The power of a mother is
huge. She offers her child love, affection, support, and education and in doing
so she raises her child to be the best person they can be. In the contemporary times nuclear families
have become the norm and in most of the cases, both the parents work for their
livelihood. On an average in all long
distant couples, it’s the woman who looks after the children and the family;
many times with her full time job. Women’s mothering has continued to be basic
to women’s lives and fundamental to the genesis of ideology about women.
Motherhood is not merely worshipped as divinity but considers the living mother
as a God for each of us. Mothers are
agents of creation. Life starts with them and each life is raised by the warmth
and affection and unconditional love of mothers. Mothers in mythology, history and at present are
those special women who reveal enormous strength and character, displaying
exceptional love and courage in the worst and best of situations. A good number of examples are available for
the most popular mothers as follows:
· Mary, the mother of Christ
· Olympias, mother of
Alexander the Great
· Sita, mother of their twin
sons Luv and Kush
· Kunti, the widowed queen
mother of the Pandavas
· Queen Mary, mother of
Edward VII and George VI
· Hafsa Sultan, mother of
Suleiman the Magnificent
· Putlibai Gandhi, mother of
Mahatma Gandhi
· Alberta Williams King,
mother of Martin Luther King
· Swarooprani Thussu, mother
of Jawaharlal Nehru
· Vidyavati, mother of
Shaheed Bhagat Singh
· Prabhavati Devi, mother of
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
· Bhimabai Sakpa, mother of
B.R. Ambedkar
· Nonqaphi Nosekeni, mother
of Nelson Mandela
· Chinna Thayammal, mother
of Thanthai Periyar
· Sivakami Ammaiar, mother
of K. Kamarajar
· Anjugam Ammaiar, mother of
Kalaignar Karunanidhi
· Maruthur Satyabhama,
mother of MGR
· Ashiamma Jainulabiddin,
mother of APJ Abdul Kalam
· Heeraben Modi, mother of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
· Mary Maxwell Gates, mother
of Bill Gates
In this blog, I am going
to highlight on one of the powerful Indian woman in the 17th century
who had everything that we see in today’s feminist women. She is none other than Jijabai Bhosle
popularly known as “Rajmatha Jijau” the mother of Maratha Emperor Shivaji, the
Great. Jijabai was a typical example of
a heroine of the times and was a woman with vision, foresightedness and was
passionate about her dream of achieving freedom for all her people. Her conduct was so influential that all
mothers were willingly ready to sacrifice their sons to establish freedom. She is often referred as a ‘Lioness’ for all
the bold and brave traits that Shivaji Maharaj eventually got from his
mother.
Jijabai was born on 12th
January, 1598 as the daughter of Mahalasabai Jadhav and Lakhujirao Jadhav of
Deulgaon, near Sindkhed, in present day Buldhana district of Maharashtra. She
was the descendant of the Yadava kings of Devagiri, and her father was a
powerful Sardar in the court of Ahmednagar Sultanate. During her childhood
days, Jijabai who was affectionately called as ‘jiu’ and said to be motivated
and encouraged by her mother not only to “dream” but to “achieve”.
Jijabai was married at an
early age to Shahjiraje Bhosle, the most valorous general of the Nizam Shahi
Sultan’s army. With her husband who eventually fell into the opposite camps of
Jijabai’s father. She stood by the side of her husband in his tussle against
her own father, even if she had a deep affection for her father, showing her
commitment to her marriage. Shivaji was the second son of his mother
Jijabai. His elder brother was Sambhaji
Bhosle. Jijabai, unfortunately, lost
several children after Sambhaji’s birth.
At long last, a child born on 19th February, 1630
survived. According to a legend, Jijabai
named him ‘Shiva’ after the Goddess Shivai, the guardian deity of Shivner to
whom she had begged for a son who would vanquish the enemies. This son went on to change the history of the
country.
In the early 1630s Shahji
had led an ultimately futile attempt to set up a young Nizam Shah ruler as his
puppet. When Ahmednagar was swallowed up
by the Timurids, Shahji took service in the Karnatak campaigns of the Sultan of
Bijapur. Due to this reason, when her
husband had to move to the South, he sent Jijabai with little Shivaji to Pune
and declared her the queen regent of his large fief in the western Ghats near
Pune, which was a wild forest then. Jijabai
with the help of her Council of Ministers eventually changed the face of Pune
as a beautiful place.
Shivaji was raised by
Jijabai at Pune as a rustic Maratha aristocrat. From the very childhood Shivaji
was fearless. In the making of his
character and personality the three great personalities – Jijabai, his mother,
Guru Samarth Ram Dass and Dadaji Kondadev – contributed a lot. Jijabai was
loved and respected by all her family members.
She played all the roles in her life such as daughter, sister, wife,
daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother. But her role as “MOTHER” is considered to be
par excellence.
In 1640, Jijabai and
Shivaji were called to Bangalore by Shahji Bhosle, where Shivaji was married to
Saaibai, a daughter of the Nimbalkar family.
During these early years, Shivaji had not seen his father. In 1642,
after formal presentation at the Bijapur court, Shivaji and his mother returned
to Pune after his father, Shahji Bhosle handed over to Shivaji his jagir of
Pune. Jijabai was not only a mother to
Shivaji, but a first mentor and also a source of inspiration. She was responsible for most of his education
such as: arts of administration; war tactics, weaponry, and the geo-political
situations of their region. The town of Jawali had a great significance in the
rise of Shivaji where mostly Mawalis lived and he organized them by his
military ability and began to conquer forts, one after the other.
Jijabai had a strong faith
that she was blessed by Goddess Bhavani and always backed her valorous son
fearlessly and resolutely. Whenever her
son would be in difficult situations, she would ardently pray to Bhavanimatha
night and day, for his protection and safe return. She strongly believed that every human effort
brings success to the doorstep only with the grace of God. For instance, when Shivaji met and killed
Afzal Khan at Fort Pratapgarh during 1659, his mother prayed for his safety and
he emerged victorious. Another
interesting incident is, while she played chess with her son and checkmated
him; he asked her what her reward should be and she demanded Fort Kondana
(Shivaji renamed it as Sinhagad), near Pune, which was then ruled by the
Mughals. The fort was won and Shivaji
fulfilled his mother’s wish.
Shivbharat,
a poetic biography of Shivaji in Sanskrit, mentions an interesting incident
about the time when Shivaji was besieged by Siddi Jauhar’s troops in Panhala
fort (around 1660). Having received news of her son’s helplessness and
inability to break out of the fort, Jijabai who was then on Rajgad prepared to
go to war herself, in an attempt to rescue her son. Shivaji’s commander Netoji
Palkar was then on campaign in Adilshahi territory and delayed his return to
Rajgad. When he eventually did, he had to face a wrathful Jijabai who was fully
ready to ride out in armour, holding a sword in her hand. Netoji Palkar begged her forgiveness and
somehow convinced her to stay back while he himself tried to rescue his King.
The personal character of Shivaji was quite high. He was an obedient son and had deep reverence for his parents. Shivaji was extremely impressed by his mother Jijabai and used to worship her. The wars waged by him during the period between 1670 and 1674 brought him wonderful victories. Lovingly called as Chhatrapati, Shivaji was coronated on 6th June 1674 at Raigarh and began his reign on the Maratha Empire. Jijabai lived until 17th June, 1674 and saw the power of Marathas increase and the coronation of her son took place. Thus, Jijabai proved herself a worthy mother of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the legendary Maratha king and warrior who stood strong against the rivaling Mughal Empire. The historians, J.N. Sarkar and Sardesai have depicted Shivaji Maharaj as a great ruler, lover of justice and builder of the nation.
Truly speaking, Shivaji
Maharaj, the great warrior king spring from a renowned mother took up the
building of his character and fired his imagination with good qualities. Rajamatha Jijabai willed him to be a great
king who would be just and fair to his subjects and devoted all her energies in
creating a staunch warrior. She raised him with her fortitude and courage in an
era where women were treated as inferior and being molested openly by the
enemies. For this reason, right from his
childhood, Jijabai would tell her son about the lives of great men from
religious scriptures to make him pious and patriotic. As an outcome, Shivaji grew up into a man, a
king who treated every woman (even those belonging to enemies camp) with
immense respect and he always kept safety of women as his top priority. He
instructed his soldiers to honour women and followed a tolerant religious
policy. Therefore, it can be stated here that “Only a mother could encourage
children to dream for such things that can be their passion for the rest of
their life”.
Jijabai’s stellar
qualities such as: independent nature, leadership skills, strong instinct to
stand up against evil, passion for dreams, decision making ability and clarity
of thought made me to highlight - the life, career and achievements of this
king maker and a powerful feminist who lived in the 17th century
India. Jijabai supported gender equality and rooted it in the culture that
women are not inferior but should be treated as EQUALs. If all the mothers
of today’s world can get this attitude in their children, I am sure the
incidents of various forms of violence against women happening at present, can
be avoided.
Rajamatha Jijabai was undoubtedly a great woman, a strong mother and a role model for every woman in this world. Her legacy has been memorialized in statues, stamps, books and films. Today in India and especially in Maharashtra, Jijabai Bhosle is regarded as an ideal mother and her upbringing of Shivaji Maharaj is a subject of folklore. She is being reminded of the immense power each woman has and the contribution she can make, to improve the status of women in our society and therefore “Jijabai Bhosle – The Legendary Mother” is a woman to be given a Big Salute in History.
REFERENCES
1. Chandrababu, B.S. and
Thilagavathi, L., Woman: Her History and Her Struggle for Emancipation,
Bharathi Puthakalayam, Chennai, 2009.
2. John F. Richards, The
New Cambridge History of India: The Mughal Empire, Cambridge University
Press, New Delhi, 2007.
3. Khurana, K.L., History
of India (1526 – 1967 A.D.), Laxmi Narain Agarwal, Agra, 2016.
4. Percival Spear, A
History of India, Vol.II, Penguin Books, New York, 1978.
5. Stewart Gordon, The
New Cambridge History of India: The Marathas (1600 – 1818), Cambridge
University Press, New Delhi, 2005.
6. https://www.hindujagruti.org/articles/37_jijabai-jijamata.html
7. https://www.mapsofindia.com/who-is-who/history/jijabai.html
8.https://haribhakt.com/hindu-mothers-learn-from-jijabai-mother-of-shivaji-hindu-ruler/
9.https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/politics-at-odds-with-social-reality-the-era-of-shivaji/story-TRcBbBjmI4SR6RhIr5r0aI.html
