23^rd April 2017

What if ?

When you read history and dwelve into events which occured hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago, one overwhelming thought that comes to every mind is ‘What if...?’ It is a natural human emotion, to want to change the past, I guess. Reading history makes you reflect on events and personalities which shaped our present. The exercise ‘what if..?’ begins in our mind, sometimes without us knowing it. So many such questions cropped up in my mind when I read the history of 17^th century India.  I wanted to change the outcome of so many events.

The story of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is nothing short of an adrenaline-high, action blockbuster. The man simply lived his life on the edge. He fought countless battles, both actual as well as political. Not every battle was won, however. Some were lost, some quite catastrophically. Not every decision was right; some proved quite disastrous. It is easy to analyse in retrospect, but it would have been infinitely tough for the man, however intelligent, in that era. I played the game of ‘what if...?’ after every incident I wrote for my book, but of all these, three questions stood out. Three occurences, which, if they had happened otherwise, could have certainly changed the course of our history in the greater sense.

The Mughal war of succession : Shah Jahan, the reigning Mughal Emperor fell seriously ill in 1657, sparking off a bloody war of succession amongst his sons. Shah Jahan’s personal choice for a successor was his eldest son Dara Shukoh, but unfortunately for him, Dara was far too incompetent as a military General and as a politician compared with his younger brother Aurangzeb. The decisive battle was fought at Samugarh on 29^th May 1658, in which Dara Shukoh and the imperial army under him was consummately defeated by Aurangzeb. Dara Shukoh’s military incompetence and Aurangzeb’s brilliance is there for all to see in the account of this battle. We know what happened after that. But stop to think what could have happened, had the outcome of this battle been different. What if Aurangzeb had lost or had been killed in this battle? Dara Shukoh was a far more liberal person compared to the fanatical Aurangzeb. Dara had, in his life as a Mughal Prince, exhibited wise tolerance and respect for not just other religions, but also for ancient vedic teachings. He was the ideal person to become Emperor of a vast, diverse land, populated by people of varied religions, castes, languages and backgrounds. Had Aurangzeb lost to Dara, would have our history been different? Finally, ask yourself this : Had Dara been Emperor, could have Chhatrapati Shivaji’s quest to undo Mughal domination, become easier than with Aurangzeb at the helm?

Chhatrapati Shivaji’s death : Shivaji Maharaj toiled for three and a half decades to establish his ‘Swarajya’. What he achieved in those years is unparalleled in Indian history, but I think most will agree that his demise was sudden and premature. India needed him at least for another 10 years. What if he had lived for another decade? Imagine him at the helm and his brave son Sambhaji as his right hand, till say 1690 or 1695. Now, wouldn’t that have changed a few things in our history books? Isn’t it ironical in the context of this country, that Chhatrapati Shivaji was blessed with only 50 years of life and Aurangzeb lived on to be 89?.

Chhatrapati Shivaji and Maharana Pratap Singh : Two personalities who will forever be remembered as legends and, without any doubt, as the bravest sons of India. Two men, who held fierce respect for their motherland in their hearts. Two men who stood up to the foreign imperial rulers and said, “We shall not bow our heads in subservience.” The great Rana of Mewar defied Emperor Akbar and refused to submit to the Mughals, even after he had been marginalised by the other Rajput Chieftains. After he lost the battle of Haldighati, he survived in the Aravalli hills and later resurged to win back a large part of his Kingdom which he had lost to the Mughals. Some similarity there, with what Chhatrapati Shivaji did after losing to Jai Singh in the battle of Purandar.

Now imagine : what if Pratap Singh and Shivaji Bhosale had been contemporaries? Imagine both rebelling against the Mughals at the same time, one in Mewar, the other in Maharashtra. Imagine them actually joining hands against Aurangzeb! Then imagine Shivaji’s son Sambhaji in the picture. Do you think the Mughals would have survived that? Wasn’t it was a cruel twist of fate which decided that Pratap Singh should have lived in the sixteenth century and Shivaji Bhosale should have lived in the seventeenth!

What if, indeed!