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આવા એક મહાન આ ધરક્ષક ભારતવીર શ્રી શિવાજી મહારાજનું જીવન ચારિત્ર મહારાષ્ટ્રોય સામ્રાજ્યના અવશેષરૂપે શાક્ષા પૂરતા સિંધિયા સરકારની રહીસહી નિશાની પંચમહાલમાંની દક્ષિણાય વસાયત આપી રહેલ છે, તે પૈકી ગાધરાવાસી દક્ષિણાયબ વીર વામનરાવ, જેઓ ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યના ચુનંદા અભ્યાસી છે, તેઓશ્રીના હાથે લખાય તે જ યુક્ત છે અને તે વધાવી લેતાં હર્ષ થાય છે. શ્રી. નટવરલાલ દામેાદરદાસ પરીખ એમ. એ. એલ. એલ. ખી.
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Shivaji has by a curious fate suffered more at the hands of historians than any other character in history. They have one and all accepted as final the opinion of Grant Duff, which again was based on that of Khafikhan. They have at the same time rejected Orme's far more accurate conclusions. And while judging Shivaji with the utmost harshness, they have been singularly indulgent to his enemies. The thousand basenesses of Aurangzeb, the appalling villainies of Bijapur and the Ahmednagar nobles, have been passed over with a tolerant smile. The cruel trick by which Ghorpade betrayed Shivaji has provoked no comment. Shivaji, however, is depicted as the incarnation of successful perfidy, a Caesar Borgia to whom there came no ill fortune, a more faithless and more daring Francesco Sfozza.
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But, great organizer and millitary genius that Shivaji was, it is in farseeing statesmanship that he stands supreme. In all history there is no such example of modesty in the face of continued success. The insolent overwhelming vanity which has proved the ruin of so many commanders, both in ancient and modern times, found no place in Shivaji's admirably balanced mind. He won victory after victory against Bijapur and the Moghuls, yet his head was never turned. He realized always, that he had yet to meet the full power of the Moghul Empire. His one aim was secure the freedom of his countrymen. That he might do so, he sought to win the friendship of Aurangzeb. When that proved impossible, he resolved to secure a place of shelter against the coming peril, which he so clearly foresaw. At last there came a time when his genius bore fruit.
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C. A. Kincaid, C. V. O. I. C. S. D. B. Parasnis.
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Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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Historians
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
