What Cromwell did for England Shivaji did for India.He was the first man in recorded history to give the concept of "Swaraj-self determination' to the people. He instilled a sense of purpose,discipline and cohesiveness among the Marathas.
His uniqueness amongst all medieval Indian rulers was his total adherence to the Dharma..before Shivaji,India had for various reasons become weak
and stagnant.The poor and the infirm were feeling insecure and miserable.Women were being molested and humiliated everywhere by the zamindars and the local rulers.
Jizabai was a very strong and independent woman.She realized that her son Shivaji was a man of destiny and she and her husband Shajiraje arranged matters so that Shivaji could be educated in matters of warfare and politics.
Shivaji soon realized that given the circumstances and paucity of resources,he would have to resort to guirella tactics.Shivaji raided Surat,a commercial port and got huge amounts of precious stones and gold from the local merchants.As his strength and influence started growing,Aurangzeb and the Bijapur Sultan decided to cut him down to size.Afzalkhan was sent with a huge army to destroy Shivaji but Shivaji was able to kill Afzalkhan and rout his army.
Shivaji had realized that without the support of the Rajputs,it would be extremely difficult to realize his dream of Swaraj.He made many attempts in that direction but they had become so used to the status-quo that they could not see the writing on the wall.Shivaji was above religion,language or culture and recruited strong and sturdy youth in his army.He had enormous respect and affection for women and wanted them to be self-reliant and independent.Even the women of the enemy camp respected Shivaji for his bravery and sterling qualities of character and helped him in his moments of distress.
In many respects,Shivaji laid the foundation for a strong,united and prosperous India.
His uniqueness amongst all medieval Indian rulers was his total adherence to the Dharma..before Shivaji,India had for various reasons become weak
Jizabai was a very strong and independent woman.She realized that her son Shivaji was a man of destiny and she and her husband Shajiraje arranged matters so that Shivaji could be educated in matters of warfare and politics.
Shivaji soon realized that given the circumstances and paucity of resources,he would have to resort to guirella tactics.Shivaji raided Surat,a commercial port and got huge amounts of precious stones and gold from the local merchants.As his strength and influence started growing,Aurangzeb and the Bijapur Sultan decided to cut him down to size.Afzalkhan was sent with a huge army to destroy Shivaji but Shivaji was able to kill Afzalkhan and rout his army.
Shivaji had realized that without the support of the Rajputs,it would be extremely difficult to realize his dream of Swaraj.He made many attempts in that direction but they had become so used to the status-quo that they could not see the writing on the wall.Shivaji was above religion,language or culture and recruited strong and sturdy youth in his army.He had enormous respect and affection for women and wanted them to be self-reliant and independent.Even the women of the enemy camp respected Shivaji for his bravery and sterling qualities of character and helped him in his moments of distress.
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