INDEX
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Situation before the rise of
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj
1.2.1 National Situation
1.2.2 Aurangzeb
1.2.3 Regional Situation
1.2.2.1 Rise of Bhosale Dynasty
1.2.2.2 Maloji Bhosale
1.2.2.3 Shahaji Raje
1.2.2.4 Shivaji Maharaj
1.2.2.5 Sambhaji Maharaj
1.2.2.6 Rajaram Maharaj
1.2.2.7 Maharani Tarabai
1.3 Situation of the Surroundings
1.3.1 Social Situation
1.3.2 Economic situation
1.3.3 Religious Situation
1.3.4 Cultural Situation
1.4 Contribution and analysis of the work of
Chattrapati Shahu
Maharaj
1.1 Introduction :
“History is a science and it has to be studied
critically with curiously on the basis of the available resources”
proposes E. H. Kar. For creating History, man has to
combat with the negative situations. Chatrapati
Shahu Maharaj
has paved a way to
combat such negative
situations and left
an impression on
the annals of the History.
This thesis is the attempt
to evaluate his attribution. According to
Carlael, Biographies of
the Great men
are half a
History. The Character and
work of great men have immense importance in the scientific
study of History, because History gets
richer from the contribution of such great men. They give new dimensions to the society
with their shrewdness and ambitions, while creating and leaving a new landmark in
History. Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj heads
the list of such great men. He was the person, who
changed the existing notions with his benevolent and righteous
attribution towards the
Maratha Empire. While
studying the rise
and development of
his personality, we
have to study
the Saint Tradition
of Maharashtra, Shahaji Raje,
and the overall
historical period from
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
to Maharani Tarabai. Chatrapati
Shahu stands as the brightest star in the darkness of the
unfavourable situations prevailed
in the medieval era.
“Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj revitalized the
feeling of their
existence in the Marathas variors and developed
the sense of self-respect, self- religion and self-culture in them, which made the Indian
society forgot the four centuries old tyrannical rule of Turks and
Mughals. This achievement
is not only
a source of
inspiration for Maharashtra but
also for the
entire nation, over
the past centuries.
Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj had immensely contributed
in inculcating a sense of patriotism in the Indians.
While studying
the historical background,
the contribution of
Chatrapati Shahu resembles the
era of negativism.
Despite the negative
situations all around
in the medieval era,
the Marathas have
immensely contributed in
the Freedom struggle
for establishing an
autonomous regime. Shivaji
Maharaj was the
forerunner in the establishment of
Swarajya, which was the beginning
of an new
era in the
medieval history. This
period diminished the
four centuries old
tyrannical history dominated
by Turks and
Mugals. No doubt,
it had also
proved instrumental in
generated self
confidence amongst the fellow
countrymen. In the later course of History,
Sambhaji Maharaj, Ranangini Tarabai, Santaji and Dhanaji continued the struggle of
Marathas after Shivaji Maharaj. After the release of Shahu from the Mughal
captivity, he transformed the disintegrated Maratha state into a consolidated
empire during the period of 1708 AD and 1748 AD. He expanded
the ambit of the Maratha
Empire in the
Northern India with the
help of Maratha senapati, Peshwa and
other brave Sardars. The boundaries of the empire were spread in
Gujarat, Malwa, Karnataka,
Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh
and other parts
of
the country. While doing so, he
established an influence of the Maratha Empire over the central governance
of the Mughals.
By imposing several
restrictions on the
Mughal emperor, he gained Sanads
(Charters) for Chuthai and Sardeshmukhi from him. On the other hand, the disintegrated
Marathas were reunited under his able leadership. In the History of the Marathas,
this era of the 18th century was the period of rise
when the Maratha Empire reached
the extreme supremacy than any other ruling power in the country. Marathas had
extended their boundaries right from Tanjore to Attuck and from Bangal to Gujrat. Until, the
rise of the British rule, in 19th century, Marathas were the real rulers of this
land. Imperial Historians like
Elphinston, Sir William Hunter and others opined that “We had not gained the control of
this country from the Mughals, but from the Marathas. Them Mughals had lost their existence
much before the British gained the power”. After the
death of Chatrapati
Shivaji in 1680
AD and Aurangzeb
in 1707, the
period of around 27 years was
full of struggle and turmoil for the Marathas. The death of Shivaji had tremendous impact on
the Maratha Empire whereas, the Mughal attacks on the Maratha Empire increased
considerably during such situation. The Marathas fought several wars with the Mughals
which had literally become the wars for their existence and dignity. The available
historical facts propose
the vigour and
bravery of the
Marathas during the war period, which
covers almost 27 years of this historical period. The span of struggle
of Maratha in
which they fought
bravely has been
rightly named as the
‘Freedom Struggle of the
Marathas’. In this context the words of Sir Jadunath
Sarkar seems to be relevant to this era. He says, “The struggle has
naturally incorporated self confidence, adventure, simplicity,
lucidness and social unity
amongst Marathas”. Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj is
surely included in the list of great persons
which, Maharashtra has
produced. He was
born on January
15, 1682. His
political career
flourished between 1708 AD and
1748 AD. In the entire Maratha History, he was the only person to have ruled for
such a long period. He was released by the Mughals from captivity with
the cruel intention
of encouraging the
struggle for succession
in the Maratha Empire.
However, Chatrapati Shahu
did not allow
these intentions to
take shape in reality. More
importantly, he had never encouraged the division of Marathas and united them under his able
leadership. Although, a proud Hindu, he never opposed the Muslim religion and adopted a
secular policy in his state. He had immense respect for the
holy men like
Brehmendraswamy and Kachreshwar
Baba. He considered Brahmeshwar Swamy as his
Guru.
He continued the development of
the Maratha Empire, established by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
He had faced
several hardships, right
from his childhood.
He was under the captivity of the
Mughals. After his release, he was
engulfed with the struggle with his own beloved ones for
power, enmity with the Maratha Sardars and sadness in personal life was the unfortunate
tale his life. Despite such difficult situations, he never
lost his mental balance and ably
shouldered the responsibilities of the Swarajya. With his tremendous
contribution towards Swarajya,
he not only
left an impression
on the history of
Maharashtra but also
on the history
of the entire
sub-continent. He has acquired a
very prominent place
in the Indian
History possessing incredible
qualities and abilities due to which he
could serve the Maratha state wholeheartedly. He never actually fought with the Mughal
Emperor, but established a real control over the Mughal Empire. While doing so, his main
intension was to protect the interests of the Maratha
Empire. He regularized the
disturbed governance of the State and provided it stability. Although, shrewdness and
temperament needed for becoming a successful ruler, was never a part of his
character, still he tactfully designed his policies by assigning the tasks to
the eligible and
efficient persons. Although,
a tolerant person
by nature, he encouraged the aggressive
policies of Bajirao Peshwa and extended the boundaries of the Maratha empire. As a ruler he
did not hesitated to condemn the policies of Peshwa despite his increasing dominance.
He was a link between Swarajya and the extended empire (Samrajya).
Under such circumstances, when
there was a
need for an
able leadership for
the Marathas, he
played the centralized
role for the
Maratha Mandal. However, the vacuum generated
with his death in the Maratha Empire was never filled in the later periods. His uniqueness can be evaluated
from his shrewdness, which he utilized in his entire political career. He was a
key person in avoiding the power struggle between the
Peshwas and the Maratha Sardars.
There were differences between them, but with his able statesmanship, he
never allowed the struggle to go
to the extreme stage, which helped the
Maratha Empire expand
far and wide.
With his tolerant
character and organisational skills,
he managed to
unite the strong
Maratha Sardars to
accomplish several unaccomplished tasks
from them. He
was able to
gather company of
quality men around him due to his
friendly gestures which made him referred to be as ‘Punya
Shlok’ (Holy soul). While evaluating
the work of
Shahu Maharaj on
the basis of
his benevolence,
historian G.S. Sardesai says “
Shahu succeeded in achieving brilliant results through a mild persuasive policy by rigid
justice and goodwill towards the Ryot”. The Maratha Empire extended far
and wide in the political tenure of Chattrapati Shahu. His
attributions to the
Maratha empire are
the sanads (charters)
of Swaraj, Chauthai and Sardeshmukhi (March
24, 1719), control over Nizam, Warna Pact (April
1731), victory
over Goa and
inclusion of the
territories like Gujrat, Malwa, Karnataka, Bundelkhand and Uttar Pradesh
under Maratha dominance. While accomplishing these activities, he had to face stiff
struggle for gaining the acclamation as Chatrapati. After gaining the title of Chatrapati,
he established his capital at Satara.
While referring all these events
in his life,
one can easily
evaluate him as
a shrewd political
and able strategist of the Maratha
Empire. Chatrapati Shahu
has not only
contributed politically, but
also has immense contributed in the social, Arts,
religious and cultural fields. All these fields flourished with success under his patronage
during the 18th century in Maharashtra. While studying the era prior to
Chatrapati Shahu, it can be easily evaluated that he has overcome the difficult
situations due to his able leadership qualities. He took tremendous efforts for
the welfare of the contemporary Maratha Empire,
and adopted the tradition of
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in real sense. He transformed the Swarajya in an extended
empire (Samrajya). He can be considered as the last ruler in the
lineage of Chatrapati
Dynasty who took
the Maratha Empire
to its highest elevation. Chatrapati Shahu,
although has immense
contribution in the
building of the Maratha empire, no attempts were
made so far, to shed light on his life. This is the first research which has elaborated
various aspects of the life of Chatrapati Shahu.
1.2 Situation before the rise of
Chhatrapati shahu :
In any biographical study, it is very
important to study the earlier background or the era prior to that person and also examine the local references. According to
Renier, “the local history should be
written in such a way that its reflections should be seen in history of the nation. It is very
important that local history should include cultural, social and economic aspects. The same lookout
is considered while studying the biography of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj.
Keeping this vision, the two aspects of the earlier situation
have been taken into
account.
1.2.1 National Situation :
The Indian History depicts the
first major power transfer which was in 1526 AD,
when Babar defeated Lodhi dynasty
in the battle of Panipat and established the Mogul supremacy in
India. Further he
defeated Rajput King,
Rana Sangh in
1530 and strengthened the empire providing
stable governance. His heir, Humayun continued the governance smoothly later
on. In the weaken days of Humayun, Shershah Suri ruled the country for a brief period
from 1540 to 1555. However, Humayun later recaptured the throne. Akbar, the son of
Humayun, defeated short lived Badshah Hemchandra in the second battle of Panipat and
achieved the power of Hindustan in real sense. Thus the Mughal rule in India was
mooted in India systematically by Akbar. He attempted to bring stability and prosperity to
the empire by minimizing the bridge between the Hindus and Muslim through his cordial
polices with the existing Hindu empire. Implementing the
policies of matrimonial
alliance and sharing
the power with
Hindus, Akbar sought their
co-operation and expanded the Mughal Empire. After Akbar, Mughal emperors
Jahangir and Shahajahan
were responsible for
strengthening the Mughal rule
in India. However,
lavish life style
and merry making
behaviour of both these emperor started the
disintegration of the Empire. It was only during the period of Aurangzeb Badshah, the Mughal
Empire could regain its lost glory. But, the latter half of his rule witnessed tremendous
discontents amongst the Rajputs in North and Marathas in South due to his tyrannical
political and religious policies. In the same time, a new
leadership of Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj emerged in the Southern India and and a new
Maratha ruled state was formed. 1.2.2 Aurangzeb : The history of Aurangazeb covers
a span of over 60 years. His political career (AD 1658 – 1707) covers the later
half of the 17th century. This era is considered as one of the most important period of
the Indian History. In this period, the Mughal Empire was extended the most in the sub
continent. Until the British dominance in the later period, whole of India remained a unified
entity. When Aurangzeb ascended the throne of Delhi, the Mughal Empire was at the apex
of its prosperity. Alimgir I Mohiuddin Mohammad
Aurangzeb was the sixth son of Mumtaz Mahal and Shahjahan. He was born on
Zingada 15 (Hizri), (October 24, 1618 AD) at Dohad. 1
On December
13, 1634 AD,
Aurangzeb was awarded
the Mansabdari of 10 Hazari and was considered as the
most respected Umrah in the court of Shahjahan. 2
He was
later awarded the
Subhedari of the
Deccan (South India).
More importantly, there was a war for succession
amongst the successors of Shahjahan. Aurangzeb and Shahjahan both had the experience
as the Subhedar of Deccan. Aurangzeb had
spent most of
his life in
Deccan and throughout
his life his
ultimate aim was
to annex the entire Deccan. Unfortunately, his
dreams could not be fulfilled. In an attempt to annex Deccan, he ruined not only his
own life but also the entire Mughal Empire. Shahjahan had
become weak and
his health further
deteriorated. A war of succession began amongst his sons
and Aurangzeb emerged victorious after killing all his brothers.
He even imprisoned
Shahjahan at Agra.
On July 21
1658, he was coroneted as the emperor of
Hindustan and was conferred with the epithet of ‘Alimgir Gazi’.
After coronation,
the initial years
as the Emperor
were peaceful and
calm. He invited the emperors of Iran,
Arab, Abyssinia and other countries to his court to impress them with the grandeur of the prosperity his empire. This was an obvious attempt by Aurangzeb to gain the
acknowledgement and recognition to his emperorship from the Muslim countries. These kings
sent their convoys to his court.
After gaining the power, he
always kept three objectives in his life, to abolish the cordial relation
policies initiated by
Akbar in the
Mughal empire, to convert
maximum Hindus to Islam and annex the
Southern India territory in the Mughal Empire, the task which was not accomplished by his
ancestors. In the initial phase of his
political career, he emphasized on the policy to abolish Akbar’s cordial policies with Hindus
between the period of 1658 and 1664 AD. The religious part of his polices commenced between
1665 and 1681 AD. The annexation of Deccan was the last phase of his political
strategies which continued till his death in 1707 AD. Aurangazeb received
stiff resistance from
the Maratha Empire
in Deccan. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj proved
a greatest challenge for the the Mughal authority to extend in this part of the
country. Shivaji Maharaj had become a major hurdle for the Mughal Empire. His expedition to
loot Surat was the severe blow to Aurangzeb; hence he assigned
the task to
control the increasing
dominance of Marathas
in Deccan to Marza Raje Jaisingh. Raje Jaisingh blocked the supremacy of the
Maratha in Deccan and a pact was signed between the
Marathas and the Mughals popularly known as the Purandar Pact. As per the pact,
Shivaji Maharaj was compelled to visit Delhi to meet the emperor. But, Aurangzeb breaching
the conditions of the pact kept Shivaji under house arrest. Shivaji
escaped from the
imprisonment and strengthened
the Maratha supremacy once again the Southern
India. Apart from the Maratha Empire
there were Muslim states which challenged the Mughal authority in Deccan.
Aurangzeb wanted to uproot the existence of the Adilshahi of Bijapur, Kutubshahi of
Golkonda and Nizamshahi of Ahmednagar. All these Muslim state in Southern were the followers
of the Shia sects and to destroy such state was the part of
the Aurangzeb’s political
policy. He sent
his son Shah
Alam with the
army of
around 40,000
soldiers to Deccan.
However, Shivaji Maharaj
had already made
the preparations to combat such a
huge army. Unfortunately, Shivaji Maharaj died on March 3, 1680 at Raigadh when the
Maratha Empire had started acquiring recognition as the strongest Hindu empire in the
country. No sooner than Aurangzeb received
the news of the death of Shivaji, he, despitethe ghastly
rainy season, marched
towards South to
capture the Maratha
Empire.Before starting this expedition,
he obtained the geographical information of the Marathadominance from one of his officer
Abbu Mohhamad. The other
reason for the
expedition was Mohammad
Akbar, his son
who hadmutinied and took refuge in
Deccan. In the
last phase of
his political career,
he spent almost
26 years of his life
inDeccan to
accomplish the task
of conquering Deccan,
which was immenselyimpossible. He
spent this phase
of life living
in a military
tent.
This signifies that hisultimate aim in life was to
destroy the Maratha Empire and to propagate Muslim religionfar and wide. The tenure of Aurangzeb can be
divided into two parts. He reigned in Delhi on 21
July 1658 and died at Ahmednagar
on 20 February 1707, after ruling for over a periodof 50 years. The initial period of 25 years
were spent in North India and the later 25years from 1682 AD, in Deccan
(southern India).
In 1682, Aurangzeb went to south and
since then he never returned to Delhi. Hemight have thought that his sons
would ill-treat him as he had given ill-treatment to hisfather. Due to this fear he might
have not returned to Delhi. As soon as he took reign inhis hand in Barhanpur, he started
imposing “Jaziya tax” on the Hindus and gave strictorders to his officers to this
effect. The people had protested against this tax in vain.
The evidence came to the fore
that 26,000 rupees accumulated alone in Barhanpur.7 It is cited that as soon as
Aurangzeb arrived in south, he first of all imposed the Jaziyatax. Later, his immediate action was
to capture forts from Maratha one after another.In 1686, Bijapur regime was
dismissed by him. In 1687, Govalkonda regime was takenin possession
by Aurangzeb. After
capturing these two
states, he turned
towards Sambhaji. Unfortunately Sambhaji
was caught in 1689 and was killed inhumanly. 1689 AD
was the black
year in the
history of Marathas.
With the killing
of Sambhaji, awarding jail custody
to queen Yasubai and Shahu Raje, harassing Rajaram Maharaj and conquering all most
all of the Marathi regions, Aurangzeb thought that the empire of
Shivaji Maharaj’s regime
was now eliminated.
He also thought
that his objective of his crusade in
southern region would be fulfilled if the last heir
of Shivaji
family Rajaram was killed.
However, his crusade had eliminated himself.
Rajaram suddenly died and Tarabai
took over the control of the Maratha power continuing the Maratha battle for
independence. Aurangzeb was conquering forts from the Marathas, which were
recaptured by the Marathas again. Aurangzeb knew that the real strength of Maratha was the
forts and therefore he thought of capturing their forts.
Aurangzeb won
some of the
forts from Marathas
through excellent military strategies and
some of them
by corrupt practices.
When the army
of Aurangzeb surround the fort, the Marathas
used to cut down his resources of his army. Due to this, drought like situation always
prevailed in the camps of Mughal Army at most of the time. The soldiers could not get their
salaries for months. Moreover, he has to pay Rs. 50,000 to Rs.
2,00,000 for taking
possession of the
fort by corrupt
practice. Khafikhan says “Sahajahan had
brought bankruptcy to
the Mughal Empire
due to his
campaigns”. Manuchi says “the wealth was not
enough for Aurangzeb and therefore he opened the treasury of
Akbar, Jahangir and
Noorjahan, but still
could not make
payments of soldiers for months”.
He was
unsuccessful in all
the fronts, but
did not leave
his determination. Aurangzeb has
been inhabited in
southern region and
never thought of
returning to North. In
this regard Manuchi
says “he was
anxious to return
to north as
constant battles made him very nervous. He
thought that if he would return to North, Marathas will conquer his empire in South
and even invade the Northern region. He was scared of this situation.”
When Aurangzeb stepped into
southern region, some nobles and sardars were with them
and never returned
to their homes,
since then. In
this context, Bhimsen Saxsena says. “The situation
in battle fields had become unbearable
for all the soldiers, as the
Badshah had been
wandering from one
place to another.
They were feeling alone and therefore they brought
their wives and children with them. Their wives and children died in the battle
fields itself. They never saw the houses made of stones and mud. They thought that tents are
the better shelters to live.
Noblemen and soldiers in the Aurangzeb’s army had faced
hardships. Most of them had died as well as horses, oxen, camels and elephants had
also died in a large numbers. Aurangzeb had been undertaking
battle campaign in southern region for about 26 years
and during this
period, three major
changes in leadership
of Marathas took place. The three leaderships are
Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj and queen Tarabai. This
three leaderships never bent before Aurangzjeb. All these leaderships fought against
him with their full might and had not given any change to Aurangzeb to gain success.
Marathas had kept their independence war continued till the very last moment.
In the meantime time, when Aurangzeb was on
the way back to Ahmed nagar his daughter and
other wives submitted
an application as
“we have completed
30 years since Delhi was left. During
these years we have been wandering here and there and due to this we borne a lot of
pains. Now we should kindly be permitted to proceed to Agra Fort.
This would prevent
jail custody and
harassment after your
(Aurangzeb) death”. Aurangzeb replied to this
application as “I have made security arrangement for
you and this arrangement would be
made after two years of my death”
other women in the harem were also asking for
going back as they were frustrated of continuous war
situation. Due to this situation,
Aurangzeb’s health deteriorated and he fell ill. He died on 20 February, 1707 at
Ahmadnagar. Dr. Jaisingrao
Pawar described the
defeat of Aurangzeb
in his book
“Apalya Maharani Tarabai”
as, “even as
he knew he
could not win
over Marathas, the
war campaign continued
till the last
breath of Aurangzeb.
This clearly indicates
ambitious personality of Aurangzeb. But,
his leadership failed while handling the responsibility of army general. The Army chief
should have battle manoeuvres, political strategies, and presence of mind in the critical
situation. However, he did not have these qualities. War could not be won on the strength
of swords; one should win the hearts of the people. To
understand this, Aurangajeb did
not have enough intelligence.
1.2.3 Regional Situation:
While studying
the national situation,
we should undertake
detailed study of regional situation too. As to how
the suitable regional situation was before the rise of Chhatrpati Shahu Maharaj needed
to have taken into consideration. In the 14th century, Marathas got stability, following
the efforts taken by Dhyaneshwar, Janardhan Swamy and Dasopant. In 15th century, “Guru charitra” and in the 16th
century,” Eknathi Bhagwatand Bhagwath Ramayan”, the
ancient scriptures proved to be of immense importance.Portuguese activities on the
Konkan borders had added new menaces. Wars betweenshahas, as well as the existence
of discriminations between South and Pardeshi, Siyaand Sunny, paved the way for the
competition to caoture power. This had opened anopportunity for
Maratha Sardars including
More, Mohite, Ghorpade,
Ghatge, Jadhavand others to come to the fore
with their ruling Maratha dynasty.
1.2.2.1 Bhosale Dynasty :
Shahaji Maharaj,
a member of
Bhosale dynasty had
been nominated as the
descendent of
the sisodiya race.
This fact has
been accepted by all including
the
intellectuals and
Rajputs belonging to the South
and Northern regions.
Mirza Raje
Jaising said
“you are Sisode
Rajput and are
related to each
other.”
.
According toSardesai “Shahaji was born in
Bhosale dynasty. Bhosale dynasty is said to have their
origin from Suryawanshi Sisode
Rajput of Chittod. This means they belonged to uppercastes Kshtriya. Yadav, Pawar,
More, Shinde, Salunke, etc Rajput dynasty came fromNorth Hindustan and inhabited in
Sourthen parts of the country.
There is no written document
available in the present period to prove that Shivaji Maharaj was born
in the Bhosale
Dynasty. However, Shahaji
mentioned that “we
are Rajput”. Bharatkar said
his dynasty was
“Suryawanshi”. Jairam and
Gagabhat claimed that his
dynasty was related
to Sisodiya. Members
of Bhosale invented
it was raziya dynasty. King
Shudha Skatriya came
from north to
south and described
itself as Raziya dynasty”
.
In the
era of Shahaji
Maharaj, the intellectuals
and Rajputs had
accepted the Bhosale as the descendant of Sisodias, who were Rajputs
and Kshtriyas. They had the origin from
North and later
came to south.
The surname of
Shahaji was Bhosale,descent Sisode,
category Kshtriya which
means the contemporary
Rajputs, clan –kaushik and the originator -
“Palipas”. The word “Avani Parshva”, in corrupt form “ArthPruthvi, Patit shreshth
Rajeshwar”, this was said durimg Shahaji’s era and witnessed by Jairam Pindase.
There should not be any
suspicion that Bhosales
wew 96 (Kuli)dencents Maratha
Kshtriya. However, at the time
of coronation ceremony
it wasensured whether he was Kshtriya.
1.2.2.2 Maloji Raje :
Babaji and
Rewau had two
sons—Maloji and Vithoji.
Maloji was born
in 1552 AD 18 . He worked as a farmer at Verul
for some years and later accepted swords leavingthe farming
work. Young Majoi
had undergone a
training in Army and
after the armytraining,he went to Wangoji in
search of a service. Wangoji deputed Maloji and Vithojion war
campaign. Maloji had
fought with full
might against the
Adilshahi Army inRankala battle field in Kolhapur
and defeated them. Nizamshah lauded his bravenessand skils and appointed his as knight. He also
awarded a degree of king,”panch hajarimanasab”, “Deshmukhi” of pune,
supe, chakan chouransi and indapur to expense forthe army and given shivneri fort
to settle down with his family in 1590 as an honour.
Later he
was married with
wangoji’s daughter deepabai.This
relation with Bhosalefamily was
materialised with mediation
of Lakhuji Jadhav.
The Jadhav family
wasclosely related with Maloji
family. It seems that Maloji was a very brave person havinggood virtues, equal family status
and upper clan.
Maloji and Vithoji were the
staunch followers of “Ghruneshwar”, axcept, “mantridatto trimal vakosnikrut 91 kalmi
Bakhar”. In this Bkhar, a reference of
Verul temple isas follows: “Maloji had, all
produce achieved from the farm , donated religious purposeand constructed a “Shivalaya temple at Verul”.
20
.The demolised Ghruneshwar templewas rre-constructed by Maloji
Raje.It is cited that Maloji was
killed in the Indapur battle on 3rd
July 1606
and father’s honour was handed over to Shahaji on 2nd August 1606 .
Maloji had tried to deominate
himself as a leader of the masses.He had gained fame by
his own activities
and spread his
kingdom property. He
saved a lot of accumulation of wealth. The major
part of accumulated wealth was spent on the welfare of the people. Great Poet
Permanand described Maloji as Maloji was a greatest soldier. During his
tenure, people were
happy. Many people
were impressed by
his religious attitudes. He
was a staunch
follower of “Shanbhu
Mahadeo”. He had
built a tank
atShikhar Singanapur
in memory of
Gods. In Short,
Maloji was a
religious man and worked for the welfare of the
masses.
1.2.2.3 Shahaji Raje :
As Maloji was not having son for
years, his wife vowed before the Shahsharif Pir of Nagar and on 18 March 1594 a
son was born. He was named as Shahji.
Shahaji
since his childhood was orphaned
as his father Maloji had died. He was nourished by his uncle, Vithoji. In his young
age, Nizam had awarded him a “Jahangiri” of Pune-Supe as well as the degree of Sardar.
Shahaji had also discharge his duty honestly. Shahaji wedded
with Jijabai in a very
pompous function in
December 1605 (shu.115 21).
At the time of Shahji’s marriage his father
was present and he had got “Panchhajari mansab” from
Nizamshahi. The regime
of Marathas flourished
in the period
of Malik Ambar
who dared to confront Mughals in 1618. To
defeat the Mughal Army, Malik Amber planned to unite Marathas for
launching their strategic
warfare. Maratha Sardars
like Jadhav, Kate, Shahaji Bhosale, Udaram others
had actively participated Ambar-Mughal
war in 1618 and 1626 and had gained
confidence and experience of fighting against the enemy. Initially, Shahaji Raja began his
political career in Nizamshahi, but left it due to
the torture meted to him from
Mallick Ambar. He joined the services of Adilshah, but for a lesser period because of the
political turmoil in Adilshahi after the
death of Ibrahim Khan Adilshah. Later, he joined
the Mughals owing the threat to his life after the murder of Jadhavrao and the torture
meted to him from Murtuza Nizamshah. In the service of the Mughals,
he remained a
neglected sardar after
the agreement accomplished between the
Mughals and Fateh
Khan. Hence, he
decided to leave
the service of
Mughals. Owing to
all these difficulties
in his life,
he tried to
revitalize Nizamshahi and
succeeded to accomplish the task to
a certain extent.
He received
the Jagirdari of
Bangalore from the
Sultan of Bijapur
in 1639. He accepted the place and made
facilities for stationing an army of around 20,000 soldiers here. He established an efficient
machinery of officers, managers and clerks and formed small localities. The local
people from Maharashtra who went to Karnataka were also accommodated in
his armour. Just
like any independent
ruler he regularized
the governance of Bangalore.
This South Indian state later proved to be
very useful to the Maratha Empire. He never used the despotic
policies like that of the Muslim Sultans against the Hindu kingdom, but initiated
cordial policies towards them, as mentioned by Rice in his historical research.
This signifies his
benevolence policies and
the sense of
fraternity towards the fellow kings. Despite
being in the service of the Muslim authority, he had
deep feeling
for motherland and
religion. He had
appointed around 75
poets and Pandits from various parts of the
country in his court. Shahaji Raja
faced several better
experiences in life.
The most important
of which was his arrest by treachery
and released by his sons Sambhaji and Shivaji with
great bravery. While returning
from Bednoor, he
stayed at Hodegiri,
district Shimoga near Baswasttan on
the banks of
river Tungbhadra. There
were many wild
animals in this region and
he decided for hunting.
He mounted on his
horse started chasing a deer. But, he
and his horse
fell in a
ditch and Shahji
Raja died in
this terrible accident. (Saturday, Magh 5, Shake 1584,
date 23-01-1664).
Historian, Sardesai says, There
was no other Hindu King like Shahji Raja in the contemporary historical period in
South India who gained the national status on his own abilities. Hence,
he gets the
attribution to ignite
the feeling of
Swarajya amongst the Marathas. In
this way, it
will not be wrong to
nominate Shivaji as the founder
of Swarajya and Shahaji as the
originator for inculcating the idea of Swarajya.
Historian Rajwade in the preface
of Rajamadhav Vilas Champu, evaluated that the earlier
work of Shahaji
has assisted Shivaji
in accomplishing the
task of State formation. He writes, “It is true that the
task of state formation is attributed to Shivaji, but the original idea of Swarajya was
designed by Shahaji. History has the right to attribute the share of
success of the
state formation to
Shahaji. Shivaji could
complete the task commenced by Shahaji only due to
the resources made available by his father, Shahaji.
The sardars like Pingle, Angre,
Dadaji, Pansambal, Rozekar, Jedhe, Bandal and others who played the vital role in the
state formation were in the service of Shahaji. Similarly, the resources
of Shahaji including
guns, elephants, horses
and soldiers deployed
at various forts were later utilized
by Shivaji in accomplishing the task.
The success gained by Shivaji was not
merely miracles. Shivaji could rise only due to the indirect assistance
provided by his father. Shivaji with the help of his father’s able courters, brave sardars,
arms and ammunition, terror and pride created by Shahaji across the
country could bring
laurels in establishing
Swarajya. Hence, Shahaji
Raja laid the foundation of the Swaraj
while Shivaji constructed a strong fortress over it. In the
political life of
Shahaji, he was
compelled to move
from one Muslim authority to the other. It was
observed that, he was welcomed at every place. Although, in the service of Muslim rulers,
he retained pride for his religion and never converted to Islam. On
the other hand,
Shahaji Maharaj after
becoming the ruler
of Karnataka, stopped instances
like demolition of the temples
by the Muslims,
atrocities against women and tyranny of the farmers
from the Zamindars and money lenders. He was duly
respected by his soldiers. All
these aspects had helped Shivaji Maharaj in nurturing his political career. His father was
an ideal ruler.
1.2.2.4 Chatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj :
Before the
birth of Shivaji,
his father Shahji
Maharaj had gone
to the distance provinces for fighting against
the Mughals. Father-in-Law of Sambhaji, the elder son of Shahaji was the Killedar of
Shivneri Fort near Junnar. Shahaji decided to opt this place for the refuge
of his wife Jijabai and son Shivaji during his period of struggle. Shivaji was born at this place. There are
differences about the date of birth of Shivaji Maharaj amongst the
historians. The information
about date of
birth of Shivaji
Maharaj in the
Jedhe Shakawali
is considered to be most
authentic. The information
available is (Shake 1551 Shukla Nam Sanvatsare
Falgun Vadya Tritiya Shukrawar Nakshatra Hasta Ghadi 18 4. 31 Gand Pale 7)
According to Shri Raja
Shivchatrapati Mahendle volume I – the son
of Shahaji and Jijabai was born at Shivneri
on February 19, 1630.
Most of
the historians have
accepted the date
of birth of
Shivaji as Phalgunm Vadya Tritiya Shake 1551 (February
19, 1630). The initial
seven years of life of Shivaji was
spent at Shivneri,
Mahuli, Pemgiri and other places. Shivaji
obtained the formal education under the able supervision and guidance of
Motoshree Jijabai. Shivaji
Maharaj was fortunate
enough to receive
the company of his mother Jijabai
throughout his life, but seldom had the company of his father Shahaji.
As a result,
a natural sense
of reverence towards
his mother was imbibed in
him. Jijabai was intelligent,
affectionate, kind and
brave and hence,
she initiated the education of
Shivaji under her own supervision.
Guardian of child Shivaji and
manager of the Jahangiri of Shahaji, Dadoji Kondev also had the similar influence on
the life of Shivaji similar to that of Jijabai. Dadoji accomplished his
responsibility to nurture Shivaji unconditionally with the same affection that would have
been done by Shahji, if Shivaji would have stayed with Shahji. He nurtured Shivaji in
such a way that Shivaji would be able to accomplish his motto in life with great success.
While in Pune,
Dadoji arranged the marriage of
Shivaji with Saibai,
daughter of Nimbalkar
and later on
the invitation of Shahaji, he accompanied Jijabai
and Shivaji to Banglore during the era of 1640.
During Shivaji’s stay at Banglore,
Shahaji imparted education to Shivaji in various fields. In 1642, Shahaji sent
back Shivaji, Jijabai and Dadoji to Pune Jagir. Establishing Pune Jagir an independent entity,
Shahaji also sent Peshwa, Muzumdar, Dabir, Subnis and other officials
with them along with warfare
resources like elephants,
horses and others.
It appears that Shahaji had provided
encouragement and guidance to Shivaji for the state formation. After his return from Banglore,
he stayed at Lal Mahal in Pune, another Jagir of Shahaji Maharaj. Here,
he started gathering
the Mawalas along
with arms and
ammunition. Later, he defeated the Killedar
of Bijapur and conqured the Torna fort in the year 1646. The government treasure amounting
to around 2 lakh Hons was seized by Shivaji in this fort.
With this first conquest of Torna, Shivaji
Maharaj began his first journey on the path of Swaraj. Shivaji Maharaj took the decision to
establish Swaraj at the tender ageof 16 years. During the course of
time, he conquered Kondana, Murumbdev (Raigadh)and Purandar forts. In the
next six-seven years,
he never troubled
the Bijapur Empire.
He hadunderstood that having enmity
with Adilshahi and Mughals at this initial stage would notbe beneficial for his motives to
establish Swarajya. He spent this period in maintaining
and regularising the governance
of the kingdom in his possession. Shivaji Maharaj aftergetting control
over the rebel
of Jawali, Chandrarao
More, started spreading
hisinfluence on
the nearby provinces.
The Jawali province was
completly different fromthe provinces of Desh and Konkan.
This province was a mountainous region and wascompletely secured considering
aspects of the warfare.
That was one of the reasonsto attack Jawali and defeat
Chandrarao More. The Bijapur
court got cautious
with the activities
of Shivaji and
the defeat ofMore. The
Bijapur emperor assigned
the task to
punish Shivaji to
the treacheroussardar Afzal Khan. Parmanand writes, “Bade Saheb
Bibi warned Afzal Khan that he should defeat Shivaji and
kill him. Afzal
Khan enthusiastically accepted
the task.
In AD 1659,
hestarted the expedition towards
Pune. The opponents of Shivaji joined the force of Afzal
Khan on his way. Shivaji Maharaj
had plotted to meet Afzal Khan in the mountainousterrain but Afzal Khan wanted to
have a battle on the plain land. At last, Khan allured Shivaji
with the friendly gesture and showed his willingnessto meet him. Shivaji was aware of
his treachery and pretending that he was afraid ofhim accepted his invitation. The
meeting was proposed on Wednesday, November 10,1659.
In this meeting, Shivaji spotted the double
standards of the Khan and killed him.He hurled away Khan’s huge army
out of the Swarajya. Garge S. S. writes, “Massacre of
Afzal Khan was the most important event of theMaratha history.
This event aroused
a feeling of
self-identity amongst the
Marathas.Chatrapati Shivaji also got aware
of his own power and his self-confidence enhanced which helpful in conquering
Satara, Sangli, Panhala forts”.
Later, Nizam sent Siddhi Johar to
arrest Shivaji. He had halted at Panhala at this time. Johar’s army circled the
entire Panhala fort. Shivaji decided to surrender to Johar.However, Shivaji on July 12, 1660
with around 600 soldiers secretly proceeded towardsVishal Gadh distracting the huge
army of Siddhi Johar.
The Maratha
Empire had the
danger from every
direction. From the northerndirection, Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb appointed Shahitekhan on June 5, 1659 as theSubhedar of the Deccan to
restrict the advancement of Shivaji.
His first
step was to
proceed to gain
control over Chakan.
After treamendouslosses, Shahitekhan
managed to get
control over Chakan
and made his
stay at LalMahal here. Then, Shivaji Maharaj
planned an attack on Lal Mahal and cut the fingersof Shahitekhan. Shahitekhan was
then appointed the
subhedar of Bengal
while the Shivajimanaged to register success
against the mighty Mughal Empire. In the
later period, Shivaji
Maharaj concentrated on
Konkan and compelledSiddhi to make a pact. He then
looted Surat which was the major commercial center ofthe Mughals. Kanetkar says in this regard,
“Aurangzeb imposed Jezia tax in his kingdom. As areaction to
this, Shivaji looted
Suraj for almost
4 days from
January 6 to
10 andacquired the wealth of around Rs
1 crores from Suraj. The other reason for the Surat expedition was
to teach a
lesson to the
British factories at
Surat who had
turnednShivaji’s enemy.
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb then
sent his most able sardar Mirza Raje Jaisingh to block
the advancement of
Shivaji. This experienced
sardar compelled chatrapati Shivaji to commence a treaty.
This treaty is popularly known as the treaty of Purandar (June 12, 1665).
After this treaty, Shivaji Maharaj had only 12
forts and 1 lakh honnswhile all the forts and the
provinces had to be given to Mirza Raje. According to
the treaty, Jaisingh
sent Shivaji Maharaj
to Agra to
meet the
emperor. Shivaji on May 11, 1666
went to Agra with his son Sambhaji. The humiliationhe met
at the Mughal Court
compelled him to
leave the court
in a rage.
Hence, theemperor kept him under house
arrest at Agra and made a secrete
plot to kill Shivaji.Shivaji made
a plan to
escape the arrest
and commenced the
plan by escaping
theimprisonment through
the sweet boxes.
He initially made
arrangement to keep Sambhaji in Mathura and with
several disguise reached the Swarajya.
After hearing
the escape of
Shivaji, Aurangazeb was
deeply sorrowed andastonished. This
unimaginable escape from
the Mughal imprisonment
acquired gloryand respect to Shivaji across the
country. He later decided to conduct his coronation.Shivaji Maharaj had immense
domination over the Adilshahi and Kutubshahi and hadalso proved
an upper hand
over the Mughals.
Shivaji had expected
that the foreignpowers like
Pourtugise and British
should extend a
hand of friendship
towards the
Maratha Empire.
An enthusiastic atmosphere createdacross the
Swarajya following the
news of the
Coronation. For the
coronationceremony, a gold throne weighing
32 Mans was manufactured. On (Jestha Shu 4 {May29}) the
coronial rituals like
Munja, Shashtis Samantrik
Vivah, Lupta Vidhi,Prayashchite, Punya
Hawan and Home
Shanti were performed
on Shivaji Maharaj
.During the coronation, mass
feasts continued for Brahmins throughout. On Shake 1598,Sanvatsar Jeshta
Shukla 12, Friday
(5-6-1674), Shivaji Maraj
ascended the throne
inthe wee hours and thus, the
coronation process was completed by Gaga Bhatta.
As the indication of the
coronation, Shivaji Maharaj had started an independentcalendar namely
‘Rajyabhishek Shaka’ and
also acquired the
epithet of ‘KshtriyaKulwantas Sinhasanadhiswar
Maharaj Chatrapati’ and announced his coronation to theRyot.
He also introduced special symbols of the
state and also established the statecabinet called Ashta Mandali.
Speaking about the coronation,
Garge S. M. says, “In the history of Maharashtra,June 6, 1674 an important event
commenced, new royal dynasty was established at theRaigadh which gave rise to a new
era. New calendar and curriencies were brought intocirculation which was turning
point in the history of Maharashtra”.
Matoshree Jijabai
witnessed this eye sparking
ceremony. She was very
happy with this event and on the 12th day of the coronation she died (June 17,
1674). Deeplygreaved over
his mother’s death,
Shivaji suspected that
there had been
somediscrepancies in commencing the
procedure of the coronation and hence, he arrangedhis second coronation on
September 24. This second coronation was performed by a
Yogi, Nichal Puri tantric.
After the coronation, he decided
to annex the sourthern part of India. On October16, 1676,
a day of
Vijaya Dashmi initiated
his Deccan expedition. With the
equippedarmy of
around 25,000 horsemen
and able Sardars
like Balaji Awaji,
DattajipantWaknis, Suryaji Malusare, Netaji
Palkar and others, initiated the expedition to conquerSouthern India.
During the expedition, Shivaji
conquered Hyderabad, fort of Jinji, Vellore and Karnataka.After repairing
the conqured forts
and regularizing the
governance, he returned
toRaigadh in 1678. After accomplishing the Southern
conquest, Shivaji died due to a brief illness onApril 3, 1680. The British
in their official
documents says, “After
the marriage of
RajaramMaharaj, Shivaji
failed ill and it further
deteriorated his condition.
They named thisdisease as ‘Bloody Flut’.
The established of Swarajya in
Maharastra was the greatest event in the historyof Hindustan.
He commenced the
greatest task to
revolutionarising the state
andbringing a
social change in the society.
He began a
new era in
the feilds ofadministration, forts, commerce,
trade, armour, etc. Similarly, the new dimensions werecreated in the social and
cultural fields like language and religion. Late Pherozshah Mehta says,
“Until, the names of Shivaji and Tilak are imbibedin the hearts of the
Maharashtrian youths, the state would be accomplished the goodcauses”.
Historian Sarkar say, “Shivaji’s
real greatness lay, in his character and practicalactivity, rather
than in originality,
of conception or
length of political
vision”, Shiv Digvijaykar says.
1.2.2.5 Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj
:
The first
queen of Shivaji
Maharaj Rani Saibai
gave birth to
Sambhaji Raje at Puandar on May
14, 1656. Maharani had given the name of her late son Sambhaji Raje to her grandson. When
Sambhaji Raje was just two years old,
his mother fell illdue to
which she died.
Now, Jijabai took
the responsibility to
nurture the youngSambhaji.
He
was well versed
in the activities
like archery, music,
Puran, history andpoetry. Keshav Pandit imparted
education to Sambhaji in all these fields and also taughthim Ramayan,
Puran and other
religious scriptures.
Shivaji Maharaj paid
everyattention to nurture Sambhaji
with the view to make him the future king of the MarathaEmpire. Every education facility
was provided to him so that he became well-versed inthe feilds of Arts, education,
warfare and other fields. Keshav Pandit and Umaji Panditwere the gurus of Shivaji
Maharaj. Shivaji Maharaj assigned the tasks of
responsibilities to Sambhaji Maraj from theage of 15 years so that he would
acquire the experience of the administration. At theage of 17, he was sent on the
expedition with a huge army to Khandesh. A
French traveller, Abe
Carre writes about
Sambahi, ‘Althouth, the
prince
appears to
be very young;
he was brave
soldier who would
accomplish theadventeruous policies and laurel
of his father’s ambitions. He had become well-versedin the art of war while in the
company of his brave father. He was as prepared for thewarfare that he could be compared
to any experienced war leader”.
During the coronation of Shivaji,
Sambhaji was also coronated as the prince king.In this reference, Shivde says,
“In the Bhosale Dynasty, all the children were until nowwere the sons of Sardars,
Jahagirdars, but Sambhaji Maharaj was the first son in thisclan to become a prince king.
Thus, before the coronation as the prince
king, he hadbecome the Yuvaraja of the
Maratha Empire. During the coronation of Shivaji, he sat onthe steps
of the throne
which signifies that
he would be
the inherent of
the MarathaEmpire. Considering this fact,
the British presented expensive gifts to the future King.
Shivaji Maharaj second son born from
Maharani Soyarabai was Rajaram. Duringthe coronation of Sambhaji as
prince king, Soyarabai was also ambitious to get her sondesignated as the prince king.
This led to the first contention for the succession in theBhosale dynasty. After the
coronation, Shivaji Maharaj started his victory mission in theSouth India, Sambhaji also
accompanied him. Later, he halted at Shringarpur.
The news of the internal clashes in the
Bhosale dynasty reached to Daler Khanin the Mughal Chavni at Duccan.
He extended a friendly
approach towards SambhajiRaje. On
December 13, 1678,
Sambhaji Raje went
to meet Daler
Khan from SajjanGadh to
Durjangadh. Daler Khan
with the help
of Sambhaji Raje
made an attack
onBhupalgadh and inflicted several
tyrannies on the Ryot.
When Shivaji Maharaj cameto know
about it, he
was very worried
about Sambhaji Raje.
Sambhaji Maaraj alsoaccompanied Daler Khan on the
expedition on Bijapur. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj tookevery effort to call back
Sambhaji Raje. Later, Sambhaji Raje remorsed for his deedsand returned to Swaraya. The
Father and son met at Panhalagarh.After the
sudden death of
Shivaji Maharaj on
April 3, 1680,
Soyarabai madepreparations for the coronation
of Rajaram Maharaj with the help of the Pradhans Annaji
Datto, Moropant
and others on
April 12 and
sent an army
to Panahala to
arrestSambhaji Raje. As soon as
Sambhaji received the news of the demise of his father, heestablished his authority
over Panhalagarh. He
took all the
control of the
Swaraj andproclaimed himself as the ruler
of the Maratha country. Senapati Hambirrao arrested thepradhan Annaji
Dattopant and brought
him to Sambhaji
Raje. On June
18, SambhajiRaje came to Raigarh from
Panhalagar and held his coronation on June 20.
He
later released Annaji
Datto, Moropant, Balaji
Aaoji and other
Sardars.Sambhaji pardons all these
officials and reinstate them on their previous positions. Referring to this benovelence act
of Sambhaji, an official letter of the British thusspoke (dt
18-10-1680), “Who se
Present proceedings Seene
to speak him
to becontracy spirit
and temper to his father
by a much
more moderate and
human
government”.
This implies that Sambhaji was
different from his father Shivaji, which shows the mild and pardonable nature of
Sambhaji.
Sambhaji Maharaj
was coronated at
Raigarh on Shake
1602 Magh Shudh Saptami, January 16, 1681.
Aurangzeb’s son Prince
Akbar after mutinied with
his father took
refuge in the Maratha Empire.
Prince Akbar along
with Durgadas Rathod
reached the MarathaEmpire in May
1681 after crossing
the Narmada River.
Sambhaji kept Akbar
and hisassociate Durgadas at Pali near
Mahad.
As Sambhaji
had given the refuge to
Akbar, Aurangzeb got
very angry andproceeded towards Deccan to
attack the Maratha Empire from all the directions. When Sambhaji
ascended the throne,
he had to
face three major
enemies.These included Siddi of Janjira,
Portuguese of Goa and British of the Mumbai. Thesethree powers had control over the
western coast and executed their political strategies from here. Initially, Sambhaji
was succeeded in
proving his supremacy
over these three powers. He took Goa in his
dominance after defeating Portuguese. The British did not take the risk by directly having
a war with Sambhaji, because they had seen the braveryof Sambhaji and terror in the
Konkan region. Aurangzeb conquered the Bijapur
state in 1686 and brought the Kutubshahi ofGolkonda under its dominance in
1687. After this, Badshah diverted his entire attentionto destroy Sambaji Raje. Sambaji Raje had to battle with
Aurangzeb at various places and also defeatedhis brave soldiers on various occasions.On February
1, 1689, Sambhaji
Maharaj and Kavi
Kalash had to
halt atSangameshwar on
their way from
Khelna to Rajgad.
The espionages of
MukarramKhan, a
sardar of Aurangzeb
received this news.
Mukarrab Khan attacked
onSambhaji’s army which included
only 300 soldiers. Despite, stiff resistance, the braveMarathas could not stand the huge
army of Khan. Sambhaji Maharaj, Kavi Kalash and 25 others were arrested.33
At this time, Aurangzeb was at
Akluj, and was very enthralled with the news ofarrest of Sambhaji. Bendre writes,
- “Sambhaji, after
a sudden and
unimaginable arrest waspresented before
the emperor. Aurangzeb
had never been
confronted with such
anenemy in
his entire life.
He thought that
the God had
assigned the task
to eradicatesuch an
enemy on him.
He was very
happy with this
arrest. It was
a very unusualexperience for
Aurangzeb; he had
never met anyone
who was so
fearless despitestanding in
front of the
gallows.
This signifies the
long term impact
of the politicalpolicies of Sambhaji
Maharaj. Aurangzeb meted
severe torture on Sambhaji; he was paraded
on the streets.Still, Sambhaji did not lose his
self respect. On February 15, 1689 night, Sambhaji’s wasblinded. Next
day, Kavi Kalash’s
tounge was cut
down. The clergies,
Amir, Umraosappealed the Badshah to award him
a capital punishment. Sambhaji Maharaj and KaviKalash were killed at Koregaon on
March 11, 1689 with a sword. In the entire career as a ruler,
Sambhaji Maharaj has not lost an inch of land. He had given stiff resistance to
Emperor Aurangzeb and also conquered the territories ofPortuguese, British and Siddhis,
but met a tragic end. His astonishing and adventurouslife has become successful with
the sacrifice he made at the end of his life. Historians on the ability of
Sambhaji expresses that : Dr. Khaberekar
– ‘Endangering his
own life, Sambhaji
Maharaj maintained thesecurity of the Maratha empire
for almost nine years and gave a stiff resistance to the Mughal attack. His righteous
personality, this favourite King of the Ryot, Shivputra has left an
impression on the
history of Marathas.
Despite severe torture,
his courage,pride, strictness and
fearlessness was not diminished a bit. Sambhaji Maharaj
is often referred
to be a
pleasure loving person.
But, whiledoing the expansion of the
Swarajya, it was not the situation when he would have gottime for pleasures. He chose
death bravely than a humiliating life. If he would not havebeen a
man of self
respect, he would
have accepted the
prominence of the
MughalEmpire and lived a luxurious
life. He fulfilled
the losses incurred
on the Maratha
Empire with his
deeds by laid down his
life. After the
death of Sambhaji,
the Maratha sardars
got alert and accomplished every task with
great understanding and seriousness.
1.2.2.6 Chatrapati Rajaram
Maharaj :
Chatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj had two
sons, elder Sambhaji
and the younger Rajaram. Rajaram
was born to
Matoshree Soyarabai on
February 24, 1670.
Jedhe Shakavali Falgun
Shudh 25, Shake
1591 (February 24,
1670).
Chatrapati Rajaram
was calmed natured and had every
quality needed for an efficient ruler. Rajaram was only five years old
when is grandmother Jijabai died. Hence, he did not got the opportunity to get
educationally nurtured like that of Sambhaji. But, he was brought up under the guidance of
Sambhaji’s wife Yesubai. After the sudden death of Shivaji Maharaj, Soyarabai tried to
get the throne to her son
Rajaram instead of
Sambhaji, but could
not fulfil her
plans. The Senapati
of Shivaji Maharaj
Hambirrao Mohite helped
Sambaji Maharaj to
foil the plans
of Soyarabai. Later, Sambhaji
Maharaj proclaimed himself the Chatrapati.
The news
of arrest of
Sambhaji Maharaj by
the Mughal soldiers
reached Raigadh. At that time, the
capital of the Swaraj was Raigadh and Rajaram was under house arrest of Sambhaji here.
Rajaram was later released by the Shiledar of Raigad Yesaji Kank on Mag Amavasya
(February 9, 1689) and was coronated as Chatrapti in Falgun Shudha
Trutiya. Sambhaji Maharaj
was alive at
that time and
was later
murdered on March 11, 1689. Nanaji More
and Warkad, who
were arrested by
Sambhaji Maharaj were released by
Rajaram and were
assigned their responsibilities. Rajaram
took all the
control of the administration in
his own hand.
Later, Coronation
of Rajaram was
held. At this
time, the major
enemy of the Maratha Empire was Aurangzeb. He
adopted the long impacting policy of establishing cordial relations
with the Samants,
Sardar and other
officials who had
enmity with Aurangzeb. During this
period, Julfikar Khan
entangled Raigarh on
Marc 25, 1689.
At that time Rajaram, Rani Yesubai and
Rajkumar Shahu were at Raigadh with other people. A meeting was held in
which Yesubai, Rajaram and
the officials participated to find the solution of this difficult
situation. Yesubai advised that that the Chatrapati Rajaram and the minister should get out of
the fort and make plans to fight the Mughals. It was also decided that prince Shahu should
remain at Raigadh. At the end Rajaram on April 5, 1689, with minister Ramchandra
Amatya, Pralhad Niraji, Shankarji Narayan and other sardars left Raigadh and reached
Pratapgadh.
Rajaram did
not stayed at
Pratapgadh for a
long time and
proceeded towards Panhalagadh. He sent letters to
all the Killedars to be alert and be prepared to face the Mughal invasion.
However, the Mughal
army chased Rajaram
wherever he went. Several forts of the Maratha
Empire were lost to the Mughals.
After Vijayadashmi,
the Mughal Army
geraoed the Phanhala
fort. Rajaram discussed this difficult
situation with is ministers. He gave the responsibility of the Koti fort to is secretary Shankaraji
Narayan and the responsibility of Swarajya to Ramcandra Pant. During
this period, Ramchandra
Pant was honoured
with the epithet
‘Hukumatanha’. Rajaram left Panhalagarh
on November 15, 1689 and proceeded towards Jinjifort. He reached Jinji fort on November 6, 1689.Pralhad Niraji
and Khando Ballal
fought bravely with
the Mughals and
tookRajaram Maharaj
and his belongings
to the Jinji
fort. Jinji became
the capital of theMaratha empire.
From here directives
to remain alert
were issued to
all the Marathasardars. Rajaram
appointed the Ashta pradhans ere to regularized
the disintegrated
Maratha empire
and to combat
the Mughal army.
Rajaram acquired the
title ofChatrapati and
issued the royal
symbols.
His entire life
spent reverting the
attacksfrom Mughals and escaping their
chase. Whichever fort he went, the Mughal army wasafter him.
This exhaustive routine
was relived only
when he reached
Jinji. Here, theMarathas established their
capital at the centre of Karnataka. Appointing new officers torecover the
revenue, created thanas,
security of the
forts, arrange new
forts and itssecurity, to
get the assistance
from the Hindu
Nayaks of Karnataka
to fight againstMughals, administration and
to collect recourses
and money to
combat the hugeMughal army, all these plans were
executed from Jinji.
Rajaram Maharaj
did not had
resources and money.
He appealed the
Hindukings in the service of the
Mughals to join the task of Swaraj. Aurangzeb had initiated apolicy to award Vatandari and
Mansabdari to the Maratha sardar to get them into theservice of the Mughal empire.
Taking advantage of the treaty with Aurangzeb, RajaramMaharaj started
granted Vatandari and
Mansabdari to the
Marata Sardars. On thecontrary, he
had no choice
and it was
the need of the hour
to grant Vatandari
andMansabdari to the sardars to
retain them in the Maratha Empire. The work done by theMaratha sardars Santaji and
Dhanaji during this period provided stability to the MarathaEmpire a stability for quite some
time. These two
Sardars had created
terror among the
Mughal camps and
theincidents of their campaign are
even remembered today, the references of their braveryare obtained from the historical
account of a historian from Persia. Altough, the
contribution of these
great Senapatis of
the Maratha power
ismeagrely accounted in the
history, their attribution could not be ignored. Whenever, these two
Sardars confronted with
the Mughal army,
they defeated the army, killed or arrested the
soldiers and destroyed their resources. They had such a great terror on the enemy that no
Mughal sardar dared to initiate an expedition against them.
Hence, Santaji and Danaji have proved themselves immortal in the
history ofMaharashtra. Aurangzeb sent
his able courter
Julfikar Khan with
other sardars to
Jinji inKarnataka to arrest Rajaram
Maharaj. Julfikar Khan entangled the strong fort of Jinji foralmost seven
years. At last,
Rajaram Maharaj on
December 26, 1696
escaped fromJinji. The initial period, he
spent at Vellore fort in Karnataka. Here Rajasbai, Tarabai,Sivaji Raje (son of Tarabai) met
him after a long period. He left Vellore with his convoy
in 1698 and reached Panhalagad
via Kopal and Bhudargad route during the last weekof March.
He later proceeded to Vishalgarh. After a brief stay of some months
at Vishalgar, he moved towards Satara fort asSatara was
the ideal place
to keep a
watch on the
activities of the Emperor.
On the
other side,
emperor was restless
as he could
not arrest Rajaram
Maharaj despiteseveral attempts.
He thought that
his generals have
become lethargic and
are nottaking serious efforts to get rid
of Rajaram. Hence, he took the expedition under his owncontrol.
He planned to
conqured the forts
which were under
the dominance ofMarathas. In the initial phase of 1699,
Rajaram Maharaj visited Konkant to see the securityof all his forts. He then planed
to lodged a campaign to conquer the forts in Khandeshand Varhad. After these
exhaustive activities, Rajaram Maharaj came to Sinhagadh.38,but with terrible fever. He used
to omit blood due to some heart disease. His condition deterioriated and he died due to
this diseases on Phalgun 9 (12-3-1700). At that time,his two sons and two wives were
at Panhalagadh. One of his wife Ambikabai, who wasat Vishalgadh opted to go for
Sati.
After the death of Sambhaji
Maharaj, Rajaram Maharaj looked after te Marathaempire. He battled with Aurangzeb
on two occasion, in which he emerged victorious. Hewas never gready for the power.
He had not even done his coronation. A man of selfrespect, he selflessly without
pride shouldered the responsibilities of the Swarajya. Afterascending the
throne, he led a tiresome
life running from
the Mughal attacks.
Whilerunning from one fort to the
other he provided security to the Maratha Empire. Evaluating the
work of Rajaram
Maharaj, Historian Sardesai
mentiones, – “thetenure of Rajaram was the mine
which produced the stock of efficient people, pride forself nation,
a school for
quality education and
a stage to
showcase the bravery
and glory.
A. R. Kulkarni rightly said,
“Chatrapati Rajaram’s tenure was the deciding factorin the
entire history of
Maratas. During this
period, Chatrapati Shahu,
the leader ofSwaraj remained
ideal forever. He
will be definitely
included in the
list of great
menproduced in Maharashtra.
1.2.2.7 Maharani Tarabai :
Maharani Tarabai
was independent and
freedom seeking person.
She hadinherent the independence and
bravery from her father. She had received the glorioustradition of bravery from her
parental home. Tarabai was born in 1675. The period frombirth to marriage of almost
10 years
was full of political turmoil and moving from oneplace to other. In around 1684-85, Tarabai was
married to Rajaram Maharaj.
After the death ofRajaram, the responsibility of
the Swaraj fell on Tarabai. She had started participating in
the military
campaigns and look
after the administration at
the time when
RajaramMaharaj was alive.
Tarabai organised the coronation
ceremony of her son Shivaji Raja at Vishalgadhin 1701.
She herself said
in a charter
issued in 1703,
“This king has
ascended thethrone at Vishalgadh. The master
has done many adventurous work of bravery for theextension of
the empire.
This implies that
the Coronation of
Shivaji Maharaj II washeld. During this period, Tarabai got
control of the entire administration of the Swaraj, which was
proved from the
contemporary documents available.
She not only
looked after the administration but also
led the military, planned conquests and executed them efficiently. Pertaining the work of Tarabai,
Khafi Khan says, “Rajaram wife Tarabai placed
her three
year old son on the
throne. She took
all the control of
the Swarajya in her hands. The
appointment of Sardars,
their transfers, various
activities of the administration, attack
on Badshahi provinces,
all these task
were commenced with technically planned manner by
her. She managed to attract the Maratha sardars to the Swaraya with her wits, intellect
and presence of mind. He political understanding can be evaluated while
studying the then
administration system. She
made six Subhes
in
Deccan and extended the
boundaries till Siraj, Mandasore and Malawa. On the other hand, Emperor
Aurangzeb spent most
of his life
in war planning
and conquering the forts. His life was spent
fighting the Marathas, but the strength and mutiny of Marathas increase with the passage of
time.
Many important events occurred
during the period of 1700 to 1707 in the history of Marathas.
During this period
full of discontent
and turmoil, the
king of Marathas (Chatrapati) was only three years
old.
Tarabai adopted
the policy of
struggle with the
enemy under these
difficult conditions. The situation was not
favourable for the patriotic Marathas who were fighting for their existence and freedom.
They even did not had the leader like Shivaji Maharaj, who set
an example for
the Marathas with
his character and
bravery. Still, these Maratha sardars
selflessly initiated the
struggle against the
tyranny of Aurangzeb inflicted on the countrymen.
Aurangzeb had captured
Satara, Panhala, Vishalgadh
along with the
strongest Sinhagad, Rajgadh and Torana.
Although, Aurangzeb set his policy to conquer each of the forts of Marathas, the
Marathas used to reinstate their authorities on the fort again, once the
emperor left the
fort. Manuchi observes ,
“Marathas were very
clever. They used to let the Mughals conquer
the forts after a long time of their entanglement to the forts and then they used to
conquer it again when the Mughals collect the resources at
the forts. Despite this, the
emperor had never given up his ambition to conquer the forts of Marathas.
Tarabai, being
a woman would
have lived a
luxurious life and
without actually participating in
the wars, she
would have issued
orders to her
Sardars sitting on the throne. However, she used to
involve herself personally in every activity. She used to visit every
fort and personally
inspected the security
aspects of the
fort, issued necessary directive to the Killedars
and keeping watch on every activity of the Badshah, designed her
war plans. She
had even appointed
additional Pradhans to
run the administration in more efficient
way. Varioius Maratha
Sardars had played
vital role in
the war of
Independence. Dhanaji Jadhav on every front,
defeated Aurangzeb’s officers. Munuchi describing the
situations of the year 1704, “
The Maratha Sardars and their army, both used to wander with great
confidence. One of the reason
behind this was
the sense of
superiority amongst the
Marathas with respect
to the Mughal
Sardars and army.
The guns, ammunition, arms and weapons
earlier possessed by the Mughal army were now with the Maratha army too. In brief, the lightening fastness which the
Mughal army had, the Maratha army proved much faster than them.
Aurangzeb used
to be very
sad when he
could not conquer
the Marathas. He was very worried about the rising
power of Marathas. He used to think that if, he would return to Delhi, the Marathas
will get more powerful and even conquer the entire Mughal empire. In this tremendous
pressure and worry, Aurangzeb finally died. A
couple of months
before the death
of Aurangzeb, the
Marathas had
established their dominance on
Sinhagadh, Purandar, Panhalgadh, Satara and Parli.
In this conquest of Marathas,
Tarabai had also shown tremendous bravery and moulded several Maratha sardars.
The silent feature of this war of Independence was the Gorilla war tactics, adopted
by the Marathas, which was never understood by theMughals. Tarabai, despite being a
widow in his youth at the age of just 25 years, raise asuccessful struggle against the
most experience emperor Aurangzeb for almost seven
years. In
the battle with
the Mughal army,
she has never
faced a defeat.
This canexplain the
intellect, potential, staunchness
and political awareness
of MaharaniTarabai. The contemporary Marath poet
Govind refers her commitment and work as,
(Seeing the bravery of the
Maharani Tarabai, the Bhadrakali, the empire of Delhi tarted to
lose hopes. Whereas
she looks upon,
the Emperor of
Delhi started to getdemoralized and even the Qurans
started deteriorated. Like the wars of Ramayana, theMughals will now have to face the
defeat)Dr. Sovani
says, “In the
seven years of
battle, Tarabai united
all the MarathaSardars and
executed several tasks
through the Amatya,
representatives and otherswhich had kept the Maratha Sword
shine forever. There would be hardly any personalityin the Maratha history who would
match the stature of Maharani Tarabai.
After the
death of Aurangzeb,
Azzam Shah released
Shahu from theimprisonment. After
coming in the
Swaraj, in an
internal conflict between
Shahu andMaharani Tarabai, Shahu emerged
victorious. The details about this will be seen in thefurther study. We will take an account of the
social, economic, religious and cultural situationsof the
period between 1630
and 1707. In this
study, we will
study the period
startingfrom Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
to Tarabai and the period of Aurangzeb expedition andthe later
situation and transformation impact
on Maharashtra will be
discussed in thefurther course of study.
1.3 Situation of the surroundings
of Maharashtra :
1.3.1 Social situation:
It is
very important to
understand various social
aspects like caste,
Vatan(province), rituals and
traditions in various eras in the Indian History. These aspects arethe major units which provide
stability to the contemporary social situation. We have toconsider all these elements. In the contemporary Maharashtra, there
prevailed severalcastes, hence, caste was the most
important aspect of this era. An impact created by
the caste on any
person was very important in view
of his family. This was the mostimportant element to keep the
family intact and combined its members. The tradition ofcombined family
system prevailed in
India from time
immemorial. Due to tremendousdominance of caste on the
society, marriages even in the sub-castes were prohibited.The impact was so that even the
transactions with the other castes were barred in thecontemporary society
or liable for
the punishment from
the caste institution
or thegovernment. There was tremendous
impact of the caste system on the society. Similarly, the
tradition of Sati
also prevailed extensively
in the society.
Thistradition was
prevalent in the
contemporary Brahmin, Maratha
and other Sardarscommunities. During this era, we
could see that not only wife, but also the concubinesand maids
used to jump
in the funeral
pyre of their
masters.
This Sati system
anddowry system
was more prevalent
in the upper
strata of the
society. In some
communities, the father of bridge
used to get lucrative sum from the father of the groomduring marriage. This means that
girl was purchased for marriage.
Superstitions had major
domination in the society. The people used to think thatdiseases like cholera, smallpox,
plague were caused due to the
anger of their villagedeity. The people used to conduct
special rituals giving donations of money and animalsto the priests to get rid of
these epidemics. An annual fair was organised in the name ofGoddess Kadak
Laxmi, considered to be the
Goddess of Smallpox,
and collectiveprayers used
to perform to
protect the society
from her anger.
We find several
such
examples prevalent in the
contemporary society during this medieval era.
In Maharashtra, Bahiroba or
Bharav, Mashoba, Khandoba, Durga, Bhawani, Shivwere the major village deities
along with the most popular public deities were Vithoba ofPandharpur, Bhavanimata of
Tuljapur, Mahalaxmi of Kolhapur and others. These deitieshad the
greater impact on all the
communities right from
the Brahmins to
the lowercaste people. In the rural economy, every
village unit was important and the head of the villagewas called
‘Patil’. Under the
Alutedari system, the
Patil used to
hire voluntary labourfrom the people of Mahar, Mang,
Karagir and other castes.Under Alutedari
and Balutedari systems,
the rural economy
was maintained throughbarter system.
Similarly, the (Wethbigari)
bounded labour system
was also existedextensively in
the society which
was the forced
labour from the
people of the
lowercastes. This system was
deep rooted in
the Saranjamshahi provinces.
The people oflower castes
were given meagre
monetary benefits in
this system in
lieu of physical
labour.
These labours were
inflicted several atrocities
by the upper
caste people.Despite extensive
division in the
society, Chatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj had deployedpeople of
every caste in his army.
The people of
Charwaha (Shepherds), Gujrathi,Dhangar, Farmers, Katkari
(weavers), Ramoshi, land labours and others were includedin the
army. They were
imparted rigorous military
trainings, enhancing their
desire tostruggle and show bravery in the
battlefields. With this reference,
Jaisinghrao Gaikwadsays, “Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
had used people of every caste effectively in the taskof Swaraj
establishment and preservation.
Shivaji Maharaj instead
of considering thecaste factor used to give
importance to the qualities and talents of the people. Due thispolicy, we
find brave soldiers
from the Shudra
(lower caste communities
executingseveral important expeditions for
the Swaraj.
The then existing rural economy
was economically self sufficient and had unityand organisational co-ordination
amongst the villagers.
The villages had
their ownadministration system
to look after
the needs of
the villagers. The
unit of the
villageinclude the people of various
social groups at various strata. The administration in therural areas was unified and
systematic. The distance from one village to another was
huge, which
provided organisational unity
to the villages.
Every village had the
sameadministrative situation.Chatrapati Sambhaji
Maharaj continued the
administrative system started
byChatrapti Shivaji in the Swaraj.
He never interfered in the administration of the villagesand the
society. He implemented
the policy of
equality with everyone
and treatedeveryone with equality and equal
justice. Historian G. S. Sardesai says in this regard,“There are
several documents available
referring the judiciary
system and
administration of the Swaraj. He
used administered justice without any distinction andpartiality.45 This implies his
selfless devotion towards the Swaraj activities. He used toinquire everyone
with the same
affection and discuss
the major issues
with hissubordinates and
used to make plans of the administration along with his friend KaviKalash.
Many such instances are referred in the
contemporary official documents. Likehis father
Shivaji, Sambhaji Maharaj
continued the work
of granting awards
andmonetary benefits to the
Ryot. Tarabai also
executive the administration of
the Swaraj with
staunchness andaffectionately is cleared form
several available documents. In her administration therewere provisions
to curb the
atrocities against the
Mathadhipati, Vatandar, Sardars
toeven the common lot. ‘Vatan’
(Land) has distinct
meaning in the
contemporary era. The
originalinhabitants of
the village were
relieved of the
paying revenue. These
people wereassigned the responsibility to
maintain co-ordination in the villages. These people had toadopt professions according to
the their castes and also gained social status as per thecaste. This agricultural system
was called Vatandari.
During the Maratha dominance,every person had to abide to the
profession according to the caste. He was not allowedto do the work not assigned to
his caste. Every caste has some or the other restrictions.Chatrapati Shahu
Maharaj continued this
traditional social system
and did not
try tobring innovative changes in this
system. He used to think, ‘Old should not be destroyedand news should not be
created’.
1.3.2 Economic condition :
The major source of earning for a
person in this era was agriculture. Most of thepeople were
dependent on farming.
For gaining more revenue from
the agriculture,Shivaji Maharaj
introduced new land
measuring system and
assigned the task
ofmaintaining and measuring the
farmland to his minister Annaji Datto. The revenue wascollected in kind and not
cash. The farmers had to pay 33 per
cent of the entire produce as revenue to the state.Apart from
agriculture, the state
has other means
of revenue including
the Cungi(octroi), excise, fine and forest
resources.
Before Shivaji Maharaj, the previous rulers,the Bahamani
emperors had only
one policy to
expand their empire
in this Marathacountry. They never adopted the
policy to encourage investments or agriculture in theirconquered areas. In the
contemporary official documents,
the farmers have
been referred to asKunbi, Mujari, Ray and Ryot.
Shivaji Maharaj encouraged the Ryot to cut the Junglesand utilize the land for farming
in his state. To encourage farming in the state, ShivajiMaharaj provided, cattle, oxen,
farming equipments and other assistance to the farmers. Shivaji Maharaj
conquered whatever territories
were brought in
the main stream
bypreferring agriculture
there. His policy
include, 1) to
convert infertile lands
into fertilelands, 2)
to measure all
the land of
the prvince and
fix the revenue
for it, and 3)providing security to the farm
produce and the Ryot. The routine administration terms
like ‘Lavani’,
Sanchayi, Ugawani, Thakbandi,
Takbandi, Jamabandi were
frequentlyused. Generally, the tax was
fixe+d for a year. On this basis, the revenue of the statewas fixed.
Noted historian Jervis
says about the
revenue system of
the Marathas,“Shivaji Maharaj has fixed the
revenue to half of the income of the land (Batai) which isthe 50 per cent of the produce,
however, he never recover that much kind. The land inpossession was measured in the
unit of Bigha and the revenue was fixed on that basis.Shivaji Maharaj had issued the
orders not to collect the revenue in cash but in kind.
There were several people
assigned with the responsibilities to cater the need ofthe villages.
In lieu of
their services, they
were provided the
annual return in
kind ofcrop. Accordingly, the daily
needs of every person were fulfilled. This system of returnwas called ‘Baluta’ system.
There were several artisans in the village
from whom dailyneed articles
were manufactured. These
articles include the
agriculture equipments,household articles and others.
These artisans used to manufacture articles of highestquality during the era of
Marathas. Their profession was on the verge of developmentwhich produced
excellent quality of cloth, shela
pagota (turban), jewellery
and other
artefacts. In the same period,
the people in the western coasts ‘Konkan’ were engagedin the
professions like salt
manufacturing, ship manufacturing, soaked
fish, mango,cashew nuts, wooden artefacts,
coconut rope and other occupations. During the
period of Shivaji
Maharaj the commercial
situation was stable.
Thecommercial activities initiated
during the period of were continued with same stability tillthe era of Peshwas. During the period of Marathas, the trade were
linked with the otherstates. According to the
agreements made with the British during the period of ShivajiMaharaj and
Sambhaji Maharaj, chiungi
(octroi) was recovered
from the British
onexport and import transactions.
The policy of imposing octroi on British started from theperiod of
Shivaji Maharaj continued
during the entire
Maratha empire tenure.
In thisperiod, the
British were involved
in the Slave
trade. Shivaji Maharaj
imposed three
pagodas as tax on the sale of
each slave. These activities helped the Maratha Empireto enhance the revenue of the
state. Later, Sambhaji Maharaj increased the tax fromthree pagodas to
12 pagodas on the
sale
of each slave. This
not only increased therevenue in
the state treasure,
but also put
restriction on this
inhuman trade to
someextent.
Efforts were taken in the later period to stop
the slave trade completely. During this
period, the weekly
markets were held
at the major
villages. In themarkets, transactions
of cloths, coconuts,
cheese, betel leaves,
betel nuts, fruits,vegetables, meat, fish and
others. Crops were also sold extensively in the markets. Thepeople from the nearby villages
used to visit these villages to purchase articles of their
need. During the
period of Shivaji
Maharaj, the commercial
centers like Kalyan,Bhivandi, Rajapur,
Dabhol, Vengurla, Pen
and others were
on the verge
ofdevelopment. The commercial
activities were at the peak at these commercial centres.The harbours were also developed
to carry the inter-country trades from here. Kanetkar says
about the fiscal
policy of Shivaji
Maharaj, “He never
imposedheavy taxes on the Ryot. There
was a systematic system to measure the land (Ginati),to fix
the tax (Sara)
and collect it
to the government
treasury. He collected
theexpenditure of his coronation
from the Vatandars and looting the Mughal treasury andthe traders.
He attacked Surat
on two occasions,
but he looted
only the governmenttreasury and the traders. On the
contrary, it was an instant reaction to the actions of the
emperor, who demoslished the
Vishwanath temple at Kashi and imposed Jaziya on theHindus.
he also used
to help the
people by compensating
them during naturalcalamities, scarcity of essential
commodities, droughts, losses due to military expeditionand famines. During the period between 1680
and 1707, the economic conditions were reliedon various aspects. The most
important of which was the agriculture. It was the mostimportant source
of income. Apart,
there were several
trades and businesses.
Inter-nation trade was also the source
of income and many trade centers and harbours were
established for the development
of the trade.
1.3.3 Religious Situation:
People of this era had strong
belief in god and were very religious. People usedto worship several Gods and
Goddess. Later, a large scale conversion took place in theMuslim states. The era of
turmoil began when
the religious sentiments
of the Hinduswere hurt, cows were slaughtered,
Brahmins were tortured, and the idols of the Godsand the Goddesses were
destroyed. Saints and God men belonging
either to Hindu or Muslim religion were reveredby everyone.
They were considered
as the symbol
of the character.
People had thebelief that they were sent on the
earth by the God and were conferred special powers to
them. Saints were looked upon as
a Guide by everyone. The successors of the Hindu orMuslim Saints also received the
same respect from the society. Charity was given to thetemples, mosques, Mathas or
Samadhis. Aurangzeb inflicted several
hardships on Hindus. The lives of Hindus were full ofturmoil and
struggle during the
tenure of Aurangzeb.
Restrictions were imposed
onHindus on social transactions,
organisation, festivals and other activities for degradingtheir beliefs. They were banned
to posseses property so that they would be discouragedto led a successful and
prosperous life.
In Maharashtra, Warkari sect
flourished during this era of turmoil. Lord Vithoba ofPandharpura was
the source which
unified the followers
of this sect.
A fair wasorganised at Pandharpura every
year. These Warkaris used to come here from everynook and
corners of the
state to pay
obeisance to Lord
Vithalla. The journey
toPandharpur was known as Wari and
hence the followers were called Warkaris (literallymeans one who visits Pandharpura
on several occasions). This sect played a vital rolein providing unity and oneness
amongst the people of Maharashtra.
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj can be
also evaluated as the religious leader of theHindus. He had immense belief in
the Hindu religion. He used to believe that the religionis an entity which has the moral
responsibility of welfare of every living being. ShivajiMaharaj adopted a tolerant and
secular policy towards the Muslims. He never ignoredthe dignity
and respect of any person
and never tortured
anyone owing to
religious
distinction. Shivaji Maharaj was nurtured in a
religious atmosphere where he was taught toimplement the
policy of tolerance
towards, all religion,
sects, saints following
anybeliefs. This
implies the strongest
religious character of
Chatrpati Shivaji. He hadappointed Siddhi Hilal Khan in
his army as the senior officer. The responsibility of hishorses was
shouldered by Jahangiri.
In his conduct,
it was never
seen a sense
ofdistinctions while treating with
the Muslims. He always tried to maintain co-ordination,peace and affection amongst
Hindus and Muslims. He shed the narrow mindedness ofthe Hindus and Muslims and
utilized their talents for the welfare of Swaraj. Persons likeBalaji Nimbalkar
and Netaji Palkar
who had accepted
Islam were reconverted
inHinduism with the permission of
Matoshri Jijabai. The Bhosale
Dynasty paid immense
respect and reverence
to the Gods,Goddesses and Godmen. The successors of Shivaji Maharaj continued his polices ofdonating land and property.
Tarabai also continued this policy of granting Inams to thereligious places.
She continued the
policy of giving
donations and security
to thereligious places and also to
renew the letters of grants which had been terminated. Thedocuments in this regard are
available today. The Bhavani
Goddess of Tuljapur
was the deity
revered by Chatrapati
ShahuMaharaj (Aradhya
Daivat). Tarabai during
her tenure, granted
th Aalanapur village
ingrant to this religious
place. In a
letter written to
the Deshadikari of
Parade on October
8, 1700, she says,“Shri Tukai,
Tuljapur is a
revered deity. The
devotees have informed
that there thedonations of
copper are not
accepted, Hence it
has been decided
to continue theappropriate ritual
to pay obeisance
to the deity.51
For which Mauja
Alnapur, Kulbab,Kulkanu, Hallipatti
and Pesterpatii have
been granted to
this religious place.
The
revenue generated
from these villages
should be utilized
in the development
andwelfare of this pilgrim village.
During continuous war and turmoil
situations, people would seek time for socialawareness and
entertainment. Artists like
Powada singers, Kirtankars,
Gondhali,Tamsgirs and others used to
entertain the people. Through, Powadas, eulogies of thebravery of the Maratha Kings and
Sardars were depicted, Lavanis used to highlight thesocial rituals and traditions of
this period.The Powada
singers had got
the public patronage,
the Powadas were
theeffective means
to arose patriotism
amongst the masses.
The events of
history weredescribed in the songs. Today,
also the Powadas describing the events of history areavailable which
depicts the instances
of Dattaji Jadhav,
massacre of Afzal
Khan,bravery of Tanaji, Baji Palaskar
and others. Describing the works of Shivaji
Maharaj, Tulsidas in a powada says,
This also implies that Shivaji
Maharaj used to respect the talented persons andgive due reward to that person.
The major objective of Shivaji Maharaj was to preservethe ancient Hindu culture and to
establish an independent Hindu State. His successorsalso assimilated the similar
policies during their governance.
1.3.4 Cultural situations:
At the advent of the 18th century, the cultural situations in various fields
remainedunchanged. There was degration to
certain extent, but the traditionalism had the majordomination. After
the declaine of the Mughals,
there was no
patronage for Art
andliterature. Maratha Empire, which
was predominant after the Mughal Empire was alsoengaged in continuous series of
wars and internal struggle. Very little attention was paidtowards the development of the
cultural field during this era which led to the degradationof the
cultural field. The
educational systems of
either Hindus or
Muslims were notprogressive, due to which it
lacked behind as compared to the western culture. Hence,the Imperial
western powers established
in various parts
of the country
includingGujarat, Konkan, Kerala, Orissa
and Bengal could not leave any substantial impressionon the local people in regards of
knowledge and technology. In the 18th century, there was a collecting studying
system in the local schools. Inthe Hindu communities, the
primary education was taught in local language while thehigher education would commenced
in Sanskrit Language. In Muslim society, the medium of
education was Persian language. The syllabus wasplanned considering
to the benefits
of the people
engaged in the
contemporarybusiness, trade and
agriculture. The education system in the 18th century was based on the ritualism,
traditionaland communal without any
innovative ideas.
After the decline of the Mughal
Empire, the artists who used to get the patronagehere had started taking refuge
with the local rulers. Here they developed their Art underthe patronage of the local
kings.
During this phase, the field of
Art received recognition under the local patronage.This led
to the development
of Kangda, Rajput
paintings and especially
the Naidwarstyle of painting in Bikaner
province. In Maratha
Shahi, the unique
of style of
painting developed continuing
the old technique and tradition of the
field of painting.
1.4 An analysis of Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj’s
devotion towards Arts:
Before the
release of Shahu
Maharaj from the
Mughal captivity, it
can be evaluate that the contemporaty
situations were favourable for the rise of the local rulers.This situation
has been clearly
mentioned in the
contemporary documents. It
is veryimportant to
study the then
situation, background etc
while studying the
advent ofChatrapati Shahu in the Maratha
Empire. Prof. Rainier observes that –
“Events and analysing system are an effective toolsof the experts. Historians and
their systems of study can be unanimously looked uponas a branch of historiography.
Three events seems to be important while studying theadvent of Shahu Maharaj in the
Maratha Empire. 1) Mughal
Empire was deteriorated
after the death
of Aurangzeb and
it desperately needed the
friendly approach from
the Maratha Empire.
Shahu Maharaj was
the righteous heir
of the Maratha
empire as per
the lineage. Shahu
Maharaj not only provided support to the Peshwa
and Maratha sardars to expand the boundaries of the Maratha empire in the North but
also guided them in the task. This helped the Marathas to establish their supremacy in
the states of Badoda, Ujjain and Indore. 2) Chatrapati Shahu was benefitted with the
chaotic situation in the Northern India due to which he could expand his
boundaries keeping a close eye on the political situations in North.
***
