. At that time Aurangzeb
became suspicious of the close ties between Shivaji and Mu'azzam, who he
thought might usurp his throne, and may even have been receiving bribes from
Shivaji. Also at that time, Aurangzeb, occupied in fighting the Afghans,
greatly reduced his army in the Deccan; many of the disbanded soldiers quickly
joined Maratha service. The Mughals also took away the jagir of Berar from
Shivaji to recover the money lent to him a few years earlier. In response,
Shivaji launched an offensive against the Mughals and recovered a major portion
of the territories surrendered to them in a span of four months.
Shivaji
sacked Surat for second time in 1670; the English and Dutch factories were able
to repel his attack, but he managed to sack the city itself, including
plundering the goods of a Muslim prince from Mawara-un-Nahr who was
returning from Mecca. Angered by the renewed attacks, the Mughals resumed
hostilities with the Marathas, sending a force under Daud Khan to
intercept Shivaji on his return home from Surat, but were defeated in the
Battle of Vani-Dindori near present-day Nashik.
In
October 1670, Shivaji sent his forces to harass the English at Bombay; as they
had refused to sell him war materiel, his forces blocked English woodcutting
parties from leaving Bombay. In September 1671, Shivaji sent an ambassador to
Bombay, again seeking materiel, this time for the fight against Danda-Rajpuri.
The English had misgivings of the advantages Shivaji would gain from this
conquest, but also did not want to lose any chance of receiving compensation
for his looting their factories at Rajapur. The English sent Lieutenant Stephen
Ustick to treat with Shivaji, but negotiations failed over the issue of the
Rajapur indemnity. Numerous exchanges of envoys followed over the coming years,
with some agreement as to the arms issues in 1674, but Shivaji was never to pay
the Rajapur indemnity before his death, and the factory there dissolved at the
end of 1682.
Battles of Umrani and Nesari
In
1674, Prataprao Gujar, the commander-in-chief of the Maratha forces, was
sent to push back the invading force led by the Bijapuri general, Bahlol Khan.
Prataprao's forces defeated and captured the opposing general in the battle,
after cutting-off their water supply by encircling a strategic lake, which
prompted Bahlol Khan to sue for peace. In spite of Shivaji's specific warnings
against doing so, Prataprao released Bahlol Khan, who started preparing for a fresh
invasion.
Shivaji
sent a displeased letter to Prataprao, refusing him audience until Bahlol Khan
was re-captured. Upset by his commander's rebuke, Prataprao found Bahlol Khan
and charged his position with only six other horsemen, leaving his main force
behind. Prataprao was killed in combat; Shivaji was deeply grieved on hearing
of Prataprao's death, and arranged for the marriage of his second
son, Rajaram, to Prataprao's daughter. Anandrao Mohite
became Hambirrao Mohite, the new sarnaubat (commander-in-chief
of the Maratha forces). Raigad Fort was newly built by Hiroji
Indulkar as a capital of nascent Maratha kingdom.
Coronation
Shivaji
had acquired extensive lands and wealth through his campaigns, but lacking a
formal title, he was still technically a Mughal zamindar or the son
of a Bijapuri jagirdar, with no legal basis to rule his de facto domain. A
kingly title could address this and also prevent any challenges by other
Maratha leaders, to whom he was technically equal. It would also provide
the Hindu
Marathas with a fellow Hindu sovereign in a
region otherwise ruled by Muslims.
The
preparation for the proposed coronation began in 1673. However, some
controversial problems delayed the coronation by almost a
year. Controversy erupted amongst the Brahmins of Shivaji's court: they
refused to crown Shivaji as a king because that status was reserved for those
of the kshatriya (warrior) varna in
Hindu society. Shivaji was descended from a line of headmen of farming
villages, and the Brahmins accordingly categorised him as being of
the shudra (cultivator) varna. They noted that Shivaji had never
had a sacred thread ceremony, and
did not wear the thread, which a kshatriya would. Shivaji summoned Gaga
Bhatt, a pandit of Varanasi, who stated
that he had found a genealogy proving that Shivaji was descended from
the Sisodia Rajputs, and thus indeed a kshatriya, albeit one in need of
the ceremonies befitting his rank. To enforce this status, Shivaji was
given a sacred thread ceremony, and remarried his spouses under the Vedic rites
expected of a kshatriya. However, following historical evidence, Shivaji's
claim to Rajput, and specifically Sisodia ancestry may be interpreted as being
anything from tenuous at best, to inventive in a more extreme reading.
On 28
May, Shivaji performed penance for not observing Kshatriya rites by his
ancestors' and himself for so long. Then he was invested by Gaga Bhatt with the
sacred thread. On insistence of other Brahmins, Gaga Bhatt dropped the
Vedic chant and initiated Shivaji in a modified form of the life of the
twice-born, instead of putting him on a par with the Brahmins. Next day,
Shivaji made atonement for the sins, deliberate or accidental, committed in his
own lifetime. He was weighed separately against seven metals including
gold, silver and several other articles like fine linen, camphor, salt, sugar
etc. All these metals and articles along with a lakh of hun were distributed
among the Brahmins. But even this failed to satisfy the greed of the Brahmins.
Two of the learned Brahmins pointed out that Shivaji, while conducting his
raids, had burnt cities involving the death of Brahmins, cows, women and
children and he could be cleansed of this sin for a price of Rs. 8,000, and
Shivaji paid this amount. Total expenditure made for feeding the
assemblage, general alms giving, throne and ornaments approached 1.5 million
Rupees.
Shivaji
was crowned king of Maratha Swaraj in a lavish ceremony on 6 June 1674 at
Raigad fort. In the Hindu calendar it was on
the 13th day (trayodashi) of the first fortnight of the month of Jyeshtha in
the year 1596. Gaga Bhatt officiated, holding a gold vessel filled with
the seven sacred waters of the rivers Yamuna, Indus, Ganges, Godavari, Narmada, Krishna and Kaveri over Shivaji's head, and chanted the Vedic
coronation mantras. After the ablution, Shivaji bowed before Jijabai and
touched her feet. Nearly fifty thousand people gathered at Raigad for the
ceremonies. Shivaji was entitled Shakakarta ("founder
of an era") and Chhatrapati ("sovereign"). He
also took the title of Haindava Dharmodhhaarak (protector of
the Hindu faith).
Shivaji's
mother Jijabai died on 18 June 1674. The Marathas summoned Nischal Puri
Goswami, a tantrik priest, who declared that the original coronation had been
held under inauspicious stars, and a second coronation was needed. This second
coronation on 24 September 1674 had a dual-use, mollifying those who still
believed that Shivaji was not qualified for the Vedic rites of his first
coronation, by performing a less-contestable additional ceremony.
Conquest of southern India
Beginning
in 1674, the Marathas undertook an aggressive campaign,
raiding Khandesh (October), capturing Bijapuri Ponda (April
1675), Karwar (mid-year), and Kolhapur (July). In November, the
Maratha navy skirmished with the Siddis of Janjira, but failed
to dislodge them. Having recovered from an illness, and taking advantage
of a civil war that had broken out between the Deccanis and the Afghans at
Bijapur, Shivaji raided Athani in April 1676.
In the
run-up to his expedition, Shivaji appealed to a sense of Deccani patriotism,
that Southern India was a homeland that should be protected from
outsiders. His appeal was somewhat successful, and in 1677 Shivaji
visited Hyderabad for a month and entered into a treaty with
the Qutubshah of the Golkonda sultanate, agreeing to reject his
alliance with Bijapur and jointly oppose the Mughals. In 1677, Shivaji invaded
Karnataka with 30,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry, backed by Golkonda artillery
and funding. Proceeding south, Shivaji seized the forts of Vellore
and Gingee; the latter would later
serve as a capital of the Marathas during the reign of his son Rajaram I.
Shivaji
intended to reconcile with his half-brother Venkoji (Ekoji I),
Shahaji's son by his second wife, Tukabai (née Mohite), who ruled
Thanjavur (Tanjore) after Shahaji. The initially promising negotiations were
unsuccessful, so whilst returning to Raigad, Shivaji defeated his
half-brother's army on 26 November 1677 and seized most of his possessions in
the Mysore plateau. Venkoji's wife Dipa Bai, whom Shivaji
deeply respected, took up new negotiations with Shivaji and also convinced her
husband to distance himself from Muslim advisors. In the end, Shivaji consented
to turn over to her and her female descendants many of the properties he had
seized, with Venkoji consenting to a number of conditions for the proper
administration of the territories and maintenance of Shivaji's future memorial
(samadhi).
Death and succession
The
question of Shivaji's heir-apparent was complicated. Shivaji confined his son
to Panhala in 1678, only to have the prince escape with his
wife and defect to the Mughals for
a year. Sambhaji then returned home, unrepentant, and was again confined to
Panhala.
Shivaji
died around 3–5 April 1680 at the age of 50, on the eve of Hanuman Jayanti. The cause of Shivaji's death is disputed. British
records states that Shivaji dead of bloody flux being sick for 12 days. In
a contemporary work in Portuguese, the Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, the
recorded cause of death of Shivaji is anthrax. However, Krishnaji Anant
Sabhasad, author of Sabhasad Bakhar, the biography of Shivaji has
mentioned fever as the cause of death of Shivaji. Putalabai, the childless
eldest of the surviving wives of Shivaji committed sati by jumping into his funeral pyre. Another surviving
spouse, Sakwarbai, was not allowed to follow suit because she had a young
daughter. There were also allegations, though doubted by later scholars,
that his second wife Soyarabai had poisoned him in order to put her
10-year-old son Rajaram on the throne.
After
Shivaji's death, Soyarabai made plans with various ministers of the
administration to crown her son Rajaram rather than her
stepson Sambhaji. On 21 April 1680, ten-year-old Rajaram was installed on
the throne. However, Sambhaji took possession of Raigad Fort after
killing the commander, and on 18 June acquired control of Raigad, and formally
ascended the throne on 20 July. Rajaram, his wife Janki Bai, and mother Soyrabai were imprisoned, and
Soyrabai executed on charges of conspiracy that October.
Governance
Ashta Pradhan Mandal
The
Council of Eight Ministers, or Ashta Pradhan Mandal, was an administrative
and advisory council set up by Shivaji. It consisted of eight ministers
who regularly advised Shivaji on political and administrative matters.
The
eight ministers were as follows:
|
Ashta Pradhan Mandal |
|
|
Minister |
Duty |
|
Peshwa or Prime Minister |
General Administration |
|
Amatya or Finance Minister |
Maintaining Public accounts |
|
Mantri or Chronicler |
Maintaining Court records |
|
Summant or Dabir or Foreign Secretary |
All matters related to relationships with other
states |
|
Sachiv or Shurn Nawis or Home Secretary |
Managing correspondence of the king |
|
Panditrao or Ecclesiastical Head |
Religious matters |
|
Nyayadhis or Chief Justice |
Civil and Militry justice |
|
Senapati/Sari Naubat or Commander-in-Chief |
All matters related to army of the king |
Except the Panditrao and Nyayadhis all other ministers held military commands, their civil duties often being performed by deputies.
Promotion of Marathi and Sanskrit
In his
court, Shivaji replaced Persian, the common courtly language in the region,
with Marathi, and emphasised Hindu political and courtly traditions. Shivaji’s
reign stimulated the deployment of Marathi as a tool of systematic description
and understanding. Shivaji's royal seal was in Sanskrit. Shivaji
commissioned one of his officials to make a comprehensive lexicon to replace
Persian and Arabic terms with their Sanskrit equivalents. This led to
production of ‘Rājavyavahārakośa’, the thesaurus of state usage in 1677.
Religious policy
Though
Shivaji was a proud Hindu and never compromised on his religion, he is
also known for his liberal and tolerant religious policy. While Hindus were
relieved to practice their religion freely under a Hindu ruler, Shivaji not
only allowed Muslims to practice without harassment, but supported their
ministries with endowments. When Aurangzeb imposed
the Jizya tax on non-Muslims on 3
April 1679, Shivaji wrote a strict letter to Aurangzeb criticising his tax policy.
He wrote:
In
strict justice, the Jizya is not at all lawful. If you imagine piety in
oppressing and terrorising the Hindus, you ought to first levy the tax on Jai Singh I. But to oppress ants and flies is not at all valour nor
spirit. If you believe in Quran, God is the lord of all men and not just of
Muslims only. Verily, Islam and Hinduism are terms of contrast. They are used
by the true Divine Painter for blending the colours and filling in the
outlines. If it is a mosque, the call to prayer is chanted in remembrance of
God. If it is a temple, the bells are rung in yearning for God alone. To show
bigotry to any man's religion and practices is to alter the words of the Holy
Book.
Noting that
Shivaji had stemmed the spread of the neighbouring Muslim states, his
contemporary, the poet Kavi Bhushan stated:
Had not
there been Shivaji, Kashi would have lost its culture, Mathura would have been
turned into a mosque and all would have been circumcised.
However,
Gijs Kruijtzer, in his book Xenophobia in Seventeenth-Century India argues that
the roots of modern communalism (the antagonism between “communities” of Hindus
and Muslims) first appeared in the decade 1677-1687, in the interplay between
Shivaji and the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. During the sack of Surat in
1664, Shivaji was approached by Ambrose, a Capuchin monk
who asked him to spare the city's Christians. Shivaji left the Christians
untouched, saying "the Frankish Padrys are good men."
Shivaji
was not attempting to create a universal Hindu rule. He was tolerant to
different religions and believed in syncretism. He urged Aurangzeb to act like
Akbar in according respect to Hindu beliefs and places. Shivaji had little
trouble forming alliances with the surrounding Muslim nations even against
Hindu powers. He also did not join forces with other Hindu powers, such as the
Rajputs, to fight the Mughals. In his own army, Muslim leaders appear
quite early. The first Pathan unit was formed in 1656. His naval admiral, Darya
Sarang, was a Muslim. Shivaji was said to have been a close follower of
Ramdas, a Brahmin tutor who directed him towards an orthodox Hindu path,
according to older Maratha histories. However, as shown by recent research, Shivaji
did not meet or know Ramdas till much later in his life. Shivaji, on the other
hand, relied on his own judgement throughout his career.
Seal
Seals
were means to confer authenticity on official documents. Shahaji and Jijabai
had Persian seals. But Shivaji, right from beginning, used Sanskrit for his
seal. The seal proclaims: "This seal of Shiva, son of Shah, shines
forth for the welfare of the people and is meant to command increasing respect
from the universe like the first phase of the moon."
Shivaji's mode of warfare
Shivaji
maintained a small but effective standing army. The core of Shivaji’s army
consisted of peasants of the Maratha and Kunbi castes. Shivaji
was aware of the limitations of his army. He realised that conventional warfare
methods were inadequate to confront the big, well-trained cavalry of the
Mughals which was equipped with field artillery. As a result, Shivaji
adopted guerilla tactics which came to know as 'Ganimi
Kava'. Shivaji was a master of guerrilla warfare. His strategies
consistently perplexed and defeated armies sent against him. He realized that
the most vulnerable point of the large, slow-moving armies of the time was
supply. He utilised knowledge of the local terrain and the superior mobility of
his light cavalry to cut off supplies to the enemy. Shivaji refused to
confront in pitched battles. Instead, he lured the enemies in difficult hills
and jungles of his own choosing, catching them at a disadvantage and routing
them. Shivaji didn't stick to a particular tactic but used several methods
to undermine his enemies as required by circumstances, like sudden raids,
sweeps and ambushes and use of psychological pressure.
Shivaji
was contemptuously called a "Mountain Rat" by Aurangzeb and his generals because of his guerilla tactics of
attacking enemy forces and then retreating into his mountain forts.
Military
Shivaji
demonstrated great skill in creating his military organisation, which lasted
until the demise of the Maratha Empire. His strategy rested on leveraging his
ground forces, naval forces, and series of forts across his territory. The
Maval infantry served as the core of his ground forces (reinforced with Telangi
musketeers from Karnataka), supported by Maratha cavalry. His artillery was
relatively underdeveloped and reliant on European suppliers, further inclining
him to a very mobile form of warfare.
Hill forts
Hill
forts played a key role in Shivaji's strategy. He captured important forts at
Murambdev (Rajgad), Torna, Kondhana (Sinhagad) and Purandar. He also
rebuilt or repaired many forts in advantageous locations. In addition,
Shivaji built a number of forts; the number "111" is reported in some
accounts, but it is likely the actual number "did not exceed
18." The historian Jadunath Sarkar assessed
that Shivaji owned some 240–280 forts at the time of his death. Each was
placed under three officers of equal status, lest a single traitor be bribed or
tempted to deliver it to the enemy. The officers acted jointly and provided
mutual checks and balance.
Navy
Aware
of the need for naval power to maintain control along the Konkan coast, Shivaji
began to build his navy in 1657 or 1659, with the purchase of
twenty galivats from the Portuguese shipyards
of Bassein. Marathi chronicles state that at its height his fleet
counted some 400 warships, though contemporary English chronicles counter that
the number never exceeded 160.
With
the Marathas being accustomed to a land-based military, Shivaji widened his
search for qualified crews for his ships, taking on lower-caste Hindus of the
coast who were long familiar with naval operations (the famed "Malabar
pirates") as well as Muslim mercenaries. Noting the power of the
Portuguese navy, Shivaji hired a number of Portuguese sailors and Goan
Christian converts, and made Rui Leitao Viegas commander of his fleet. Viegas
was later to defect back to the Portuguese, taking 300 sailors with him.
Shivaji
fortified his coastline by seizing coastal forts and refurbishing them, and
built his first marine fort at Sindhudurg, which was to become the
headquarters of the Maratha navy. The navy itself was a coastal navy, focused on travel and combat in the littoral areas, and
not intended to go far out to sea.
Expansion of Maratha Empire after
Shivaji
Shivaji
left behind a state always at odds with the Mughals. Soon after his death, in
1681, Aurangzeb launched an offensive in the South to capture territories held
by the Marathas, the Bijapur based Adilshahi and Qutb Shahi of
Golkonda respectively. He was successful in
obliterating the Sultanates but could not subdue the Marathas after spending 27
years in the Deccan. The period saw the capture, torture, and execution of
Sambhaji in 1689, and the Marathas offering strong resistance under the
leadership of Sambhaji's successor, Rajaram and then Rajaram's
widow Tarabai. Territories changed hands repeatedly between the Mughals
and the Marathas; the conflict ended in defeat for the Mughals in
1707.
Shahu, a grandson of Shivaji and son of Sambhaji, was
kept prisoner by Aurangzeb during the
27-year period conflict. After the latter's death, his successor released
Shahu. After a brief power struggle over succession with his aunt Tarabai,
Shahu ruled the Maratha Empire from 1707 to 1749. Early in his reign, he
appointed Balaji Vishwanath and
later his descendants, as Peshwas (prime
ministers) of the Maratha Empire. The empire expanded greatly under the
leadership of Balaji's son, Peshwa Bajirao I and grandson, Peshwa Balaji Bajirao. At its peak, the Maratha empire stretched from Tamil
Nadu in the south, to Peshawar (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) in the north, and Bengal. In 1761, the Maratha army lost the Third
Battle of Panipat to Ahmed Shah
Abdali of the Afghan Durrani
Empire, which halted their imperial expansion in
northwestern India. Ten years after Panipat, Marathas regained
influence in North India during the rule
of Madhavrao Peshwa.
In a
bid to effectively manage the large empire, Shahu and the Peshwas gave
semi-autonomy to the strongest of the knights, creating the Maratha Confederacy. They became known as Gaekwads of Baroda,
the Holkars of Indore and Malwa,
the Scindias of Gwalior and Bhonsales of Nagpur. In 1775, the East India Company intervened in a succession struggle in Pune, which
became the First Anglo-Maratha War. The
Marathas remained the pre-eminent power in India until their defeat by the
British in the Second and Third
Anglo-Maratha wars (1805–1818), which left the
Company the dominant power in most of India.
Legacy
Shivaji
was well known for his strong religious and warrior code of ethics and
exemplary character. He was recognized as a great national hero during the
Indian Independence Movement. While some accounts of Shivaji state that he
was greatly influenced by the Brahmin guru Samarth Ramdas,
others have said that Ramdas' role has been over-emphasised by later Brahmin
commentators to enhance their position.
Early depictions
Shivaji
was admired for his heroic exploits and clever stratagems in the contemporary
accounts of English, French, Dutch, Portuguese and Italian
writers. Contemporary English writers compared him with Alexander, Hannibal and Julius
Caesar. The French traveller 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.
Mughal depictions of Shivaji were largely negative,
referring to him simply as "Shiva" without the honorific
"-ji". One Mughal writer in the early 1700s described Shivaji's death
as kafir bi jahannum raft (lit. 'the infidel went to Hell').
Reimagining
In the
mid-19th century, Marathi social reformer Jyotirao Phule wrote his
interpretation of the Shivaji legend, portraying him as a hero of the shudras
and Dalits. Phule sought to use the Shivaji myths to undermine the
Brahmins he accused of hijacking the narrative, and uplift the lower classes;
his 1869 ballad-form story of Shivaji was met with great hostility by the
Brahmin-dominated media. At the end of the 19th century, Shivaji's memory
was leveraged by the non-Brahmin intellectuals of Bombay, who identified as his
descendants and through him claimed the kshatriya varna. While some Brahmins
rebutted this identity, defining them as of the lower shudra varna, other
Brahmins recognised the Marathas' utility to the Indian independence movement,
and endorsed this kshatriya legacy and the significance of Shivaji.
In
1895, Indian nationalist leader Lokmanya Tilak organised what was to
be an annual festival to mark the birthday of Shivaji. He portrayed Shivaji
as the "opponent of the oppressor", with possible negative
implications concerning the colonial government. Tilak denied any
suggestion that his festival was anti-Muslim or disloyal to the government, but
simply a celebration of a hero. These celebrations prompted a British
commentator in 1906 to note: "Cannot the annals of the Hindu race point to
a single hero whom even the tongue of slander will not dare call a chief of
dacoits...?"
One of
the first commentators to reappraise the critical British view of Shivaji
was M.
G. Ranade, whose Rise of the Maratha Power (1900)
declared Shivaji's achievements as the beginning of modern nation-building.
Ranade criticised earlier British portrayals of Shivaji's state as "a
freebooting Power, which thrived by plunder and adventure, and succeeded only
because it was the most cunning and adventurous ... This is a very common
feeling with the readers, who derive their knowledge of these events solely
from the works of English historians."
In
1919, Sarkar published the seminal Shivaji and His Times,
hailed as the most authoritative biography of the king since James
Grant Duff's 1826 A History of the
Mahrattas. A respected scholar, Sarkar was able to read primary sources in
Persian, Marathi, and Arabic, but was challenged for his criticism of the
"chauvinism" of Marathi historians' views of Shivaji. Likewise,
though supporters cheered his depiction of the killing of Afzal
Khan as justified, they decried Sarkar's terming as "murder" the
killing of the Hindu raja Chandrao
More and his clan.
Inspiration
As
political tensions rose in India in the early 20th century, some Indian leaders
came to re-work their earlier stances on Shivaji's role. Jawaharlal Nehru had in 1934 noted "Some of the Shivaji's
deeds, like the treacherous killing of the Bijapur general, lower him greatly
in our estimation." Following a public outcry from Pune
intellectuals, Congress leader T.
R. Deogirikar noted that Nehru had admitted he was wrong regarding Shivaji, and
now endorsed Shivaji as a great nationalist.
In
1966, the Shiv
Sena (Army of Shivaji) party was formed to
promote the interests of Marathi speaking people in the face of migration to
Maharashtra from other parts of India, and the accompanying loss of power for
locals. His image adorns literature, propaganda and icons of the party.
In
modern times, Shivaji is considered as a national hero in India, especially in
the state of Maharashtra, where he remains arguably the greatest figure in the
state's history. Stories of his life form an integral part of the upbringing
and identity of the Marathi
people. Further, he is also recognised as a warrior
legend, who sowed the seeds of Indian independence. Shivaji is upheld as
an example by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, and also of the Maratha caste dominated Congress
parties in Maharashtra, such as the Indira Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party. Past Congress party leaders in the state, such
as Yashwantrao Chavan, were considered political descendants of Shivaji.
In the
late 20th century, Babasaheb Purandare became one of the most
significant artists in portraying Shivaji in his writings, leading him to be
declared in 1964 as the Shiv-Shahir ("Bard of
Shivaji"). However, Purandare, a Brahmin, was also accused of over-emphasising
the influence of Brahmin gurus on Shivaji, and his Maharashtra
Bhushan award ceremony in 2015 was protested by those claiming he had
defamed Shivaji.
Controversy
In
1993, the Illustrated
Weekly published an article suggesting that Shivaji was not
opposed to Muslims per se, and that his style of governance was
influenced by that of the Mughal Empire. Congress Party members called for
legal actions against the publisher and writer, Marathi newspapers accused them
of "imperial prejudice" and Shiv Sena called
for the writer's public flogging. Maharashtra brought legal action against the
publisher under regulations prohibiting enmity between religious and cultural
groups, but a High Court found the Illustrated Weekly had
operated within the bounds of freedom of expression.
In
2003, American academic James W. Laine published
his book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India, which was followed
by heavy criticism, including threats of arrest. As a result of this
publication, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune where Laine had researched was attacked by
a group of Maratha activists calling itself the Sambhaji Brigade. The
book was banned in Maharashtra in
January 2004, but the ban was lifted by the Bombay High Court in 2007, and in July 2010 the Supreme
Court of India upheld the lifting of the
ban. This lifting was followed by public demonstrations against the author
and the decision of the Supreme Court.
Commemorations
Commemorations
of Shivaji are found throughout India, most notably in Maharashtra. Shivaji's
statues and monuments are found almost in every town and city in Maharashtra as
well as in different places across India. Other commemorations include the
Indian Navy's station INS Shivaji, numerous postage
stamps, and the main airport and railway headquarters in Mumbai. In Maharashtra, there has been a
long tradition of children building a replica fort with toy soldiers and other
figures during the festival of Diwali in
memory of Shivaji.
A proposal to build a giant memorial called Shiv Smarak was approved in 2016 to be located near Mumbai on a small island in the Arabian Sea. It will be 210 meters tall, making it the world's largest statue when completed in possibly 2021.
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