by Frenchmen. What he built lasted long; his institutions were looked up to with admiration and emulation even a century later in the palmy days of the Peshwas' rule.
Shivaji was illiterate ; he learnt nothing by reading. He built up his kingdom and Government before visiting any royal Court, civilised city, or organised camp. He received no help or counsel from any experienced minister or general.*[1] But his native genius, alone and unaided, enabled him to found a compact kingdom, an invincible army, and a grand and beneficent system of administration.
Before his rise, the Maratha race was scattered like atoms through many Deccani kingdoms. He welded them into a mighty nation. And he achieved this in the teeth of the opposition of four mighty Powers like the Mughal empire, Bijapur, Portuguese India, and the Abyssinians of Janjira. No other Hindu has shown such capacity in modern times. The materialistic Maratha authors of the bakhars have given us a list of Shivaji's legacy, — so many elephants, horses, soldiers, slaves, jewels, gold and silver, and even spices and raisins ! But they have not mentioned Shivaji's greatest gift to posterity, viz., the new life of the Maratha race.
- ↑ * His early tutor, Dadaji Kond-dev, was a Brahman well versed in the Shastras and estate management. He could only teach Shivaji how to be a good revenue collector or accountant. Shivaji's institutions, civil and military, could not have been inspired by Dadaji.
