Rajarshi Shahu Chhatrapati: Life and Work (An Old and Rare Book)

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NOT A BIOGRAPHY BUT A LIGHTHOUSE.

Rajarashi Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaja of Kolhapur was one of those many extraordinary great men, born and brought up in the land of Maharashtra, whose inheritance of ideas and instruction is so valuable that many successive generations should feel proud of it and help preserve and spread it. In our history, nothing can compete with the huge work that Rajarshi Shahu Maharaja done during his conflict-ridden life of only 48 years, with the visionary way in which he used the power of his sceptre for the uplift of the oppressed and the suppressed by espousing their cause; and with the kind of concrete manifestation he gave to the concept of the Welfare State.

We are astonished when we look at the list of activities implemented by this king in his short span of life by keeping before his eyes the broader objective of social and economic justice and equality. As soon as the name of Rajarshi Shahu Maharaja is taken, a series of extraordinary work starts flashing before our eyes: the Maharaja helped Gangaram Kamble, a Dalit, for opening a hotel and paid a regular visit to that hotel to take tea during the rotten period of such inhuman practices as regarding mere fall of the shadow of an untouchable bringing in desecration; the Maharaja passed for the first time in India the Act prohibiting the inhuman treatment accorded to woman from her family by his opposition to the low status given to woman by the supporters of Brahminism; the Maharaja supported the inter-caste marriage by arranging the marriage of his own sister with the bridegroom from the Holkar (Dhangar) family of Indore without simply preaching the need for the abolition of caste distinctions; the Maharaja gave encouragement to modern agricultural technology by building. the dam at Radhanagari; the Maharaja implemented the Act of Free and Compulsory Primary Education by realizing the importance of education in modern life, so on and so forth.

We have undertaken this ambitious project of publishing the Rajarshi's biography in three languages in order to introduce him freshly as 'a visionary king' and 'an active reformer' not only to Maharashtra but also to the entire country and to provide a constant source of inspiration to the future representatives of the people. Dr. Jaysingrao Pawar, an eminent biographer of Shahu Maharaja, who belongs originally to Kolhapur, not only upheld the idea of this project, but also prepared a very lucid and attractive biography of the Rajarshi based on the major events of his extraordinary life. This biography is going to be made available in Marathi, Hindi and English and its copies are going to be distributed among the Members of the Legislative Assemblies of other States in the country, the Presiding Officers, the Members of the Parliament, different libraries, Non-Governmental Organizations, researchers, journalists, scholars, etc. We believe that this project is a tribute of Maharashtra Legislature, which represents the population of ten crores in the State, to Rajarshi Shahu Maharaja, the great pioneer of social revolution, and that it will provide inspiration and power to all in their struggle for the fulfilment of the goal of the egalitarian society set by Phule, Shahu and Ambedkar.

During the meeting organized with regard to this project, some experts made the following suggestions: the size of the biography should be kept small in order to carry Rajarshi Shahu's revolutionary ideas and his inspiring biography to all the sections of the society, the language should be simple and easy, and there should be a separate chapter on what should be learned from the revolutionary schemes implemented, and from the far-reaching decisions taken, by Shahu Maharaja. The readability and impact of this book has been definitely increased because of the justice done by Dr. Jaysingrao Pawar to these suggestions by his accomplished art of writing.

The land of Maharashtra has given birth to many extraordinary and epoch-making sons. Rajarshi Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaja was one such Lokraja who had ascended to the throne of the hearts of the common people by espousing the cause of the oppressed and the suppressed and by attacking the outdated conventions and traditions. Shahu Maharaja's life and work has been a matter of pride and inspiration in the context of social and economic justice not only to Maharashtra, but also to the entire country. Hon. Presiding Officers of the Maharashtra Legislatures have undertaken the ambitious project of producing the biography of Shahu Maharaja and organizing the Shahu Festival in order to carry the Maharaja's life and work to the maximum number of people, in order to further strengthen radical progressive ideology, and in order to ensure the practice of the Welfare State and social and economic justice as the principles of governance. It is very difficult to express our sense of joy and satisfaction in words for getting this wonderful opportunity of participating in this project not only as officers of Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat, but as the students and advocators of the concept of the Welfare State implemented by Rajarshi Shahu Chhatrapati.

When the idea of undertaking this project was voiced for the first time, we faced the problem of choosing a scholar who could accept the Herculean task of writing the biography of Shahu Maharaja in simple and easy language. However, Hon. Chairman, Hon. Speaker and different experts on history made a unanimous recommendation of the name of Dr. Jaysingrao Pawar. We must mention here our sense of appreciation of Dr. Jaysingrao Pawar for his efforts. We plan to make available this biography in Marathi, Hindi and English to different State legislatures, Hon. Members of Parliament and the Presiding Officers of both the Houses of Parliament, libraries, social scientists, scholars, journalists, institutions working for social change and to others. We hope that this biography will carry Rajarshi Shahu Chhatrapati's ideology and lasting importance of his work to all the sections of the society and provides.