There were many such turning points in the history of this country, which changed its condition and direction.
That's why in sentimentality we start thinking that if it was not like this, how good it would be. However, what happened in history was bound to happen.
The importance of those historical events is that lessons should be learned from them today and those mistakes should not be repeated, due to which many blows on the chest of the country. This is what the famous writer Vishwas Patil's Marathi novel 'Sambhaji' translated into English by the same name expects from its readers.
In this novel, Soyrabai is determined to sabotage Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's dream of establishing Hindavi Swaraj in the country by being subjugated in son's love.
She wants her son Rajaram to be Shivaji's successor, while Chhatrapati himself has declared Sambhaji, the son born to his first wife Saibai, as the crown prince and plans to hand over the throne to him.
She is worthy of it in every respect, but Soyarabai does not accept this at all and she, along with Shivaji's ministers, conspires against Sambhaji. How personal ambition can become a hindrance in the way of a greater purpose, the author has described it well.
It stars Sambhaji, who fights all conspiracies and eventually manages to take over the Maratha Empire, but after Shivaji's death, the elated Mughal emperor Aurangzeb feels that there will be no better chance of defeating the Marathas.
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He marches south with thousands of his soldiers, but despite fighting for eight consecutive years, he is unable to spoil their hundreds of forts including Raigad, the pride of the Marathas.
This frustrates him so much that he vows to give up the crown of his head until the Marathas are forced to kneel.
At this point in history, personal ambition again raises its head.
Angered by Sambhaji, his brother-in-law, Ganoji Shirke, appears in front and, playing the role of Vibhishana, fraudulently surrenders his brother-in-law to the Mughals.
They are taken hostage and presented in front of Aurangzeb.
They are subjected to inhuman torture for many days.
Their eyes are taken out by hammering hot iron bars, but they do not kneel before the Mughals. They do not accept Islam to save their lives and the kingdom and sacrifice their lives while protecting the religion and the nation.
Aurangzeb has been waiting for this day for the last eight years, but even after defeating Sambhaji and the Marathas, he does not see its happiness on his face, because he is sad that if he had a son like Sambhaji, then he would read the Qur'an.
And taking Tasbeeh, Mecca would have settled in Medina. He regrets that his four princes are of no use.
In this way Aurangzeb lost even after winning and Sambhaji became immortal even after losing.
Sambhaji sacrificed himself for the motherland at the age of 32, but as long as he lived he lived like a lion.
Sadly, the lion had no tales to tell its story, so the hunter-gatherer histories tended to exaggerate the pride of the hunter rather than the lion.
Vishwas Patil has tried to write the story of this period of Indian history from the perspective of a lion and he has been successful in this.
Readers who have read Vishwas Patil's novel 'Panipat' will have a thrilling experience while savoring 'Sambhaji'.
His fluent language and sophisticated style completely engage the readers. While reading the novel, its entire plot moves in the mind like a movie. The filmmaker will not have to put in much effort in writing the screenplay of this masterpiece.
In this novel of so many qualities, it is difficult to leave some minor mistakes.
A reputable publisher is not expected to leave behind errors of proof and facts in his books, but unfortunately it has happened. Especially in the events after Shivaji's death, page 176 has been printed for three weeks instead of three months.
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