What Shivaji Did

The incredible legacy of India's greatest warrior king

Hello,

Imagine you’re a young man in a small village. Your entire community is under the rule of a marauding empire that is oppressing people around you for generations.

Life is a brutal affair. You watch people all around you dying in wars, through diseases, and via religious persecution at the hands of the mighty.

For centuries, the identity of your people has been stamped out by foreign invaders. Chief amongst these oppressors is a powerful man- one who is at the helm of what is probably the world’s largest empire.

Having taken birth in such a world, what options do you have?

Maybe you can take advantage of being born into a fortunate household and reap the benefits of land ownership. You can oppress people who till your lands and live the life of a rent-seeking sloth.

Or you can continue doing what everybody does- swear loyalty to one of the reigning powers in your region and be involved in the constant feuding that’ll continue through your lifetime.

You must also keep your head low and accept your lower status. What else can you do? You’re locked into this state of affairs under the power wielded by foreign oppressors.

Most people would follow this path: the path of least resistance.

But every once in a while, we come across a personality who does the unthinkable, who ventures into terra incognita and shakes the world around him. Who breaks centuries of precedent and tears the shackles that bind his people to begin a movement whose ramifications will be felt for centuries to come.

There was one such man who took birth in 1630. His name was Shivaji Bhosale.

Painting by Akash Bhisikar

The country that he was born in was ravaged by centuries of torment. The Mughal Empire was the dominant power in the Indian subcontinent, while the Deccan was ruled by various powers- the Adil Shah, Nizam Shah, and Qutub Shah among others. Religious oppression was widespread, and Hindus were denied access to any position of power or administration. The era was a nadir for the people of the country.

It was at such a time when the morale of his people was at an all-time low, and when the mightiest force on the planet dominated his country, that a young Shivaji decided to rise up against the existing order. In doing so, he was undertaking a project of such impossibility that the matter may have seemed laughable to anyone living in that era.

Aurangzeb even dismissed Shivaji, in the early days of his campaigns, as a mere “mountain rat”. What the Mughal emperor couldn’t foresee was that this “rat” was birthing a powerful movement that would break his empire’s back and consign it to the flames in a matter of a century.

Daring to rise up against a brutal tyrant without access to many resources offers us the first glimpses of Shivaji’s unparalleled courage and bold vision.

Moreover, it shows that at a time when his people were bogged down and content with toeing the conqueror’s line, Shivaji dared to think of rebellion, of gaining back what was dearest to his people- of fighting back for swarajya and waging a righteous war.

In doing so, Chhatrapati Shivaji (henceforth CS) unleashed a campaign of subversion that would alter the country's power dynamics and bring an indigenous group back to the highest echelons of power. The fire sparked by this legendary person turned into a veritable fireball, withstanding the onslaught of the entire Mughal force, and eventually wearing it down till it died off with a whimper.

What ensued was the rise of Maratha power- which gradually took control of a large part of the Indian subcontinent- from Attock (near the Afghan border) in the north to Bengal in the east and Thanjavur in the south. The Maratha war machine had taken back, with a hefty interest, the dominions that were taken away from its people.

With his masterful actions during his reign, CS proved that he was a contrarian- a man who decided to change the course of history by choosing the road not taken. And over the course of his illustrious career, one can witness the work of a contrarian over and over again- actions that were truly unprecedented and not even thought about by his contemporaries.

While his military genius and daring campaigns deserve a separate article (or a series) altogether, the focus of this piece would be to shed light on his unconventional thinking- to show how he continually thought of ideas and implemented strategies that nobody else amongst his contemporaries or foes had the gumption to execute. Here are some significant points that show how he went against the grain and did something unprecedented:

1. Coronation: In 17th Century India, every king crowned himself sultan in the Persian way, including all the Hindu rulers. This was the impact of the Persianate age, where all customs, traditions, and even languages were colonized and deeply modified by those who had come to rule the Indian people. At such a time, CS took a sharp departure by crowning himself “Chhatrapati”, using a Sanskrit word and deviating completely from the existing tradition. His coronation ceremony followed Hindu rituals and traditions in an act that was unprecedented in those times and was a first. In fact, it was a bold signal to the Mughal Emperor. It was probably even meant to inspire many other Indian princes to rise in arms and bolster the movement for independence from the Mughal fetter.
   

2. Justice for the people: CS’s ascent to power began when the ordinary folk began noticing that he actually cared for them. One of the first instances occurred when he punished a landlord for sexually harassing a working woman. Later in his career, he carried out far-reaching administrative reforms that ended the deeply damaging Watandar system and allowed farmers to earn their keep without worrying about oppression at the hands of corrupt landlords. He even cared for the neglected Mavale people who were ignored by all because they lived in the treacherous mountains and were of little use to the political class- and it was his appreciation of their needs and interests that paid rich dividends later as the Mavale fought bravely in some of his most daring campaigns in the Konkan. There’s no better example of what people were ready to do for him than the ultimate sacrifice made by Baji Prabhu Deshpande at the Battle of Pawankhind- a rear-guard last-stand battle that was fought so the king could safely escape to his fort. In this battle, 600 Marathas successfully fought an army of 11,000 and valiantly held the line. This is India’s 300 with a slight change- the defenders were successful. It’s a pity that most Indians have no clue about this iconic battle. There’s even a movie on this, titled Pawankhind. Watch it and you’ll get goosebumps. It’s an excellent example of the things people were ready to do for their king.
   

3. Treating enemies with respect: At a time when generals were infamous for inflicting severe brutalities on their enemies and not even sparing innocent civilians, CS strictly instructed his army to leave all women and children untouched. In one of his campaigns, he even safely escorted the terrified wife of a slain enemy general back to her village. He regularly instructed his soldiers to treat surrendering enemies with dignity and to never tear or defile the Quran if they came across a copy during their campaigns. Contrast this to the stories of atrocity that his foes and contemporaries are known for, and you’ll begin to see the marks of the kind of philosopher-king Plato dreamed of.
   

4. Putting his life on the line: A typical behavior demonstrated by many kings during their darkest hour would be to back off and escape like cowards. But not this man. In campaign after campaign, CS went up against foes, personally slaying enemy generals in 1-to-1 combats, initiating daring night-time raids that’d jeopardize his own life to change his side’s fortunes, and even hatch an escape from under Aurangzeb’s nose in a plot that sounds as impossible and unimaginable as a Bollywood action film. It’s hard to identify any other warrior king in our history who showed such remarkable daring AND managed to emerge victorious.
   

5. Building a Navy: Even the Mughal Empire, leave alone other players on the block, had no naval presence and was at the mercy of the foreign powers that dominated the seas for their trade and westward expeditions. Sensing that control of the seas would grant a power tremendous economic and military leverage, CS showed incredible strategic vision by investing crores of rupees in establishing sea forts and building a navy. Even though his ships were miles behind the exquisite warships owned by the European powers, he managed to exert a dominant presence in the western waters- a process that was adroitly carried forward by the likes of Kanhoji Angrey- the great naval commander who dominated the Konkan waters and kept imperial powers at bay, often handing them humiliating defeats. No wonder the Indian Navy paid homage to the visionary by taking inspiration from his seal for their new ensign.

Chattrapati Shivaji did not just stand up for his people and wage war against tyranny. What he did was reverse a 5-century trend of foreign domination and make the people of his country realize that they weren’t a group destined for doom-that they could rise up against the largest empires in the world and rightfully take back what was theirs.

Our history textbooks do grave injustice to such heroes who valiantly defended their motherland. The onus is on us to re-educate ourselves (and our kids) and realize the legacy we have inherited- not of being choiceless bunnies but a legacy of fighting for what’s right and rising up against all odds.

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Thanks for tuning in! If you want to learn about this legend, you can read Shivaji: India’s Great Warrior King by Vaibhav Purandare and Shivaji: The Grand Rebel by Dennis Kincaid.