Tanaji Malusare
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Contents |
A brief profile
July 20, 2017: The Indian Express
Abhimanyu Mathur, Dec 30, 2019: The Times of India
From: Abhimanyu Mathur, Dec 30, 2019: The Times of India
From: Abhimanyu Mathur, Dec 30, 2019: The Times of India
Tanaji was a Sardar (military commander) in Shiva ji’s army and was the architect of Maratha victory in the Battle of Sinhagad in 1670. This victory is significant in Indian history as it was instrumental in the resurgence of Shiva ji’s military campaign after the ruler had suffered a few setbacks and lost 23 forts to the Mughals in the 1660s. The victory was among the first of Shiva ji’s offensives in a bid to reconquer his territory that led to the establishment of the Maratha Empire in 1674.
Battle of Sinhagad: In 1665, the Treaty of Purandar required Shiva ji to give up the Maratha fort Kondhana to the Mughals. Kondhana, located near Pune, was one of the most heavily fortified and strategically placed. It was garrisoned thereafter by Rajput, Arab and Pathan troop guards of the Mughals, such that it was all but impenetrable. The very capable commander at the helm of it was Udaybhan Rathore, appointed by Mughal Army chief Jai Singh I.
The idea of Mughals taking control of the fort was deeply disturbing and enraging to Shiva ji’s mother Rajmata Jijabai. The conquest was considered virtually impossible but her decision was made. Upon knowing that her wish was unrelenting and set in stone, Shiva ji entrusted Taanaji, the only man he could think of capable of finishing this dangerous mission — to reconquer the fort Kondhana, at any cost. So Taanaji rallied his troops of 1000 mavals and marched towards the fort in February 1670.
The fort had only two doors. The siege by Taanaji’s men was laid from the south side of the fort where there was only a deep cliff and no guards. According to legend, Taanaji had brought along with his pet ghorpad, or monitor lizard, that can cling to rocks. Rope was tied around it and the lizard was made to climb up the cliff, which set the ropes for the soldiers to climb.
The Maratha surprise attack was immediately responded to by outnumbering enemy forces, but Taanaji wasn’t the one to accept failure. A historic swordfight took place between Rathore and Taanaji. The two bravehearts clashed for a long while and it ended with Malusare losing his life. Enraged by the death of their general, the Marathas fought under the leadership of his brother, Suryaji Malusare, and vanquished the enemy.
The Maratha’s impossible victory did not result in a celebration. Shiva ji was deeply saddened by the loss of his beloved commander and childhood friend, and he renamed the fort — Singhagad (Lion Fort). He has been noted to have famously said, “Gad ala pan Sinha gela.” (“The fort has come, but the lion is gone.”)
Original memorial
Abhijeet Joshi, Dec 30, 2019 Quora
Tanaji Malusare was knight and chidhood buddy of Shiva ji Maharaj. He was fearsome warrior. He played pivotal role in Afjal khan campaign. He massacred Afjal Khan's force in Jungle of Jawali. He leads successful campaign against local warlords of Kokan like Dalavi of Pali, Surve of Shringarpur in bottom Kokan regions. He administered same region as Subhedar. He oversaw administration of Sindhudurg construction.
After destruction of Kashi Vishwanath by Aurangzeb, Shiva ji maharaj broke all treaties with mughal empire and declared all out war with Mughals. He decided to start campaign with fort Kondhana. He want to capture the fort in surgical strike manner by avoiding seige. Same time Tanaji came to Rajgad to invite him for wedding of his son. Shiva ji maharaj told him he can't attend wedding because of he was personally going to lead this campaign. Tanaji got furious with this, as a friend of Shiva ji Maharaj he asked “why you are risking your life when Tanaji is alive. Give responsibility to me and I will give you Kondhana. आधी लगीन कोंढण्या च,मग माझ्या रायबा च” ( There will be wedding with Kondhana first after then wedding of my Son Rayba). Shiva ji Maharaj unable to refuse his buddy and he perfectly knows Tanaji will never give up and will come victorious with flying colors. He deputed him on this campaign.
Tanaji Malusare,his brother Suryaji and uncle Shelar Mama with brave 500 Mawala started this campaign. Kondhana was under mughal dominion administrated by an Rajput commander Uday Bhan with 1500 force,who have fearsome reputation. He was tough warrior who can bend rod of steel by hand. Tanaji knows that fort is well secured and all sentries are on alert constantly. He choose less secured path because it was vertical ascend of approximately 500+ feet. It was nearly impossible to climb that feature hence it was less secure. It was decided that Tanaji will ascend that feature with 100 Mavala and they will open the doors for rest of the force commanded by Suryaji and Shelar Mama. Tanaji had a pet monitor lizard called as Yashwanti who first climbed the feature and tanaji followed back with rope attached to it. All mavala force had climbed that feature. They started battle and proceeded to open doors for rest of the force. Battle progressed, By seeing no maratha is able to counter Uday Bhan, Tanaji takes him head on. Both warriors are equal powered,same skilled fought like lions. Uday Bhan destroyed shield of Tanaji but he fought by wrapping his turban on other hand as shield. Both made a deadly strike on each other at same time and both fallen on each other hand. By seeing Tanaji has fallen, mavala starts to run but Suryaji made damage control. He gave severe tongue lashing to the mavla force so they decided to fight back. Maratha emerges victorious at the end. Shiva ji Maharaj visited the fort on next day but strucked with grief by loss of dear friend. He quoted “ गड आला पण सिंह गेला” ( We got fort but lost Lion). He renamed Kondhana fort as Sinhgad in memory of Tanaji. Shiva ji Maharaj and Jijamata had taken responsibility of his son's wedding and both attended the guests of wedding personally to honour Tanaji.
Sinhagad Fort (Lion’s fort)
Restoration of the fort
Jyoti Shelar, Dec 30, 2019 The Hindu
Restoration workers at Sinhagad Fort, 35 km from Pune, have stumbled upon the original commemorative memorial of Tanaji Malusare, the brave Maratha warrior after whom Shiva ji is said to have named Sinhagad Fort (Lion’s fort). Malusare died in 1670 after being seriously wounded in the Sinhagad battle.
The stone structure, found buried under cement, concrete, and layers of oil paint, is believed to be around 350 years old.
Workers were restoring a more recent memorial for Malusare, erected in 1941, consisting of a bronze statue and a concrete canopy. “The canopy had become dilapidated. So we recently started a project to remake it in bronze,” said architect Rahul Samel, who is working on the restoration project. “When the workers were removing the concrete base of the statue, they struck a stone. We removed layers of concrete and cement and found a stone platform underneath. After consultations with experts, we were able to match the structure with a 1917 picture of Malusare’s samadhi,” Mr. Samel said. But they also realised that the platform was only the base of the original 7.5-feet high memorial rock. Where was the superstructure?
It so happened that the canopy, in addition to the bust of Malusare, also sheltered a virgal or a hero stone, which had the carvings of a soldier, Lord Hanuman, and flowers. This hero stone was covered in over 60 layers of oil paint. As we peeled it off, we realised that the hero stone was actually the superstru-cture and a part of the memorial,” said Mr. Samel, adding that it must have got detached and moved away from the original structure several years ago.
“There were always rumours about Malusare’s samadhi in Sinhagad. But until now, no one knew where it was. We have taken a conscious decision to restore the samadhi to its original form,” said Dr. Tejas Garge, director of the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Maharashtra.
