Shivaji Maharaj History: Shivrajyabhishek

Shivaji Maharaj was one of the greatest Maratha warriors who was instrumental in establishing the Maratha empire and starting the socio-politico movement by the name Hindavi Swarajya. He was known for his administration and disciplined military. But he was most famous for his military tactics or guerrilla warfare. Such was his skills that his strongest of enemies used to fear him. For they never knew when, how, and from where he would attack them. At the young age of 15, he conquered many regions around Pune under the rule of Bijapur Sultanate, with the help of his loyal soldiers of the Maval region.

After gaining control over Pune and Konkan regions, he decided to assume a title of the king and establish Hindu Sovereignty. That's what paved the way for his Rajyabhishek on June 6, 1674. The place selected for the ceremony was an open ground in a small village called Meghdambari in Raigad. It is estimated that there were 50,000 general people and 20,000 brahmins who attended the ceremony.

Shivrajyabhishek Sohla Description

The Rajyabhishek was done according to the Hindu shastras by Pandit Gaga Bhatt. He held a gold vessel containing sacred water from Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Ravi, Sindhu, Krishna, and Kaveri over Shivaji's head and chanted coronation mantras until the very last drop of water from the sacred vessel was completely emptied. Once the ablution was done, Shivaji Maharaj touched his mother Jijabai's feet and took her blessings. The main priest then put a sacred thread called jaanva over Shivaji's shoulder with the reciting of mantra.

After the rituals were over, Shivaji changed into the king's attire and proceeded to the throne. While he was heading, all the brahmins started chanting mantras. The crowd also shouted 'jai jai' ecstatically and musicians played music. To give the ceremony a royal touch, canon balls were also fired. Then, Pandit Bhatt headed towards the thrown with a royal umbrella decked with gold and pearls. He stood beside Shivaji Maharaj, held the umbrella over his head, and bestowed the title of Chatrapati (paramount sovereign), Kshatriya Kulavantas (head of Kshatriya), and Shakakarta (head and founder of an era), and Haindavi Dharmodhhaarak (one who uplifts the sanctity of Hinduism) to him and announced him the 'king'. This coronation was one of the best that India had ever seen in the history.

Soon after his coronation, a procession was held through the streets of the capital city with Shivaji on the back of an elephant. The march was accompanied by his ministers, generals, and commoners. There was jubilation all over and people were proud of him since he took the bold step of Rajyabhishek without bothering about taking permission for the same from the Mughals. But the joy didn't last for long because of the demise of his mother on 18th June 1674. Since the demise of his mother just after his coronation was considered as a bad omen, all the priests decided to have the coronation ceremony again on 24th September 1674, which was performed according to Bengali School of Tantricism by Nischal Puri.

*You May Also Like to Download: Shivcharitra in Marathi PDF

Shivaji and Guerrilla Warfare Tactics (गनिमी कावा)

From the land of Marathas spread the globally acclaimed style of warfare, the Guerrilla Warfare. Against the Mughals Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj waged a war such that the base of the Mughal reign in Maharashtra suffered a huge setback.

Now, what makes this war technique a talk of the town? How has this warfare typical to the Chhatrapati made such a fervour around the world. Let’s take a look.

About Guerrilla Warfare tactics

As opposed to the conventional and traditional warfare, Guerrilla Warfare promotes camouflage and deceived modes of fighting their opponents. It has to be sudden, and aggressive, targeting the areas of the opponents which are difficult to tread upon.

Hence, the idea behind it is the opponents will not be in a position to reciprocate immediately. It requires intense planning and plotting in order to take the opponents by a storm. This mode of warfare is extremely ferocious.

Whatever may be the comparison, Guerrilla Warfare has carved a niche unique to itself and has also been embraced by countries of Southeast Asia. There are some tactics that are specific to Guerrilla Warfare only. The following paragraphs aim to elaborate some of the tactics of Guerrilla Warfare.

Guerrilla Warfare is lined up with a series of objectives that lay down a unique strategy that is bound to be followed by each of the soldiers so that they can contribute to the victory. It is crucial to understand and follow these strategies.

The armament is yet another aspect that needs a mention. A thorough knowledge of using each of the armaments with dexterity helped a great deal in Guerrilla Warfare.

How Shivaji used Guerrilla Warfare tactics

The key to success in Guerrilla Warfare is to prevent the opponent’s eye. Hence, to keep oneself hidden from the opponents is mandatory. Shivaji trained each and every soldier in his troop which enabled him to stand against the grand army of the Mughals.

The Guerrilla soldiers were supposed to adapt themselves with the extreme geographical conditions and this really took a toll on the soldiers. As mentioned earlier, Guerrilla Warfare demanded that the soldiers should keep themselves under cover.

Hence, staying away from the mainstream areas was mandatory. Another tactic in this line is a Guerrilla soldier has to save himself at all times from the attacks of the opponents.

Also, it is important that the Guerrilla Warfare soldiers should undergo a continuous fighting spree such that the opponents get minimum time to recover. It is also important that the attacks must be rigorous and should occupy the opponent areas at night.

Shivaji’s night attacks using Guerrilla Warfare tactics

Attacking the opponents at night ensures that due to meagre preparation, and poor vision at night, they can hardly stand against the Guerrilla fighters. It is one of the most important tactics in Guerrilla Warfare.

Another tactic that the Guerrilla soldiers practised was that, they never let the arms and ammunition remain with the dead soldiers. They rather picked it up from them at the earliest considering the circumstances.

A Guerrilla Warfare needs that once the opponent starts believing that they have won against the Guerrilla soldiers, these rustic soldiers come back more aggressively against the enemy, thus ensuring a marvellous victory.

Thanks to Chhatrapati Shivaji for manoeuvring such a form of warfare that is full proof to establish a grand win. Guerrilla warfare is thus an unbeatable tactics and therefore celebrated till date.