Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s escape from Agra was the key turning point in Indian history: Jadunath Sarkar

On Monday, September 14, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while reviewing the development works of the Agra division, said that the museum being built in the city will be named after the Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, as it will invoke nationalism and self-esteem. CM Adityanath made the decision while asking, “How can our heroes be Mughals?”

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s descendant, Chhatrapati Sambhaji, tweeted:
“The UP government has made the decision to change the name of the Mughal Museum to the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum. As a descendant of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, I thank the Honorable CM Shri Yogi Adityanath on behalf of the people of Maharashtra.”

Why Agra is important to nationalists:

Agra occupies a key place in the history of the Maratha empire, the strongest bulwark of Hindu self-government against the power of the Mughals. One particular incident in Agra could have turned the tide in favor of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb if the ingenuity of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had not saved the day. The incident is famous in history as “Escape From Agra”.

Born Shivajirao Malojirao Bhonsle, a teenager and his dedicated friends established a resistance force in Deccan (Dakshin = South India according to the Mughals who were installed in the north). That force nibbled and slowly swallowed huge tracts of land previously held by the Mughals.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj established a competent and progressive civil government with the help of disciplined military and well-structured administrative organizations.

Aurangzeb was completely at a loss as to how to make this mountain man kneel before the Mughal power. Shivaji Maharaj, by contrast, with his victories, mocked the Mughal control of India. Shivaji Maharaj deployed new military tactics, basing his attacks on guerrilla warfare methods that made use of knowledge of the local topography. It also added elements of speed and surprise to target and defeat enemies in focused and precise attacks. By annexing surrounding empires, he was now proving himself invincible.

Aurangzeb realized that the only way to defeat this man would be through deception. In 1666, Shivaji received a letter from Emperor Aurangzeb inviting him to go to the royal court in Agra. Shivaji had a hunch about the Emperor’s intentions, but accepted the invitation as he did not want it to appear that he was afraid of Aurangzeb.

Quoting the book of the prominent historian Sir Jadunath Sarkar “Shivaji and his time” Chapter 6 Visit Aurangzeb – 1966

“(Mirza Raje of Amer – now Jaipur) Jai Singh had promised to send (Chhatrapati) Shivaji (Maharaj) to the Imperial Court (of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Agra). But it was not an easy task. In the Treaty of Purandar, Shivaji had expressly stipulated that he should not be called up for Mughal military service (mansab), nor to attend the Imperial Court. There were strong reasons for this. On the one hand, he and his compatriots had no faith in Auranzib’s word and believed that the Emperor was capable of any act of treachery and cruelty. Then again the Maratha chief had an innate reluctance to bow his head to a Muslim; He had been raised in the freedom and solitude of the hills and forests, far from the cities and the courts; he had absorbed the orthodox Hindu spirit of his mother and guardian, of his childhood companions, and of the saints he adored; and he had risen to independent sovereignty without ever occupying any subordinate position as a servant of a higher authority. Therefore, at first he was reluctant to visit the Imperial Court. “

Shivaji Maharaj’s friends were of the opinion that it would be akin to entering the jaws of an ogre.

Sarkar writes: “But Jai Singh made the most solemn oaths possible by a Hindu that Shiva would not be harmed during his visit, while Rajput Rajah’s son and agent at court, Kumar Ram Singh, similarly promised his word for Shiva’s safety during his stay in the capital.

Sarkar also praises the arrangements he made for his absence.

“Shivaji’s arrangements for the administration of his kingdom during his long-awaited absence in North India were a masterpiece of foresight and organization. His plan was to make his local representatives absolutely independent of any need for their orders or guidance during his absence. The administration of his territories and fortresses would function as efficiently as before, even if he were imprisoned or assassinated in Agra. His mother Jija Bai remained as regent, with Moro Pant the Peshwa and Niloji Sondev the majmuddar, under your orders. The commanders of their forts were strictly ordered to be vigilant day and night and to follow their rules implicitly, to guard against surprises or fraud. Civil officers were to follow their current regulations and practices in all matters.

After making an inspection tour of his entire little kingdom, and even making surprise visits to some of his forts, and repeating, as final instructions to his officers, “Act as I have instructed you before.”

Sarkar quotes extensively from the letters that Ram Singh’s officers wrote from Agra.

“Shivaji has come with only a hundred servants and an escort of two hundred to 250 men. Among the latter there are 100 silahdars and the rest are pay that is to say. men mounted and equipped by the state. When Shivaji rides on a palki, many large lackeys like Khanddits in Turkish caps march before him. Its flag is orange and vermilion, with gold ornaments stamped on it. One hundred banjaras, each with two pack oxen, continue to their camp. All his high officials have palkis to travel … Shiva’s contingent is small, but very splendidly equipped. A large elephant goes before him with his flag. An outpost of soldiers also precedes it, the horses are adorned with gold and silver. The Deccani infantry (i.e. the Mavles) also march ahead of him. Two female elephants with haudds follow him … His palki is completely clad with silver plates and his posts with gold plates … Now that after arriving in the presence of the Emperor he has shown so much boldness and returned such harsh and energetic answers, the public praises him for his bravery even more.

“Shivaji is very intelligent; he speaks the right word, after which no one needs to say anything else on the subject. He is a good genuine Rajput … and he says appropriate things marked by the spirit of a Rajput.” – Jaipur Records

A POINT OF TURN IN THE HISTORY OF INDIA IN ITS WHOLE:

Sarkar writes that letters written by Ram Singh’s officers from his camp during this period have been preserved in the Jaipur state archives. They are all written in the Dingal dialect or the Rajasthani variety of Hindi.

Sarkar admits that “the historian investigating the root causes of great events cannot help feeling that Shivaji’s visit to Aurangzib ultimately produced a revolution in the destiny of the Maratha people. This event marks a decisive turning point in history. of India as a whole “.

Historians have reconstructed the true history of this visit, the plots and counter plots about him in the imperial court circle, and the daily changes in Aurangzib’s own politics, from the most authentic contemporary records.

After attending Aurangzeb’s birthday celebrations, right in front of the Mughal emperor, Shivaji Maharaj threw down his welcoming robes and stormed out of the Darbar. A Mughal mansab-give Jaswant Singh (who holds the rank of noble) of the Rajput lineage, defeated by Shivaji Maharaj in 1664, stood before him at the function and an indignant Maratha king came out in anger.

So the King’s Inner Council decided to kill Shivaji Maharaj or confine him to a fortress. Shivaji Maharaj sent all his followers back to their home state.

They spent three months (May, June, July) in captivity.

Now free of anxiety for his followers, Shivaji set about planning his own escape. He pretended to be ill and began sending sweets from his home every night for Brahmins, religious mendicants and courtiers. These were carried in huge baskets, each one hung from a pole that two men carried on their shoulders.

The guards searched the baskets for a few days and then began to let them out without question. This was the opportunity that Shivaji Maharaj had been waiting for.

The final escape:

“On the afternoon of August 19, 1966, he sent a message to his guards that he was very ill and had gone to bed and that they should not disturb him. His half-brother Hiroji Farzand, who looked a bit like him, went to bed in his cot, with a quilt covering his entire body except for the outstretched right arm adorned with Shivaji’s gold bracelet, – while Shivaji and his son crouched in two baskets, which were safely shipped shortly after sunset through from the ranks of unsuspecting guards, being preceded and followed by baskets of authentic sweets. “

The boxes arrived on the outskirts of Agra, in a jungle. There, a trusted general of Shivaji awaited his arrival. Then the king, the son and some others smeared ashes on their bodies as sadhus and headed towards Mathura.

The following afternoon, Hiroji Farzand came out as himself along with a trusted aide who was seen pressing Shivaji Maharaj’s (the decoy) feet the night before, warning the guards not to disturb Maharaj until he returned.

After a while, the guards became suspicious of the silence in the camp and discovered to their horror that the bird had flown away.

The treacherous Emperor Aurangzeb was shattered:

Shivaji’s escape from captivity caused a life-long regret for Aurangzeb. As the emperor wrote in his last will and testament: “The greatest pillar of a government is the maintenance of information about everything that happens in the kingdom, while even a minute of negligence results in shame for many years. See how the The flight of the miserable Shiva, which was due to carelessness, has now involved me in all these distraction campaigns until the end of my days. “

It may be noteworthy here to mention that Aurangzeb then went with an army himself to the Deccan and stayed there for 27 years on a mission to catch Shivaji Maharaj. He failed at that and died disheartened in Khultabad, near Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

Shivaji Maharaj is often cited by notable historians as the main cause of the weakening of the Mughal empire which later, by his descendants and Peshwas, was completely decimated.

The opinions expressed by the author are personal and in no way represent those of the Times Network.