New History of the Marathas v1.c17.51

v1.c17.51

As Sambhājī grew extremely distrustful of his father’s faithful servants, he had none about him to whom he could entrust his affairs. He, therefore, selected an utter foreigner to be his adviser, the famous Kavi Kalash, a Brahman of Kanauj, who had long been a family priest of the Bhosles at Prayag and whose acquaintance Sambhājī had probably made as early as 1666 on his return journey from Agra after escaping from his confinement. Kavi Kalash is a title meaning the prince of poets. He was certainly a versatile scholar and a poet of a high order, who wrote works in Sanskrit and Hindi and received the popular appellation of Kaviji or Kabji. He must have arrived in the Deccan on the occasion of Shivaji’s coronation if not earlier, and had been employed to teach Sanskrit and the Puranas to Sambhājī. Some of the pieces composed by him are extant. His name Kavi-Kalash came to be corrupted into Kalusha, now a household word in Mahārāshtra meaning an instigator of strife. An old chronicle says that one Keshav Bhat Kabji, a north India Brahman versed in magic and incantation, possessed Sambhājī’s mind. This Keshav Bhat must be the same as this Kalusha. He had a sweet persuasive tongue. His mastery of Hindusthāni and foreign breeding probably formed the chief recommendation in the eyes of Sambhājī to secure his confidence in a moment of exasperation and distrust. Recent research proves that Sambhājī was fond of the tantric rites, i.e. effecting results through certain magical processes, so common in that age.