The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.126

v4.c21.126

Meanwhile Shāhū was slowly dying. “Shāhū the good” was an amiable and religious man, whose piety is still remembered with affection by the Marāthās. He could be magnanimous to a fallen foe, and was by no means destitute of ability. But his upbringing in the Mughul court had made him ill-fitted to deal with the turbulent spirits of his age. His grandfather had been reared in the wilds of the mountain forest; Shāhū’s boyhood was spent in the imperial seraglio. He was content to pass his time hunting, fishing and hawking, and left the drudgery of state affairs more and more to his Peshwā, little realising that he was building up a power destined to supersede his house. But it is a mistake to suppose that he was a mere puppet, like his successors. He exacted the homage due to his person on every occasion. “He was not the mere titular head of the Marāthā government”, says Ranade: