Shivaji

Map of Southern India c. 1605

In 1636, the Adil Shahi sultanate of Bijapur invaded the kingdoms to its south.[6] The sultanate had recently become a tributary state of the Mughal empire.[6][31] It was being helped by Shahaji, who at the time was a chieftain in the Maratha uplands of western India. Shahaji was looking for opportunities of rewards of jagir land in the conquered territories, the taxes on which he could collect as an annuity.[6]

Shahaji was a rebel from brief Mughal service. Shahaji's campaigns against the Mughals, supported by the Bijapur government, were generally unsuccessful. He was constantly pursued by the Mughal army, and Shivaji and his mother Jijabai had to move from fort to fort.[32]

In 1636, Shahaji joined in the service of Bijapur and obtained Poona as a grant. Shahaji, being deployed in Bangalore by the Bijapuri ruler Adilshah, appointed Dadoji Kondadeo as Poona's administrator. Shivaji and Jijabai settled in Poona.[33] Kondadeo died in 1647 and Shivaji took over its administration. One of his first acts directly challenged the Bijapuri government.[34]

In 1646, 16-year-old Shivaji captured the Torna Fort, taking advantage of the confusion prevailing in the Bijapur court due to the illness of Sultan Mohammed Adil Shah, and seized the large treasure he found there.[35][36] In the following two years, Shivaji took several important forts near Pune, including Purandar, Kondhana, and Chakan. He also brought areas east of Pune around Supa, Baramati, and Indapur under his direct control. He used the treasure found at Torna to build a new fort named Rajgad. That fort served as the seat of his government for over a decade.[35] After this, Shivaji turned west to the Konkan and took possession of the important town of Kalyan. The Bijapur government took note of these happenings and sought to take action. On 25 July 1648, Shahaji was imprisoned by a fellow Maratha sardar called Baji Ghorpade, under the orders of the Bijapur government, in a bid to contain Shivaji.[37]

Shahaji was released in 1649, after the capture of Jinji secured Adilshah's position in Karnataka. During 1649–1655, Shivaji paused in his conquests and quietly consolidated his gains.[38] Following his father's release, Shivaji resumed raiding, and in 1656, under controversial circumstances, killed Chandrarao More, a fellow Maratha feudatory of Bijapur, and seized the valley of Javali, near the present-day hill station of Mahabaleshwar.[39] The conquest of Javali allowed Shivaji to extend his raids into south and southwest Maharashtra. In addition to the Bhonsle and the More families, many others—including Sawant of Sawantwadi, Ghorpade of Mudhol, Nimbalkar of Phaltan, Shirke, Mane, and Mohite—also served Adilshahi of Bijapur, many with Deshmukhi rights. Shivaji adopted different strategies to subdue these powerful families, such as forming marital alliances, dealing directly with village Patils to bypass the Deshmukhs, or subduing them by force.[40] Shahaji in his later years had an ambivalent attitude to his son, and disavowed his rebellious activities.[41] He told the Bijapuris to do whatever they wanted with Shivaji. Shahaji died around 1664–1665 in a hunting accident.

An early-20th-century painting by Sawlaram Haldankar of Shivaji fighting the Bijapuri general Afzal Khan

Pratapgad fort

The Bijapur sultanate was displeased with their losses to Shivaji's forces, with their vassal Shahaji disavowing his son's actions. After a peace treaty with the Mughals, and the general acceptance of the young Ali Adil Shah II as the sultan, the Bijapur government became more stable, and turned its attention towards Shivaji.[42] In 1657, the sultan, or more likely his mother and regent, sent Afzal Khan, a veteran general, to arrest Shivaji. Before engaging him, the Bijapuri forces desecrated the Tulja Bhavani Temple, a holy site for Shivaji's family, and the Vithoba temple at Pandharpur, a major pilgrimage site for Hindus.[43][44][45]

Pursued by Bijapuri forces, Shivaji retreated to Pratapgad fort, where many of his colleagues pressed him to surrender.[46] The two forces found themselves at a stalemate, with Shivaji unable to break the siege, while Afzal Khan, having a powerful cavalry but lacking siege equipment, was unable to take the fort. After two months, Afzal Khan sent an envoy to Shivaji suggesting the two leaders meet in private, outside the fort, for negotiations.[47][48]

The two met in a hut in the foothills of Pratapgad fort on 10 November 1659. The arrangements had dictated that each come armed only with a sword, and attended by one follower. Shivaji, suspecting Afzal Khan would arrest or attack him,[49][lower-alpha 2] wore armour beneath his clothes, concealed a bagh nakh (metal "tiger claw") on his left arm, and had a dagger in his right hand.[51] What transpired is not known with historical certainty, mainly Maratha legends tell the tale; however, it is agreed that the two wound up in a physical struggle that proved fatal for Khan.[lower-alpha 3] Khan's dagger failed to pierce Shivaji's armour, but Shivaji disemboweled him; Shivaji then fired a cannon to signal his hidden troops to attack the Bijapuri army.[53]

In the ensuing Battle of Pratapgarh, Shivaji's forces decisively defeated the Bijapur Sultanate's forces. More than 3,000 soldiers of the Bijapur army were killed; and one sardar of high rank, two sons of Afzal Khan, and two Maratha chiefs were taken prisoner.[54] After the victory, a grand review was held by Shivaji below Pratapgarh. The captured enemy, both officers and men, were set free and sent back to their homes with money, food, and other gifts. Marathas were rewarded accordingly.[54]

Having defeated the Bijapuri forces sent against him, Shivaji and his army marched towards the Konkan coast and Kolhapur, seizing Panhala fort, and defeating Bijapuri forces sent against them, under Rustam Zaman and Fazl Khan, in 1659.[55] In 1660, Adilshah sent his general Siddi Jauhar to attack Shivaji's southern border, in alliance with the Mughals who planned to attack from the north. At that time, Shivaji was encamped at Panhala fort with his forces. Siddi Jauhar's army besieged Panhala in mid-1660, cutting off supply routes to the fort. During the bombardment of Panhala, Siddi Jauhar purchased grenades from the English at Rajapur, and also hired some English artillerymen to assist in his bombardment of the fort, conspicuously flying a flag used by the English. This perceived betrayal angered Shivaji, who in December would retaliate by plundering the English factory at Rajapur and capturing four of the owners, imprisoning them until mid-1663.[56]

After months of siege, Shivaji negotiated with Siddi Jauhar and handed over the fort on 22 September 1660, withdrawing to Vishalgad;[57] Shivaji would retake Panhala in 1673.[58]

Shivaji escaped from Panhala by cover of night, and as he was pursued by the enemy cavalry, his Maratha sardar Baji Prabhu Deshpande of Bandal Deshmukh, along with 300 soldiers, volunteered to fight to the death to hold back the enemy at Ghod Khind ("horse ravine") to give Shivaji and the rest of the army a chance to reach the safety of the Vishalgad fort.[59]

In the ensuing Battle of Pavan Khind, the smaller Maratha force held back the larger enemy to buy time for Shivaji to escape. Baji Prabhu Deshpande was wounded but continued to fight until he heard the sound of cannon fire from Vishalgad,[25] signalling Shivaji had safely reached the fort, on the evening of 13 July 1660.[60] Ghod Khind (khind meaning "a narrow mountain pass") was later renamed Paavan Khind ("sacred pass") in honour of Bajiprabhu Deshpande, Shibosingh Jadhav, Fuloji, and all other soldiers who fought there.[60]

A 20th century depiction of Shivaji's surprise attack on Mughal general Shaista Khan in Pune by M.V. Dhurandhar

At the request of Badi Begum of Bijapur, Aurangzeb, now the Mughal emperor, sent his maternal uncle Shaista Khan, with an army numbering over 150,000, along with a powerful artillery division, in January 1660 to attack Shivaji in conjunction with Bijapur's army led by Siddi Jauhar. Shaista Khan, with his better equipped and well provisioned army of 80,000 seized Pune. He also took the nearby fort of Chakan, besieging it for a month and a half before breaching the walls.[65] He established his residence at Shivaji's palace of Lal Mahal.[66]

On the night of 5 April 1663, Shivaji led a daring night attack on Shaista Khan's camp.[67] He, along with 400 men, attacked Shaista Khan's mansion, broke into Khan's bedroom and wounded him. Khan lost three fingers.[68] In the scuffle, Shaista Khan's son and several wives, servants, and soldiers were killed.[69] The Khan took refuge with the Mughal forces outside of Pune, and Aurangzeb punished him for this embarrassment with a transfer to Bengal.[70]

In retaliation for Shaista Khan's attacks, and to replenish his now-depleted treasury, in 1664 Shivaji sacked the port city of Surat, a wealthy Mughal trading centre.[71] On 13 February 1665, he also conducted a naval raid on Portuguese-held Basrur in present-day Karnataka, and gained a large plunder.[72][73]

Raja Jai Singh of Amber receiving Shivaji a day before concluding the Treaty of Purandar

The attacks on Shaista Khan and Surat enraged Aurangzeb. In response, he sent the Rajput general Jai Singh I with an army numbering around 15,000 to defeat Shivaji.[74] Throughout 1665, Jai Singh's forces pressed Shivaji, with their cavalry razing the countryside, and besieging Shivaji's forts. The Mughal commander succeeded in luring away several of Shivaji's key commanders, and many of his cavalrymen, into Mughal service. By mid-1665, with the fortress at Purandar besieged and near capture, Shivaji was forced to come to terms with Jai Singh.[74]

In the Treaty of Purandar, signed by Shivaji and Jai Singh on 11 June 1665, Shivaji agreed to give up 23 of his forts, keeping 12 for himself, and pay compensation of 400,000 gold hun to the Mughals.[75] Shivaji agreed to become a vassal of the Mughal empire, and to send his son Sambhaji, along with 5,000 horsemen, to fight for the Mughals in the Deccan, as a mansabdar.[76][77]

20th century depiction by M.V. Dhurandhar of Raja Shivaji at the court of Mughal Badshah, Aurangzeb.

In 1666, Aurangzeb summoned Shivaji to Agra (though some sources instead state Delhi), along with his nine-year-old son Sambhaji. Aurangzeb's planned to send Shivaji to Kandahar, now in Afghanistan, to consolidate the Mughal empire's northwestern frontier. However, on 12 May 1666, Shivaji was made to stand at court alongside relatively low-ranking nobles, men he had already defeated in battle.[78] Shivaji took offence, stormed out,[79] and was promptly placed under house arrest. Ram Singh, son of Jai Singh, guaranteed custody of Shivaji and his son.[80]

Shivaji's position under house arrest was perilous, as Aurangzeb's court debated whether to kill him or continue to employ him. Jai Singh, having assured Shivaji of his personal safety, tried to influence Aurangzeb's decision.[81] Meanwhile, Shivaji hatched a plan to free himself. He sent most of his men back home and asked Ram Singh to withdraw his guarantees to the emperor for the safe custody of himself and his son. He surrendered to Mughal forces.[82][83] Shivaji then pretended to be ill and began sending out large baskets packed with sweets to be given to the Brahmins and poor as penance.[84][85][86][87] On 17 August 1666, by putting himself in one of the large baskets and his son Sambhaji in another, Shivaji escaped and left Agra.[88][89][90][lower-alpha 4]

After Shivaji's escape, hostilities with the Mughals ebbed, with the Mughal sardar Jaswant Singh acting as an intermediary between Shivaji and Aurangzeb for new peace proposals.[92] Between 1666 and 1668, Aurangzeb conferred the title of raja on Shivaji. Sambhaji was also restored as a Mughal mansabdar with 5,000 horses. Shivaji at that time sent Sambhaji, with general Prataprao Gujar, to serve with the Mughal viceroy in Aurangabad, Prince Mu'azzam. Sambhaji was also granted territory in Berar for revenue collection.[93] Aurangzeb also permitted Shivaji to attack Bijapur, ruled by the decaying Adil Shahi dynasty; the weakened Sultan Ali Adil Shah II sued for peace and granted the rights of sardeshmukhi and chauthai to Shivaji.[94]

In 1674, Prataprao Gujar, the sarnaubat (commander-in-chief of the Maratha forces), was sent to push back the invading force led by the Bijapuri general, Bahlol Khan. Prataprao's forces defeated and captured the opposing general in the battle, after cutting-off their water supply by encircling a strategic lake, which prompted Bahlol Khan to sue for peace. In spite of Shivaji's specific warnings against doing so, Prataprao released Bahlol Khan, who started preparing for a fresh invasion.[102]

Shivaji sent a letter to Prataprao, expressing his displeasure and refusing him an audience until Bahlol Khan was re-captured. Upset by this rebuke, Prataprao found Bahlol Khan and charged his position with only six other horsemen, leaving his main force behind, and was killed in combat. Shivaji was deeply grieved on hearing of Prataprao's death, and arranged for the marriage of his second son, Rajaram, to Prataprao's daughter. Prataprao was succeeded by Hambirrao Mohite, as the new sarnaubat. Raigad Fort was newly built by Hiroji Indulkar, as a capital of the nascent Maratha kingdom.[103]

In 1681, soon after Shivaji's death, Aurangzeb launched an offensive in the South, to capture territories held by the Marathas, the Adil Shahi of Bijapur, and Qutb Shahi of Golconda. He was successful in obliterating the Adil Shahi and Qutb Shahi dynasties, but could not subdue the Marathas. Better known as the Mughal–Maratha Wars, this campaign nominally increased the size of Mughal Empire, but ended in a strategic defeat and had a ruinous effect on Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb spent 27 years in Deccan, but ultimately failed to achieve his objective of conquering the Marathas, while, draining the Mughal Treasury, and almost irreparably damaging the strength and morale of the Mughal army. According to contemporary sources, about 2.5 million of Aurangzeb's army were killed during the Mughal–Maratha Wars (100,000 annually over a quarter-century), while 2 million civilians in war-torn lands died due to drought, plague, and famine.[148][149] The conflict ended in a defeat for the Mughals in 1707.[150]

This period saw the capture, torture, and execution of Sambhaji in 1689, and the Marathas offering strong resistance under the leadership of Sambhaji's successor, Rajaram, and then Rajaram's widow Tarabai. Territories changed hands repeatedly between the Mughals and the Marathas.

Shahu, a grandson of Shivaji and son of Sambhaji, was kept prisoner by Aurangzeb during the 27-year conflict. After the latter's death, his successor released Shahu. After a brief power struggle with his aunt Tarabai over the succession, Shahu ruled the Maratha Empire from 1707 to 1749. Early in his reign, he appointed Balaji Vishwanath, and later his descendants, as Peshwas (prime ministers) of the Maratha Empire. The empire expanded greatly under the leadership of Balaji's son, Peshwa Bajirao I and grandson Peshwa Balaji Bajirao.

In a bid to effectively manage the large empire, Shahu and the Peshwas gave semi-autonomy to the strongest of the knights, Gaekwads of Baroda, the Holkars of Indore and Malwa, the Scindias of Gwalior, and Bhonsales of Nagpur, thus creating the Maratha Confederacy.[151]

The Council of Eight Ministers, or Ashta Pradhan Mandal, was an administrative and advisory council set up by Shivaji.[158][159] It consisted of eight ministers who regularly advised Shivaji on political and administrative matters. The eight ministers were as follows:[144]

Except the Panditrao and Nyayadhis, all other ministers held military commands, their civil duties often being performed by deputies.[144][158]

At his court, Shivaji replaced Persian, the common courtly language in the region, with Marathi, and emphasised Hindu political and courtly traditions. Shivaji's reign stimulated the deployment of Marathi as a systematic tool of description and understanding.[160] Shivaji's royal seal was in Sanskrit. Shivaji commissioned one of his officials to make a comprehensive lexicon to replace Persian and Arabic terms with their Sanskrit equivalents. This led to the production of the Rājavyavahārakośa, the thesaurus of state usage in 1677.[8]

Many modern commentators have deemed Shivaji's religious policies as tolerant. While encouraging Hinduism, Shivaji not only allowed Muslims to practice without harassment, but supported their ministries with endowments.[161] When Aurangzeb imposed the Jizya tax on non-Muslims on 3 April 1679, Shivaji wrote an admonishing letter to Aurangzeb criticising his tax policy. He wrote:

In strict justice, the Jizya is not at all lawful. If you imagine piety in oppressing and terrorising the Hindus, you ought to first levy the tax on Raj Singh I, who is the head of Hindus. But to oppress ants and flies is not at all valour nor spirit. If you believe in Quran, God is the lord of all men and not just of Muslims only. Verily, Islam and Hinduism are terms of contrast. They are used by the true Divine Painter for blending the colours and filling in the outlines. If it is a mosque, the call to prayer is chanted in remembrance of God. If it is a temple, the bells are rung in yearning for God alone. To show bigotry to any man's religion and practices is to alter the words of the Holy Book.[162][163]

Noting that Shivaji had stemmed the spread of the neighbouring Muslim states, his contemporary, the poet Kavi Bhushan stated:

Had not there been Shivaji, Kashi would have lost its culture, Mathura would have been turned into a mosque and all would have been circumcised.[164]

However, Gijs Kruijtzer, in his book Xenophobia in Seventeenth-Century India argues that the roots of modern communalism (the antagonism between Hindu and Muslim "communities") first appeared in the decade 1677–1687, in the interplay between Shivaji and the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (though Shivaji died in 1680).[165] During the sack of Surat in 1664, Shivaji was approached by Ambrose, a Capuchin friar who asked him to spare the city's Christians. Shivaji left the Christians untouched, saying "the Frankish Padrys are good men."[166]

Shivaji was not attempting to create a universal Hindu rule. He was tolerant of different religions and believed in syncretism. He urged Aurangzeb to act like Akbar in according respect to Hindu beliefs and places. Shivaji had little trouble forming alliances with the surrounding Muslim nations, even against Hindu powers. He also did not join forces with certain other Hindu powers fighting the Mughals, such as the Rajputs.[lower-alpha 8] His own army had Muslim leaders from early on. The first Pathan unit was formed in 1656. His naval admiral, Darya Sarang, was a Muslim.[168]

• 
  Bakhar dedicated to Shivaji
• 
  Writings of Modi Script. line 2 is from the time of Shivaji

Shivaji was a contemporary of Samarth Ramdas. Historian Stewart Gordon concludes about their relationship:

Older Maratha histories asserted that Shivaji was a close follower of Ramdas, a Brahmin teacher, who guided him in an orthodox Hindu path; recent research has shown that Shivaji did not meet or know Ramdas until late in his life. Rather, Shivaji followed his own judgement throughout his remarkable career.[40]

Royal seal of Shivaji

Seals were a means to confer authenticity on official documents. Shahaji and Jijabai had Persian seals. But Shivaji, right from the beginning, used Sanskrit for his seal.[8] The seal proclaims: "This seal of Shiva, son of Shah, shines forth for the welfare of the people and is meant to command increasing respect from the universe like the first phase of the moon."[169]

Shivaji demonstrated great skill in creating his military organisation, which lasted until the demise of the Maratha Empire. His strategy rested on leveraging his ground forces, naval forces, and series of forts across his territory. The Maval infantry served as the core of his ground forces (reinforced by Telangi musketeers from Karnataka) and supported by Maratha cavalry. His artillery was relatively underdeveloped and reliant on European suppliers, further inclining him to a very mobile form of warfare.[178]

Suvela Machi, view of southern sub-plateaux, as seen from Ballekilla, Rajgad

Hill forts played a key role in Shivaji's strategy. Ramchandra Amatya, one of Shivaji's ministers, describes the achievement of Shivaji by saying that his empire was created from forts.[179] Shivaji captured important Adilshahi forts at Murambdev (Rajgad), Torna, Kondhana (Sinhagad), and Purandar. He also rebuilt or repaired many forts in advantageous locations.[180] In addition, Shivaji built a number of forts, numbering 111 according to some accounts, but it is likely the actual number "did not exceed 18."[181] The historian Jadunath Sarkar assessed that Shivaji owned some 240–280 forts at the time of his death.[182] Each was placed under three officers of equal status, lest a single traitor be bribed or tempted to deliver it to the enemy. The officers acted jointly and provided mutual checks and balances.[183]

Sindudurg Fort provided anchorages for Shivaji's Navy

Aware of the need for naval power to maintain control along the Konkan coast, Shivaji began to build his navy in 1657 or 1659, with the purchase of twenty galivats from the Portuguese shipyards of Bassein.[184] Marathi chronicles state that at its height his fleet counted some 400 warships, although contemporary English chronicles counter that the number never exceeded 160.[185]

With the Marathas being accustomed to a land-based military, Shivaji widened his search for qualified crews for his ships, taking on lower-caste Hindus of the coast who were long familiar with naval operations (the famed "Malabar pirates"), as well as Muslim mercenaries.[185] Noting the power of the Portuguese navy, Shivaji hired a number of Portuguese sailors and Goan Christian converts, and made Rui Leitao Viegas commander of his fleet. Viegas was later to defect back to the Portuguese, taking 300 sailors with him.[186]

Shivaji fortified his coastline by seizing coastal forts and refurbishing them. He built his first marine fort at Sindhudurg, which was to become the headquarters of the Maratha navy.[187] The navy itself was a coastal navy, focused on travel and combat in the littoral areas, and not intended for the high seas.[188][189]

Shivaji was admired for his heroic exploits and clever stratagems in the contemporary accounts of English, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Italian writers.[191] Contemporary English writers compared him with Alexander, Hannibal, and Julius Caesar.[192] The French traveller Francois Bernier wrote in his Travels in Mughal India:[193]

I forgot to mention that during pillage of Sourate, Seva-Gy, the Holy Seva-Gi! respected the habitation of the Reverend Father Ambrose, the Capuchin missionary. 'The Frankish Padres are good men', he said 'and shall not be attacked.' He spared also the house of a deceased Delale or Gentile broker, of the Dutch, because assured that he had been very charitable while alive.

Mughal depictions of Shivaji were largely negative, referring to him simply as "Shiva" without the honorific "-ji". One Mughal writer in the early 1700s described Shivaji's death as kafir bi jahannum raft (lit. 'the infidel went to Hell').[194] His chivalrous treatment of enemies and women has been praised by Mughal authors, including Khafi Khan. Jadunath Sarkar writes:[9]

His chivalry to women and strict enforcement of morality in his camp was a wonder in that age and has extorted the admiration of hostile critics like Khafi Khan.

The earliest depictions of Shivaji by authors not affiliated with Maratha court in Maharashtra are to be found in the bakhars that depict Shivaji as an almost divine figure, an ideal Hindu king who overthrew Muslim dominion. The current academic consensus is that while these Bakhars are important for understanding how Shivaji was viewed in his time, they must be correlated with other sources to decide historical truth. Sabhasad Bakhar and 91 Kalami Bakhar are considered the most reliable of all bakhars by scholars.[74]

James Grant Duff, a British administrator, published his 3-volume work on History of Marathas in 1863.[195] This work is mostly a chronological sequence of events and more of a political history with little to no insight about other aspects of Maharashtra's history.[74]

A miniature Bronze statue of Shivaji Maharaj in the collection of the Shri Bhavani Museum of Aundh

In the mid–19th century, Marathi social reformer Jyotirao Phule wrote his interpretation of the Shivaji legend, portraying him as a hero of the shudras and Dalits. Phule's 1869 ballad-form story of Shivaji was met with great hostility by the Brahmin-dominated media.[196]

In 1895, the Indian nationalist leader Lokmanya Tilak organised what was to be an annual festival to mark the birthday of Shivaji.[12] He portrayed Shivaji as the "opponent of the oppressor", with possible negative implications concerning the colonial government.[197] Tilak denied any suggestion that his festival was anti-Muslim or disloyal to the government, but simply a celebration of a hero.[198] These celebrations prompted a British commentator in 1906 to note: "Cannot the annals of the Hindu race point to a single hero whom even the tongue of slander will not dare call a chief of dacoits...?"[199]

One of the first commentators to reappraise the critical British view of Shivaji was M. G. Ranade, whose Rise of the Maratha Power (1900) declared Shivaji's achievements as the beginning of modern nation-building. Ranade criticised earlier British portrayals of Shivaji's state as "a freebooting Power, which thrived by plunder and adventure, and succeeded only because it was the most cunning and adventurous ... This is a very common feeling with the readers, who derive their knowledge of these events solely from the works of English historians."[200]

In 1919, Sarkar published the seminal Shivaji and His Times, hailed as the most authoritative biography of the king since James Grant Duff's 1826 A History of the Mahrattas. Sarkar was able to read primary sources in Persian, Marathi, and Arabic, but was challenged for his criticism of the "chauvinism" of Marathi historians' views of Shivaji.[201] Likewise, although supporters cheered his depiction of the killing of Afzal Khan as justified, they decried Sarkar's terming as "murder" the killing of the Hindu raja Chandrao More and his clan.[202]

In 1937, Dennis Kincaid, a British civil servant in India, published The Grand Rebel.[203] This book portrays Shivaji as a heroic rebel and a master strategist fighting a much larger Mughal army.[74]

As political tensions rose in India in the early 20th century, some Indian leaders came to re-work their earlier stances on Shivaji's role. Jawaharlal Nehru had in 1934 noted "Some of the Shivaji's deeds, like the treacherous killing of the Bijapur general, lower him greatly in our estimation." Following a public outcry from Pune intellectuals, Congress leader T. R. Deogirikar noted that Nehru had admitted he was wrong regarding Shivaji, and now endorsed Shivaji as a great nationalist.[204][205]

At the end of the 19th century, Shivaji's memory was leveraged by the non-Brahmin intellectuals of Mumbai, who identified as his descendants and through him claimed the kshatriya varna. While some Brahmins rebutted this identity, defining them as of the lower shudra varna, other Brahmins recognised the Marathas' utility to the Indian independence movement, and endorsed this kshatriya legacy and the significance of Shivaji.[206]

Statue of Shivaji at Raigad Fort

In modern times, Shivaji is considered as a national hero in India,[207][208][209][210] especially in the state of Maharashtra, where he remains an important figure in the state's history. Stories of his life form an integral part of the upbringing and identity of the Marathi people.[211]

In 1966, the Shiv Sena (lit. 'Army of Shivaji') political party was formed to promote the interests of Marathi-speaking people in the face of migration to Maharashtra from other parts of India, and the accompanying loss of power of locals. His image adorns literature, propaganda, and icons of the party.[212]

Shivaji is seen as a hero by regional political parties and also by the Maratha-caste-dominated Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party.[213]

In the late 20th century, Babasaheb Purandare became one of the most significant authors in portraying Shivaji in his writings, leading him to be declared in 1964 as the Shiv-Shahir (lit. 'Bard of Shivaji').[214][215] However, Purandare, a Brahmin, was also accused of overstating the influence of Brahmin gurus on Shivaji,[213] and his Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony in 2015 was protested by those claiming he had defamed Shivaji.[216]

In 1993, the Illustrated Weekly published an article suggesting that Shivaji was not opposed to Muslims per se, and that his style of governance was influenced by that of the Mughal Empire. Congress Party members called for legal actions against the publisher and writer, Marathi newspapers accused them of "imperial prejudice", and Shiv Sena called for the writer's public flogging. Maharashtra brought legal action against the publisher under regulations prohibiting enmity between religious and cultural groups, but a High Court found that the Illustrated Weekly had operated within the bounds of freedom of expression.[217][218]

Statue of Shivaji opposite the Gateway of India in South Mumbai

In 2003, the American academic James W. Laine published his book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India to, what Ananya Vajpeyi terms, a regime of "cultural policing by militant Marathas".[219][220] As a result of this publication, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, in Pune, where Laine had done research, was attacked by the Sambhaji Brigade.[221][222] Laine was even threatened with arrest,[219] and the book was banned in Maharashtra in January 2004. The ban was lifted by the Bombay High Court in 2007, and in July 2010 the Supreme Court of India upheld the lifting of the ban.[223] This lifting was followed by public demonstrations against the author and the decision of the Supreme Court.[224][225]