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Sunday, September 25, 2016

Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj Bhonsle

CHATTRAPATHI SHIVAJI RAJE BHONSLE
Date of Birth: 19th February, 1630 and Date of Death: 3rd April, 1680
Chattrapathi Sivaji Raje Bhonsle (19th February, 1630 – 3rd April, 1680), with the royal title Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was a Maratha aristocrat of the Bhonsle clan who founded the Maratha empire.  Shivaji led a resistance to free the Maratha kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur, and establish Hindari Swarajya (“self-rule of Hindu people”).  He created an independent Maratha kingdom with Vedant Raigad as its capital, and successfully fought against the Mughal to defend his kingdom.  He was crowned as Chattrapati (“sovereign”) of the Maratha kingdom in 1674.

He achieved the re-establishment of Hindu rule in the region after being ruled and dominated by various foreign Muslim dynasties for several hundred years.  He established a competent and progressive civil rule with the help of a well-regulated and disciplined military and well-structured administrative organisation.  The prevalent practices of treating women as spoils of war, destruction of religious monuments, slavery and forceful religious conversions were firmly opposed under his administration.  Shivaji was a religious Hindu.  He also innovated rules of military engagement, pioneering the “Shiva sutra” or ganimi kava (guerrilla tactics), which leveraged strategic factors like geography, speed, surprise and focused pinpoint attacks to defeat his larger and more powerful enemies and built many sea-forts.

Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri, near the Junnar city in Pune district.  While his mother Jijabai was pregnant, she had prayed to the local deity Shivai for blessings for her expected child.  Shivaji was named after this local deity.

Shivaji’s father Shahaji Bhonsle served alongside Malik Ambar, who defended the Deccan region against the Mughals.  His mother Jijabai was the daughter of Lakhujirao Jadhav of Sindkhed.

Shivaji was extremely devoted to his mother Jijabai, who was deeply religious.  This religious environment had a profound influence on Shivaji, and he carefully studied the two great Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata.  The morality and spiritual messages of the epics made a great impression on him.  Throughout his life he was deeply interested in religious teachings, and sought the company of Hindu and Sufi (an esoteric Muslim sect) saints throughtu his life.

In 1645, at the age of 16, Shivaji carried out his first military action by attacking and capturing Torna Fort of the Bijapur kingdom.  By 1647 he had captured Kondana and Rajgad forts and had control of much of the southern Pune region.  By 1654 Shivaji had captured forts in the Western Ghats and along the Konkan coast.  In a bid to contain Shivaji, Adilshan imprisoned Shivaji’s father in 1648-49 and sent an army led by Farradkhan against Shahji’s other son Sambhaji at Bangalore, and another army led by Fattekhan against Shivaji at Purandhar.  Both Bhonsle brothers defeated the invading armies.

Shaista Khan pressed his advantage of larger, better provisioned and heavily armed Mughal army and made inroads into some of the Maratha territory.  Although he held Pune for almost a year, he had little further success.  He had set up his residence at Lal Mahal, Shivaji’s palace, in the city of Pune.

In 1664, Shivaji invaded Surat, an important and wealthy Mughal trading city, and looted it to replenish his now depleted treasury and also as a revenge for the capture and looting of Maratha territory by Shaista Khan.  (Surat was again sacked by Shivaji in 1670).

At the end of 1676, Shivaji Maharaj launched a wave of conquests in southern India with a massive force of 50,000 (30,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry).  He captured the forts at Vellore and Jinji that belonged to the sultanate of Bijapur and are in modern-day Tamilnadu.

Shivaji is well known for his benevolent attitude towards his subjects.  He believed that there was a close bond between the state and the citizens.  He encouraged all accomplished and competent individuals to participate in the ongoing political/military struggle.  He is remembered as a just and welfare-minded king.  He brought revolutionary changes in military organisation, fort architecture, society and politics.

The organisation of Shivaji’s administration was composed of eight ministers of pradhaanas:
Peshwa:  Mukhya (main) Pradhan, next to the king, for supervising and governing under king’s orders in his absence.  The king’s orders bore the Peshwa’s seal.
Mazumdar:  An auditor to take care of income and expenditure checks, keep the king informed of finances and sign districts-level accounts.
Navis or Waqia Mantri:  To record daily activities of the royal family and to serve as master of ceremony.
Shru Navis or Sachiv:  To oversee the king’s correspondence to ensure letter and style adherence to wisehrs of the king and check accounts of palace and Parganas.
Sumant or Dabir:  For foreign affairs and to receive ambassadors.
Senapati or Sir-nobut:  To keep troops ready and the king fully informed.
Panditrao:  To promote learning, spirituality and settle religious disputes.
Nyayadhish:  The highest judicial authority.

Shivaji demonstrated great skill in creating his military organisation, which lasted till the demise of the Maratha Empire.  He was one of the pioneers of commando actions, then known as ganimi kava.  His Mavala army’s war cry was Har Har Mahadev (“Hail Lord Our God”, Har and Mahadev being common names of Shiva).  Shivaji was responsible for many significant changes in military organisation:

  • A standing army belonging to the state, called paga.
  • All war horses belonged to the state; responsibility for their upkeep rested on the Sovereign.
  • Creation of part time soldiers from peasants who worked for eight months in their fields and supported four months in war for which they were paid.
  • Highly mobile and light infantry and cavalry excelling in commando tactics.
  • The introduction of a centralised intelligence department; Bahirjee Naik was the foremost spy who provided Shivaji with enemy information in all of Shivaji’s campaigns.
  • A potent and effective navy.
  • Introduction of filed craft, such as guerrilla warfare, commando actions, and swift flanking attacks.
  • Innovation of weapons and firepower, innovative use of traditional weapons like the tiger claw (vaghnakh) and vita.
  • Militarisation of large swathes of society, across all classes, with the entire peasant population of settlements and villages near forts actively involved in their defence.

Shivaji realised the importance of having a secure coastline and protecting the western Konkan coastline from the attacks of Siddi’s fleet.  His strategy was to build a strong navy to protect and bolster his kingdom.  He was also concerned about the growing dominance of British Indian naval forces in regional waters and actively sought to resist it.  For this reason he is also referred to as the “Father of Indian Navy”.

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