The Legacy Of SHIVAJI The Great

In 1707, the last effective Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, died in Maharashtra, a frustrated man. Even after nearly twenty-two years of war, he failed to conquer the Marathas. With his death began the fall of the Mughal Empire that was to be replaced by the Marathas in Central India and parts of North India. In the early nineteenth century the British took over India not from the Mughals but from the Marathas.

Under Shivaji the Great, with the heady aim of Hindavi Swarajya (Indian Self-Rule), the British saw the Marathas as the principal threat to their colonial project. The story of Maratha resistance to the British was therefore systematically swept under the carpet by the British. This book attempts to tell the untold story of that important period of Indian history.

Col. Anil Athale, a former infantry soldier, is a graduate of Staff College and has a doctorate from Pune University. He was head of the War History Division, Ministry of Defence, and has co-authored the official history of the 1962 Sino-Indian war and the insurgency in the Northeast. He is the recipient of several research fellowships including Fulbright, Kennedy Centre, IDSA, USI, and Philosophical Society. He has been engaged in thirty years of research on conflicts in Kashmir, the Northeast, Ireland, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. He is also the author of seven books on military history.Also Available On.