#rajas

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Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's caste...

On 16th February, 2015, Govind Pansale (then 81 years of age) and his wife, Uma Pansare, were shot by a couple of assailants on a motor bike, while they were taking their morning walk. On 20th February, four days later, Govind Pansare died in Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. Actually, Govind Pansare was a left-wing CPI politician, whose murder is suspected to be a political assassination and is still unsolved. But this post is not about him, it is about the bestselling book he authored.

In 1988, Govind Pansare wrote a book in Marathi - Shivaji Kon Hota?, which was subsequently translated into English as Who was Shivaji?, and into other vernacular languages like Urdu, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati and Bengali. Till February, 2015, it had sold about 1.4 lac copies. Post his assassination, there was a renewed interest in his book. More than 3 lac copies have been sold since. I read the book only today.

This book is not so much a biography of the great Maratha ruler, but an insight into the kind of ruler he was - his benevolent, caretaking attitude towards his subjects, especially common folk - ryots, the respect he showed to women, his foresight in building an empire constituting each segment of the society - untouchables, lower castes, brahmins and muslims, and his fair and efficient administrative policies. It is a truly inspiring account into the character of the man.

But I was stunned to read the chapter where Govindji takes us through the challenges Shivaji faced in getting coronated as Chatrapati.

Did you know that no brahmin in Maharashtra consented to perform his coronation ceremonies? A brahmin from Kashi was invited to do it. Why? Because it was believed that Shivaji was a Shudra!

Therein lies a tale.

In the 17th century, the whole of India, north of Vindhyas, was ruled by the Mughals, and the south of Vindhyas was dominated by the Sultans of various Sultanates. In such times, in 1630, Shivaji Bhosale was born to Shahaji Bhosale, a principal officer in the Sultanate of Bijapur, and Jijabai.

Right from childhood, Shivaji stoked flames of freedom within himself. So he made friends with simple, sturdy, like-minded boys of the Sahyadri mountains, created an army of his own, and started nibbling into the Sultan's territory by capturing one fort after other. Soon, he became a force to be reckoned with.

Having had significant success with victories over Afzal Khan, a powerful commander of the Sultanate of Bijapur, and over Saishtha Khan, a powerful general under Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor, he was ready to proclaim himself as the Chatrapati of the Maratha kingdom that he had founded and formed.

But it was not that simple. First, the brahmins in his kingdom didnot support him - for multiple reasons. While Shivaji was building his kingdom, he had enlisted the support of all sections of the society, irrespective of caste or creed. In fact, Shivaji was probably one of the first equal opportunity employers in Indian history. He had grown up with a large number of enterprising folk from the Shudra or Ati-Shudra jatis and had provided them with numerous opportunities for upward social mobility. Amazingly, Shivaji had 13 Muslim commanders in his Army. His Chief of Navy was a Muslim. This was unacceptable to the staunch, conservative Hindu culture of those days.

Also, Shivaji did not give Brahmins any special place or privileges in his kingdom. He had proclaimed that a Brahmin, who does some mischief, would be punished commensurately and not be spared punishment because he is a Brahmin. They did not take it well. It is funny that today, Shivaji is proclaimed to be a Go Brahmin Pratipalak, a protector of Cows and Brahmins.

Third, the Brahmins claimed that Shivaji's maunji bandhan (thread ceremony) had not been done, and that his marriage had not happened according to proper rituals. So how can he be king?

If you think all this is ridiculous, listen to what happens next. Aurangzeb wanted to crush Shivaji once and for all. So he sets his ablest general - the Rajput Jai Singh - on the job. But Jai Singh is not so sure that he can defeat Shivaji. So he organizes a three month Yagna, spends 2 crore rupees (in 17th century) and invites all the Brahmins of the land to perform the invocations. He calls it the Kot Chandi Yagna. Incredibly, many brahmins from the Maratha lands attend the Yagna, as an opposition to Shivaji!

While the Brahmins were busy branding Shivaji a Shudra, he wasn't having an easy time with the Kshatriyas as well.

The Maratha Kshatriya noblemen belonged to 96 families - Kulas. Even though they had no kingdoms, they would call themselves Rajas or Patils - Shinde Raja, More Raja, Landage Patil, Kolhe Patil, Kale Patil, Vikhe Patil etc. These 96 Kshatriya families also didnot support Shivaji.

Chandrarao More Raja of Jawali was one of the 96. Shivaji tried to enlist More. Emissaries went to More, who did not respond to these genuine efforts. Shivaji then warned him - if you don't join me, Jawali would be captured. Shivaji had referred to himself in the letter as King. More arrogantly replied, “You, a king? You become a king because you choose to call yourself one. If you are eating your meal, finish it and come to Jawali to wash your hands. Let’s fight!” Shivaji fulfilled More’s wish. He went to war and captured Jawali.

In short, high-caste Brahmins or Kshatriyas were not prepared to accept Shivaji Bhonsle as their leader and King. Not a single Brahmin from Maharashtra was willing to perform the rituals associated with his anointment as Chatrapati.

So, a Brahmin from Varanasi, Gaga Bhatta, was called to anoint Shivaji by performing the Vedic rituals. Gaga Bhatta’s family had roots in Nanded (Maharashtra), but his reputation was built in Benares. But Shivaji had to reward him with so much gold that it was too heavy for him to carry it down the Raigadh fort.

And so it came to pass that on 6th June, 1674, at the age of 44, three decades after Shivaji started his fight for freedom or Swaraj, he was coronated in a grand ceremony in Raigarh, his capital, that went on for very many days.

But all the ceremony didn't help Shivaji much. After his coronation, a series of deaths took place: Shivaji’s mother, Jijabai, died on the thirteenth day after the coronation; his Chief of Army, Prataprao Gujar, died shortly afterwards; one of Shivaji’s wives, Kashibai, also died.

A Yajurvedi Tantrik, Nishchalpuri Gosavi, then came to see Shivaji. He told him that these tragedies took place because Gaga Bhatta had committed certain errors in the ceremonial rites for coronation, including holding the coronation on an inauspicious date. Shivaji accepted Nishchalpuri’s word and had another coronation three months later!

Shivaji survived a mere six years as king after his coronation and died at a very young age of 50 years, in 1680. A century later, the Maratha Empire had touched Delhi in the north.

So, was Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one of India's greatest rulers, a real people's man, a builder of a true welfare society, a great administration, and most importantly, one hellava human being, a Kshatriya or a Shudra? Here is an interesting take.