Hindavi Swaraj was Shivaji's dream

Hindavi Swaraj was Shivaji's dream

Maharashtra is fortunate to have borne a valiant leader and visionary like Chhatrapati Shivaji who managed to live his dream during his lifetime. He is the reason why those who identify themselves as Maharashtrians claim a legacy of glory. To understand his dream and vision one needs to recall the background of India under Mughal dominion.

At the time of his birth most of Hindustan was a part of the Mughal Empire while the Deccan was dominated by the Islamic Sultanates of Bijapur, Ahmednagar and Golconda. Wave after wave of invasions by iconoclasts such as Mahmud of Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori, Timur, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the Khiljis, the Tughlaqs, the Sayyids and the Lodis had resulted in vandalisation and desecration of Hindu temples across India.

Islamic dynasties laid the foundation of religious persecution in India. Systematic discrimination and forcible conversions led to insecurity and political instability, giving rise to orthodox medieval practices such as child marriage, Sati and Jauhar (the aggressors routinely slaughtered the vanquished men and dishonoured the women). People’s right to religious freedom became seriously impaired. Non-Muslims were branded as infidels and were forced to pay a tax called Jizya in their own land.

Religious violence, abasement, abduction of women and enslavement became routine. Ironically it made the followers of Indic religions even more diligent towards their culture, perhaps offering a clue to how these doctrines survived and proliferated against the backdrop of oppression.

In Goa and Vasai the Portuguese practised their own dogma of Inquisition and persistent proselytism, forcing people to convert. Elsewhere Bombay and Surat were under British sway. And a part of the Konkan coast was ruled by the Abyssinian Siddis who were brutal taskmasters. People who had roots elsewhere had established their hegemony in a land they wished to exploit as an overseas expansion opportunity.

Aurangzeb, the reigning Mughal emperor practiced religious bigotry and repression with great zeal, persecuting religious men, destroying religious schools and temples, breaking idols and ordering mosques to be built over them. He even revived the Jizya and banned the celebration of festivals such as Diwali.

Shivaji was highly affected by the injustice he witnessed and made a pact to rise in revolt against these rulers of foreign origin; thereby conceiving the idea of Swarajya. It disturbed him to know that rather than take up arms against the persecutors, local rulers and nobility served them as vassals, turning a blind eye to the oppression of the poor subjects. The Kachwaha Rajputs had even gone to the extent of sending their daughters to royal harems in order to appease the Mughals.

Shivaji managed to win a band of loyal followers and with their help began taking over forts and territories controlled by the Deccani Sultanates, later killing Afzal Khan. He also launched attacks on the Mughal Viceroy Shaista Khan followed by those on Janjira and Surat, trying to gain control on them.

He became the pioneer of social justice and civil rule in Maharashtra, building a strong military machinery and efficient administration. While Hinduism saw a resurgence under his rule he also followed a secular policy, giving due respect to other faiths and to women, setting himself apart from his predecessors.

Thus having lived his dream of carving out a domain for his people where they could breathe freedom he became a nation builder as he declared independence. His idea of Hindavi Swarajya became the Genesis of the Maratha Empire. It revived Maratha martial tradition and sent a strong message across India to local rulers like Chhatrasal to rebel against the tyrannical rule of the Mughals. The Indian war of Independence against foreign dominance actually began with Chhatrapati Shivaji.