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Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680)Dates are given according to the Julian calendar, see Mohan Apte, Porag Mahajani, M. N. Vahia. Possible errors in historical dates: Error in correction from Julian to Gregorian Calendars. was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji inherited a jagir from his father who served as a retainer for the Sultanate of Bijapur, which later formed the genesis of the Maratha Kingdom. In 1674, he was formally crowned the Chhatrapati of his realm at Raigad Fort.
Shivaji offered passage and his service to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to invade the declining Sultanate of Bijapur. After Aurangzeb's departure for the north due to a war of succession, Shivaji conquered territories ceded by Bijapur in the name of the Mughals. Following his defeat at the hands of Jai Singh I in the Battle of Purandar, Shivaji entered into vassalage with the Mughal empire, assuming the role of a Mughal chief, during this time Shivaji also wrote a series of letters apologising to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for his actions and requested additional honors for his services. He was later conferred with the title of Raja by the emperor. He undertook military expeditions on behalf of the Mughal Empire for a brief duration.
In 1674, Shivaji was crowned as the king despite opposition from local Brahmins.Edited version of Shivaji employed people of all castes and religions, including Muslims and Europeans, in his administration and armed forces. Scammell, G. (1992). European Exiles, Renegades and Outlaws and the Maritime Economy of Asia c. 1500–1750. Modern Asian Studies, 26(4), 641–661. , [2] Over the course of his life, Shivaji engaged in both alliances and hostilities with the Mughal Empire, the Sultanate of Golconda, the Sultanate of Bijapur and the Colonial India. Shivaji's military forces expanded the Maratha sphere of influence, capturing and building forts, and forming a Maratha Navy.
Shivaji's legacy was revived by Jyotirao Phule about two centuries after his death. Later on, he came to be glorified by Indian nationalists such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and appropriated by Hindutva activists.
Shivaji belonged to a Maratha family of the Bhonsle clan. Shivaji's father, Shahaji Bhonsle, was a Maratha general who served the Deccan Sultanates. His mother was Jijabai, the daughter of Lakhuji Jadhavrao of Sindhkhed, a Mughal-aligned sardar claiming descent from a Yadava royal family of Devagiri. His paternal grandfather Maloji Bhosale (1552–1597) was an influential general of Ahmadnagar Sultanate, and was awarded the epithet of "Raja". He was given rights of Pune, Supe, Chakan, and Indapur to provide for military expenses. He was also given Shivneri Fort for his family's residence ().Marathi book Shivkaal (Times of Shivaji) by Dr V G Khobrekar, Publisher: Maharashtra State Board for Literature and Culture, 1st. ed. 2006. Chapter 1
At the time of Shivaji's birth, power in the Deccan was shared by three Islamic sultanates: Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Golkonda; and the Mughal Empire. Shahaji often changed his loyalty between the Nizamshahi of Ahmadnagar, the Adilshahi of Bijapur and the Mughals, but always kept his jagir (fiefdom) at Pune and his small army.
Scholar James Laine states that Shivaji was imbued with the dream of re-establishing a Hindu kingdom by his mother, Jijabai, who was aware of her Yadava dynasty heritage and considered her husband "a collaborator of low birth."
Shahaji was a rebel from brief Mughal service. Shahaji's campaigns against the Mughals, supported by the Bijapur government, were generally unsuccessful. He was constantly pursued by the Mughal army, and Shivaji and his mother Jijabai had to move from fort to fort.. (left)]]In 1636, Shahaji joined in the service of Bijapur and obtained Pune as a grant. Shahaji, being deployed in Bangalore by the Bijapuri ruler Adilshah, appointed Dadoji Kondadeo as Poona's administrator. Shivaji and Jijabai settled in Poona. Kondadeo died in 1647 and Shivaji took over its administration.
Shahaji was released in 1649, after the capture of Gingee Fort secured Adilshah's position in Karnataka. During 1649–1655, Shivaji paused in his conquests and quietly consolidated his gains. Following his father's release, Shivaji resumed raiding, and in 1656, under controversial circumstances, killed Chandrarao More, a fellow Maratha feudatory of Bijapur, and seized the valley of Javali, near the present-day hill station of Mahabaleshwar. The conquest of Javali allowed Shivaji to extend his raids into south and southwest Maharashtra. In addition to the Bhonsle and the More families, many others—including Sawant of Sawantwadi State, Ghorpade of Mudhol State, Nimbalkar of Phaltan, Shirke, Gharge of Nimsod, Mane, and Mohite—also served Adilshahi of Bijapur, many with rights. Shivaji adopted different strategies to subdue these powerful families, such as forming marital alliances, dealing directly with village Patils to bypass the Deshmukhs, or subduing them by force. Shahaji in his later years had an ambivalent attitude toward his son, and disavowed his rebellious activities. He told the Bijapuris to do whatever they wanted with Shivaji. Shahaji died around 1664–1665 in a hunting accident.
Pursued by Bijapuri forces, Shivaji retreated to Pratapgad fort, where many of his colleagues pressed him to surrender. The two forces found themselves at a stalemate, with Shivaji unable to break the siege, while Afzal Khan, having a powerful cavalry but lacking siege equipment, was unable to take the fort. After two months, Afzal Khan sent an envoy to Shivaji suggesting the two leaders meet in private, outside the fort, for negotiations.
The two met in a hut in the foothills of Pratapgad fort on 10 November 1659. The arrangements had dictated that each come armed only with a sword, and attended by one follower. Shivaji, suspecting Afzal Khan would arrest or attack him, wore armour beneath his clothes, concealed a bagh nakh (metal "tiger claw") on his left arm, and had a dagger in his right hand. What transpired is not known with historical certainty, mainly Maratha legends tell the tale; however, it is agreed that the two wound up in a physical struggle that proved fatal for Khan. Khan's dagger failed to pierce Shivaji's armour, but Shivaji disembowelled him; Shivaji then fired a cannon to signal his hidden troops to attack the Bijapuri army.
In the ensuing Battle of Pratapgarh, Shivaji's forces decisively defeated the Bijapur Sultanate's forces. More than 3,000 soldiers of the Bijapur army were killed; and one sardar of high rank, two sons of Afzal Khan, and two Maratha chiefs were taken prisoner. After the victory, a grand review was held by Shivaji below Pratapgarh. The captured enemy, both officers and men, were set free and sent back to their homes with money, food, and other gifts. Marathas were rewarded accordingly.
After months of siege, Shivaji negotiated with Siddi Jauhar and handed over the fort on 22 September 1660, withdrawing to Vishalgad; Shivaji retook Panhala in 1673.
In the ensuing battle of Pavan Khind, the smaller Maratha force held back the larger enemy to buy time for Shivaji to escape. Baji Prabhu Deshpande was wounded but continued to fight until he heard the sound of cannon fire from Vishalgad, signalling Shivaji had safely reached the fort, on the evening of 22 September 1660.Shripad Dattatraya Kulkarni (1992). 9788190011358, Shri Bhagavan Vedavyasa Itihasa Samshodhana Mandira (Bhishma). . ISBN 9788190011358 Ghod Khind ( khind meaning "a narrow mountain pass") was later renamed Paavan Khind ("sacred pass") in honour of Bajiprabhu Deshpande, Shibosingh Jadhav, Fuloji, and all other soldiers who fought there.
On the night of 5 April 1663, Shivaji led a daring night attack on Shaista Khan's camp. He, along with 400 men, attacked Shaista Khan's mansion, broke into Khan's bedroom and wounded him. Khan lost three fingers. In the scuffle, Shaista Khan's son and several wives, servants, and soldiers were killed. The Khan took refuge with the Mughal forces outside of Pune, and Aurangzeb punished him for this embarrassment with a transfer to Bengal.
In retaliation for Shaista Khan's attacks, and to replenish his now-depleted treasury, in 1664 Shivaji sacked the port city of Surat, a wealthy Mughal trading centre and decamped with plunder exceeding Rs 10 million.An Advanced History of India , by RC Majumdar On 13 February 1665, he also conducted a naval raid on Portugal-held Basrur in present-day Karnataka, and gained a large plunder.
In the Treaty of Purandar, signed by Shivaji and Jai Singh on 11 June 1665, Shivaji agreed to give up 23 of his forts, keeping 12 for himself, and pay compensation of 400,000 gold hun to the Mughals. Shivaji agreed to become a vassal of the Mughal empire, and to send his son Sambhaji, along with 5,000 horsemen, to fight for the Mughals in the Deccan, as a mansabdar. In January 1666, Shivaji was dispatched to capture the fort of Panhala and Phonda against Bijapur. He led unsuccessful siege on the fort of Ponda and Panhala. In March 1666, Shivaji went to Mughal court.
Sambhaji was taken as a political prisoner to ensure compliance with the treaty. Shivaji himself wished to be excused from attending the court. To this end, he wrote letters to Aurangzeb, requesting forgiveness for his actions and security for himself along with a robe of honour. He also requested Jai Singh to support him in getting his crimes pardoned by the emperor, stating "Now you are protector and a father to me, so I beg you to fulfil the ambition of your son." On 15 September 1665, Aurangzeb granted his request and sent him a letter and a firman along with a robe of honor. Shivaji responded with a letter thanking the emperor:
Shivaji's position under house arrest was perilous, as Aurangzeb's court debated whether to kill him or continue employing him. Jai Singh, having assured Shivaji of his personal safety, tried to influence Aurangzeb's decision. While Shivaji regarded himself as a king, in the eyes of the Mughal emperor, he was only a relatively successful rebel zamindar.
By the time the order for his posting to Kabul arrived, a rumor had already spread at the court that Shivaji would be killed along the way. However, the order was canceled when Shivaji refused to go. During the negotiations that followed, Shivaji demanded the transfer of his forts before becoming a mansabdar, a demand the emperor rejected. The orders to kill him were prevented only by Jai Singh's intervention. In the end, Shivaji's request to leave for Banaras as a sannyasi was also rejected.
Meanwhile, Shivaji hatched a plan to free himself. He sent most of his men back home and asked Ram Singh to withdraw his guarantees to the emperor for the safe custody of himself and his son. He surrendered to Mughal forces.9788120710153, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. . ISBN 9788120710153 Shivaji then pretended to be ill and began sending out large baskets packed with sweets to be given to the Brahmins and poor as penance. (2026). 9788179910672, Encyclopaedia Britannica (India) and Popular Prakashan, Mumbai. . ISBN 9788179910672 On 17 August 1666, by putting himself in one of the baskets and his son Sambhaji in another, Shivaji escaped and left Agra. Stewart Gordon opines that there is no contemporary evidence to support this story. He also states that, despite Aurangzeb's suspicions regarding Ram Singh's involvement in Shivaji's escape, nothing was proven and Shivaji likely bribed the guards to facilitate his escape.
Shivaji sacked Surat for a second time in 1670; the English and Dutch factories were able to repel his attack, but he managed to sack the city itself, including plundering the goods of a Muslim prince from Mawara-un-Nahr, who was returning from Mecca. Angered by the renewed attacks, the Mughals sent a force under Daud Khan to intercept Shivaji on his return home from Surat; they clashed in the Battle of Vani-Dindori near present-day Nashik and Shivaji and the Maratha force emerged victorious.
In October 1670, Shivaji sent his forces to harass the English at Bombay; as they had refused to sell him war materiel, his forces blocked English woodcutting parties from leaving Bombay. In September 1671, Shivaji sent an ambassador to Bombay, again seeking materiel, this time for the fight against Danda-Rajpuri. The English had misgivings of the advantages Shivaji would gain from this conquest, but also did not want to lose any chance of receiving compensation for his looting their factories at Rajapur. The English sent Lieutenant Stephen Ustick to meet with Shivaji, but negotiations failed over the issue of the Rajapur indemnity. Numerous exchanges of envoys followed over the coming years, with some agreement as to the arms issues in 1674, but Shivaji was never to pay the Rajapur indemnity before his death, and the factory there dissolved at the end of 1682.
Shivaji sent a letter to Prataprao, expressing his displeasure and refusing him an audience until Bahlol Khan was re-captured. Upset by this rebuke, Prataprao found Bahlol Khan and charged his position with only six other horsemen, leaving his main force behind, and was killed in combat. Shivaji was deeply grieved on hearing of Prataprao's death, and arranged for the marriage of his second son, Rajaram, to Prataprao's daughter. Prataprao was succeeded by Hambirrao Mohite, as the new sarnaubat. Raigad Fort was newly built by Hiroji Indulkar, as a capital of the nascent Maratha kingdom.
The preparation for a proposed coronation began in 1673. However, some controversies delayed the coronation by almost a year. One controversy erupted amongst the of Shivaji's court: they refused to crown Shivaji as a king because that status was reserved for those of the kshatriya varna (warrior class) in Hindu society. Shivaji was descended from a line of headmen of farming villages, and the Brahmins accordingly categorized him as a Maratha, not a Kshatriya. They noted that Shivaji had never had a sacred thread ceremony, and did not wear the thread, such as a kshatriya would. When Shivaji came to know about this conspiracy, he later bribed and summoned Gaga Bhatt, a pandit of Varanasi, who stated that he had found a genealogy proving that Shivaji was descended from the Sisodia Dynasty, and thus indeed a kshatriya, albeit one who had not had the ceremonies. To enforce this status, Shivaji was given a sacred thread ceremony, and remarried his spouses under the Vedic rites expected of a kshatriya. However, according to historical evidence, Shivaji's claim to Rajput, and specifically of Sisodia ancestry, may be seen as tenuous at best, to purely invented.
On 28 May, Shivaji did penance for his and his ancestors' not observing Kshatriya rites for so long. Then he was invested by Gaga Bhatt with the sacred thread. On the insistence of other Brahmins, Gaga Bhatt omitted the Vedic chant and initiated Shivaji into a modified form of the life of the Dvija, instead of putting him on a par with the Brahmins. Next day, Shivaji made atonement for the sins, deliberate or accidental, committed in his own lifetime. He was weighed separately against seven metals including gold, silver, and several other articles, such fine linen, camphor, salt, sugar etc. All these articles, along with a lakh (one hundred thousand) of hun, were distributed among the Brahmins. According to Sarkar, even this failed to satisfy the greed of the Brahmins. Two of the learned Brahmins pointed out that Shivaji, while conducting his raids, had killed Brahmins, cows, women, and children. He could be cleansed of these sins for a price of Rupee. 8,000, which Shivaji paid. The total expenditure for feeding the assemblage, general almsgiving, throne, and ornaments approached 1.5 million .
On 6 June 1674, Shivaji was crowned king of the Maratha Empire ( Hindavi Swarajya) in a lavish ceremony at Raigad fort. In the Hindu calendar it was the 13th day ( trayodashi) of the first fortnight of the month of Jyeshtha in the year 1596. Gaga Bhatt officiated, pouring water from a gold vessel filled with the waters of the seven sacred rivers—Yamuna, Indus, Ganges, Godavari, Narmada, Krishna River, and Kaveri—over Shivaji's head, and chanted the Vedic coronation mantras. After the ablution, Shivaji bowed before his mother, Jijabai, and touched her feet. Nearly fifty thousand people gathered at Raigad for the ceremonies. Shivaji was entitled Shakakarta ("founder of an era") and Chhatrapati ("Lord of the Umbrella"). He also took the title of Haindava Dharmodhhaarak (protector of the Hindu faith) and Kshatriya Kulavantas: Kshatriya being the varna of Hinduism and kulavantas meaning the 'head of the kula, or clan'.
Shivaji's mother died on 18 June 1674. The Marathas summoned Nischal Puri Goswami, a tantric priest, who declared that the original coronation had been held under inauspicious stars, and a second coronation was needed. This second coronation, on 24 September 1674, mollified those who still believed that Shivaji was not qualified for the Vedic rites of his first coronation, by being a less controversial ceremony.
In the run-up to his expedition, Shivaji appealed to a sense of Deccani patriotism, that Southern India was a homeland that should be protected from outsiders. His appeal was somewhat successful, and in 1677 Shivaji visited Hyderabad for a month and entered into a treaty with the Qutubshah of the Golkonda sultanate, who agreed to renounce his alliance with Bijapur and jointly oppose the Mughals.
In 1677, Shivaji invaded Karnataka with 30,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry, backed by Golkonda artillery and funding. Proceeding south, Shivaji seized the forts of Vellore and Gingee; the latter would later serve as a capital of the Marathas during the reign of his son Rajaram I. This conquest gave him possession of vast territory in Mysore plateau and Madras Carnatic, containing 100 forts.
In August 1677, Shivaji aided by local disgruntled chieftains, invaded the kingdom ruled by Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar and plundered Srirangapatna. In the battle that followed, Chikkadevaraja subdued Shivaji and adopted the title Apratima Vira meaning "unparalleled hero".
Shivaji intended to reconcile with his half-brother Venkoji (Ekoji I), Shahaji's son by his second wife, Tukabai (née Mohite), who ruled Thanjavur (Tanjore) after Shahaji. The initially promising negotiations were unsuccessful, so whilst returning to Raigad, Shivaji defeated his half-brother's army on 26 November 1677 and seized most of his possessions on the Mysore plateau. Venkoji's wife Dipa Bai, whom Shivaji deeply respected, took up new negotiations with Shivaji and also convinced her husband to distance himself from his Muslim advisors. In the end, Shivaji consented to turn over to her and her female descendants many of the properties he had seized, with Venkoji consenting to a number of conditions for the proper administration of the territories and maintenance of Shahaji's tomb ( samadhi).
In late March 1680, Shivaji fell ill with fever and dysentery, dying around 3–5 April 1680 at the age of 50, at Raigad Fort, on the eve of Hanuman Jayanti. The cause of Shivaji's death is disputed. British records states that Shivaji died of bloody flux, after being sick for 12 days. In a contemporary work in Portuguese, in the Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, the recorded cause of death of Shivaji is anthrax. However, Krishnaji Anant Sabhasad, author of Sabhasad Bakhar, a biography of Shivaji has mentioned fever as the cause of death. Putalabai, the childless eldest of the surviving wives of Shivaji committed sati by jumping into his funeral pyre. Another surviving spouse, Sakwarbai, was not allowed to follow suit because she had a young daughter. There were also allegations, though doubted by later scholars, that his second wife Soyarabai had poisoned him in order to put her 10-year-old son Rajaram I on the throne.
After Shivaji's death, Soyarabai made plans, with various ministers, to crown her son Rajaram rather than her stepson Sambhaji. On 21 April 1680, ten-year-old Rajaram was installed on the throne. However, Sambhaji took possession of Raigad Fort after killing the commander, and on 18 June acquired control of Raigad, and formally ascended the throne on 20 July. Rajaram, his mother Soyarabai and wife Jankibai were imprisoned, and Soyrabai was executed on charges of conspiracy that October.
| +Ashta Pradhan Mandal !Minister !Duty | |
| Peshwa or Prime Minister | General administration |
| Amatya or Finance Minister | Maintaining public accounts |
| Mantri or Chronicler | Maintaining court records |
| Summant or Dabir or Foreign Secretary | All matters related to relationships with other states |
| Sachiv or Shurn Nawis or Home Secretary | Managing correspondence of the king |
| Panditrao or Ecclesiastical Head | Religious matters |
| Nyayadhis or Chief Justice | Civil and military justice |
| Senapati/Sari Naubat or Commander-in-Chief | All matters related to army of the king |
Except the Panditrao and Nyayadhis, all other ministers held military commands, their civil duties often being performed by deputies.
Noting that Shivaji had stemmed the spread of the neighbouring Muslim states, his contemporary, the poet Kavi Bhushan stated:
However, Gijs Kruijtzer, in his book Xenophobia in Seventeenth-Century India, argues that the foundation for modern Hindu-Muslim communalism was laid in the decade 1677–1687, in the interplay between Shivaji and Aurangzeb (though Shivaji died in 1680).Gijs Kruijtzer (2009). Xenophobia in Seventeenth-Century India. Leiden University Press. pp. 8–9. During the sack of Surat in 1664, Shivaji was approached by Ambrose, a Capuchin friar who asked him to spare the city's Christians. Shivaji left the Christians untouched, saying "the Frankish Padrys are good men."
Shivaji was not attempting to create a universal Hindu rule. He was tolerant of different religions and believed in syncretism. He urged Aurangzeb to act like Akbar in according respect to Hindu beliefs and places. Shivaji had little trouble forming alliances with the surrounding Muslim nations, even against Hindu powers. He also did not join forces with certain other Hindu powers fighting the Mughals, such as the Rajputs. His own army had Muslim leaders from early on. The first Pathan unit was formed in 1656. His admiral, Darya Sarang, was a Muslim.
title="Bar code 9780803213449 reference." target="_external">. ISBN 9780803213449Shivaji was contemptuously called a "Mountain Rat" by Aurangzeb and his generals, because of his guerilla tactics of attacking enemy forces and then retreating into his mountain forts.
With the Marathas being accustomed to a land-based military, Shivaji widened his search for qualified crews for his ships, taking on lower-caste Hindus of the coast who were long familiar with naval operations (the famed "Malabar pirates"), as well as Muslim mercenaries. Noting the power of the Portuguese navy, Shivaji hired a number of Portuguese sailors and Goan Christian converts and made Rui Leitao Viegas commander of his fleet. Viegas was later to defect back to the Portuguese, taking 300 sailors with him.
Shivaji fortified his coastline by seizing coastal forts and refurbishing them. He built his first marine fort at Sindhudurg Fort, which was to become the headquarters of the Maratha navy. The navy itself was a green-water navy, focused on travel and combat in the littoral areas and not intended for the high seas.
I forgot to mention that during pillage of Sourate, Seva-Gy, the Holy Seva-Gi! respected the habitation of the Reverend Father Ambrose, the Capuchin missionary. 'The Frankish Padres are good men', he said 'and shall not be attacked.' He spared also the house of a deceased Delale or Gentile broker, of the Dutch, because assured that he had been very charitable while alive.
Mughal Empire depictions of Shivaji were largely negative, referring to him simply as "Shiva" without the honorific "-ji". One Mughal writer in the early 1700s described Shivaji's death as (). His chivalrous treatment of enemies and women has been praised by Mughal authors, including Khafi Khan. Jadunath Sarkar writes:
His chivalry to women and strict enforcement of morality in his camp was a wonder in that age and has extorted the admiration of hostile critics like Khafi Khan.
In 1895, the Indian nationalist leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak organised what was to be an annual festival to mark the birthday of Shivaji. He portrayed Shivaji as the "opponent of the oppressor", with possible negative implications concerning the colonial government. Tilak denied any suggestion that his festival was anti-Muslim or disloyal to the government, but simply a celebration of a hero. These celebrations prompted a British commentator in 1906 to note: "Cannot the annals of the Hindu race point to a single hero whom even the tongue of slander will not dare call a chief of Dacoity...?"
One of the first commentators to reappraise the critical British view of Shivaji was M. G. Ranade, whose Rise of the Maratha Power (1900) declared Shivaji's achievements as the beginning of modern nation-building. Ranade criticised earlier British portrayals of Shivaji's state as "a freebooting power, which thrived by plunder and adventure, and succeeded only because it was the most cunning and adventurous ... This is a very common feeling with the readers, who derive their knowledge of these events solely from the works of English historians."
In 1919, Jadunath Sarkar published the seminal Shivaji and His Times. Sarkar was able to read primary sources in Persian, Marathi, and Arabic, but was challenged for his criticism of the "chauvinism" of Marathi historians' views of Shivaji. Likewise, although supporters cheered his depiction of the killing of Afzal Khan as justified, they decried Sarkar's terming as "murder" the killing of the Hindus raja Chandrao More and his clan.
In 1937, Dennis Kincaid, a British civil servant in India, published The Grand Rebel. This book portrays Shivaji as a heroic rebel and a master strategist fighting a much larger Mughal army.
Hindutva activists are noted for appropriating Shivaji by presenting him as "Hindu king" who "fought against Muslim rulers", contrary to historic accounts that show he belonged to a marginalised caste and held secular values.
Shivaji is seen as a hero by regional political parties and also by the Maratha-caste-dominated Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party.
In 1993, the Illustrated Weekly published an article suggesting that Shivaji was not opposed to Muslims per se, and that his style of governance was influenced by that of the Mughal Empire. Congress Party members called for legal actions against the publisher and writer, Marathi newspapers accused them of "imperial prejudice", and Shiv Sena called for the writer's public flogging. Maharashtra brought legal action against the publisher under regulations prohibiting enmity between religious and cultural groups, but a High Court found that the Illustrated Weekly had operated within the bounds of freedom of expression.
In 2003, the American academic James W. Laine published his book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India to, what Ananya Vajpeyi terms, a regime of "cultural policing by militant Marathas". As a result of this publication, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, in Pune, where Laine had done research, was attacked by the Sambhaji Brigade. Laine was even threatened with arrest, and the book was banned in Maharashtra in January 2004. The ban was lifted by the Bombay High Court in 2007, and in July 2010 the Supreme Court of India upheld the lifting of the ban. This lifting was followed by public demonstrations against the author and the decision of the Supreme Court.
Several Mumbai landmarks were renamed for Shivaji in the 1990s, around the same time that Bombay was renamed Mumbai. The Prince of Wales Museum, which is devoted to Indian history, was renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. Victoria Terminus, Mumbai's main railway station and the headquarters of the Central Railway zone, was initially renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and later renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. Similarly, Mumbai's busiest airport, Sahar International Airport, was first renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and further renamed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
Other commemorations include the Indian Navy's INS Shivaji station and numerous . In 2022, the Indian prime minister unveiled the new ensign of the Indian Navy, which was inspired by the seal of Shivaji. In Maharashtra, there has been a long tradition of children building replica forts with toy soldiers and other figures during the festival of Diwali, in memory of Shivaji.
A proposal to build a giant memorial called Shiv Smarak was approved in 2016; the memorial is to be located near Mumbai on a small island in the Arabian Sea. It will be tall, which will make it the world's tallest statue when completed. As of August 2021, the project has been stalled since January 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only the bathymetry survey has been completed, while the geotechnical survey was underway. Consequently, the state public works department proposed extending the completion date by a year, from 18 October 2021 to 18 October 2022.
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