the *Gesta Romanorum*, the *Legenda Aurea* of Jacobus de Voragine, and the *Speculum Historiale* of Vincent of Beauvais. These were the books that fed the imagination of the Middle Ages, and they were the books that the Church, in its wisdom, provided for the instruction and edification of the faithful.

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But the Church did not merely provide books; it also provided the means of their dissemination. The monastic scriptoria, where monks labored in silence to copy the sacred texts, were the precursors of the printing press. And when the press finally arrived, it was the Church that first harnessed its power, using it to spread the word of God to the corners of the earth. The Gutenberg Bible, the first major book printed in Europe, was a testament to the Church's commitment to the written word.

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Yet, even as the Church championed the spread of knowledge, it also sought to control it. The *Index Librorum Prohibitorum*, or List of Prohibited Books, was a tool used by the Church to suppress ideas it deemed dangerous or heretical. This tension between the desire to educate and the need to control would define the Church's relationship with literature for centuries to come.

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It is a complex history, one that is marked by both enlightenment and suppression. But it is a history that cannot be ignored, for it is the history of the very foundation of Western civilization. The Church, in its role as the guardian of knowledge, has shaped the way we think, the way we write, and the way we understand the world around us.

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THE FIRST PHASE OF THE MOON

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1. Shivaji’s birth and training.
2. His guardian Dadaji.
3. The first coup.
4. Dream put into action.
5. Independence achieved.

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1. Shivaji’s birth and training.—Shivaji was born on 6th April 1627 in the fort of Shivner near Junnar, or as some recent sources assert, about 34½ months later on 19th February 1630.¹ Unfortunately sufficient evidence is not available to establish either of these two dates as absolutely correct. Jija Bai, Shivaji’s mother, was in great distress during the early years of his life. The Emperor Shah Jahan invaded the Deccan and after a strenuous effort of eight years subjugated the whole of the old Nizamshahi Kingdom of Ahmadnagar which Shivaji’s father Shahji had tried his best to save. For the first few years of his life Shivaji was a wanderer with no settled home. From Shivner where he was born he moved with his mother and occasionally with his father too from place to place as safety and convenience required. Where and how long he had to remain in such separation in his childhood cannot be ascertained. This only explains how he became inured to a life of danger and hardship ever since his birth. Shivner, Baizapur, Shivapur, and Shivapattan are some of the places, where, we can conjecture, Shivaji spent the first nine years of his life, before he came to have his own home at Poona. Nāro Trimal Hanmante and Gomāji Naik Pānasambal are known to have been his care-takers at this period.

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¹ In the following narrative I am using the first or the old date. It is not necessary here to discuss the merits and the evidence of these two dates. The greatness of Shivaji is in no way affected, whichever date is accepted.

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The marital life of Jija Bai can by no means be called happy. We have seen how her wedding itself was a subject of compulsion. The Bhosales and the Jadhavs are not known to have then been on very friendly terms. Indeed their pent up feuds used suddenly to burst into flame on trivial grounds as illustrated in the Khandagle elephant episode.² In the battle of Bhātavḍi, Shahji won the day, and Jija Bai’s father in the opposite camp had to save himself by flight. The Jadhavs certainly claimed a higher descent from the royal house of Deogiri; while the Bhosles were not admitted to possess any such royal blood. Both Jija Bai and the child Shivaji proved to Shahji rather an encumbrance than a help, while the elder Sambhāji to some extent certainly was his father’s useful lieutenant.

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² Sh. Bh. 3. 15—45.

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October 1636 saw Jija Bai restored to a settled peaceful life at Poona under the guardianship of Dādāji Konddev, who built for them a palace at Kasba, which was known as the Lāl Mahal. Here Shivaji lived with his mother from 1636 onward until they removed to Rajgad some time after Dādāji’s death in 1647 (7th March). From Rajgad after his safe return from Agra Shivaji moved about 1667 to his new Capital Raigad where building work had been started in 1664.

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It is these very hard knocks of his early days which proved highly beneficial to Shivaji in his later career. Adversity is the mother of resourcefulness and ingenuity, qualities, of which both Jija Bai and Shahji were living examples. Jija Bai, a truly Kshatriya lady full of varied memories of her royal ancestors of Deogiri and possessing a dauntless spirit of adventure and defiance chastened by years of suffering ever since her marriage, was to young Shivaji a veritable guardian angel. On her part all her future solace centred in his well-being and good fortune. Practically deserted by her husband, what hope could she have in life, unless this son grew up to be her sole prop? Her high spirit could never let her accept any compromise on right principles. The father had defied with his small power the might of the Mughals for seven years. Why may not the son do at least as much, if not more? Man can do what man has done.

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The independent charge of his father’s jagir at Poona proved of great advantage to Shivaji. In this small jagir all kinds of experiments could be quickly tried in the art of government, and valuable experience gained which could be later utilised on a wider scale when the time came. In Shivaji’s helpless situation his mother naturally was his sole guide and mentor. She was a versatile woman, well-trained, according to the notions of those days, in traditional religion and mythology. The traditions of Rāmdeo Yādav, of Hemādri, of Jnāneshvar possessed for her a peculiar charm on account of the high moral tone and the free atmosphere of independence they breathed ; and her capacious mind invested them with a glow of the splendour of the indigenous Aryan culture as contrasted with Muslim vandalism and iconoclastic methods. The wanton cruelties of Ala-uddin Khilji and Muhammad Taghlak, the barbarities of Tamerlane, the *johars* perpetrated by the Rajput women of Chitod, ever rankled in Jija Bai’s heart. Such a lady, we may be sure, taught her dear young son the need of a supreme effort for avenging wrong and achieving national regeneration.

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Their secluded life in the hilly Maval country afforded plenty of out-door occupation and opportunities of adventure. Robberies, commotions, disorders were of common occurrence. The climate itself imposed constant exposure to rain, sun and cold, and other privations of various kinds. Riding, wrestling, spear-throwing, swordsmanship, swimming through torrential floods, in these and similar sports Shivaji developed a kind of wild comradeship both with man and nature ; soon his aimless wanderings were transformed into studied excursions for organizing defence and protection either against the neighbouring chiefs or petty local evil-doers.

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Time and surroundings usually suggest to all creatures the means of defence against wanton aggression or of escape from dangerous situations. One very common method of defence of Shivaji’s days was the art of disguise. It had then been carried to perfection. Most people, men and women, of those days studied the art as a necessity for the safety of life and valuables. A smattering knowledge of several languages, a handy provision of clothes and necessary tools, and above all, a ready wit, these were the normal essentials for a successful disguise. Shivaji in addition could dexterously imitate the voices of birds and beasts and knew a few words and sentences of several Indian languages picked up on purpose. His sense of hearing was particularly well developed. He could cover long distances on foot, without fatigue, quickly jumping over obstacles, was a consummate wrestler, and an accurate shot with a catapult or a match-lock. It would appear that he had traversed and thus knew intimately the hills and valleys, the passes and strongholds on both sides of the Sahyadri range between Nasik and Kolhapur and possibly much beyond. His walks and rambles were both intensive and deliberate, with his eyes and ears always alert, thus making him gain first-hand acquaintance with the sentiments of the people, their habits, occupations and resources, and impart to them in return his spirit of valour and defiance.

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This training in activity between the years of ten and fifteen was supplemented by the teachings of his mother, his guardian Dādāji and his immediate personal staff in the spheres of moral development and administrative duties. The country atmosphere in which he grew up developed a healthy mind in a healthy body, and made him wary and buoyant in contrast with the indolent, corrupt and pleasure-seeking nobles and princelings at Muslim Courts. Shivaji was doubtless taught reading and writing, and he heard portions of the Mahābhārat and the Rāmāyan as expounded by the family preachers. In those days paper was scarce and only important transactions used to be committed to writing. Many letters have been discovered issued under Shivaji’s name, but unmistakable and clear evidence is wanting to prove how much of them was penned by him. That does not mean that he was illiterate as some writers would have us believe. To attribute illiteracy to him on this account is entirely unreasonable and unwarranted. State papers in those days were drafted by secretaries and clerks and concluded by ministers. The signing of letters and papers by the master himself as is done now, was not the prevailing practice then. But adding a few words or lines in autograph was prevalent.

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Harikirtan or what may be called devotional songs and sermons by household preachers and celebrated saints like Tukārām, was then a very common means of general education and the training of the young and the old; and Shivaji lost no opportunity of profiting himself by such occasions. Hindu shrines and places of worship he punctiliously visited and took an intelligent concern in their working as a nation-building factor. A large number of his letters deal with the management and proper upkeep of shrines and religious establishments.³ Of all concerns of life religion occupied his best thoughts and energies. He received his most useful education not through books on the present day model but in the wide school of experience, supplemented by such portions of old texts as relate to the common maxims of politics, morals and philosophy, e.g. parts of the Rāmāyan, Mahābhārat, some of the Smritis, probably portions of Shukraniti and Chānākyaniti and the lives of the saints. Vidurniti was possibly a favourite chapter selected from the Mahābhārat. It is said that the Yuddha-Kand or the War-chapter of the Rāmāyan was regularly read and expounded at night to all the garrisons of Shivaji's forts as part of their discipline.

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2. His guardian Dadaji.—Another powerful factor in Shivaji's training was his guardian Dādāji Kondadev. The training he imparted in the practical business of government and the meticulous care he bestowed upon Shivaji's general well-being, are in a great measure responsible for what Shivaji afterwards grew to be. Dādāji was not a mere clerk or accountant but a noble character, a man of business, a keen observer of events and situations, a circumspect politician imbued with the prevalent spirit of love for his country, hatred towards foreign domination and religious persecution. He was much older than Shahji and had served the Bhosle family through thick and thin as their trusted friend and adviser. Dādāji rendered conspicuous service in relieving the distress of the ryots during the terrible famine of 1631-32 and resettling

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3. On 25th May 1642 he thus wrote to the Deshpande of Rohida: "You have violated the arrangement effected for the worship and management of Raireshvar. You must at once come and answer for your unwarranted interference." (Raj. 15.266).

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the Poona region after that devastation.⁴ Dadaji was himself a Kulkarni of Malthan and looked after the adjoining villages of Hingni, Berdi, Deulgon and others, which belonged to the Bhosles. When Shivaji acquired the Jagir of Poona and Supa, Dādāji was entrusted with its management so as to make it yield a handsome income. This he did with great assiduity and attention. Papers of the decade 1637--1647 mention him as the accredited governor of fort Kondhana and the districts attached to it.⁵

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⁴ One paper of December 1633 says, "Dādāji then came to be appointed the revenue officer of the district. He restored the lands to prosperity and compelled the Deshmukhs and the Kulkarnis to help cultivation by peopling the lands." (S. C. Sahitya 2.95-96.)

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⁵ Raj. 17.7 and 18.7, 9, 19.

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This new post of Dādāji as manager of the Poona jagir was by no means a bed of roses. Murar Jagdev during the late war had devastated Poona and the surrounding country constituting Shahji's jagir. These Dādāji had to restore. Poona was then a Kasba town, *i.e.* a large village with a standing market of its own. In this market-place Dādāji built a commodious house for Shivaji, known as the Rangmahāl or the Lal-Mahal and procured for him costly clothes, jewelry and equipment, so that people might look upon him as their legitimate master and pay him due respect. The jagir extended from Junnar in the north to Wai in the south and included Chakan, Supa, Baramati and Indapur as the principal Talukas, the names of which are current to the present day. It was to be ruled from Sinhagad, a secure place centrally situated, the northern-most boundary of the jagir touching the forts of Shivner and Trimbak, which Shahji had been compelled to yield according to the terms of Shah Jahan's agreement. Shivapur at the foot of Kondhana was named after the young master where new extensive gardens and mango groves were laid out by Dādāji. The Shivapur mangoes are to this day considered a rarity in the Poona market. Jija Bai later founded a new town at the foot of fort Rajgad, and named it Shivpattan.

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Jija Bai and Dādāji had Shivaji married to Sai Bai from the Nimbalkar family about the year 1640 : Shahji's mother Dipa Bai also had come from the same Nimbalkar family. By this time the affairs of the jagir had been put on a sound basis; the restoration of peace and order brought prosperity to the Bhosle estates which they had not known before. The finances improved along with the growth of protection and government. A well-organized force of undoubted loyalty was raised from among the local elements known as the Mavlas, who though ignorant and rugged, proved to be his most trusted and loyal followers, capable of any sacrifice that they were called upon to make. Indeed these hardy mountaineers of the Maval hills formed in his later organization the main stay of Shivaji's fighting machine. This native militia protected the jagir from robbery, molestation and disorder. The wild animals that infested the jungles of the jagir, damaged crops and created terrible havoc. Dadaji took special measures to put an end to this evil. Another beneficial measure adopted by Dādāji was to improve the yield of the land by encouraging agriculture and gardening in all possible ways. Says an old paper, "New crops were reared in every village; mango, tamarind, pomegranate, lemon came to be planted afresh. Of every ten new trees planted, one was given to the owner for his use, and only the remaining nine were taxed; one-third of the crop being taken by Government, and two-thirds left to the owner." This was the practice of Malik Ambar's days and was now universally adopted. Lands were measured and their ownership fixed, new lands reclaimed and irrigation by wells and canals attended to. In a short time the jagir attained a degree of prosperity unknown before. Increase in income became quickly apparent and could be utilized for further improvements.

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Another measure of public benefit was the settlement of long-standing disputes through village Panchayats and other indigenous judicial bodies. Dādāji moved from place to place with his young master hearing causes and dealing out justice without favour or prejudice. In all these measures he particularly held up young Shivaji as the sole master and ruler of the people and every transaction was made in his name. This detailed work supplied Shivaji with an excellent opportunity for learning practical methods of government and gaining useful experience of public matters. Dādāji was a strict disciplinarian himself and never lax or remiss in exacting implicit obedience to his orders. He executed speedy and impartial justice. His name as a vigilant and unflinching administrator long survived his death, and fifty years later attracted the notice even of the Emperor Aurangzeb during his long stay in the Deccan. Thus the five or seven years of Shivaji’s growing boyhood were most usefully spent.

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3. The first coup.—While the father was certainly happy in the Karnatak over the glowing reports he received of the improvement of his jagir, a kind of restless anxiety touched his mind possibly through reports from Bijapur that his young son under the guidance of his spirited mother and the stern Dādāji Konddev, was developing an unpleasant attitude of defiance towards the ruling authorities. Shivaji organized his men, repaired and garrisoned the forts and supplied them with provisions, so that a compact growing centre of subversive activity had come into being. These growing portents could not be neglected by the Bijapur Court and a report of them must have been transmitted to Shahji at Bangalore with hints that the son and his establishment deserved to be carefully watched and kept under control, while it was not yet too late. At the same time reports of Shahji’s activities in the distant south did not fail to reach Shivaji and Jija Bai’s ears, particularly that phase of the Karnatak expedition, in which the Hindu religion was ruthlessly put down, lands devastated, shrines desecrated, idols broken, women’s honour violated and all the accumulated wealth of centuries drained away. Was it not a shame that Shahji more than any one else, should be the instrument of destroying his own religion and enhancing the credit of the Muslim rulers and their faith?⁶

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Some time in 1640, Shivaji with his mother and guardian paid a visit to his father at Bangalore. Shahji was anxious to meet them after four years of separation and to see the

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6. Though factual evidence to prove how the minds of responsible persons at Poona and Bangalore responded to and reacted on the reports of occurrences in those two places, is lacking, we have to read between the lines of what stray notices we get on paper.

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newly-wedded wife of his son. So he sent for them and the whole family spent the next two years together.

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Shahji was the loyal servant and supporter of a Muslim State. Bangalore and the surrounding country were full of the old Vijaynagar relics and traditions, which now came to be crushed with a high hand. There were shrewd diplomats and wise and far-sighted counsellors at Shahji's Court, who freely asked themselves questions like these as occasions arose : Was it not Shahji's duty to try and preserve this noble ancient culture and learning? Why should he not at least protest strongly against these destructive actions of the Bijapur Government? Why should he not at least refuse to execute them himself? The boy Shivaji listened in childish surprise.

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This anti-national trend of Shahji's service under Bijapur could not be relished by Jija Bai and Shivaji, who had begun actively to dream of salvation from the Muslim yoke, of creating a new state wherein political and religious freedom and toleration for all would reign supreme. The incompatibility of the views and future aims of the father and the son, soon became marked, and it was decided that Shivaji should return to his native country from Bangalore. But a call had come for them all from Bijapur to visit the Court and make their personal obeisance to their liege lord, thereby affirming their loyalty unmistakably. Towards the end of 1642 or the beginning of 1643 the whole family journeyed from Bangalore to Bijapur with their full camp and retinue.

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Shahji appears to have accepted the force of the arguments of the opposition and thereafter tried actively to support the Hindu cause by helping Srirang Rai, the last representative of the old Vijaynagar Empire, and often remonstrating with effect against the devastating character of Mustafa Khan's policy.

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A very late tradition tells us of young Shivaji's spirit at this time when he was summoned to the Bijapur Court. Would he not make his bow according to the punctilious Muslim prescription? In the open Darbar he simply executed the ordinary form of Maratha salutation, respectable enough but not reaching the extreme point of the Muslim sijda, i.e. touching the floor with the fore-head. The father explained away the rudeness by urging the rustic boy’s ignorance of court etiquette. Shahji, even if he had the wish, could not restrain the turbulent spirit of his son.

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4. Dream put into execution.—Upon his return journey from Bangalore, the father supplied the son with a full equipage for an independent court. Parmanand says, “ in a few days Shahji Raja gave leave to Shivaji to depart from Bangalore at an auspicious moment, supplying him with infantry, cavalry and elephants, also prominent ministers, renowned instructors, costly flags and insignia of royalty and with plentiful treasure.”⁷ Shyāmrao Nilkanth Peshwa, Bālkrishnapant Muzumdar, Bālājī Hari Majalsi (or Sabhasad, *i.e.* member of Council), Raghunath Ballāl Korde, Sonopant Dabir, Raghunath Ballāl Atre Chitnis,—these and other officers trained under Shahji are said to have been told off for duty with Shivaji. When exactly these ministerial offices were created and appointments made to them, cannot be determined. They must have been gradually brought into employment, as Shivaji’s new *raj* came into being.

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⁷ *Shiv-Bharat*, 10.25-27.

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Shivaji’s and Dādājī’s experiment of improving the land and the government of the jagir, roused a spirit of emulation and gave a new life to the Maval country. Young friends and playmates of the locality and surrounding regions began to flock round him to share his labours and render any sacrifice that might be demanded. In this way he began to gather around himself a band of young faithful comrades. His vision expanded; he began to dream of a new *swarajya* outside the limits of the original jagir but based upon it. He used to hold secret consultations with these comrades in arms, planning to capture forts, secure funds by daring attacks on private and public treasures, selecting suitable persons for particular jobs, employing spies to gather information about the strength of the garrisons of forts, about buried wealth, and the measures concerted by the Bijapur and other authorities to stop these activities. On broad, plain issues these young enthusiasts sought the advice and guidance of Dādājī Kondadev. Gomāji Naik Panasambal, Yesāji Kank, Tānāji Malusre, Bāji Pāsalkar, and Bājirao Jedhe, son of Kānhoji Jedhe, became Shivaji's early helpmates. They possessed influence in different localities which they soon organized for the main objective.

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Shivaji had a persuasive tongue. He addressed his comrades and brought home to them how the foreign Muslim rule inflicted hardships and wrongs upon their homeland and their religion. He narrated to them graphic stories of what he had seen and heard. Was it not their duty to avenge this wrong? Even an effort in that direction was laudable and necessary. "Why remain content with the gifts conferred by foreigners or with our paternal acquisitions only? We are Hindus: this whole country is ours, and yet it is occupied and held by the Muslims. They desecrate our temples, break our idols, plunder our wealth, convert our countrymen forcibly to their religion, kill cows openly; we will suffer this treatment no more. We possess strength in our arms. Let us draw the sword in defence of our sacred religion, liberate our native country and acquire new lands and wealth by our own effort. We are as brave and capable as our ancestors of yore. If we undertake this sacred task, God will surely help us. All human efforts are so helped. There is no such thing as good luck or ill-luck. We are the captains of our soil and the makers of our freedom."8 These words appealed to every ardent mind and roused even those who were slothful and indolent.

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An old paper contains the following statement: "Complete darkness prevails under Muslim rule. There is no inquiry, no justice. The officials do what they please. Violation of women's honour, murders and conversions of the Hindus, demolition of their shrines, cow-slaughter, and similar despicable atrocities prevail under that government." The Nizam Shah openly murdered Jija Bai's father, his brothers and sons. Bajāji Nimbalkar of Phaltan was forcibly converted to Islam. Countless instances could be quoted. The Hindus could not lead an honourable life. This is what moved Shivaji to righteous indignation. An intense feeling of revolt took possession of his mind. He at once set to work. He thought to himself, “One who is strong in his weapon has no difficulty and no fear.”⁹

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⁸ Sabhāsad Chronicle. See also Raj. 15.3.

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⁹ This is said by Rāmchandrapant in his Maratha Polity. गांडीविनो मतमिदं कृतो दैन्यं कुतो भयम्। गांडीवी is a person wearing a weapon.

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Soon a complete revolution in the people’s ideology and outlook was the result of this young leader’s activity. The former lethargy was rooted out. The dormant atmosphere of Mahārāshtra came to be galvanized. Everyone began to look about and think for himself. Some readily joined in this new rising, some perforce went into opposition, no one could remain indifferent or apathetic.

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“Soon after returning from Bangalore to Poona, the twelve valleys of the Mavals were captured,” is a cryptic but significant statement of the *bakhars*, now corroborated by a Persian *farmān* dated 1st August 1644. The *farmān* is a letter addressed by the Shah of Bijapur to Kānhoji Jedhe of Kari. It runs thus:—

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“Shahji Bhosle has been disgraced and removed from the Court and it is now reported to us that his agent Dādāji Kondadev has commenced rebellious activities at fort Kondhana. In order to put him down and assert our rule over the territory, Khandoji and Bāji Ghorpade have been commissioned to proceed against him. You are, therefore, hereby commanded to join the Ghorpade with your full contingent and destroy that wicked rebel Dādāji and his supporters with all your might. Upon the successful execution of this task, you will be properly rewarded.”¹⁰

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¹⁰ S. C. Sahitya 4, p. 21.

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The clearly dated explicit evidence contained in this paper removes all doubt about Shivaji’s early activities and supplies us a definite starting point in his career. Since Shahji also has been mentioned as being already disgraced, we can definitely assert that the father Shahji was then looked upon by the Bijapur authorities as the author of the whole mischief. It is significant that the *farmān* mentions Dādāji as the agent in this mischief and that Shivaji’s name nowhere occurs.

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Although he was suspected, he was then too young to be separately noticed. In fact Shivaji's name begins to appear officially after Dādāji's death, or a year or so before that, in that famous letter of Shivaji to Dādāji Naras Prabhu about the oaths they had exchanged before Raireshvar in the summer of 1645. This position also leads one to conclude that Dādāji wholeheartedly supported the new movement of revolt against Muslim domination, and in every way encouraged Shivaji as the fittest instrument to lead the movement to success. It is also clear that the first fort captured by the rebels was Sinhagad and not Torna, which came into Shivaji's hands a year or two later. Nor did Torna possess the strategic importance of Sinhagad. Shivaji discovered hidden treasures at Torna, on which account it received prominence, as a divine dispensation of the goddess Bhavāni to help Shivaji's cause. For security of person and property, Sinhagad was long a necessary adjunct of Poona, which city being on a plain was ever vulnerable.

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In 1644 Shahji fell into disgrace at the Bijapur Court probably for complicity in the revolt of Srirang Rai. So long as Randaula Khan was living, he could control Shahji's activities with tact and softness; Randaula's death in 1643 altered the situation and brought trouble for both Shahji in the south and Dādāji at Poona. The affair of this first revolt of the Bhosles against the Bijapur authorities dragged on practically for five years from 1644 to 1649, occasionally assuming a formidable aspect as matters progressed. The Sultan Muhammad Shah was not able to control the situation and his failing health aggravated it and favoured the rebels. After the capture of Sinhagad in 1644, Shivaji commenced open aggression against Bijapur, of which further proof is supplied by another valuable document dated 30 March 1645, also a letter addressed by the Adil Shah to Kānhoji Jedhe, and his Deshpande Dādāji Naras Prabhu. It says:—"Shivaji Rāje has turned disloyal to the Shah inasmuch as he has organized troops of the Māvlas and having taken possession of fort Rohidā, has established his own garrison in it. He has also built a new fort and named it Rajgad and thus strengthened his position. You have openly joined him and pay him the revenue, instead of obeying our officer at Shirval. You give him insolent replies. This cannot be tolerated. Unless you at once resume your obedience to the Thanadar of Shirval, you will be put to death without mercy.”

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This letter clearly unfolds the early moves of Shivaji. After Sinhagad he took Rohidā, built Rajgad, and established his hold on that portion of the Maval, all within a few months, indeed an astounding performance. What was first started in secrecy, took now the form of an open challenge. Dādāji Naras Prabhu referred the letter to Shivaji and asked him what reply he was to make. Shivaji thereupon wrote to Dādāji Prabhu the following reply on 16 May 1645:—“The Shah is entirely misinformed. Neither you nor I have turned disloyal. Please see me with that letter immediately. You have no reason to feel distressed. Raireshvar, the divine master of your valley, inspires you and me alike and gives us success. He gives us power enough to establish *Hindawi-Swarajya*. We are mere instruments in divine hands. Come what may, we should stick to the secret oaths we have exchanged, as advised by Dādāji-pant, in the presence of Raireshvar. He wills it all. Don't lose courage.”¹¹ Letters like this tell us definitely how Shivaji set out on his mission. As usually happens, he outwardly professed perfect loyalty to the Sultan and urged that the activities he undertook were entirely in self-defence and part of the Government's work, intended to put down lawlessness and disorder, as peace was highly essential for the development of this hilly country, which for centuries past had known no rule, no authority, no order and which now had begun to yield a good return.

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Thus Shivaji pushed on without caring for consequences. He possessed a quick eye for judging men. He picked up suitable helpmates, promoted them according to their deserts and exacted great tasks from them. He roamed over the country minutely observing the capacities of the men and resources of the people. If a writer, he gave him a writer's job ! if a brave

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11. The temple Raireshvar is near the Rairi hill and should not be confused with fort Rohida, which was later renamed Vichitragad and which has no Shankar temple. The two are five miles apart. The oaths took place on the Rairi hill near Kari, the seat of the Jedhes.

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man, he was made a captain. He wrote letters, paid visits, contracted friendships often through marriage ties, persuaded, threatened, coerced and thus strengthened his party. People talked of him as a heaven-sent leader, one whom they must implicitly obey.

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The voluminous writings of Rāmdās supply ample evidence of these early activities of Shivaji. They have prepared for us a stirring narration of how the people of Mahārāshtra began buzzing about, ready to sting in all directions. That narration is a piece of national history like what is enacted in all ages and climes by men of action or "heroes as kings" as Carlyle loved to call them. The storm was raised. Shivaji alone could ride it and reach the harbour safely. A new bright hope dawned on the land. The pious Jija Bai became the protecting angel for all. In fact nothing gave Shivaji such supreme joy in life as when he came and reported her amidst gleeful laughter the graphic details of his numerous adventures and received her cordial approval in return.

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These activities of Shivaji could not be long kept secret. The officers and land-holders of the Bijapur Government soon came to know them and reported them to the headquarters. Fortunately for Shivaji as he started on his adventurous course, Sultan Muhammad Shah of Bijapur fell ill and for some time his life was despaired of. That is the real reason why no strong and immediate action could be taken against Shivaji. The Shah continued ill during the next ten years 1646-56, rapidly declining in health and strength, to the utter neglect of the State affairs.

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The two sons of Jija Bai possessed a peculiar nerve and resourcefulness. What Shivaji did in Mahārāshtra, his elder brother Sambhāji imitated to some extent in the Karnatak. The Shah considered Shahji to be the principal author of the mischief and had him arrested as has been already noticed in an earlier chapter of this work. It can be noticed that Shahji’s arrest caused no set-back in Shivaji’s intrepid plans of establishing his independent kingdom. His small beginnings were potentially firm and he fully believed that the Shah dared not injure a single hair of his father’s head. The result came out just as he expected.

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In this connection Parmānand narrates an interesting incident, when Shivaji’s father was arrested and threatened with death by the Shah at Bijapur in the summer of 1649, if the fort of Sinhagad captured by Shivaji were not at once restored. The father thereupon appealed to his son to give back the fort and save his life. Now Sinhagad was a precious possession on which Shivaji had lavished years of labour and expense, and which formed the main basis of his life’s plan. He was not therefore inclined to give it up. His mother earnestly pleaded with him for the sake of her husband. The mother and the son disagreed and decided to abide by the advice of their wise counsellor Sonopant Dabir. Sonopant advised Shivaji to give up the fort, explaining the essentials of a political game to which Parmānand has devoted one long chapter of his work, urging that for a man of valour the whole world is wide open.¹²

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¹² सुविक्रान्तस्य नृपतेः सर्वमेव महीतलम् ॥ १६.४५.

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5. Independence achieved.—From 1644 to 1674, from the capture of Sinhagad to Shivaji’s coronation at Raigarh, is a period of three very convenient decades through which a student can review that great hero’s life; *viz.*, 1644-1653, 1654-1663, and 1664-1674. How these decades are distinctly marked and particularized will be explained later, but we must first set down the main incidents of the first decade, the end of which marked the first complete stage of Shivaji’s journey. Some of the incidents of this first decade cannot unfortunately be accurately dated. We have already reviewed the affair of the Raireshvar temple where solemn oaths were secretly exchanged. Shortly thereafter Dādāji Kondadev died on 7 March 1647, having already given sufficient initiative to his young master and in peaceful contentment at the prospect of his success as a national hero. The event caused no break in Shivaji’s plans, which had long ago been formed after full deliberation. Dādāji had played his part in setting Shivaji on his legs, who now came forth with renewed vigour and started open aggression against Bijapur. He easily captured Chakan and naming it Sangrāmdurg placed his own garrison there. His next move was against Purandar the capture of which proved somewhat dramatic.

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Shivaji's home at Poona was guarded by two strong sentinels, Sinhagad in the south-west and Purandar in the south-east. This latter fort was held for Bijapur by a Brahman officer named Nilo Nilakanth Sarnaik, a friend and neighbour of Shahji and his family. During the rains of 1648, fearing an invasion from Bijapur, Shivaji wrote to the Sarnaik begging for a shelter on the ridge below the fort during the inclement weather. The request was granted and Shivaji established a post at the foot of the fort. Soon after the festival of Divali arrived, on which day Shivaji and his mother were invited by the Sarnaik up to the fort for exchanging friendly greetings with his brothers who had already secretly approached Shivaji for a settlement of their family dispute. One night during the Divali, Shivaji arrested all the brothers in their beds and took possession of the fort for himself. The situation was fully discussed during the few following days, and the brothers were all set at liberty after having been bound by sacred oaths to hold the fort for Shivaji and remain loyal to him. In this way Shivaji managed to secure the fort without shedding a drop of blood in a manner which is illustrative of his singular skill in contrivance. The family of the Sarnaiks continued to serve the Maratha raj to the end of its days. Next year when Bijapuri armies came against Shivaji, Purandar proved to him of immense value. In vain the Bijapuri armies launched frequent attacks upon Shivaji from their camp at Shirval. He could easily turn them back from his strong position up the fort. In this fight Musa Khan was killed and Fateh Khan took to flight on being routed.¹³ Thus both Sinhagad and Purandar have played an important part throughout Maratha history.

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¹³ *Shiva Bharat*, Chap. 14.

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Supā was another important post not far from Poona, which was held by a rather uncongenial neighbour, Sambhājī Mohite, a staunch loyalist of Bijapur and in addition an unfriendly relation of Shivaji, as his sister Tuka Bai was the second wife of Shahji. Sambhājī Mohite, a hereditary noble of Bijapur, would not be persuaded to join Shivaji's movement nor enter his service. On the other hand, as he was likely to prove an obnoxious spy on Shivaji's activities, it was not possible for Shivaji to tolerate him in his immediate vicinity. Sambhājī possessed an armed force of some three hundred troops. One dark night Shivaji with a band of brave followers made a sudden raid upon Supā, surprized Sambhājī and his guards, plundered all his belongings, and took possession of Supā himself. Shivaji tried to explain his plan to Sambhājī and persuade him to join his movement, but as the proud man would not yield, Shivaji sent him under proper escort to his father at Bangalore and reported to him the measures he had taken. It is unfortunate that we have no record as to when exactly this affair took place. We can duly surmise that it must have been between 1649 and 1652.¹⁴

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¹⁴ Shiva Bharat, Chap. 14; Raj. 20.47, pp. 70-71, mentions Sambhājī Mohite was arrested i.e. 1657. But the event seems to have been therein recorded long after it took place.

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Thus Shivaji managed to secure his position in the territory roughly between the Bhīmā and the Nirā, between Poona and Shirval, having strongly guarded the central posts of Chakan, Purandar, Supā and Bārāmati, all of which were quickly and easily subjugated without cost or bloodshed. In this way a small and compact independent kingdom soon came into existence. Shivaji was careful not to attempt expansion beyond his well regulated frontiers until he felt his power well established and fully organized in all the essentials required by good government. The goodwill of the people under him formed his main support. This sympathetic policy, this attention to the well-being of the people under him appealed to all, and at once made apparent the contrast of his beneficent and orderly rule to the Muslim disorder and confusion outside. For full seven years after Dādāji's death, Shivaji concentrated his energies in organizing his strength all round, making his rule acceptable to all. An independent rule means a compact well-defined geographical unit with clear regulations and a proper gradation of officers. The motto of the official seal which Shivaji adopted for his plan is itself an evidence of his aim. It runs thus:—" This seal of Shiva, the Son of Shah, shines forth for the good (of the people). It is daily to increase like the first phase of the moon and is going to be respected by the universe.” Shivaji aptly compares the first stage of his plan to the first phase of the moon. These phases were to increase gradually and attain their fullness! This seal is found impressed on all Shivaji’s papers from 1645 onward.¹⁵ His aims and objects could not have been better expressed than in this pithy sentence.

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¹⁵ See *Patra Sar Sangraha*. प्रतिपच्चंद्रलेखेव वर्धिष्णुर्विश्ववंदिता । शाहसूनोः शिवस्यैषा मुद्रा भद्राय राजते ।।

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Like the official seal, the title Chhatrapati also appears to have been assumed long before his formal coronation in 1674, perhaps during this first constructive stage of his *swarajya*. The title was borrowed from the ancient Hindu works on polity and modelled on the traditional ideas of kingship. *Shukraniti*, *Manusmriti* and probably Chanakya’s works appear to have been consulted by Shivaji’s or his mother’s agents. The Council of Eight Ministers, their ancient titles, and the name Chhatrapati were by no means new creations. There were ready forms and names in use during Hindu and Muslim rule and some of those were naturally adopted by Shivaji as time and convenience required. *Peshwa*, *Muzmudar*, *Dabir*, *Sarnobat*, *Surnis* are Persian Office-titles which were later converted by Shivaji into Sanskrit ones. Not only titles, but forms of letters and documents, the system of accounts, revenue terms, office insignia which had long been in vogue during Muslim domination were adopted wholesale often in Sanskrit equivalents,¹⁶ and given the garb of the Aryan model.

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¹⁶ अखंडित लक्ष्मी आलंक्रत राजमान्य, राजश्रिया विराजित and similar phrases are originally Persian forms translated into Sanskrit and Marathi.

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Rājwāde maintained on the authority of some old papers, that the word Chhatrapati appeared to have been applied to Shivaji in 1648. Some pieces alleged to be of Sant Tukārām’s composition are found addressed to Shivaji in which the word Chhatrapati is used. Tukārām died in 1650, and if the compositions are not spurious, one must conclude that Shivaji styled himself Chhatrapati as early as that date. There are obvious difficulties in determining these points. Few authentic original papers have survived. What we now possess are copies of old papers, in which the copyists have taken liberties with the original text or unconsciously inserted their own additions. A letter of 1653 and others of many of subsequent dates, have seals of Shivaji’s Peshwa Shyāmrājpant¹⁷ and other officials, the actual words of which prove that the first phase of a full *swarājya* with the King and the necessary Ministers, was doubtless completed and announced by the year 1653, and this fact is fully corroborated by Shivaji’s own authentic letter addressed by him on 17 July 1653 to his Guru Siddheshwarbhatt Brahme of Chākan, whom probably he had employed to make spiritual invocations in his hazardous undertakings. Shivaji writes in this letter, “Through the strength of your penance my desire of establishing a kingdom has been accomplished in full measure as originally planned. Therefore I am pleased to assign to you an annuity of a cash payment from the Junnar treasury of one hundred gold hons” (Rs. 300).¹⁸ This is a definite statement and although the Kingdom mentioned in it may not be more than the patrimony of his jagir, one can conclude that Shivaji’s *Swarajya* was fully completed by the year 1653. It had to be expanded by further effort, but the first stage was completed within ten years of the capture of Sinhagad.

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¹⁷ शिवनरपति हर्षनिधान । श्यामराज मतिमंत प्रधान ॥
18. *Sanads and Letters*, p. 113.

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Fort Vijayadurg is said to have been built in the Vijaya Shak *i.e.*, the Christian year 1653. If this be true, it becomes clear that Shivaji had during these quiet years made a complete tour of the Konkan districts west of the Sahyadris and realized the possibilities of a future expansion over these coastal regions in which the Europeans had established their trading factories. The English planted a factory at Rājāpur in 1648, the Dutch at Vingorla about the same time, the Portuguese had their ancient post at Chaul, with all of whom Shivaji established friendly contacts. He decided to make the west coast the base of his future kingdom and defend it with a navy of his own. He also explored the possibilities of a friendly understanding with the *Siddis* of Jangirā, the only Muslim element on the west coast between Kalyān and Sondhā. In this way his conception of a *swarajya* took a definite shape by the year 1653. During the first few years Shivaji acted as his father's deputy, but after the release of Shahji, Shivaji declared his own independence in his jagir.¹⁹

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¹⁹ Raj. Vol. 17-19; *Patra Sar Sangraha*, 717-722. In these and other papers there is further evidence that Shivaji's administration was already completed. A judicial decision issued under Shivaji's government and bearing the date 21 March 1657, contains many signatories among whom occur Shyāmrāj Nilkanth Peshwā, Vāsudev Bālakrishna Muzumdār, Sonāji Vishvanāth Dabir, Bālkrishnapant and Nāropant Hanmante Dikshit, Mahādāji Shāmrāj Surnis, Nurbeg Sarnaubat, infantry, and Pantāji Gopināth Chitnis, with the last words, "under permission from the Huzur." It should be noted that in those days even petty jagirdars used to have officials under them called *Chitnis, Muzumar, Peshwa, Surnis, Dabir*, etc. so the use of these by Shivaji does not signify his own creation. He adopted what was already available.

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Parmānand gives a fitting tribute to the completion of this first stage of Shivaji's project. "The Mahārāshtra country," he writes, "then attained its literal significance, *viz.*, the great nation, on account of Shivaji's effort."²⁰ "The people of Mahārāshtra became rich and happy." We thus see how the first phase of the moon covered the first decade of Shivaji's undertaking since the seizure of Sinhagad was completed.

Linked texts (7)

Mānava Dharmaśāstra — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit
Viduranīti — Sanskrit
Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Cāṇakyanīti — Cāṇakya, Sanskrit
Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit
Kaṇvasmṛti — Kaṇva, Sanskrit
Śivabhārata — Paramānanda, Sanskrit