punyatithi of shivaji maharaj

Shivaji was the founder of the modern Maharashtra state in India. The period when Shivaji was born was one of utter chaos and confusion in India. The Mughal empire was in its decline, The British and the Portuguese had appeared on the scene and had developed territorial ambitions and India was badly fragmented and divided. The people were totally paralyzed and had lost sense of purpose and direction.
The two major influences on the young Shivaji were his mother Jijabai and later Swami Ramdas Samarth,a spiritual teacher. Both of them saw in Shivaji, the man of the hour and one who could revive the morale of the people. Shivaji was groomed in the martial arts,economics,state-craft and the finest moral values of that period. Shivaji realized early that a person without any army,resources or kingdom would have to resort to guile and stratagem,if a sovereign,independent and prosperous kingdom was to be established. There was no concept of nationhood among-st the people . The majority were beholden to the zamindars for their livelihood. Shivaji gathered around him a band of Maratha youngsters,who gladly accepted him as their leader.The Marathas were a strong and hardy people,predominantly farmers and without any military experience. Shivaji provided them with weapons and horses and imparted military training to them.He gave them a vision-Swaraj which means people's rule. In a sense he was the pioneer of Republicanism in India.
At the age of 25, The only tactical advantage he and his men had was that they were familiar with the hilly terrain while the Mughal armies were not. Shivaji crowned himself king of Deccan and refused allegiance to Aurangzeb,the Mughal emperor. Shivaji slowly started encroaching on Mughal territories and expanding his kingdom. Initially Aurangzeb ignored Shivaji,thinking him to be an upstart. However after Shivaji conquered Surat and Pune,he decided to teach Shivaji a lesson and compel him to accept Mughal domination. Shivaji had now tasted blood and had decided to give the powerful Mughals a run for their money! Aurangzeb mainly relied on the Rajputs in his army and he sent an army under Raja Jai Singh to arrest Shivaji.The Rajputs were one of the finest warriors in India. Overwhelmed by the numerical superiority of the Mughal army,Shivaji decided to compromise with the Mughals and surrendered some of his forts to the Mughals and accepted the offer of Aurangzeb to come to Agra.. Shivaji and his young son Sambhaji reached Agra to meet Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb asked Shivaji to merge his kingdom in the Mughal kingdom and accept him as Emperor. Shivaji refused to accept Mughal rule and Aurangzeb ordered his arrest. Shivaji cleverly escaped from Agra and reached his capital Raigad safely. Slowly he re-captured his territories and established the first independent Republic in India. Shivaji had able people from all communities and castes in his army and administration. He had given explicit instructions to his soldiers not to harm any woman or child. Anybody outraging the modesty of a woman was summarily executed. For the first time,the people of Maharashtra had found a sense of belonging and nationhood which prevails till this day. Lokmanya Tilak,one of the pioneers of the Independence movement expanded the concept of Swaraj to include the whole of India!

Shivaji will be remembered with gratitude by the people of India till eternity!