BJP has blasted away the Congress' Vision document on various points and has termed it 'Visionless' document..
Veer Maratha warrior Shivaji and the rebirth of a nation

Shivaji was a military genius who built an empire from scratch
but it is for sparking a national revival that he should be
remembered.
Shivaji, the Maratha warrior who established a modern and
powerful Hindu kingdom in south-western India from 1642-1680,
is undoubtedly the greatest Indian of the modern era. To
understand Shivaji’s importance in Indian history, especially
his role in rekindling the spirit of Indian nationhood, one
must recognise that he built his empire against impossible
odds.
India in the 17th century was hurtling towards catastrophe.
Hindus, who comprised the vast majority of the country, were
hopelessly divided, leading a disenfranchised and moribund
existence under Muslim rule. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had
launched jihad against Hindus by destroying their ancient and
beloved temples and re-imposing the hated jaziya, a punitive
and offensive tax which every Hindu had to pay or convert to
Islam. Before him, his father Shah Jahan and grandfather
Jehangir had banned the construction of Hindu temples, and
destroyed many new ones.
जीजाबाई जैसी मां मिलीं तो देश को शिवाजी
मिले : शिवाजी जन्मदिवस
The world was changing rapidly, with new discoveries and
advances in sciences being made. While Europe was beginning
to crawl out of poverty, plagues and fanatic Christian dogma,
India was going in the reverse direction. Since the
destruction of the leading universities of Nalanda and Taxila
by Muslim invaders, not one new university had been built.
India’s intellectual landscape was barren because Hinduism
was battling for survival. Furthermore, a new threat was
emerging in the form of European nations like Portugal,
France, Britain and Holland who, under the pretext of trade, were
looking for opportunities to colonise India.
Other great liberators like Italy’s Garibaldi and America’s
George Washington had two things in their favour—they had only
a single enemy and their people were solidly behind them.
Shivaji had to reckon with Aurangzeb’s mighty Mughal army,
the smaller but powerful Bijapur sultanate, the Pathans, the
fierce Abyssinians of Janjira on the west coast, the fanatic
Catholic Portuguese and the wily English. His own people, the
Marathas, were serving as soldiers and chiefs in Muslim
armies and totally lacked nationalistic spirit.
Birth of an Army : Shivaji got his inspiration
from the Mahabharata saying, “One thousand horsemen of one
mind are enough to conquer the whole world.” Barely 15 years
old, he formed a tightly knit group of Mawala and Konkani
boys and captured some forts of the sultan. Maharashtrians now felt
a patriotic obligation to serve Shivaji, although many still served
the Bijapur sultan.
The amazing thing is the Mawalas and Konkanis were physically
much smaller than the Pathans, Mughals and the African
Muslims, and yet they prevailed in battle after battle.
Starting with guerrilla raids, soon the Marathas were
engaging in pitched battles with Aurangzeb’s battle hardened
Mughal and Rajput armies. Instead of fighting for jagirs and cash,
the Marathas were now fighting for God, country and most
importantly, honour. They defeated more powerful armies and
also beat the Portuguese and the English on the high
seas.
Reclaiming the Seas : Shivaji was the first Indian
ruler in the modern era to understand the importance of a
strong navy. The Mughals and Bijapuris had been utterly
irresponsible by neglecting the coast, thereby ceding control
of the seas to the Europeans. After he conquered the Konkan,
Shivaji realised the importance to protecting coastal
trade.
Though most Marathas were not natural seamen, the Kolis and
Bhandaris of the west coast were good sailors and were tough
and well built. Shivaji built hundreds of ships, large and
small, in the creeks of Kalyan, Pen and Panvel. These fleets
manned by Kolis, Bhandaris and Muslims successfully battled
the British, Portuguese, Dutch and Abyssinian fleets.
Historian Jadunath Sarkar writes, “Shivaji proved by his
example that the Hindus can defeat enemies, conduct their own
defence, maintain navies and ocean-trading fleets of their own, and
conduct naval battles on equal terms with foreigners. He
taught the modern Hindus to rise to the full stature of their
own growth."
Handling the European Threat : Shivaji was
farsighted in his dealings with the Europeans. More than any
other ruler, he knew of their unfair trade practices, their
bribe taking and giving, their religious fanaticism, and their
dabbling in Indian politics with an eye on dominions. But
realising that the bigger threat were the Mughals and
southern Muslims kingdoms, he initially stayed away from
confrontation. Also, the Europeans owned powerful cannons and
matchlocks which would have been deadly if transferred to his
enemies. So while he was in favour of meeting the Europeans
as far west as possible, he knew the time to deal with them
was after ending the land wars.
But he meted out exemplary punishment when required. In June
1661, Shivaji’s soldiers plundered Rajapur and captured
several Englishmen. This was payback for the English aid to
Bijapur. The following year, he captured a band of Englishmen
in Surat for supplying ammunition to his enemies. In
Shivaji: The Founder of Maratha Swaraj, C.V. Vaidya quotes
from an interesting letter from the president of the English
factory at Surat to the disconsolate prisoners: “How you came to
prison you know very well. This punishment is not for your
defending company’s goods. It is for your going to the siege of
Panhala and firing cannon under English banner. Anybody who
is strong enough would have punished you in these
circumstances. Merchants have no business to sell ball and
power nor fire on enemies.”
The Western powers were constantly fighting one another but
they were shrewd enough to take advantage of the weaknesses of
the country. Shivaji played the same game against the
Europeans and took advantage of the jealousies among these
powers. He would, for instance, use cannons and ammunition
from the Portuguese to attack the English, and take English help
to fight the Dutch. Each of these nationalities would be
overjoyed when Shivaji’s armies or fleets would defeat a
European force. Often they would pay good money to Shivaji to
fight the other. The one common thing in their relations with
Shivaji was all of them paid hefty tribute to him.
End of Islamic Tyranny : Shivaji’s legacy is that
he laid the foundations of a strong kingdom which ultimately under
the later Maratha rulers re-established Hindu rule over most parts
of India—from the Krishna in the south to the Indus in Punjab. The
Marathas became the masters of Delhi and the Mughal emperor
their protectee. Hindus were finally able to walk free in
their own country after more than four centuries of almost
ceaseless Islamic tyranny.
Meritocracy : The most remarkable achievement of
this soldier king was the completely non-feudatory nature of
his empire. Shivaji’s was the first modern Indian state that
had large numbers of soldiers, commanders and military
strategists from brahmin as well as lower castes such
as Holkars and Mahars. For the first time in the modern era,
jobs were not necessarily connected to one's caste. Even women,
starting with Shivaji’s mother Jijabai, showed interest in
administration. Muslims were treated equitably, his chief
secretary being a Muslim. Shivaji, who was deeply influenced
by the ancient Hindu epics, was keen on establishing an equal
opportunity society. That it worked offers hope to those wanting to
kick start social engineering in India.
Shivaji died in 1680 of blood diaeorhea. When the news
reached Aurangzeb, the emperor was elated but then the reality sunk
in, and he muttered: “He was a great captain and the only one
who has had the magnanimity to raise a new kingdom, while I
have been endeavouring to destroy the ancient sovereignties
of this country. My armies have been employed against him for
19 years and nevertheless his state has been increasing.”
Modern India’s pseudo-secularist historians and political
leadership have refused to accept Shivaji's greatness. Believing
that mentioning Shivaji’s name will offend Muslims, he is
rarely acknowledged for his military genius, his
administrative brilliance or his nation building efforts. In
fact, Nehru and Gandhi both described the great Maratha as a
misguided patriot. Incredible, coming from two men under whose
watch India was partitioned.
When Shivaji started with a few good men in the 1640's,
perhaps only he could have imagined that just over a hundred
years later, a mighty Maratha army would plant the Hindu flag
on the walls of Attock in the Afghan heartland and liberate
Punjab after 800 years of Muslim rule.
(About the author: Rakesh Krishnan Simha is a features writer
at New Zealand’s leading media house. He has previously
worked with Businessworld, India Today and Hindustan Times,
and was news editor with the Financial Express.) esamskriti.com
Share Your View via Facebook
top trend
-
Congress' vision document busted away
-
Khoon se khelenge holi gar vatan muskhil mein hai : Ashfaqulla Khan
Ashfaqulla Khan was a loyal friend, a great revolutionary, a real martyr who sacrificed his life for the cause of freedo..
-
Mile sur mera tumhara : Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
Joshi was born in Gadag district of northern Karnataka, to a Kannada Madhwa Brahmin family. His father..
-
Vivek's being on Forbes' philanthropists list an example for all
2011 turned out to be a year of turmoil and chaos for India - politically, economically, and in other ways. But there were..
-
The Tragedy of Hindu Minority
Hindus, who have always believed in sense of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ & Sarvapantha Samabhaav’ are ..
what next
-
-
"Coal allocations since 1993 are arbitrary and illegal", Says Supreme Court
-
Palestine, 6 billion people and second hand opinions
-
Malegaon 2006 vs. Malegaon 2008 - Blast Politics
-
Who will investigate Chidambaram & Co for the Dabhol Loot?
-
Narendra Modi prepares to climb the ramparts of the Red Fort
-
The Great Jindal Swindle
-
AAP's insidious anti-Hindu agenda
-
Nagma - Sonia Gandhi's Star Soldier
-
Aam Aadmi Party : Anti-Modi stalking horse
-
What in God's name is Teesta Setalvad's agenda?
-
-
-
Time to rethink : Saffron surge and the secular debacle - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
-
India's Wishlist for Prime Minister Narendra Modi
-
My first meeting with Narendra Modi - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
-
Telangana - Divide and Rule?
-
Myths vs Facts about RSS
-
The Two States: Telangana and Seemandhra
-
Answering Media on Questions to Narendra Modi, but will they venture into responding these queries?
-
#AAPCon : Dilli ke log ban gaye Mamu
-
Secularism is just synonymous with Sanatan Dharm
-
Beware of the Hoax called Aam Aadmi Party
-
Comments (Leave a Reply)