A slice of Marathi history

COMPLETE WORKS OF SETHU MADHAV RAO PAGADI — Vols. I & II: Edited by G.B. Deglurkar; Pub. by Marathi Sahitya Parishad, Isamiya Bazaar, Hyderabad-500027. Rs. 2000.

Sethu Madhav Rao Pagadi, a manuscript-digging historian, a polyglot, a prolific writer, and an able administrator, was known as much for his research on Kolami and Gond aboriginals as for his magnum opus on Chhatrapati Shivaji.

In these two rather bulky volumes, the works of the intrepid Marathi scholar, representing his four-decade-long painstaking effort, have been put together and republished to commemorate his birth centenary (2010). A thoughtful and a befitting tribute indeed. Pagadi's works stand testimony to his meticulous and untiring research, as evidenced by the wide-ranging references to hitherto unexplored Sanskrit, Marathi, and Persian manuscripts, not to speak of English, Portuguese, and French records. It is not surprising therefore that he could provide the exact dates for most of the momentous events in the Maratha-Mughal conflict.

On Shivaji

A major part of the first volume is devoted to Pagadi's exhaustive study on the life and times of Shivaji. Pagadi's Shivaji comes out not merely as a gallant fighter who took on the mighty Mughal empire but as a genius, a born leader, a great organiser and a visionary who sowed the seeds of national unity. When the Mughal empire was at the peak of its glory, Shivaji dared to challenge it and exploited its weaknesses to the hilt. Ultimately, he built a nation out of a people who were scattered and riven by petty feuds.

Analysing the circumstances in which Shivaji chose to “strike a decisive blow” to the Mughal regime, Pagadi notes that the bigoted Aurangazeb reversed the liberal secular policies of his predecessors who had realised that the best way of running the state was to appreciate the plurality of religions and promote better understanding among communities of different faiths. To strengthen his hold over the throne, Aurangazeb took the support of Mullahs and Moulvis and declared a “ceaseless war against infidels,” Pagadi records and goes on to say that Aurangazeb looked upon the empire as an Islamic state, fashioning his policies to comply with the dictates of orthodox religion —

Jaziya , the tax on Hindus was a manifestation of it.

It was this total alienation of the natives and the intolerance and fanaticism of the emperor that Shivaji strove to bring to an end, says Pagadi, quoting extensively from a letter Shivaji wrote in Persian to Aurangazeb on

jaziya . The author's multi-lingual scholarship and command over Persian is revealed in his translation of

Insha Madhoram, which throws light on the Mughal-Maratha conflict during 1690-1700. The work is composed of letters written by Madhoram,

munshi (a secretary of sorts) to Mughal general Lutfullah Khan, on behalf of his master on the battles he (Lutfullah Khan) fought with Maratha generals, Santaji and Dhanaji. These letters serve as a rich source of material on the conflict. The translation wonderfully captures the beauty of the original in its description of the Mughal siege of the Panhala fort, the conquest of the Gond capital of Devgarh near Nagpur in 1699, and the movement of the Mughal generals.

In the second volume, the focus is on the freedom struggle in the erstwhile State of Hyderabad. Having served on a committee constituted to compile the history of the movement from 1800 to 1947 in its three phases, Pagadi describes graphically, and with a touch of poignancy, the trials and tribulations of the epoch-making struggle and, in the process, shatters the myth that the mutinies witnessed in North India had little impact on the South.

After the Nizam signed the Treaty of Subsidiary Alliance with the East India Company in 1800, the author notes, there were bouts of anti-British rebellions till 1857 led notably by Raja Mahipat Ram, Mubarez-ud- Dowlah, Moulvi Allauddin, and Turre Baz Khan. Among the noteworthy places of such uprising were Aurangabad, Udgir, Nizamabad, Raichur and Karimnagar. Within the Nizam's army and the Subsidiary Troops of East India Company, men revolted against the European officers. Behind some of these rebellions were communities such as Bhils, Hutkers and Marathas. These episodes are studied in-depth, with the author coming up with a comprehensive account.

The concluding chapter speaks elaborately of Pagadi's enduring interest in the language of Kolami tribes and tries to establish its close kinship with the Dravidian group of languages. It also includes a study of another fascinating tribe, the Gonds, its social organisation, customs, traditions, and history.