Economist Shiv Chhatrapati and Economic Aspects of Swarajya

(ICRR- Profiles)

 

 

Shiv Chhatrapati – the warrior

 

People are very fond of war tales. This is human a nature, that is why Shiva Chhatrapati's character as a unique warrior, his victories, battles, military campaigns and his and his accomplices’ fighting prowess in defeating the enemy have become legends in the households of Maharashtra. This king was born when the then Muslim rulers spread all over the country, oppressing all the Hindu subjects, setting fire of injustice, violence, rape, looting and conversion. This pious and emotional hero was ignited by these atrocities and a unique fighter emerged on the land of Mahrashtra and gradually developed. Over the period of time, the tyrannical Muslim power was being eliminated from Western India by military means and after that the whole India was brought under the rule by the Marathas.

 

Economist Shivaji Raje!

 

It is a very difficult thing to single out each and every point from the vast array of achievements of Shivaji Raje. Moreover, as mentioned above, the brilliance of the unique fighter, invincible warrior in the personality of Shivaji Raje has so overshadowed the other important aspects that it has become very difficult to access them. Apart from this, the original documents about the economic and commercial history of the Swarajya have not come in light to this date, so the economy of Shivaji Raje, which nourished the army of almost one lakh soldiers, maintain hundreds of forts, and the fleet of more than a hundred warships constantly operating at sea. The details of the same are fragmented and scattered. But we can make some solid guesses from the mentions we get in these documents.

 

 

Financial aspects of the loot

 

In European writings, Shivaji Raje had been referred to as "thief, robber, dacoit etc." because in the early days, after he abolished the jahagiri-vatandari system and introduced a system of paying civil, military officers and servant-soldiers in cash, Shivaji Raje got the necessary wealth from small towns like Surat, Bidar to finance the emerging system. He ran his statecraft by looting hundreds of business places. New forts and armour were built from the funds raised out of this. The political benefit of this raid was also to convey the message that a powerful ruler like the Mughals could not protect the wealth of the trading people in his own territory from Shivaji! On the strength of this fright, Shivaji Raje also taught boisterous Firangi merchants lessons to remember for the lifetime.

 

 

 

Subhedar Annaji Pandit of Rajapur and the maritime trade of Swarajya...

During the siege of Panhala, the British of Rajapur had given Siddi Johar a long-range gun firing firangi gunners under British flag. Chhatrapati had decided to impose a cost and inflict pain to British for taking active part in combat by shedding garb of traders. He immediately descended to Rajapur, sacked British factory there and arrested 7 British including factory manager Henry Revington. After appointing a Subhedar named Annaji Pandit to Rajapur, through him firstly trade in salt and then large trade with Arab countries was started.

 

One can find mentions in the English factory records occasionally that we saw Shivaji's ship carrying salt or Annaji Pandit asked for a ship for transporting salt on rent but once given a ship for transporting salt it kept getting wet and it was of no use then.

The same Subhedar of Rajapur - Annaji Pandit had made such a huge profit from the merchant ships sent to Makkah, Basra (Iraq) and Congo that he has started building many new merchant ships out of this profit.

It is also mentioned that Shivaji demanded 2-3 European sailors to be deployed on each of Shivaji's ships going to Arabian countries. The cunning idea behind this was that if such Firangi sailors were stationed on their merchant ships, the European merchant ships, which at that time had a single handed control over the Arabian Sea (this control was later brought to the end by Kanhoji Angre), would not disrupt Shivaji’s merchant ships.

 

Compensation for Rajapur...

 

The British lost 1 lakh honas (the currency in the time of Shivaji Raje) due to the loot of Rajapur by Shivaji Raje. The British of Bombay continued to pursue persistently for several years to get compensation for this and finally, before the coronation of Shivaji Raje, an agreement was reached between the king and the British to transfer some of this amount in cash and the rest through exemption of zakat (the duty on goods). But in the meantime, the letters written to each other by the British of Surat and the British of Bombay mentioned many times that "Shivaji is very deceitful, cunning and shrewd, he is not ready to pay compensation for Rajapur, so now seize Annaji's ship coming back from Makkah and drag it to Bombay harbor, without this trick we will not receive any compensation." This means that through Annaji Pandit, Shivaji Raje had started regular trade with Arab countries and its size and profits were immense on the basis of which the military and civil system of Swarajya was financially nourished.

 

The "cartaz" License of the Portuguese and the Remedy of Shivaji Raje...

 

The oldest naval power in the Arabian Sea was the Portuguese so they enjoyed the authority to keep law and order in that respect. It was compulsory for all merchant ships to pay a fee to the nearest Portuguese officer to obtain a "cartaz" viz., license to sail, and ships without such a license were seized by the Portuguese officers. Later, as the Dutch, English, French and then Swarajya started gaining strength, the Portuguese weakened and these licenses were become meaningless and hence discontinued. The Viceroy of Goa had been openly threatened by Shivaji Raje for not to ask any licenses for Maratha ships.

 

It is mentioned that during one of the raids in the early days of Shivaji Raje’s navel army, it had captured the seven ships of the Portuguese of Chaul (Revdanda) near Malvan and had took them to Vijaydurga fort. These seven ships were carrying "ivory"! So one can imagine even if there was no single indigenous pan India rule in, how much wealth would there be and the foreigners were looting it any way they could get it!

 

The rush to conquer Panhala and the Dutch rice trade...

 

Within just eighteen days after Afzal Khan's elimination, Shivaji Raje conquered Panhala. Shivaji Raje spent no time in celebrating any joy of the death of Afzal Khan or in mourning while his queen died far away from Pratapgad, and the next day Shivaji raje set out for the conquest of Panhala. As merchandise from the ports of Rajapur, Malvan, Goa passed to the ghats through Panhala, it was a very important check post to collect taxes (zakat thana). After wiping out the mighty and accomplished warriors of the Adil Shahi, in order to strengthen the financial side of the Swarajya as well as because the goods of Karnataka came down through Panhala from the Konkani port, Raje captured Panhala. There seems to be a fair possibility behind the urgency shown by him.

 

As Raje always remained in good books of the Dutch and the French, there is a British report that the French delivered 83 brass cannons and the ammunition to the port of Rajapur during the efforts of building the combat naval fleet by Raje. Meanwhile, Dutch traders used to control rice going to Goa from Karnataka via Malvan. (If this rice is also going to Goa from Konkani port, then its route must also be Panhala.) As Raje suddenly took the control of this rice trade in his hands, the price of rice in Goa market increased 4 times in one night. At that time, there was no better condition to deliver goods by road, so even though Karnataka is close to Goa, goods were going to Goa only through Malvan, Rajapur port. This simply means that Raje had a close and keen study of the trade and economic transactions going around and used his sword and martial skills to gain control over it.

 

Two objectives of Swarajya Navy!

 

A lot has been written about the strategic importance of naval power of Swarajya and the forts built by Shivaji Raje. But the main purpose of that navy was to strengthen the economic interests of Swarajya and to break the hegemony of the Firangi Navy by providing a security cover to maritime trade fleet. "Who have the forts rules the land" is the golden rule for any land territory and likewise "who has the ships rules the sea" is the rule for sea. Both these objectives were achieved in a short time by the Navy of Shivaji Raje. Raje had put to the end the English and Portuguese dominion over the seas, and the Europeans' monopoly on the seas was also ended.

 

Naturally, the foreign trade of Swarajya must have been directly benefited by this. As after the first raid of the city of Surat, the importance of Surat was lost; the second raid of Surat was meant to humiliate King Aurangzeb because after the first raid, fearing that Shivaji Raje might come at any time for raid and the spread of rumours about that Shivaji Raje came for raid once a month every year, many of the rich people of Surat took their wealth towards Bharuch, Ahmedabad. As the frontiers of the Swarajya extended, there was no rich territory left for raid, yet the expenses of thousands of soldiers, forts, armour, civil service and military campaigns, besides the reasonable taxes and revenue levied on the subjects, strengthened the theory that money from large trade should be the basis of the economic self-reliance of the Swarajya. After studying this, research is needed to be undertaken on exactly how much and where this trade was taking place.

 

Raje Shivaji’s stubborn efforts to take Danda Rajpuri Fort from Siddis

 

Siddi of Janjira was ruling the fort of Danda Rajpuri. As the fort was close to the Portuguese post of Chaul and close to the British-held Bombay Island, Raje Shivaji fought a lifelong battle to capture the fort of Danda Rajpuri. Once the fort was nearly conquered, but the logistics did not come from the sea. Prime Minister Moropant Pingle himself came with a pledge to conquer the fort and once Raje Shivaji himself told the British envoy that he was ready to sacrifice 15,000 soldiers to conquer Danda Rajpuri. Because on the 700 km coastal area from Surat to Goa, except the British of Mumbai, the Portuguese of Chaul and the Siddi of Danda Rajapuri, Raje Shivaji had the absolute rule over the sea. But there is only sea fort at Danda Rajapuri. So It was the resolution of Raje Shivaji to take all the trade in his own hands and the other’s dominion over the sea to be put to an end.

 

If Danda Rajapuri had come under the control of Raje Shivaji, as per the plan, perhaps he would have defeated the British of Mumbai in the next few years and taken possession of Mumbai and there would never have been a British rule over India. But the destiny had decided otherwise!

 

Financial weapon of Shivaji Raje

 

As the British of Mumbai were not ready to supply long-range brass guns and ammunition on credit, Raje Shivaji had imposed a financial blockade on them and completely cut off the supply of firewood and rice to the port of Mumbai. Rice for daily use in Mumbai had to be brought by sea route from Goa. There are British letters available stating to fulfil the demands of Raje Shivaji as even though his demands are exorbitant but if they are not met, he surely imposes a financial blockade on Mumbai! The British was not able to solve the riddle of Shivaji Raje throughout their lifetime and that is because Raje Shivaji was always steps ahead of the British in terms of economic and commercial considerations and thinking.

 

Financial consideration behind taking over Salher..

 

Raje Shivaji defeated the Mughal Sardar Bahlol Khan, Ikhlas Khan and Diler Khan and captured the forts of Salher and Mulher near Nashik. The commercial and economic importance of Panhala in the south is that of Salher in the north. This must have been a daring expedition considering that goods coming from the port of Surat would pass through Salher on their way to and from East India, so it was necessary to keep Salher-Mulher in the hands for control of these goods and collection of taxes i. e. zakat. If one want to see how much importance Shivaji Maharaj gave to this campaign, one will know who was involved in it. Maharaj himself was in the battle field leading a troop of cavalry. Peshwa Moropant Pingle was summoned from Konkan with his large contingent, while commander in chief General Pratap Rao Gujar was in the field. Ananda Rao Makaji, who later became a general, joined the battle and Suryaji Kakade, a daredevil fighter, was martyred in the battle. Due to the ruthless nature, precise planning and extreme fighting skill of the Raje, with just 15 battalions of lite cavalry he defeated the Mughal army of 50 battalions i.e. three times the size of his own army and defeated such a great chieftain in this battle (this battle was the first battle in the open field in the life of the Rajas!) and this important East-West trade route was brought under his control. The Mughal army was completely routed, many prominent commanders either killed or captured and train worth 1 Cr comprising precious stones, gold, silver captured along with 20 thousand horses, many hundred camels, elephants and guns.

 

The Khanderi-Underi conflict and Indian strategy for China about Sabang port!

 

Seeing that the fort of Danda Rajpuri could not be captured after all efforts, Raje Shivaji suddenly landed 500 workers and soldiers on secluded Khanderi island directly at the entry point of Mumbai and started building a fort there. This caused a great mental shock to the British. Once Shivaji's fort on Khanderi was completed and soldiers deployed, the commercial-economic importance of Mumbai would cease and Raje would enjoy the total control over sea was the reason behind it. Fearing this, the British gave Khanderi a naval siege. But the Raje's Subhedar of Khanderi, Mainak Bhandari and Naval Commander Daulat Khan continued the logistics of building a fort at Khanderi. The struggle continued for several months. In a botched raid, Mynak Bhandari captured some British naval prisoners of war and kept them in custody far away. Finally, a treaty was reached between the British and Shivaji Raje, in which he categorically rejected the British demand to release the Khanderi fort and the island. Unfortunately, Shivaji Raje passed away in 1680, the same year the treaty was signed; otherwise the British would have sailed for England far before as their final voyage.

 

A repeat of the strategy of Shivaji Raje’s Khanderi campaign is currently being seen on the Indonesian island of Sabang. China's vital petroleum supplies flow through the extremely narrow Straits of Malacca. The Chinese Navy exits the same narrow strip of land to come towards India. Two years ago India leased a port called Sabang at the narrow Straits of Malacca sea route and set up a naval station there. This is how history repeats itself!

 

Relationship between Shiv Chhatrapati and the businessman!

 

Be it the battle of Salher or the expedition of Shivaji Raje to Bardesh as the treacherous Khem Sawant went to the shelter of the Portuguese in Goa, there is a commonality between this and many other battles. After both the Salher-Bardesh battles, Shivaji Raje captured 1,400 to 1,600 merchants each and took them with him. It seems less likely that the captured traders were taken only to collect ransom. The same type of "debriefing" that Shivaji Raje’s men were doing with the captured businessmen was supposed to be what today's intelligence agencies call debriefing. Otherwise, what is the use of carrying hundreds of living men, not one or two, who are of no use for any combat? From the cross-examination (debriefing) of these captured traders, their trading techniques, what goods are traded by whom, where and how much, what, how and where the prices of the goods are determined, what kind of commercial and financial support they will provide to the king after release, etc. Apart from that, Shivaji raje must have had the double benefit of receiving huge money for sending them back alive.

 

In this context, the hundreds of mentions in the available documents of Maratha power and in the European documents such are faded, may appear secondary should be read keeping in mind the question of what will be the financial side of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This is a very important aspect of Shivaji Raje's character and Swarajya which does not seem to have been adequately worked upon.

 

On the occasion of the 400^th birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, before 2030, i.e. in coming seven years, a large study in this regard will open up a new gallery for scholars and a neglected side of Shivaji raje's character will be come to the light. In the next article we will consider the diplomatic talent of Shivaji raje.

 

The financial genius of Shivaji raje was as superior as the military genius and today on the occasion of Shiva Jayanti, we should remember and highlight it.