Janata Raja

I have been wanting to write this post since I first started this blog. I am a great admirer of Shivaji Maharaj and have read historical accounts of him a lot. It saddens me to see that not many Indians are aware of him or of his achievements. It saddens me further to see politicians misuse his name and lower him to their level.

Maharashtrians of all hues respect and love him and even elevate him to Godhood in their minds. (Personally I consider him responsible for keeping India safe from militant Islam. I have very little doubt that were it not for him, many of us would be today reading namaz and blowing ourselves up in Iraq) But outside Maharashtra he is almost unknown. The obvious question is why is it so? But the more important question according to me is why should we know and study his work and life? What were his achievements?

In his excellent essay, Prof. Narhar Kurundkar points out that he was not a very knowledgeable person. He bought cannons and guns from the British and the Dutch and was generally unaware of happenings outside his sphere of interest. He was not a great social reformer either. He was not about to outlaw sati, end child marriage or undo the caste system. He however was a good ruler in every sense of the word. As Sant Ramdas said of him,
Nischayacha Mahameru
Bahut Janaasi Adharu
Akhand Sthiticha Nirdharu
Janata Raja.
(Firm of resolve, a protector of all his people, of unwavering determination, a wise and intelligent King)

That he was a brilliant General is obvious to anyone who has studied him. Except on one occasion, he has time and again beaten back forces vastly superior to his own. Using the terrain and weather conditions of his territory to maximum effect, he inflicted one humiliating defeat after another on his enemies. After one such military defeat, so frustrated and angry was Aurangzeb with his two senior Generals in the Deccan that he wrote to them, "Why are you still alive? Why didn't you perish in the battle too?" He created a very strong spy network which was instrumental in helping him pull off his spectacular military victories. He also had the knack of judging a person unerringly. He naturally distrusted the Europeans and built a strong Navy to restrict them.

He was also a astute statesman and diplomat. This is evident in the way he arm-twisted the Bijapur court to release his father unharmed even after he had soundly defeated their army in battle. He formed an alliance with Golconda and used it to expand his kingdom to the south. While he himself was busy chipping away at the Adilshahi empire, when Alamgir tried to attack Bijapur, he attacked and defeated their armies.

But these are not achievements which make him stand apart from other successful rulers. What does distinguish him is that he genuinely believed that it was his duty to serve his people and better their lot. To this end, he took revolutionary steps. He ushered a honest and efficient administration. He ended the practice of inheriting government jobs and brought in a salaried bureaucracy. He hand-picked good administrators and generals and deputed authority and responsibility to them. In selecting them, he never allowed caste or religion to become a factor. Many muslims and people of lower castes proudly served in positions of authority in his army and navy. He brought in a fair taxation system and an efficient collection system. He gave out cheap loans to farmers who were in need. Indeed so careful was he of protecting his rayat (common folks), that he wrote the following to the commanders of his army encampments waiting out the monsoon. "...Whatever you want for your needs, you shall buy from the surrounding villages...You shall not unjustly touch even a blade of grass belonging to the people for if you do then what difference will remain between you and the Mughals...No one is to have women or entertainers in their camps...Anyone who disobeys these orders, however high his rank, will lose his honor, to speak nothing of his life."

Shivaji Maharaj was a strict disciplinarian and a just ruler. When a commander of 5000 troops in his army was convicted of attempted rape, he had his hands and legs chopped off. When his own son defected to the Mughals, he asked his military commanders to not give him any special treatment but treat him as an enemy. His armies had standing instructions to never cause any harm to women, elderly, cattle and holy sites and holy men of ALL religions. Indeed his administration supported many mosques with government grants.

Shivaji Maharaj also was a great believer in separation of church and state. He himself was a deeply religious man who liked reading and listening to scriptures. But he was not a fanatic. He never allowed his religious beliefs to cloud his political judgement. He allowed people of all religions to thrive in his Kingdom. One example suffices to illustrate his attitude towards religion and administration. A holy man whom Shivaji Maharaj deeply and publicly respected had been awarded a government grant for the upkeep of the local temple and ashram. He however, decreed that the people in his village should henceforth pay their taxes to him so that they could be used for the upkeep of the temple as well. When government tax collectors informed Shivaji Maharaj of this, he wrote the following respectful yet sarcastic letter to the Brahmin. "If the grant given to you is insufficient for the upkeep of the temple please let me know and I shall increase it. But please do not take up the administration's responsibility upon yourself. If you insist on doing so then please come here and take my place and I shall gladly smear myself with ash and take yours." Needless to say, the tax collection activities of the Brahmin stopped.

The importance of a ruler like Shivaji Maharaj is underscored today when we are saddled with a corrupt political leadership and an inefficient bureaucracy. His quality of being a leader who actually considered himself responsible for and answerable to his people is something sorely missing in today's politicians. It is ironic that such qualities were found in a man who essentially grew up as a feudal lord but are absent in today's politicians who are ostensibly elected by the people. This I think is the reason that children in India should study Shivaji Maharaj. With any luck, atleast a few of them will think it proper to imbibe his qualities. For 26 years after his death, his children, generals and followers fought with an enemy as powerful and astute as Alamgir himself and defeated him. All of Alamgir's attempts to bribe or destroy them failed and he died a broken man many hundreds of miles away from his capital. If today we can come up with a leader who can inspire even one hundredth of that loyalty, dedication and courage in his followers, we are on the way to glory and greatness.