Shivaji Maharaj was not too keen on division of the kingdom. For this, he had found a way to capture new set of provinces and create a separate kingdom for Rajaram. But Soyarabai was asking for the older Maharashtra provinces for her son, and Maharaj was ready to give him the future kingdom from Carnatic country. This way, during the same time-period 1675-76, the proposal to divide the kingdom in two parts was discussed at Raigad, and Shivaji Maharaj, despite some discomfiture, had provided his approval for the same. It seems that the estrangement between the father-son duo began here. Sambhajiraje did not approve of the division of the kingdom at all. Because, for him, the provinces that Maharaj was going to capture in the Carnatic, were going to be a part of the united Marathi kingdom itself!
The senior officials like Moropant, Annaji Datto, Raoji Somnath, Prahlad Niraji, Balaji Aavji etc., who had been trained under Shivaji Maharaj’s discipline also went against the Yuvaraj himself. This seems to have originated in a sort of generation gap. When Sambhajiraje began paying attention to the administrative affairs as directed by Shivaji Maharaj himself, it is probable that a distance began building up between him and the ministers. The feeling amongst the previous generation of ministers, that they were so capable, Senior Maharaj had completely trusted them so far and got enormous feats accomplished, he had treated them with so much respect, and this Yuvaraj was teaching them ways to work, would have been responsible to inflate their egos and later openly express enmity towards Sambhajiraje. Possibly one-off ministers would not have followed his orders or would have complained directly to Senior Maharaj about it, which also could have been the beginning of this animosity. Otherwise, this affair might not have escalated as much as was evident. It was natural for the ministers to have begun thinking about their own future. The person who did not agree with them even while his father was alive, if he became the owner of the kingdom, then they would be left with nowhere to go. This thought must have troubled them no end. It is possible that in such a situation, the ministers feeling hurt and fearful, and the Queen Soyarabai affected by greed towards the throne formed a group atop Raigad. The character assassination that Sambhajiraje was subjected to, must have been one of the moves played by this group to dishearten him and weaken his claim to the throne.
Sambhajiraje stayed at Shringarpur for around twenty-one months. During this period many other events occurred. Shringarpur and Sangameshwar was a home to people belonging to the Shakta sect. The chief guru of this sect Shivayogi had his monastery at Shringarpur. Kavi Kalash had also accompanied Sambhajiraje to Shringarpur. During this period, Sambhajiraje came under the influence of people of this Shakta sect, and a member of this sect, Kavi Kalash got entry into Yuvaraj’s inner circle as the chief advisor. This Shakta sect had made its presence felt at the time of Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation ceremony as well, through their opposition to the ceremony being held as per Vedic rituals. To ensure this opposition did not escalate, Shivaji Maharaj had got his coronation done again from a member of Shakta sect, Nishchalpuri Gosavi through Tantric rituals. At the time of the first coronation ceremony, the Vedic purohits had side-lined the followers of the Shakta sect. All of Shivaji Maharaj’s ministers were of the Vedic mindset and could have sided up with the Vedic purohits. Further, even after the second coronation ceremony, even if the dispute between the two sects seemed to have been resolved for the time being, it seems, it was kept alive. Now, when the Yuvaraj of the Maratha kingdom himself was living around the area of influence of the Shakta sect, and after the news that the Vedic sect’s ministers at Raigad had formed a group against him, it was natural for the Shakta sect people to take undue advantage of the same. It is quite possible that the Yuvaraj too felt drawn towards these Shakta sect people since they had opposed the ministers. Slowly as this initial sympathy turned into attraction, the Yuvaraj could have slipped completely under their influence.
To be continued…
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