DESCRIBING THE DAILY routine of Chhatrapati Shivaji, Acharya Jadunath Sarkar pays him an evocative tribute in his classic, Shivaji and His Times. His words make the visual come alive before our eyes:
Shiva began by bowing to his guru Ramdas Swami and his mother Jija Bai and receiving their blessings. The unhappy discarded first wife of Shahji, now verging on eighty, had forgotten her husband's neglect in the love and devotion of her son, and rejoiced to see, before she closed her eyes, that he had reached the summit of human greatness as the crowned king of the land of his birth, an irresistible conqueror, and a strong defender of the religion which was the solace of her life…she glo-ried in the glory of her victorious and orthodox son. A kind Providence seemed to have prolonged her life only to enable her to witness the scene of his coronation, for she died twelve days after it.
Jadunath Sarkar’s choice of invoking Jija Bai reveals the Sanatani inside him. His tribute to Shivaji is really a tribute to the profound womb that birthed him; it is the Acharya’s homage to the mother that chiselled the lad Shiva into becoming the very Murti of Kshatra, which knew near fear nor weakness.
On the infinite canvas of history, Chhatrapati Shivaji’s exalted life was punctuated by a singular tragedy. He passed away too soon, aged just fifty. It appears that destiny itself was jealous of his success; he was coronated in 1674 and merged with Eternity in 1680. One fondly speculates the alternative: had Shivaji outlived Aurangzeb, the political map of Bharatavarsha would’ve perhaps been permanently altered.
Which is where our story begins.
After the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji, his son and successor, Shambhaji ordered a thorough inventory of his late father’s possessions. He pressed the whole clerkdom into this task and supervised it personally. The outcome was nothing short of spectacular as we shall see.
Two primary sources furnish the full list of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s personal wealth and possessions.
The first is Krishnaji Anant Sabhasad’s biography of Shivaji titled, Śrī-Śiva-Prabhuce-Caritra (popularly known as the Sabhasad Bakhar), published in 1694 or 97.
The second is Shri Shiva Chhatrapatichi 91 Kalmi Bakhar (simply known as the 91 Kalmi Bakhar) authored by Dattaji Triambak, a courtier of the late Chhatrapati. Jadunath Sarkar mentions that he prefers to call it more accurately as the Dattaji-Malkare Bakhar. In fact, Jadunath himself translated the whole text in 1907 and made an interesting observation.
Leaves 42 — 44 of this work give a very interesting inventory of the various kinds of property left behind by the great Shivaji. A curious light is here thrown on the life’s acquisition of an Indian king two and a half centuries ago, and the character of the articles stored by him illustrates the state of society in that age.
And now, without further ado, here is a near comprehensive list of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s earthly possessions given in the aforementioned work. The contemporary conversions for weights and measures are given at the end of this essay.
This is no doubt a fabulous personal wealth befitting a Chhatrapati, but Jadunath does not forget to inform us of Shivaji’s “most precious legacy to his people.” He cites Grant Duff’s memorable words to describe this legacy:
The territory and treasures, however, which Sivajee acquired, were not so formidable to the Mahomedans as the example he had set, the system and habits he introduced, and the spirit he had infused into a large proportion of the Mahratta people.
It is this Shivaji-spirit that permanently altered the destiny of what is today known as Maharashtra. It is this spirit that ensured that Shivaji’s Empire — built from the scratch — not only outlasted him but engorged as a pan-India Empire.
|| Satyam Shivam Sundaram ||
Khandi, is a measure of weight varying at different places. At Pune, it consisted of 20 Poona maunds of 25 lbs. each.
Hun, a South Indian gold coin, then worth Rs. 5.
Candy, about 500 lbs
Quire, 25 sheets of paper or parchment
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