Hindu Samrajya Divas was celebrated on 6^th June to commemorate the royal coronation (Rajyabhishek) of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. To mark the occasion Shri Shivaji Raigad Smarak Mandal Shivshambu Vichar Darshan organized a talk by Historian Shri Gajanan Bhaskar Mehendale. The talk is in Marathi and we are reproducing it in English for the benefit of our readers.

The use of the term Hindu Samrajya Divas seems to have irked many so-called liberals and seculars as they have been trying to fit Chhatrapati into their narrow definition of secularism. These days even the word Hindu gets the goat of this lot. However, their propaganda has been aptly destroyed in this talk by Shri Mehendale.

We have translated the Marathi speech of Shri Mehandale for the benefit of our readers.

Introduction

In 1961 during the unveiling of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Yashwant Rao Chavan had stated that if Shiv Chhatrapati hadn’t established the Maratha kingdom then today Pakistan’s boundaries would have extended right up to our doorsteps meaning a majority of today’s Bharat would have been Islamic.

Shri Mehendale states that for 10 centuries (1000 years) before the rise of Shivaji Maharaj Bharat was ruled by foreign Islamic powers. They are known as Islamic because they have defined themselves as the Islamic kingdom. Mehendale defines Hindus as Dharmic Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists.

Three aspects have been covered in this talk, namely Islamic rule in Bharat before the rise of Shiv Chhatrapati, Koranic sanction to the actions of Islamic rulers, and the Hindu Rajya of Maharaj.

Jizyah: The Humiliation of Non-Muslims

Was the Islamic rule based on Koranic sanctions and Prophet Mohammad’s message

As per Islamic injunctions, one was to engage in battle (Jihad) with the followers of the “book” till such time that they willingly gave jizya or accepted Islam or were killed in the war. However, these three options were only available to Christians and Jews (who were considered followers of the book).

Koran does not allow a true Islamist to accept jizya from a Hindu. Therefore, as far as Hindus were concerned, they either had to accept Islam or death. Although Koran doesn’t permit acceptance of jizya from Hindus, in later times, Islamic scholars in general and Abu Hanifa, in particular, stated that jizya can be accepted by Hindus and considered it a ‘favor’ on Hindus.

In Bharat as well all Islamic dynasties including the Mughals levied jizya on their Hindu population. Although Akbar is said to have abolished jizya, Aurangzeb re-introduced the levy in order to ensure that Islam is propagated and the practice of Hindu Dharma comes to an end. This intention of Aurangzeb is mentioned in no uncertain terms in his biography Maasir-I-Alamgiri by Saqi Mustad Khan.

Maasir-I-Alamgiri quotes Aurangzeb as saying that the main intention of jizya is to bring an end to the “religion of the kafirs” and ensure that a majority of people are converted to Islam. Another aim of jizya as clarified by Mughal Era Sufi Scholar Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi is to insult ‘kafirs’. Koranic injunction says that ‘kafirs must pay the jizya with humility’.

In the context of jizya, it is pertinent to quote a conversation between Alauddin Khilji and Kazi Moisuddin. When Khilji asked the Kazi to explain what the Islamic law (Sharia) says about levying jizya. The Kazi explained that Islamists had the right to collect jizya from ‘kafirs’ as a special favour to them and that it must be given with humility. He also mentions that if the jizya collecting official feels like spitting on the ‘kafir’ then the latter should open his mouth without objection.

Mehandale states that there are many other atrocities mentioned by the Kazi and this proves that the intention of collecting jizya was to insult the non-believers (Hindus). He further states that many Islamic scholars were against jizya because they believed that Hindus must be given only two options, namely accept Islam or die.

Giving another example of how jizya was meant to demean Hindus, Mehandale talks about Iltutmish. A delegation of Islamic scholars went to Iltutmish stating that he was allowing Hindus to get away by paying jizya to which one of his ministers replied that since their numbers were very less they cannot afford to impose Islam at that point in time. The scholars accepted the argument but left only after getting an assurance that Iltutmish would at least humiliate Hindus.

Rubbishing claims made by some seculars who say that the aim behind levying jizya was neither religious nor meant as an insult to Hindus but only because Hindus were given facilities and protection by Islamic rulers, Mehandale cites that all Islamic rulers have themselves confirmed that they are charging jizya as per Islamic injunctions and teachings of the Prophet.

Further, he states that Maasir-I-Alamgir also takes the support of the Ayat (Koranic verse) to levy the religious tax. As mentioned earlier several Islamic scholars have confirmed the religious nature of the tax. Shri Mehandale confirms that the Ayat mentioned by all Islamic scholars and rulers is the lone Koranic verse regarding jizya. In addition, Mehandale also believes that if jizya wasn’t Islamic, those levying it would not have insisted that ‘kafirs’ have to come personally and that too on foot only to pay the tax.

Aurangzeb imposes humiliating terms on the Shia state of Golkunda. Dara obtains Shah Jahan's orders to stop the hostilities (1656)

Secular propaganda against Hindu Samrajya Divas

Now, that Shri Mehandale explained the various aspects of ‘jizya’ and how it was an important part of the attempts by all Islamic regimes to end Hindu Dharma. Further, he explains several other characteristics of Islamic rule in Bharat and the sanction their acts received both from the Koran and the teachings of Mohammad.

Another important aspect of Islam’s imposition was ‘desecrating vigrahas’ and destroying Mandirs (temples). This aspect had sanction not just from the words but from the actions of the Prophet itself.

Shri Mehandale narrates the incident where Muhammad who had left for Medina but returned to Mecca to destroy 360 ancient Pagan idols including the one known as Kaaba (which still stands in Mecca but is considered a manifestation of evil) as an example.

The numerous Islamic invaders who set foot on Bharat had the example of Muhammad himself before themselves and they walked the path shown by him as far as destroying temples and vigrahas was concerned.

A mosque built by Qutubuddin Aibak in 1192 has an inscription saying “this mosque has been built using material from 27 temples”. This mosque still stands at the foot of Qutub Minar even though it is dilapidated and people can see remnants of Hindu and Jain temples here. This mosque is known as Quwwatul Islam which translates to “might or capability of Islam”, in other words, Islam’s ability to destruct Hindu temples.

Aibak’s general Bhaktiyar Khilji destroyed Bihar’s Buddha Vihara and killed several unarmed Buddhist monks and then went on to destroy several other Buddhist Viharas. Many scholars believe this wanton destruction of the center of Buddhist learning led to its decline.

Iltutmish razed the temple of Ujjain Mahakaleshwar which is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and carried away the “Shiv Pind” (Shivalinga) and strew the broken pieces of Shivlinga on the steps of Jama Masjid in Delhi so that Muslims may trample upon them.

Even Tughlaq destroyed various temples and brought back murtis which were then broken into pieces and placed on the steps of various mosques in an attempt to insult Hindus and destroy Hindu Dharma as mentioned in biographies of Tughlaq.

Mughals from Babur to Aurangzeb have indulged in razing temples and gurudwaras as recorded by their chroniclers, biographies and even these rulers themselves have recorded these destructions in their autobiographies.

At times they razed a lone temple and at others, they indulged in mass destruction. Maasir-I-Alamgiri states that between March 1679 and August 1680, more than 300 temples were felled by Aurangzeb. Official Mughal records show that in January 1705 Aurangzeb issued orders to destroy the Pandharpur Vittal Mandir and slaughter cows in the holy temple premises.

Refuting secular arguments that Islamic invaders looted temples only for their wealth and with no other intention, Mehandale points out that this argument is both false and baseless because if the intention was to loot the wealth of the temple, they would not have ordered the murtis to be broken into pieces and thrown on the steps of the temple so that Muslims may trample upon them. He further indicates that all of this was done in the name of the Prophet who destroyed Pagan idols in Mecca, not for wealth but because Islam does not accept murti Pooja.

He also says that there is no evidence to support the claim that Hindus destroyed Jaina temples and hence their temples were razed by Islamic invaders. He says that this argument does not hold water at all. Besides Islamists destroyed Jain and Buddhist temples as well which again refutes this line of argument.

Even the reasoning that temples were destroyed with the intention of declaring that the invader had established his rule in this particular region stands discredited because a ruler would have destroyed every structure constructed in the conquered region including mosques which were not the case and Hindu structures were specifically targeted.

Muhammad has asked his true followers to wage Jihad on kafirs and enslave women and children

Slavery was another important aspect of Islamic rule which was also sanctioned by Islam. Jihad has Koranic sanction and even Muhammad has asked his true followers to wage Jihad on kafirs and enslave women and children. Muhammad himself killed men of a Jewish settlement after winning the war and children and women were sold off as slaves in Arab.

From Balban to Aurangzeb, Islamic rulers have always followed Muhammad’s footsteps. These Islamic rulers often designated native Hindus as “thieves or pirates” and sent their armies to wage wars against them. When Hindus were defeated their women and children were sold off as slaves.

Giving an example of Balban’s cruelty, Mehandale cites one instance where Balban defeated Hindus of a hill region, and later some of these were killed by having an elephant trample upon them while hundreds were skinned alive and their skins were displayed on the doors of Delhi as an ‘achievement’.

Alauddin Khilji, having won the Chittor battle, also ordered killing every Hindu who was sighted after the war was over and as a result, thirty thousand Hindus were killed in the ensuing carnage. Taimur Lang mentions around ten times in his autobiography that he invaded Bharat because Islamic rulers had become weak and ‘kafirs’ had gained in strength. He, therefore, waged ‘jihad’ to save Islam as per his own admissions which seculars want us to ignore.

The so-called secular Akbar also has the blood of innocent Hindus in his hands and was equally a believer of ‘jihad’ who killed thousands of Hindus after Chittor fell into his hands. Mehandale also mentions a believer of the Naqshbandi Sufi sect Islamic general Abdullah Khan who had admitted killing around two lakh Hindus and converting 5 lakhs non-believers to Islam before selling them off as slaves.

Treatment given to women by Islamic invaders was also in keeping with the act of Muhammad who used to sell off women captured during wars and keep those he found attractive for himself.  The fourth chapter of the Koran says that although sexual relations with married women are forbidden, one can keep physical relations with those who were won in war.

From time to time Muhammad would instruct his followers based on ‘visions/revelations given to him by Allah’. One such ‘revelation’ relates to the Ayat of the Hadis which allows Muslim men to entertain physical relations with married women won over in war. Mehandale states examples of how Tughlaq, Akbar, Shahjahan, and Sher Shah among others followed this example of Muhammad and either enslaved Hindu women in their harems or sold them off as sex slaves much like how ISIS sold off Yezidi women as sex slaves.

Forced religious conversion is another important part of Islamic invasions which also begins with Muhammad who forced the majority of the Meccans who were Pagan idol worshippers to accept Islam. Mehandale cites letters of Tipu Sultan written in 1790 to his Sardar and 1799 to Sultan of Istanbul that he has converted around 4 lakhs Hindus of Malabar and 5 lakhs Kafirs (that includes Hindus and a small percentage of Christians) to Islam respectively.

Speaking on the roles of Sufis, Mehandale has pointed out how none of the so-called Sufi saints belonging to various sects ever condemned these extremist acts of Islamist rulers. Moinuddin Chisti’s biography states that once Muhammad appeared in his dreams and said that Moinuddin you have followed my footsteps in all but one aspect. He, however, didn’t disclose which aspect.

Later, a disciple of Chisti won a war and captured a Hindu woman whom he ‘gifted’ to Chisti. Chisti not just accepted the ‘gift’ but converted the woman to Islam and married her as well. Many Sufi saints have been known to wield the sword and have razed temples in the name of jihad as well.

Another important point to note is all these Islamists used to slaughter cows, most often in temple premises, only because cows were considered sacred by Hindus. Their acts were cheered by Sufis as well and all Islamists including Sufis believed that refraining from slaughtering cows out of consideration for Hindus goes against the tenets of the Koran and amounts to sin. All that is sanctioned by the Koran should be carried out with zeal with the sole aim of pleasing Allah. Also, no Muslim had the right to decide what is sanctioned by Islam and what isn’t because only Allah had the right to do so.

The rise of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

The Hindu Samrajya of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj came as a blessing to Hindus who had been bearing Islamic cruelty for several centuries. It not only gave hope to several oppressed Hindus but also restored the Hindu pride and inspired several other Hindu dynasties across the length and breadth of Bharat to rebel against the Islamic invaders.

Mehandale begins by explaining how Maharaj reconstructed and restored several dilapidated temples that had either fallen out of use during Islamic rule or had been converted to mosques by the Islamists.

Raje set up a Rajvyavaharkosh (official communication dictionary) the preamble of which states that it was set up because the local language had been corrupted by centuries of invasions and that this step was being taken to restore the languages to their former glory.

Another important act of Maharaj that was much ahead of its times and an act beyond imagination during those days was the “Ghar wapsi” (reconversion into Hindu) of Netoji Palkar who had been forcibly converted to Islam by Aurangzeb.

Pointing at a common thread between these three acts of Chhatrapati, Mehandale says it was Maharaj’s Hindu faith. It was also his faith in the Hindu Dharma that led him to support Vedic Brahmans who were given economic support from the royal treasury annually for the Brahmin’s lifetime.

Mehandale further points out that the Rajyabhishek of Maharaj (royal coronation) was carried out as per Vedic traditions and says that those seculars who say that Maharaj faced opposition for the same are overlooking the fact that there is no definite record to prove that such an opposition took place and even if it did, then Raje opting for and going ahead with coronation as per Vedic tradition only re-established the fact that Raje was a true follower of Sanatana Hindu Dharma.

In his letter to his half-brother Ekoji Raje, Maharaj says  “I fight against the Turks (Mehandale points out that Mlechha, Yavana, Turks were all used to indicate Muslims in those days) while you have employed them in your army. How do you hope to win with their support?”

Here the speaker draws our attention to the fact that if Maharaj accuses Ekoji of employing Muslims, it means not many Muslims were employed by him, a fact which has been reiterated by official Maratha records. Those Muslims in his service till 1658 were nominated by Shahaji Maharaj.

1658 is a significant year in Chhatrapati’s life because that was the year when he started doing politics independently. Furthermore, there were not more than five to ten Muslims in his employment. Some of them were employed only to train Maharaj’s Mavalas who lacked military and administrative acumen as the Maratha Empire was in its nascent stages. Here, Mehandale cites the example of a few British being employed by the Bharatiya government right after independence to ensure a smooth transfer of power.

The speaker also negates the argument put forward by seculars which states that Maharaj commissioned the construction of mosques. There are no records to prove that he got mosques constructed and while it is true that inams (land grants) given to certain mosques before he came to the throne were continued, it is also equally true that those were stopped in due course of time. On the other hand, there are numerous records of land grants given to temples, saints, Vedic scholars, and Brahmins.

Testimonies by those who knew Maharaj proved he was a follower of Hindu Dharm and established a Hindu Samrajya

Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj says in his Budhbhushan, written by him when he was the Yuvaraja, that Maharaj defeated the mlecchas to save and protect the varnashrama dharma (Hindu Dharma) from Mlecchas and Yavanas. In his daanpatra (citation of donation) Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj praises his father with the epithet “one who has taken a vow to kill the Mlechhas”.

Shivbharat quotes Ali Adilshah’s opinion about Maharaj in the following words “the numbers of mlecchas are dwindling because of this proud Hindu who has been insulting Yavanas right from a young age”.

Kavi Bhushan states “Shivraj is always excited to exalt Hindus and he goes to war intending to make this earth free of Mlecchas”.

All those close to Maharaj state in no uncertain terms that the aim of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was to save Hindus and Hindu Dharma and annihilate the mlecchas.

Testimonies of enemies prove the Maratha Empire was Hindu Samrajya

Henry Remmington, in an official letter written by him, refers to Shiv Chhatrapati as “general of the Hindu forces”. This in itself should put a rest to all doubts and questions being raised regarding the Hindu Samrajya of Maharaj. Nevertheless, providing further proof of why Shiv Chhatrapati’s Samrajya was Hindu, Shri Mehandale narrates the incident of an English doctor.

A doctor in the service of the East India Company (EIC) was going from Mumbai to Junnar as the Mughal officer in Junnar had requested his service for one of his family members. He spent the night in Kalyan which was then under the Marathas and an officer instructed him to spend the night in an unused mosque. The EIC official says that there are many mosques in Kalyan that have now fallen out of use and mullahs and imams are not getting salaries as before because Shivaji Maharaj is a Hindu and has converted most of them into grain storage warehouses.

Chhatrapati’s Hindu Samrajya legacy lives on

The Hindu legacy of Shiv Chhatrapati was carried forward by his successors, the foremost of whom was his son Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. If anything then Chhatrapati Shambu Raje was a stauncher Hindu which is proven both by his acts as well as his official communications.

Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj’s letter to Mirza Raja Jaisingh’s son Ramsingh in Sanskrit states in no unclear terms that the Marathas are fighting for Hindu Dharma while Ramsingh despite his Ikshvaku family lineage was not doing so. Chhatrapati Sambhaji continuing the tradition handed down to him by his father ordered a Muslim to be hanged to death in 1684 in Karwar for having slaughtered a cow.

Rajaram Maharaj, younger son of Shiv Chhatrapati who succeeded Chhatrapati Shambu Raje to the throne, refers to his rule as “dev brahman’s rule” which means the Hindu kingdom.

Nanasaheb Peshwa, who refers to himself as a disciple of Shivaji Maharaj, reconstructed a temple that had been replaced by a mosque after destroying the mosque in the holy city of Trymbakeshwar.

Shiv Chhatrapati’s Hindu Samrajya ends centuries of Islamic oppression

As stated earlier, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj led by example and the Maratha Empire established by him ended centuries of Islamic oppression. Some of the important features of his rise to power are as follows:

• Jizya abolished
• Desecration of Murtis/vigrahas came to a halt
• Many temples were restored in Varanasi
• Rajputs stopped giving their women in marriage to Mughals
• Other Hindu kings got encouragements

All of this along with the official records make it absolutely clear that Maharaj intended to establish a Hindu Samrajya after ending the Islamic rule and he gave his blood and sweat to establish a Hindu Samrajya, which his son Sambhu Raje protected by giving up his life bearing unspeakable horrors for 40 days. Therefore, it is apt that his coronation day should be celebrated as Hindu Samrajya Divas.

References:

hindupost.in - By Maitri