Mastani, Rakma Bai Pg30 | All about MASTANI, Chimaji, Nana Saheb Pg31 - Page 3

Hi everyone.

Great to see lot of familiar names and new ones too whom i don't know. I hope to have a great discussion in this forum with all of you. Have read all your comments. Extremely sorry for not replying individually right now. But i will try to kick start the discussion in drive it into a direction by my comment. :)

Thank you for sharing your views and i hope you continue to share more inputs and enrich the discussion. :D

Saw the first 2 episodes. They were simply brilliant. This is how a historical should be. Hoping that they continue in this manner.

Since some of you have mentioned about the 'dangers' pertaining to love story of Bajirao Mastani ; let me tell you that the makers have clearly mentioned about this angle in the press launch. I have heard every word of theirs in the press launch. There would be no departure from a biopic to the love story. They have decided to keep it as a biopic only, and they have not named it Bajirao Mastani for this reason. They have named it Peshwa Bajirao, and the theme is also perfect - how he grew up to become Peshwa Bajirao from the child Bajirao under the influence of his mother and father (this is how it was). :D

Another thing. The chief maker (rather researcher & creative) who is associated with the show is someone who has great passion for Maratha history. This also makes me think that the show would not sink easily (i mean no kitchen politics). It is my belief that you need to love something to do justice with it. And this factor works here, unlike all the other shows where the show was made by someone who had nothing to do with love for history. This is one factor which i am finding different. Surely, they will take creative liberties, but certain limits will be adhered to.

Also, it needs to be mentioned that to make a historical show - we need availability of "raw material" - that means abundance of historical sources. If you don't have history sources in details then what are you going to show ? Then, you will surely look for some highly illogical tracks to increase the number of episodes, which is happening in some of the "historicals" these days. In case of Marathas there is good amount of material available, though majority in Marathi language. Recently, there was a news that 4 crore Maratha documents pertaining to 18th century are going to be put up at the Archives on Bund Road, Pune. Coming back. Life of Bajirao is itself so intriguing and full of victories that there is no need to invent anything to make him a hero. You have a ready made hero who did everything in his life which is needed to make a super hit series. Just show proper dramatization and the show will hit the top of any rating chart. You already have an awesome cast which is another ingredient.

Manish Wadhwa as Balaji Vishwanath is already doing wonders. Just 2 episodes and he is going great. Anuja Sathe as Radha Bai is playing her part with perfection. I find both these suitable for the role. They pair up well. Anuja also played the role of sister of Bajirao in the movie Bajirao Mastani.

Till now we know about 3 of the child artists who are playing the main roles. Rudra Soni is our lead artist (who was also in the movie Bajirao Mastani in the role of son of Bajirao - Nana Saheb ). Ayaan - we all know, played young Salim in Jodha Akbar, is going to play role of Chima. The role of Bhiu, sister of Chima and Bajirao will be played by a girl Anaya. She has acted in a show on Sab TV earlier and she appears promising.

Young Kashibai will be played by Dipali Borker who has recently attained great success in the Superdancer show of Sony TV and has already become a darling of the masses and has great fan following at this young age.

Another popular star - Vishal Jethwa who played young Akbar in Maharana Pratap is going to play Nasir - the young son of Nizam ( Qamruddin ) in the show. He will be a rival of Bajirao. Bajirao fought last battle of his life against Nasir (remember Bajirao Mastani movie ? )

Well, even if i don't participate in the discussion, i am going to watch this series for sure. This is among my favorite historical characters after Akbar / MP / Shivaji / Ranjit Singh etc ; and i especially enjoy the warfare part ( military aspect ) of history (evident from the write up) and this show has enough scope in this regard as he was a cavalry leader and a brilliant soldier.

Lastly, as Radhika said we need to move away from Empires of Delhi based areas. Recently, there was a movie on Gautami Putra Satakarni and hardly anyone knows about this Emperor. Or, for instance, recently the Chalukya ruler Pulakesin II was in news , no one knew anything about it. Its time we mend this. Epic Channel rated him among top 10 (or 20 ?) warriors of Indian history.

Enough said about the cast and general issues.
Let us come back to the episodes.

They started with how Shivaji had taken a pledge to establish Swarajya. His struggle against the repressive policies of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb is well known. Shivaji died in 1680. His son Sambhaji inherited the throne after minor hassles. Sambhaji had to put his step mother to death to iron out some issues. In 1689, Sambhaji was captured by Aurangzeb and was given a very brutal torturous death.

Sambhaji's son Shahu Ji* and wife of Sambhaji - Yesu Bai was also captured. 2 grandsons and a widow of Shivaji was also captured. 200 more people were captured. All remained in custody of Aurangzeb for around 17 years till 1706 - 07. Aurangzeb died in 1707. But they were treated with good care in the custody (except for last 3 years when the finance of Mughal empire had dried and they were on verge of starvation, there is a letter of Yesu Bai which says this).

Although, it is famous for Shahu ji that he did not eat cooked food. He said that eating cooked rice and wheat in the custody of enemy prison is "not what his Hindu dharma has taught him" { i am quoting his exact words which he told to Aurangzeb in 1700 when he had become very pale and weak but still refused to eat the well cooked food. It was said that his condition deteriorated after hearing news of demise of his uncle Rajaram - husband of Tara Bai } He survived on "sweet food" {i don't know what this means. The word is "pakwaan" in original text. }

Yesu Bai considered that Rajaram had betrayed her and had saved his own life from Aurangzeb and allowed them to fall in his trap. { Actually, when Raigad fell in 1689, Rajaram and family escaped to Gingee Fort and Yesu Bai was captured. } There are records which show that when Aurangzeb asked Yesu Bai to go back / release her , she replied that even back home she has enemies (referring to Raja Ram.)

Actually we don't know (in fact i don't know with surety) if Rajaram did that deliberately, because we have records that show Rajaram attacking the Mughal camp and trying his best to free Yesu Bai and Shahu ji from Aurangzeb's custody, but was beaten back on all such occasions. So, how true is Yesu Bai's thoughts ; i am in doubt about that.

Interestingly, in 1698, 4 wives, 3 sons and 2 daughters of Rajaram were also captured and placed under the custody of Aurangzeb at the same camp where Yesu Bai, Shahu Ji and others were placed. Because from 1689 to 1698, Rajaram was living under protection at the Gingee Fort, but Mughals captured it finally in 1698. Rajaram was saved but this part of his family could not be saved. You must have seen in the show, during flashback Balaji was remembering how Rajaram had to hide and live in disguise from Mughal fear. This is where and how it was. So 4 wives were captured and rest 2 wives - Tara Bai and Rajas Bai (?) we saw in the saw, at his death bed. This Rajas Bai is going to be an interesting character, later.

* - Shahu ji 's original name was Shiva ji ( Shivaji II to be precise). The name Shahu was given to him by Aurangzeb himself. He used to call him "Sadhu / Sav ji" which means someone who speaks truth. This he did deliberately because Aurangzeb compared Shivaji II with (original) Shivaji Maharaj, and in this comparison he used to say that your grandfather was not "truthful" but you are truthful and hence i am calling you Sav Ji, and not Shivaji Ji. Later, corruption of the word Sav Ji turned into Shahu JI. This is a lesser known fact.

So, Rajaram dies in 1700.

Now, we come back to our show. In our show Rajaram has died and Baji is about to be born. So we are in 1700. Shahu ji is still under arrest of Aurangzeb. But treated courteously as you can see.

Another interesting thing which came to my mind. Aurangzeb had a daughter Zeb-un-Nissa about whom i have written detailed blogs and shared links in JA forum. She was a Sufi poetess and wrote about the combined elements of Hindu dharma and Islam. To an extent she can be called Dara Shukoh Part2.

Aurangzeb had another daughter - Zinat un Nissa. She took care of Shahu Ji and Yesu Bai while they were under Mughal arrest. Zinat was 47 years old in 1689-90 when Shahu was taken prisoner as a kid. She was a motherly figure. Her tent in the camp was near the tent of the mother son duo ( Yesu Bai - Shahuji ) . She also reportedly requested her father Aurangzeb to treat Shivaji with respect while he was in his court in 1666 when he was put under house arrest (i forgot that year ?). She is described as "Shahu's guardian angel" . In 1703 - 04, Aurangzeb had made plan to convert Shahu to Islam. Then he and Yesu Bai made an appeal to Zinat un Nissa to persuade Aurangzeb change his mind. But Aurangzeb was adamant. He gave a concession. He asked in lieu of Shahu, 2 other Marathas would have to convert. Finally, the 2 sons of a loyal commander of Shivaji Maharaj who were in custody since 1689 (remember 200 more people were in custody since 1689 , these were among those 200 who ) were converted to Islam, to save Shahu ji from conversion.

I sometimes can not understand how Aurangzeb had 2 sensible and so talented daughters. How good it would have been if he was also like his daughters to some extent !

We saw today, Tara Bai was doing shuffling of her cabinet. Actually, she was putting in place her loyalists and removing the loyalists of rival camp. I was surprised to see that the makers got EACH and EVERY name so correct! The names they were taking while shuffling of cabinet today were not random. They were real names.

After death of Rajaram in 1700, Tarabai, shrewd and different as she was, summoned a
council of state on behalf of her son Shivaji**.

** - Name of her son was also Shivaji , so he is Shivaji III.

Shivaji I is the original great Maratha Shivaji Maharaj (died 1680)
Shivaji II is Shahu ji who is currently in the custody of Aurangzeb.

And, son of Tara Bai is Shivaji III who she wants to be the king - that young boy we saw in episode 1 (though later her heart was broken when she found that this kid had some mental deficiency and was not fit to be the ruler).

She also demanded his recognition as king of the Maratha Swarajya.

Here comes Ramchandra Bavrekar. He was an extremely talented man and was the architect of Maratha resistance to the Mughal imperialism led by Aurangzeb. He has written a great historic document on administration called Adyanpatra. He was in the episode today.

He protested that the king was Shahu, on whose behalf Rajaram had ruled. How can then, Shivaji III, inherit that throne which was not actually belonging to his father. At the same time he readily agreed to serve under Tarabai. { If you watch the episode, these are the exact words and reactions he had shown, and i was impressed by this precise depiction. }




Tarabai brushed aside his objections and insisted that her son Shivaji III should be crowned as king. She said - "He is the Shivaji, for whom it has been prophecised that he will conquer and spread Hindawi Swarajya till Attock." ****

**** - Actually, this was a prophecy made by Shivaji Maharaj (i think on his death bed) that again there will be a king named Shivaji during whose reign the area till Fort of Attock (now in Pakistan) will be conquered and this would complete his task of establishing Hindawi Swarajya. Interestingly enough, the Marathas did conquer the area till the Fort of Attock and there was a prince named Shivaji but he was not the king. I will talk about this prince below.



She had already won to her side - Parshuram Triambak ( He was present in the episode today, if you noticed this name. Did you ? ) and Shankar Narayan, who supported her with an argument that the advantage of serving a present rather than an absent king, no matter how strong the latter's claim was the most practical thing to be done.

Parshuram was a seasoned general too. Its not that he was "bad". He had recaptured a fort in 1692 which was lost to Mughals in 1689. He was the right hand man of Rajaram and had received various honors. He remained loyal to Tara Bai and supported her against Shahu. He was imprisoned by Shahu when he became Chatrapati, but was again asked by him to take his post of Pratinidhi, after releasing him soon. But he was again imprisoned soon for sometime after earlier release and then again released and given charge of Pratinidhi. He died in 1718. His son Shri Pat Rao succeeded him to the post of Pratinidhi. In the movie Bajirao Mastani, in the opening scene when the Peshwa was to be selected it was the same Shripat Rao (the Pant Pratinidhi, remember ? ) who opposed the selection of the young Bajirao and gave him the tough task to hit the peacock feather with an arrow. Just giving an example so you can co-relate. Lets come back.

Relying on this support, Tarabai removed Timaji Raghunath (he was also in the episode) from the office of Pratinidhi and gave it to Parshuram Triambak (mentioned above) who had already held it for a short time in 1698, given by Rajaram.


She removed Shankar Malhar (even he was in episode and his name was called out too) from the post of Pant Sachiv and gave it to Shankar Narayan (mentioned in comment above, but he was not shown in the episode if i am right).



The other ministers, then quietly, agreed to Shivaji's coronation. Early in 1701, the child was crowned with all the customary splendour at Panhala and married to a girl named Bhawani Bai. At the same time Tarabai threw her co-wife Rajasbai ( we saw her at death bed of Rajaram in episode 1 with a toddler -> ) and her son Sambhaji** into prison.

** - This is Sambhaji II. Sambhaji I was the son of Shivaji I who was put to death by Aurangzeb in 1689 as we saw above. This Sambhaji II ( died 1760 ) had a son named Shivaji ( means Shivaji IV as we already saw till Shvaji III above ) who was alive in 1760s when the Fort of Attock was captured by the Marathas. Co relate with prophecy!



We have not talked above Dhanaji Jadhav - the man whom we saw with Balaji Vishwanath. He was a great man and loyal to the Maratha throne. He supported Tara Bai despite knowing that Rajaram at his death bed had expressed desire to make Shahu the king. But when Shahu was released and a struggle ensued between the two factions - TaraBai vs Shahu for Maratha throne, Dhanaji supported Shahuji. Dhana Ji developed friendship with Balaji Vishwanath. After his death, his son supported the Peshwa.

So, here ends my not so short comment. I started writing an hour back and in the flow, ended up writing those things too which were not related to our episode 1 and episode 2, but posting without any removals / edits. Please ignore the grammar related errors. Looking forward to your views and inputs. :D

@Abhay , what a beautiful surprize to find you and your absolutely precious posts here ! Keep rocking as always and please keep enlightening us with such brilliant detailed well written comprehensive historically enriching posts.

Hi Abhay ,

Hiii abhay v wonderful info u hve shared in shrt u gve a detaild info abt d charctrs nd der political bkg and m glad dt d makers hav stuck to hard core histry nd would do dt nd nt divrting to d luv stry😊thnx fr sharing dis info😊

Thanks Abhay for that wonderful post. Please dont be bothered about the post being lengthy. No one minds the length when you get to learn so much in each & every sentence 👍🏼

Abhay,

Another wonderful post from you! Thanks for detailing out such accurate history facts. Loved reading it.

Really good to know that the makers behind this show are doing it with a passion about Maratha history, and are keen on presenting history as it is. Increases my expectations from the show.

I wasn't aware that Yesubai considered that Rajaram betrayed her. She was a good hearted, balanced woman much like Shivaji's first wife Saibai. Till Sambhaji was alive, all of them except Soyarabai had good relations with each other. Even when Soyarabai wanted Rajaram to get the throne after Shivaji, Rajaram (though very young) never really wanted that. He always looked upto Sambhaji and Sambhaji loved him as his own brother and so did Yesubai. Maybe the adverse situations they had to face in the later part, created misunderstandings between them.

Thanks Abhay to make this wonderfull post ...Now it will be easy for us to connect with show as your post gave information about Bajirao in well manner..😊..Hope this will be continue...

Amazing post Abhay😃

Thank you Abhay for a wonderful and detailed post. Enjoyed reading even though it was long.