Latest news with #Shivaji
Time of India
a day ago
- General
- Time of India
True Leaders Work From Their Core Strength
Some people are born leaders. Others are pushed into leadership by circumstances. But everyone has the potential to become a great leader. The qualities just need to be awakened through continuous learning, intentional self-effort and experience. Throughout history, there have been outstanding leaders in every field - military generals, business moguls, political activists, and social reformers. Yet, the most impactful leaders have been spiritual masters, whose influence outlives their time. When you tap into the Spirit within, you rise above physical limitations, emotional baggage, and intellectual prejudices. You breathe an ethereal air. Ancient India was led by rajarishis, royal sages, who held immense wealth and power, yet remained wise and centred within. At the heart of great leadership lies a higher ideal. A leader sees beyond personal gain, beyond "I, me, mine." The Bhagwad Gita guides us to work in the spirit of yajna - sacrifice and service for a noble cause. In this mindset, success and happiness follow naturally, and you begin to grow into your true potential. Constricted by selfishness, success eludes you. And happiness and growth remain distant dreams. True leaders work from their core strength, inner calling. They are guided by the sane counsel of the intellect and not swayed by the whims and fancies of the mind. The mind, the seat of emotions, is fickle, irrational, and unreliable. The intellect is steady, rational and dependable. A leader loves his people, is ready to sacrifice for them, but the intellect guides, supervises and controls emotions. Leadership is hard work, but it never feels like drudgery when fuelled by inspiration. When you are uninspired, you experience boredom. The same work, driven by a powerful emotional motivation, becomes exciting. You break through physical barriers. You become enthusiastic, energetic and creative. Driven by an intellectual ideal, you smash through even emotional hang-ups and achieve the impossible. And when you take the mighty leap into the Spirit, all barriers break down. One of the most powerful traits of a leader is their sense of oneness with others. Most people live in mental islands of separation. A true leader breaks through this illusion. If a leader is consumed by hatred and rivalry, how can they uplift society? Great leaders see beyond divisions. They find common ground and build unity. Look at others not as opponents but as partners. Focus on the values that unite us, not on the differences that divide us. Feel for people, work for them, and you will be amply rewarded. Shivaji, the great Maratha ruler, and his trusted lieutenant, Tanaji, were like brothers. This bond enabled Tanaji to win the battle against a larger, better-equipped Mughal army. A leader must be objective and rise above partisan, prejudiced views. Take a step back and view the situation from an outsider's perspective. Act as if your life depends on it, knowing that it does not matter. As Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage, and all men and women mere players. They have their exits and their entrances." You have a role to play. Play it to the best of your ability. And exit when the time comes. Authored by: Jaya Row Jaya Row will give a talk on Awaken The Leader In You on July 20, in Delhi; call 9820138429 for details Why Arjun Was Chosen: The Untold Secret of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 3
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First Post
3 days ago
- First Post
Maratha bastion in Tamil heartland: Gingee fort's rise to Unesco glory
Given the manner in which Indian History is interpreted and taught, the period of Maratha domination of the northern region — including of who sat on the Mughal throne — has been systematically played down. Only in recent years has the truth been told about the 18th century period which can be termed 'The Maratha Century', if I may borrow a title of noted Maratha historian Uday Kulkarni. In this context, it is nothing short of stunning that a set of Maratha forts, so key to Shivaji's military strategy, have achieved Unesco World Heritage status. And while it is predictable that forts such as Shivneri, Raigad, Sindhudurg and others in Maharashtra would have been part of the list, what makes it truly impactful is the inclusion of Gingee among those acknowledged. For Gingee, in Tamil Nadu, is far from the Maratha home territory or its extensions in Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Gingee's Rajagiri or Raja fort stands on a huge rock overlooking other structures Located just two hours south of the much-visited temple town of Kanchipuram, Gingee is one of India's most unusual forts and not merely because it has the reputation of being impregnable. The fort at Gingee, sometimes called Senji, is simplistically described as a 'hillfort'. The fort straddles three separate hills and encompasses all the land on top and between these hills. Each hill could function as a self-contained fortress and when combined, a formidable triangular defence network was created. Imagine the plight of an invading force that attempted to assault one hill only to be fired upon from another. But that didn't deter adventurous commanders from attempting an assault. The fort's history is the story of such attempts. Horse stables at Gingee fort, with the Krishnagiri hill, or Rani fort, looming in the background While some accounts hold that a small fortification here was done by the Chola dynasty as early as the 9th century, the widely accepted claim is that the first fort of significance was raised at Gingee in the 1190s. This was done by Ananda Kon, who came from a humble shepherd caste and had managed to subdue local chieftains. While he built a fort on Rajagiri hill — now called Raja hill — it became the nucleus for layer after layer of construction by dynasties across centuries. And with each came temples, mosques, water bodies, palaces, pavilions and to protect all this, longer and thicker walls. A mosque in Gingee fort, possibly from the time the Nawabs of Arcot controlled the fort After the Kons came another dynasty that rose from shepherd stock, the Kurumbars. And then the fort became part of the mighty Vijaynagara kingdom. Its eclipse in 1565 meant that the Nayakas, who until then had been feudatories of Vijaynagara, became independent rulers. It is they who built much of what is seen today at Gingee. And in the 17th century came the Marathas. They gained the fort after a tug of war with the kingdom of Bijapur. And when the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb unleashed his full force against the Marathas in the north Deccan region, Shivaji's second son Rajaram took refuge at Gingee, arriving here in November 1689. Aurangzeb's forces followed him and laid siege to the fort. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A painted icon on a rock while going up Raja hill While Rajaram escaped the invading forces, the Mughal army was in no mood to allow such a powerful fort to remain out of control. The siege was an epic struggle, ranging from use of military force to inducements being offered to Maratha chiefs. And the harrowing struggle for Gingee continued till 1698, when the fort finally fell. Musical chairs continued later at Gingee, with the fort passing through the hands of the Carnatic Nawabs to the French, from them to the British and then to Hyder Ali of Mysore and then back to the British. Two other interregnums are noteworthy. During the time that the fort was with the Kingdom of Bijapur, Elihu Yale — the man after whom the Yale academic institution in the US is named — came to Gingee. He was then an official of the East India Company in what became Madras (now Chennai) and came to Gingee seeking trading rights for the British in the region. He went back unsuccessful. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD View of the countryside from Rani fort The second case was when Gingee lay under Mughal control. Gingee was part of a jagir – land grant – given to a Bundela Rajput chief. His son De Singh inherited the jagir but was forced into a conflict with the Nawab of Arcot. De Singh died in battle and his young wife committed Sati. They left behind legends and folk ballads about love and heroism that are still remembered. Astounding to think of a folk ballad about a Bundela Rajput in the heart of the Tamil countryside. The British did not stay in Gingee for long though. The area around was considered malaria-prone and they shifted their base in the region to Arcot. Gingee's days of glory in history were over. But now, the World Heritage Status has put it once more in the spotlight. Today, when a visitor enters the fort, they see an assortment of buildings in the area between the hills. There is a mosque, a seven-storey high palace called Kalyana Mahal (in the lead picture), an open-air museum with various sculpted remains that could have come from temples long lost, various gateways and pavilions. Powerful walls of the fort, punctuated by bastions, encircle the place. Towering in the background is the hill on which 'Raja fort' stands. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It takes an effort to climb up, and carrying a stout stick to discourage enthusiastic monkeys is a good idea. On the way up, a small shrine appears on the right. This is dedicated to a Goddess who eliminated a demon with a hundred heads. As one keeps ascending the fort, one crosses various landmarks – a Hanuman icon carved on rock, various buildings, cannons and fortified walls, not to forget panoramic views of the fort spreading out below. To reach the inner citadel atop the hill, one needs to cross a small drawbridge. Crossing that while looking at the fort spreading itself out below gives a true sense of what the word 'impregnable' means. And for a moment, you feel sorry for those Mughal troops laying siege for seven long years! At the top of the fort are the Ranganathar Temple, a bell tower and a watch tower. Visible below is the Venkatramana Temple, and at a distance on another hill, the Rani Fort. This fort, which was originally called Krishnagiri, is the second of the three hill citadels that make up Gingee's mighty bastion and has some pavilions and shrines on top. The third is the Chandrayandurg, completing the triangle. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Divine icons inside Venkatramana temple, where worship continues The Venkatramana Temple, when viewed from the Raja fort hill The Ranganathar temple atop Raja fort hill In the space between the three hills lies the Venkatramana Temple. When a visitor enters its high gopuram, the structure reminds him of the shrines of Hampi, capital of Vijaynagara. When this author visited the place, the shrine seemed empty and abandoned. And just when I stepped back to leave, a priest carrying a ceremonial lamp emerged from inside, continuing a puja tradition that dates back centuries. It was a moment when time stood still! The author is a heritage explorer with a penchant for seeking obscure sites. A brand consultant by profession, he tweets @HiddenHeritage. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
India Today
5 days ago
- India Today
IIT Roorkee develops world's first AI tool to decode Modi script into Devanagari
In a major push for India's digital heritage mission, IIT Roorkee has created the world's first AI model that transliterates the ancient Modi script into Devanagari. The tool, called MoScNet, helps convert old handwritten manuscripts into readable text, making them accessible for research, education, and project, named Historic Scripts to Modern Vision, also includes a one-of-a-kind dataset -- MoDeTrans -- that has over 2,000 images of original Modi script manuscripts. These cover eras from Shivaji's time to the British period and come with verified Devanagari India, there are more than 40 million records in Modi script, from land deeds and Ayurveda texts to medieval science. With very few experts who can read the script, this AI model fills a massive research and preservation DOES THE TOOL WORK? MoScNet uses a Vision-Language Model (VLM) architecture and performs far better than existing OCR tools. It's light, scalable, and ideal for use even in low-infrastructure regions where these manuscripts are found. The AI tool was developed under Prof. Sparsh Mittal at IIT Roorkee, with help from students Harshal and Tanvi (COEP Pune) and Onkar (Vishwakarma Institute). Their work brought the model to life and shaped its real-world BHARATGPT, BHASHINI, AND GLOBAL HERITAGE EFFORTSThe model fits into big national missions like Digital India, BharatGPT, Bhashini, and even aligns with UN SDG Goal 11.4, which focuses on protecting cultural heritage. It could also be adapted globally for endangered the MoScNet model and the MoDeTrans dataset are now open-sourced on Hugging Face, allowing researchers worldwide to build on this innovation.- Ends
The Print
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
Long before Op Sindoor, Marathas first carried out ‘surgical strike'. NCERT Class 8 book is proof
Referring to Maratha kings as rulers who 'established sovereignty', it says about Shivaji, '…within his lifetime, his exploits had become legendary across India and beyond'. The book describes Shivaji, the founder of Maratha Empire, as a 'strategist and true visionary' while introducing Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, as a 'brutal and ruthless conqueror, slaughtering entire populations of cities'. New Delhi: The NCERT's new Class 8 Social Science textbook, in a chapter called 'The Rise of the Marathas', compares a raid carried out by Shivaji on the Mughal enemy camp in the dead of the night to a 'modern-day surgical strike'. 'The Rise of the Marathas' adds that Shivaji raided his enemy's camp at night 'with only a few' soldiers. 'This daring raid resembles the modern-day surgical strike,' it says, with 'surgical strike' highlighted in purple. Another chapter, 'Reshaping India's Political Map', says Babur 'enslaved women' and erected 'towers of skulls made from the slaughtered people of plundered cities' when he entered the Subcontinent after being 'thrown out of Samarkand (modern-day Uzbekistan)'. Initially, the Mughals and the Delhi Sultanate were part of the Class 7 social science curriculum. However, the NCERT has now replaced those chapters with new ones on the Magadha kingdom, the Mauryas, the Shungas, and the Sātavāhanas. Now, it is the Class 8 social science textbook that introduces students to the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, and the Marathas. In the textbook, named 'Exploring Society: India and Beyond', the NCERT has added what it has called a 'Note on some darker periods in history', along with a disclaimer. The note says, 'Understanding the historical origin of cruel violence, abusive misrule, or misplaced ambitions of power is the best way to heal the past and build a future where, hopefully, they will have no place.' 'No one should be held responsible today for events of the past,' reads the disclaimer. ThePrint reached NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani for comment through calls and texts. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. Speaking to ThePrint, Irfan Habib, a historian of ancient and medieval India said history depended entirely on facts, not religion, and that the past could not be changed, just by removing parts of it from the syllabus. Habib added that no Constitution existed at the time, so all rulers ruled by the sword. Calling the revisions a part of political strategies, Habib said, 'Rajputs, for instance, were equally cruel. There is no need to see it through the prism of religion.' Dynasties would not have survived if the rulers were not good strategists or swordsmen, he added. 'This is a faulty and farcical way of going about making changes,' Habib said, adding that the distortion of history is a way of turning history into mythology. Also Read: Aurangzeb keeps haunting Maharashtra politics. This time, he can hurt Fadnavis' governance Shivaji was 'careful' not to attack religious places The book claims Shivaji was always 'careful' not to attack religious places and mentions a 'retaliatory action' that involved Shivaji attacking Surat, which, it says, was a 'great insult' to the might and prestige of the Mughal Empire. In contrast, it describes the Sultanate period as one marked by political instability and the destruction of temples and seats of learning. During Alauddin Khilji's conquests, 'Hindu centres such as Srirangam, Madurai, Chidambaram, and possibly Rameshwaram' came under attack, the textbook says. Discussing the Mughal Empire, the text says Akbar tried to intimidate the Rajputs during the Chittorgarh attack by proclaiming he had already occupied several 'forts and towns belonging to the infidels' and 'established Islam there'. Akbar, once called 'The Great Akbar' in history textbooks, ruled with a 'blend of brutality and tolerance', the text says, adding: 'Despite Akbar's growing tolerance for different faiths, non-Muslims were kept in a minority in the higher echelons of the administration…' 'Can't selectively glorify or vilify historical figures' Arvind Sinha, a retired history professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University, told ThePrint that history, as a discipline, should be rooted in objectivity, warning that 'prejudice' not only distorts facts but also has a harmful influence on young minds. 'You cannot selectively glorify or vilify historical figures. For instance, Shivaji cannot be viewed as a hero in isolation, without acknowledging the historical context, including Aurangzeb,' he said, adding that rulers operated under different circumstances, something that needed to be understood, not judged. He also drew parallels with Pakistani textbooks and their 'ideological portrayals' that made thinking among students narrow. 'If you omit facts or twist them to suit a narrative, you are not teaching history, you are promoting propaganda,' he said, adding that the problem was not limited to any one political party. 'Ideological influence, whether Marxist or Right-wing, has no place in History textbooks.' (Edited by Madhurita Goswami) Also Read: Aurangzeb is politics, not history. Indian Muslims must bury his ghost
Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
India's monuments and heritage need to recognise it's civilisational history
The history of India is not just about slavery. The history of India is about emerging victorious… The mistake of not keeping those events in the mainstream is being rectified now' — Narendra Modi Putting the Maratha Military Landscapes on the UNESCO World Heritage list is a significant step towards recognising Indian monuments of victory and glory and decolonising the heritage space. The momentum must be taken further as this area had been neglected for a long time post-Independence. Monuments are our collective memory etched in stone. After Independence, there was little effort to correct the mindset of teachers and those preparing history books. The colonial mindset continued even in the preservation of monuments and archaeological sites. Teaching took place under the shadow of what PM Modi has called the history of our defeat and the stories of enemies' victories. It is only under the Modi government that the decolonisation drive has begun, giving us new insights into the history that the British and the Left cabal sought to bury. It has highlighted the stories of King Suheldev, Rani Durgavati and Lachit Barphukan. The founder-king of Delhi, Maharaja Anangpal Tomar, was long ignored — now, Anang Tal, which was a neglected sewer reservoir, has been designated a Monument of National Importance. Excavations at Rakhigarhi have restarted. The Navy has new insignia inspired by Chhatrapati Shivaji. There have also been efforts to delve into the history of tribal communities' wars of independence in the Northeast, specifically the Tai-Khamti War (1839). These are just a few examples of the Modi government's vision of resurrecting India's glorious history and detoxing colonised minds. As chairman of the National Monuments Authority (NMA), I had an opportunity to flag some anomalies and suggest changes in the way we look at preservation. We have created a list of 3,695 Monuments of National Importance that have brought out interesting facets of Indian history. Afzal Khan, the cruel general serving the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, believed a prophecy about his death before his 'meeting' with Shivaji. Some tales suggest that he killed his many wives the night before he departed to encounter his foe. We know Shivaji killed him. But the graves of his wives are now a Monument of National Importance in Bijapur. Maharani Tarabai Bhonsle fought the Mughals and ruled as a Maratha queen for 30 years. But her samadhi is in ruins in Satara. It deserves the honour of being a Monument of National Importance. The great Sikh warrior Baba Baghel Singh conquered Delhi in 1783, made the Mughal emperor pay fines and constructed seven gurdwaras including Sis Ganj Sahib. His 30,000 Sikh soldiers camped near the Red Fort — and so, the camp became known as Tis Hazari. But nowhere, even in the Red Fort Museum, is there any mention of this conquest. The National Monuments Authority was asked to approach the Tis Hazari court to ask if it would like to have the name explained in its precincts. The Marathas conquered Delhi in 1757 under Raghunath Rao and in 1771 under Mahadaji Shinde. They controlled the Red Fort and continued to rule until 1803, when the British overpowered them in the second Anglo-Maratha War. The British took Delhi from the Marathas and not the Mughals. This fact, too, is completely missing from the Red Fort museum. The NMA struggled for two years to have this mentioned on a wall of honour inside the fort without any success. On the Delhi-Meerut highway, there lies a nondescript grave of British soldiers who were killed by local revolutionaries in 1857. This was declared a Monument of National Importance. But the Kali Paltan Augharnath temple, Meerut, a renowned place that housed revolutionaries and Purabia soldiers — a shelter for the marching armies of the freedom struggle — has been refused the honour. There isn't a single Monument of National Importance connected with the Dalit struggle and B R Ambedkar's life. His first primary school in Satara and the Sayaji Baug Vadodara Banyan tree, where he resolved to bring equality for all Indians, now known as Sankalp Bhumi, have yet to be accepted as national monuments. After a detailed site inspection by the NMA, the Governor of Kerala sent a recommendation to declare the birthplace of Adi Shankara, Kalady, a Monument of National Importance. It was not even responded to. Mangarh has been a place of the greatest reverence for PM Modi. He visited the place many times before he became Gujarat CM, and recently, as PM. The NMA visited the site and recommended that it be declared a Monument of National Importance. It was the site of the massacre of more than 1,500 Bhil tribals by the British army in November 1913. We are still waiting for action on the matter. There are more than 100 monuments like Tota-Maina Ki Kabr that have absolutely no history. Nobody knows what they represent and why they have been declared Monuments of National Importance. Similarly, some Monuments of National Importance, like the Mohammad Gauri Ke Senapati Ki Chhatri and Babur Ka Bagicha (where he is said to have stayed for a few hours), defy any logic. Not a single Monument of National Importance from Kashmir, like Martand, Parihaspore or Harwan, was ever recommended to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and none has been given even a security guard. I had recommended a relook at the functioning and mandates of all the agencies working on monuments to unshackle them from the colonial mindset. We need an Archaeological Foundation to preserve civilisational and revolutionary monuments of India. The writer was chairman, National Monuments Authority
