There are many general references to Shahu Maharaj’s qualities and virtues in erstwhile documents. Some of them are provided below, “(Maharaj) graced and called everybody his own. He made them his own and kept them attached to the cause. Everybody felt that he graced them more than everybody else. He used the usual tools available to him including various appointments, assignments, land-parcels, Inam grants etc. If a person was found to be useful in a particular activity, but had some demerit, Maharaj had the good grace to tactfully cover-up for that demerit, and wean the person away from it. He would encourage them to express their good qualities, and allow them to grow. He took good care of everybody. He realised that this way, he had to make his kingdom rise, grow, and expand. He was conscious of the common perception that his father was blamed for hurting our own people, killing them, allowing the workshops and industries to degenerate, through these allowing the kingdom to be lost, and finally having committed the sin of killing Brahmins. Because of all this, he had an unwavering faith in various deities and Brahmin preceptors. He would always keep wise people around, would always listen to their tactics, intellectual advice, and would always act after discussing with them.
“(Maharaj) continued various Inams, worship-rights, arrangements for daily worships and offerings etc. for various deities and Brahmins. Wherever such arrangements were not made before, he made new ones. His servants and assistants began working with utmost loyalty, without dishonouring his orders even slightly. Whatever task he assigned to someone, and they proceeded to carry it out, they always achieved success in it. Whoever wanted to participate in the expansion of the kingdom, began working towards it this way.
“Many good and renowned people had left for foreign kingdoms previously due to the problematic situations they had faced. They were brought back into the Swarajya and were provided permanent benefices. Whenever the poor brought to him any grievances, he would make the palanquin stop while on march, or listen carefully to them when at court, and immediately issue the relevant resolution orders. If he had to issue instructions for the judicial arm, he would do so, and be ready to listen to their response. If he had to send some instructions to the Tehsil or district officials, he would ensure they were sent. He would ensure that whatever the reasonable resolution, was implemented without harming anybody else. He would never order any harsh punishments. If anybody deserved capital punishment, due to proven injustice, after detailed investigation and judgment, he would send the convict to Kanhoji Angre and whatever the punishment would be implemented by Angre.” In those times, the capital punishment would be implemented at the Colaba fort by pushing the convict down a cliff.
Nizam-ul-Mulk’s grandson Muzaffar Jung had uttered the following words for Shahu, “Like Nizam-ul-Mulk in the Mughal Empire, Shahu was an equivalent in the Maratha kingdom. Such men would never be born again. Shahu entrusted the whole kingdom to the Peshwa. He administered the kingdom perfectly. He was Ajatshatru (one without enemies).”
These words were uttered after his death, which proves that even Muslim rulers have considered him to be a person who treated everybody equally being true to the epaulet Ajatshatru.
“Since the time he made Satara as the place of his throne, he carried out all the state’s administrative activities through his servants in many campaigns and battles using huge armies. He was very clever in his planning. All his kingdom had been subsumed by the Mughal Empire, which he freed through his plans. He kept his flock together with his authority and created new renowned and powerful men, allowed them to grow. Whichever older men aligned with him, he allowed them to continue to enjoy their erstwhile positions and benefices. He used to act as per the advice imparted by wise and mature people. He used to get his work accomplished through trusted lieutenants. He would never keep company of mean, inebriated, addicted, alcoholic people, and ran his administration through his diplomats. He engaged the Marathas in soldierly responsibilities. He freed the northern realms and fulfilled the objective of the senior Maharaj. The boundaries of the kingdom extended to the east and south, met the four seas, the kingdom on all four sides began getting driven through a unified command structure.
“He decided that in the month of Shravan every year, he would examine the Brahmins in their acumen in Vedic Shastras and rituals, and initially at Talegaon through the Dabhades, and later at Pune, he would engage in charitable donations amounting to four to five lakh rupees. His fame spread everywhere, and lakhs of intellectuals, ascetics, great men would converge upon these places from all directions. Satara and Pune attained a status of a university almost like Kashi. He gave a sovereignty to the kingdom so that nobody would dare to disobey a straight order. He took good care of his subjects through judicious policy. He remained sympathetic towards the poor and orphans, and allayed their miseries. The subjects faced absolutely no trouble. Monsoons favoured the land as usual, which produced ample food-grains and abundance prevailed everywhere.”
To be continued…
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