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Chaptlr II Heliniaus Forces in Maharashtra Before We Try to Study More in Detail Tha Philosophical Trends in 19Th Century Mahara

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Chaptlr II Heliniaus Forces in Maharashtra Before We Try to Study More in Detail Tha Philosophical Trends in 19Th Century Mahara CHAPTlR II Heliniaus Forces in Maharashtra Before we try to study more in detail tha philosophical trends in 19th century Maharashtra and their relation to relipinn us must analyse the vprious religious forces ooth in their historical and cultural con­ text. In this chapter loe shall give a broad outline of the historical evolution of v/arious reliqious mo\/ements anti then try to shouj the place of these mov/ements in 19th and 2Dth century rlaharashtra. 1• The Historical Background: Hinduism uas not -founded Dy any particular proohet; no one can find a date uhen Hinouism started to exist; actually Hinduism can ue unper- stood as a gradual assimilation of religious and cultural elements during a long procBSS of ev/olution. The Aryan triires coming fro-ri the north seem to hawe had a deter.nining role to play in the oroceas of unifica­ tion. This process of gradual assimilation marked tha evolution of Hinduism in early Maharashtra as uell. Politically the Deccan plareau, south of the Narbada and of the l/indhya range, had from the very beginning an independent; status. From the 7th century the region uas doninated by the Chalukya dynasby; the greatest ruler of this dynasty, Pulakesin II (602-6^^2) fought against the invasion of king Harsha of Kanauj and rajactsd his efforts to gain dominion over the Deccan. After 753 the Chalukyas were replaced by the Rashtrakutas ujho fought often against the pouer of hanauj and Kanshi. After ll'^u tha souSh uias divided into three parts and the region nouj known as Maharashtra was made part of the Yadava kingdom ujith its -36- capital at Devagiri, The reign of the Yadawa continued till ths coming) till the coming of the Muslims at the end pf the 13th century. Uuring this oeriod the danger of Kiuslim invasion uias at first insxistent but the menace becomes more obv/iDus in the last years. Hinou-dharma CDulct exoano ano exoress itself freely and naver thought of tne need of de­ fending itself. Although the Muslim influence started to be felt in the 12th cen- tury, it is only at the end of the 13th century that ix oecame a very serious dancer.the Muslim invasion under Ala-ud-din in \Z3k and tne submission of rdmacnanaradeua in 1307 marked tfie beginning of thg Muslim domination over the Deccan. The rulers of Devagiri had to submit to the ruler of Delhi; this domination uas short lived and in 13^7 Devagiri revolted and founded a neu independant kingdom under the leadership of the Bahmanl dynastry. The Bahmani domination lasted till 1527 when the kingdom ujas divid­ ed into five sultanates: Ahmadnagar, 3erar, 3ijapur, 3idar and Golconda. ^These five sultanates ujare weakened oy their mutual fighting and in 1630 Shah Jahan cSne douin and subjugated a good oart of the territory. LJhat ujere the feelings of the oenpla during this long period of Muslim rule? The rich Muslim rulers levied heavy taxes on the peasants so as to keeo uo their oun standard of living ana their military pouar; there uere many cases ujnere the Muslim rulers had little resoect for the Hindu religion; temoles ujere desecrated, destroyed and sometimes transformed into mosques. The Hindu majority felt more and more the economic and the religious oopreasion and hoped far a return of t 1. Ahmednauar and Hijaour forms the major part of ujhat is known to-day as F'aharashtra. -39- kingdom ujpre their situation ujould ba imoroved. Under -cha Guidance of the Doet saints the peopl'J became mora conscious of their religious unity and of the ualue of th^ir ouin reliuiaus tradition. Houjever this sense of unity had yet no political exoression. It is uitn tha earning of Bniv/aji that the political unification started. (2) Bhiv/aji uias born in the Bijaour tarritory in lb27. ^ He gradually built up a military pouer and started canquerinq various territories in the Bijapur Sultanate. In 1655 The Sultan decided to send Afzal Khan to deal with bhivaji; Shivaji cleverly murdered Afzal Khan and thg muslim trooos, ujithout their leader, lost couraqs and dispersed. In 166Q Aurengzeb started to be concerned about the danger constituted by Shivaji; he sent Shayfita Khan to deal ujith the nroblem. Shaysta Khan, hiffi had initial success but Shivaji managed to enter the house of Shaygta Khan, ujounded him ana killed his son. Shaysta Khan retard. In 1SS5 Jai Sinoh took the fort of Furandar and odliqed Shivaji to surrender. Shivaji was brought to Agra to submit himself to Aurengzeb. Dissatisfied by the treatment he receiv?d, inivaji refused to submit and escaped from Agra. Back in Maharashtra Shivaji sxarted again to rule over the region. Aurengzeb's attention was nouj turned toujards the Afghan's menace in tha north and he could not deal efficaciously with Shivaji. Dhivaji croujnBd himself as king in 157^+ and exoanded his dominion far in the south. He died in 1680. The movement started by Shivaji has a gr^at importance in Maharash­ tra. It uas the first examole of Hindu militant nationalism ana could in a uiay serve as a model for later nationalistic movements. It shamed the oossiblilitv and the need for Hindus to unite among themselves so 2. Bijaour uias not under the control of Delhi; this gave a greater freedom to Shivaji; he could start his conquest without facing Delhi at first. -kO' as to defend their raligion against alien rulers. From Shiv/aji's death in 1600 till 1713 the raqion was ruled ay his succBssOi^; In 171^+ 3alaji Uisvanath was aapainted Peshuia; due to his own qualities he took a v/ery iniDortanc; role in the administration. 3radually the King's position uias oecoming almost merely ornamental. uJhen Balaji died his position was inherited uy his son ^aji Kao. The post uas becoming in oractice hereditary thus concentrating the pouer in a small Brahmin grouo. At the death of Shahu in 17it9 the noiuer of the Peshuja became almost completR. This situation uas to last till the British rule. Thus the very last period before the British rule uas to oe marked by the complete domination of small Brahmin group; in such a situation the poujftr of orthodox Hinduism and insistence on caste difv'erences uias to take a great place. There uas often tensionf oetueen tne Peshua and the old haratha rulers. As for the peasants they may not have been actually ccnscious pf the social inepualities present in the system. These inecualities uere there all the same and 'uhe coming of the British rulers and the Einglish educational system uas soon tp make people con- scipus of this reality. 6 . Historical Background and Religipus MPuements: The short historical survey oiv/en above nelps us to understand the social ana political backgrcund pf th-. period. Lde must nou give an idea of the more directly religious background. uJe shall do this by analysing tha role of the great religious movements in Maharash-cra in the Middle Ages. In this analysis ue shall start uiith a feui remarks on tuip p Io mpvements; The Kahinubhava pafttha ana tne IMaxha Pantha. Ue shall furthLT analyse the trends that have permeated more deeply the -IfU Fiiddle Ages: the Uarkarl SamoradayB, the Ramdasi movyemant ana the Oatta Bampradiya. The Mahanuohava sect was started in the 12th century by Uhakradhara, At that time xhe jain teaching and the cult of Krishna were very oopu- lar in Gujarat and in the reaions of Maharashtra close to Gujarat; Doth trends had a great influence in the shaning of the MahinuDhiv/a teach­ ing.''In the teaching of th^ect l o b may keep in mind three signi- fican pnints: (a) Its criticism of existing forms of Hinduism, (b) Its devotional cult centered around Krishna (c) its strong ascetical cen- dencey. In their reaction against Hinduism they rejected the autnority of (4) the Uedas, they reacted against Hindu polytheism, and criticised the social system offered by Hinduism esoecially the caste system ujith its rigidity. But unfortunately they uere unable to orov/ids anotner social system to take tne olace of t. e caste system; their criticism uas only negative and unaule to operate a real transformation of socisty.^^^ Under ttie influence of the Krishnaite movament they insisted that Krishna uias the unioue manifestation of the Supreme uod ana that g b v d - tion to him is essential to salvation/^^ Krishna uas accept?d but tiiB ujhole mythology ooout Ham and Parashuram ujas rejected; their vision of Krishna is tne one oroposed in the Gita, and theway to reach him is devotion. 3. Sardar, G.9., The saints poets of Maharashtra, o.kB. k. Cf. Kahiriahtra Jivan, o.li+6. 5. bardar, oo. cit. p.38. b. dhastri, B.M. Mahinuohiva i^ai’itha, o.^4l. -ifA- Partly due to tha influencB of Jainism they Droooseri an ethics of withdraujal from the uarla. Involumsnt in tne uiarld has no value and man can be aaued only by renouncinq the ujorld, "Both the Jainas and the Mahanubhava sects are directed toujards sanyasa, taujards an extreme form at renunciation. In their search for the duoreme there is a permanent schism betueen matter and spirit, betueen living and non-living, betuieen (7) the soul and the oady." The sect could never take solid root in :‘aharashtra. Rejecting the authority of the Wedas and the value of the caste system they could not OB acceoted oy the people. Horenver their insistance on the asce- tical life ano uiitndraujal from the ujorld nlaced them on the margin of the main current of thought and life.
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