Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj gave much more importance to forts. Because the kingdom could be kept strong and safe only because of the forts. Maharaj always worked hard on the fort and navy. Shivaji Maharaj was the only Maharaj who gave so much importance to forts. At that time, jaggery and lime were used instead of soil, stone, bricks and cement for construction, and cow dung was used for plastering. Also rangoli, lime etc. are used for decoration. Maharaj made old forts more stronger in every place that Maharaj found remote and beautiful in Swarajya, and if there were no old forts, he built new ones. Shivaji Maharaj must have studied sculpture meticulously, so he knew the art of remodeling forts better than even the best architects. Each fort of the Chhatrapatis was under their direct ownership, i.e. under the ownership of the central authority. No Vatandar or Jagirdar was allowed to build a separate fort, even he was also not allowed to build a simple fort around his residence. Each fort had a government army and each fort had its own administration.
A fort is such an important part of a nation or a state that if it is strong, the nation or state can be protected from a huge enemies. Then, where there are no forts, look for a suitable place and build a fort. There is also women labor in the construction of the fort. In order to create morale in the army in the fort and to impress upon the soldiers that it is the primary duty of the soldiers to follow Kshaatradharma, verses of the battle of the Muddal poet’s Ramayana were recited to the people of Shibandi every night after dinner, at every fort.
Aurangzeb fully realized that the strength of Shivaji Maharaj’s Swarajya lies in the forts under his control and that without capturing his forts, he cannot establish his political power over the territory of Maharaj’s state. So, he himself came to Maharashtra and started capturing strong forts of Swarajya as soon as he came. During the reign of Shivaji Maharaj, he kept his forts ready with war materials and troops as there was no certainty when the Mughals would invade Swarajya. Due to this, Aurangzeb had to spend a lot of money and time to conquer Chhatrapati’s fort. During the reign of Rajaram Maharaj, after Aurangzeb captured one important fort, as he and his army moved south, the Maratha chiefs of Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj recaptured the forts captured by Aurangzeb from the Mughals. This struggle continued for 25 years. As a result, Aurangzeb died in despair, putting an end to his ambitions to conquer Maharashtra.
The Maharaj knew that the Marathas (if the word Maratha occurs in any article of this blog should not be associated with one caste Maratha, it should be considered as all the caste religion mawals, citizens etc. of Swarajya) are very skilled in building construction and related science. They knew the importance of forts. Because at that time the method of cement was not well known. He knew that forts were very important for making maps, as well as for obtaining various types of information, and it was for these reasons that Maharaj laid special emphasis on the construction of forts. But it seems sad and regretful that no one paid attention to it or built a new fort after the Maharaj’s time. Let alone the construction of new forts, no one is willing to pay attention to the maintenance of existing forts. If we want to preserve our culture and maintain our existence, it is essential that all the forts are in good condition and we all should strive for that.
Continue reading with Part III
or goto Part IV, Part V, Part VI
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