Medha Bhaskaran, the author of the book Challenging Destiny, gave her insights into the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in a podcast with renowned YouTuber Ranveer Allahabadia on his YouTube channel BeerBiceps. On the podcast, she discussed Indian history, from the arrival of invaders to the emergence of Shivaji Maharaj as India’s greatest emperor.
In the podcast, which has been released on YouTube in three parts, Bhaskaran detailed how the invaders entered the country with the intention to rule through their atrocities and how Shivaji Maharaj became a one-man army to stand up to his people facing barbaric torture. Bhaskaran shared her insights referring to herself as an atheist and stating that she was not pulling in the religious perspective.
Times Before Shivaji Maharaj
In the first part, Medha Bhaskaran talks to Ranveer about how the invaders entered India due to its richness of all kinds of resources and how they tormented the native people to their benefit. She stated that the Mughal dynasty was full of brutality where every single personality was, at one point or another, waiting to eliminate the other to reach the throne. Upon this remark, the host of the show, Ranveer, says that it was all just a ‘Game of Thrones.’
Revealing the atrocities committed by the Islamic invaders, Bhaskaran said that they were always fighting a war of succession and were busy killing their kith and kin. She stated that the way and outcome of this war was either the throne or the grave.
The days were full of horror as the Mughal tyrants targeted Hindu natives very badly. They would abduct Hindu women and take them as sex slaves and torture them once they were done with the work. The Mughal rulers had Mansabdars with them who were ruthless warriors. They held the land and collected all the revenue punishing the residents in their area.
Bhaskaran also said that the Mughal emperor Akbar was not a great man. Rather, he was a cruel ruler who was always worried to secure his throne. Jahangir, the son of Akbar, got Khusrau Mirza, his son, blinded so that he does not ascend the throne.
Rise Of India’s Greatest Emperor – Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj
Bhaskaran talked about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the subsequent parts of the podcast. Shivaji Maharaj was born on February 19, 1630, three years after Jahangir’s death, in the Shivneri fort in the Junnar Taluka of Maharashtra’s present-day Pune district. His father, Shahajiraje Bhosle, was a commander of Ahmednagar’s Nizamashah. He then joined the courts of Adilshah of Bijapur.
Rajmata Jijabai, his mother, instilled dharmic and patriotic ideals in her son since infancy. She nurtured him by telling him stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, instilling in him the characteristics of heroism and morality. Bhaskaran said that Shivaji Maharaj had must would have had an IQ better that that of Einstein.
Major sections of Maharashtra were controlled at the time by several Shahis who had emerged as a result of the Bahamani sultanate’s constraints. The two major forces were Nizamshahi and Adilshahi. Many warrior Maratha families would either serve as Shahi commanders or sell swords. In any event, the outcome was the same: systematic Islamic persecution of native Hindus, particularly peasants. These Maratha soldiers would wield control in their allocated local regions called ‘Jagirs,’ and would exploit the populace as part of their duty for the Shahas. Because of the dread in the Deccan at the time, no one dared to protest this.
Shivaba, as he was known as a youngster, was a child when his father relocated to Bengaluru to serve Adilshaha of Bijapur. Shahajiraje Bhosle possessed a ‘Jagir’ of the Pune and Supe area in Maharashtra. It is bordered by 12 Sahyadri Mountain valleys. As a result, it is known as the Land of 12 Mawal, and a fighter from this region is known as a Mawla.
Rajmata Jijabai oversaw the region’s ruling affairs in the absence of Shahajiraje Bhosle. She taught her son Shastra and Shastra. Shivaba swore his oath at the temple of Rayareshwar at the age of 16 to build a Hindu state as the supreme Lord intended.
Maratha Empire’s Beginnings – Shivaji Maharaj & Aurangzeb
By 1659, Shivaji Maharaj had taken control of several forts in both the Adilshahi and Nizamshahi kingdoms. At this time, the Adilshahi court dispatched the mighty commander Afzalkhan to assassinate Shivaji Maharaj. However, at their face-to-face meeting in Pratapgadh, Shivaji Maharaj murdered him by piercing his intestine with his secret weapon ‘Tiger Claws.’ As a result, the 10th of November 1659 is known as Shivpratap Din. It is the day when the Islamic rulers were truly terrified by Maharaj’s heroism, and this occurrence increased Maratha’s confidence to unimaginable heights.
Six months later, Shivaji Maharaj was besieged at Panhalgadh by tens of thousands of Adilshahi warriors headed by Siddi Johar, Siddi Masood, and Afzalkhan’s son Fazalkhan. Baji Prabhu Deshpande and his 300 Bandal army men fought a rearguard fight to guarantee Shivaji Maharaj’s safe escape from the three-month-long siege of Vishalgadh. Baji Prabhu Deshpande, his brother Phulaji Prabhu Deshpande, and Rayaji Bandal were all martyred in this fight on the night of July 12th and 13th, 1660.
From this point on, Shivaji Maharaj did not look back. Aurangzeb assumed control of the Mughal sultanate in 1657. Messages from 1659 and 1660 were clear enough, so he dispatched his maternal uncle Shahistekhan to apprehend Shivaji Maharaj.
Shahistekhan wreaked devastation throughout the Deccan, particularly in Pune. Shivaba had spent his youth playing with his buddies at Pune’s Lal Mahal. Shivaji Maharaj invaded Lal Mahal three months later. Shahistekhan escaped the attack but lost three fingers when Shivaji Maharaj hacked them off to prevent him from escaping via a window.
Aurangzeb dispatched Mirza Raje Jaisingh and Dilerkhan to attack and finish the Swarajya in 1665-66. This was mostly due to the fact that Shivaji Maharaj had already begun his distinct autonomous administration at the time. Murarbaji Deshpande, another of Shivaji Maharaj’s valiant commanders, was killed at the battle of Purandar in 1665. Following this struggle, he was forced to form a pact with Mirza Raje Jaisingh.
According to this, he handed the Mughals 23 forts and an area with annual revenue of Rs. 4 lakhs at the time. Mirza Raje also invited him to Aurangzeb’s 50th birthday celebrations in Agra. Shivaji Maharaj was given the status of a Mughal commander in charge of a 5000-man army. Aurangzeb afterwards offered him a Jagir of 20,000 soldiers as a reward.
Shivaji Maharaj argued in front of everyone that comparing himself to those he had conquered in the past was an insult. Enraged Aurangzeb imprisoned Shivaji Maharaj in Agra for ten months, but he escaped.
On his way back to Maharashtra, he sent his son Sambhaji to Kashi for protection. During this period, Sambhaji Maharaj took a serious interest in Sanskrit and went on to produce outstanding Sanskrit poetries afterwards. In a span of seven years, Shivaji Maharaj recaptured lost areas and increased the number of forts to 350. On June 6, 1674, he was coronated as the first Chhatrapati of the Hindavi Swarajya employing Hindu religious ceremonies.
He was the one who recognised the value of naval ships in limiting British and Portuguese aggressions. His navy had around 70 warships. Swarajya also had a large number of ships for commerce. For centuries following the Chola kingdom, there was no substantial Hindu navy fleet of battle. Shivaji Maharaj reconstructed that strength. As a result, he is known as the “Father of the Indian Navy.”
Note: Some points not covered in the podcast have been added to improve reader’s experience.
