topics: |  history | india | lit |

This is a verse translation of Maratha songs...  Most of the translations
have the ballad rhyme scheme (abcb).

Undoubtedly, as observed by Niranjana Tejaswini in Siting Translation (1992),
the contents were often modified to suit colonial imperatives.

It would be an useful exercise to locate the originals and compare the
contents...

For a more objective history of Shivaji, see Shivaji and his Times by
Jadunath Sarkar.  A shorter description, based largely on Sarkar, can be
found in The Mughal Empire,  by JF Richards, (1993). 

As an example of distorted views in colonial times, we may consider the story
of the meeting between Shivaji and Afzal Khan, where Shivaji kills Afzal.
The British administrative officer, James Grant Duff, wrote in 1826, based on
some Maratha and Persian records, that Shivaji had killed Afzal through
treachery.

In the song given here however, it is claimed that Afzal attacked Shivaji
first, but that Shivaji was clad in mail, suspecting some treachery.
Acworth suggests that this may be a Maratha over-reaction. 

Naturally, Duff's narrative raised the ire of many a Maratha, but many
accepted it also.

After nearly a century, Jadunath Sarkar analyzed a large set of 
labouriously collected material, and showed that the evidence was quite
strong that Afzal had indeed planned to kill Shivaji. 

Excerpts

I The death of Abdulkhan at the hands of Shiwaji Maharaja

Abdulla Afzul Khan, generally spoken of as Afzul Khan, but called Abdul
Khan in the ballad, was a Beejapore noble, and the leader of the first
organised effort on the part of the Beejapore monarchy to subdue
Shiwaji. The latter corrupted the Khan's Hindu agent Puntojee Gopinath; the
Mahomedan army was induced to move as far as Jowli, where it was involved
in an inextricable labyrinth of hill and jungle...

Afzul Khan, blinded by his own pride and his contempt of his foe, who
overwhelmed him with assurances of submission, was seduced to a personal
conference below Pertapghur. There he and his attendant were treacherously
attacked and killed by Shiwaji himself and Tanaji Maloosre, and the
Mahomedan army, left without a leader in a most difficult country, was
overwhelmed and either slain or captured by the Mawallees, who had been
gathered round it. This occurred in 1659.

[...]

	The Moslem leap'd upon him,
	    His grasp was fierce and fell,
	And how he plied the dagger
	    The dinted mail might tell.
	But Shiwaji the raja
	    In answer made him feel
	The twin sting of the scorpion,^-
	    The deadly claws of steel.
	His entrails torn and bloody
	    Gap'd through the horrid wound ;
	But Abdul was a warrior bold,
	    And falter'd not nor swoon'd.
	He loos'd his girdle deftly,
	    Uncoil'd the sword below.
	And dealt upon the raja's head
	    A fierce and furious blow.

claws of steel = bAghnakh [lit. tiger-claws - four curved nails]
scorpion = bichhwa [sharp dagger]


From Duff, History of the Mahrattas v.1:

The Beechwa, or scorpion, is aptly named in its resemblance to
	that reptile.

The Wagnuck, or tiger's claws, is a small steel instrument, made to fit on
	the fore and little finger. It has three crooked blades, which are
	easily concealed in a half closed hand.


---
This 

	
	tiger claw or "wagnukh", from the personal collection of Grant Duff,
	a Company soldier and administrator in Satara and Poona, who wrote an
	early history of the Marathas claiming that Shivaji had betrayed
	Afzal who was the honoured guest. image source: Victoria & Albert Museum

	Despite Jadunath Sarkar's meticulous work, (published 1920)
	suggesting strongly that Afzal had actually planned to kill Shivaji
	at the meeting, this impression of base treachery persisted for a
	long time, even among Indians.  Most westerners aware of Shivaji
	still believe so.