When I began the translation of GS Sardesai’s ‘Riyasat Volume 2’ containing the story of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj, I had a lot of apprehension about my ability to make justice with their personalities and inherent qualities. There have been a lot of common right and wrong beliefs that have spread amongst the general public due to the erstwhile accounts provided by Bakhar historians, and then its use by creative artists in their novels and plays. When I was actually in the midst of the translation, I also felt the account by GS Sardesai was strictly based on the resources available to him at that time (around 1920s-30s). There have been many other resources that have been discovered and published afterwards, which recent historians have taken into account. So, I felt that I must go through the account written by at least one other historian who could have written about these two Chhatrapatis. I found the historic literature produced by Dr Jaisinghrao Pawar eminently readable in this respect. So, this series is primarily based on two of the above resources and the resources these two historians must have studied.
One needs to cross two mental barriers to really fathom the character of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. The first barrier is that one needs to understand the way the erstwhile Bakhar writers erected Sambhajiraje’s character, and secondly the way it was made popular by the novelists and dramatists. A quick overview of Sambhajraje’s life that needs to be brought out is as follows.
Shivaji Maharaj was born on 19 February 1630. At a young age, he was married to Saibai in 1641, meaning when he was 11 or 12 years old. Saibai had three daughters first. Her fourth child was Sambhaji. This child was born on Purandar fort on 14 May 1657. Sambhaji was Saibai’s last child. Saibai’s health was delicate at the time of his birth. She fell ill soon after this birth. That was why Sambhaji never got his mother’s milk. He grew up on the milk provided by a milk-mother Dharau. Saibai died on 5 September 1659, which was around two to two-and-a-quarter months before Afzal Khan’s assassination. She had suffered a prolonged illness before she died. When Sambhaji lost his mother, he was very young. He was just about two years old. His childhood went in utmost love provided by grandmother Jijabai. Shivaji Maharaj’s other wives also did not have any son. Maharaj was blessed with a second son Rajaram in 1670. At this point Sambhajiraje was 14 years old. Shivaji Maharaj captured Shringarpur in 1661. Sometime after 1661 and before 1665, Sambhajiraje was married to Yesubai. At the time of their marriage, Sambhajiraje could have been seven or eight years old, while Yesubai could have been four to five years old. It is possible, that Yesubai started living with Sambhajiraje immediately after marriage. It is also evident, that Shivaji Maharaj made excellent arrangements for Sambhajiraje’s education. Sambhajiraje began to write a Sanskrit text ‘Budhabhushan’ before 1677, at the age of twenty. Sambhajiraje studied ancient political scriptures, and collected the axioms from them into this text. In the preface to this text, Sambhajiraje himself says he has studied the art of poetry, other scriptures, Puranas, music and weaponry. There are contemporary and other many accounts available which praise him for his intellect and study. This shows, that Sambhajiraje was indeed very well-educated in Sanskrit. There was a permanent tutor named Umaji Pandit who used to teach Sambhajiraje. Similar to Shivaji, his childhood too was spent around adventure and campaigning. He had personally witnessed Shivaji’s encounters with Shaistakhan and Jaisingh. Sambhajiraje entered into politics on the instance of Mirza Raja Jaisingh. The treaty that was imposed by Mirza Raja Jaisingh on Shivaji Maharaj, had a clause, that Sambhajiraje was to stay in Jaisingh’s camp as a Mansabdar (commander) over five-thousand soldiers. Accordingly, Sambhajiraje arrived in Jaisingh’s camp on 18 June 1666. This meant that Sambhajiraje had to remain hostage for his father’s politics at the age of nine. Later, he had to go to Agra with his father. On 5 March 1666, the father-son duo began the journey towards Agra. On 15 May 1666, Sambhajiraje along with father was in attendance in Aurangzeb’s court to pay his obeisance. Very soon after this, Shivaji Maharaj was put under house-arrest at Agra, but Sambhajiraje was housed with Mirza Raja’s son Ram Singh. He used to visit Aurangzeb’s court along with Ram Singh. The Badshah used to grace Sambhajiraje during these visits. On 17 August 1666, Shivaji Maharaj escaped the house-arrest. He took Sambhajiraje along at this time. But handed him over to Krishnaji and Visaji brothers at Mathura, travelled to Rajgad in a whirlwind twenty-five-day journey and fell ill upon arrival. A ten-or-eleven-year-old Sambhajiraje, having lost his mother already, lived courageously with a relatively unknown family of Krishnaji, right in the heart of enemy’s region, away from his father and grandmother. Thereafter, he accompanied Krishnaji on a journey as per convenience, hundreds of miles on foot, through immense difficulties, reached Rajgad four to five months later. Here, Shivaji Maharaj had already spread a rumour, that Sambhajiraje could not withstand the hectic journey and died, and also performed his last rites. Due to this, the Mughals stopped looking for them. His father had performed his last rites even while he was alive, as a political move. After Sambhajiraje returned back, Shivaji Maharaj himself said,
“If we had not pretended that Sambhaji had died by performing his last rites, then it would have been difficult for Yuvaraj to travel back.”
To be continued…
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