About a Sher

A family wedding pulled me away in the fine month of December, last year, to Kolhapur, a city steeped in history. The bastion of Maratha history, it is a photographer’s delight, full of colour and fine imagery.

When you need to look for bits out of history, they are available to you everywhere.

One such bit that caught my attention was a standard measure, called a Sher (शेर) that was being cleaned and polished for a wedding ritual. When the bride enters the groom’s residence for the first time, she strikes inward, a Sher full of grain (usually Rice) at the threshold with her right foot (thumb, if you care for the finer details). This ritual is called “Maap Olandne” (माप अोलांडणे), loosely translated, “Crossing the Threshold (Measure?)”. It signifies the ushering of wealth and food (धन, धान्य) by virtue of her entry. I believe, this is a common tradition that is followed in most Hindu weddings.

My focus however, is the Sher.

This particular Sher was made in the year 1910 and has the rhomboidal inscription of म श्री छ प on it (M, Shri, Chh, P). This stands for महाराज श्रीमंत छत्रपाती परवाना (Maharaj Shrimant Chhatrapati Parwana). If I am not mistaken, the Parwana means “issue”. (Will update after confirmation)

So how much exactly is a Sher?

1 Sher = 1.25kgs, so
4 Sher = 5kgs, which is also known as a Payli (पायली)

Other related Sher terminology:

1/2 a Sher = 1 Mapta (मापटं)
1/4 a Sher – 1 Chipta (चिपटं)
and
1/2 a Chipta = 1 Kolwa (कोळवं)

Update: Panhala

A minor update on the Panhala Fort page.

Zat and Sawar

When we think of titles conferred on people, it is easy to relate to them especially the ones like Mahatma (great soul) or Sardar (leader) and such. It is interesting to note that in Mughal times there was a significant background to the way titles were conferred. You may have heard of the commonly used jagirdar and mansabdar, if you have been interested in any aspect of the history of the Deccan. In any case, it is not uncommon to to have Jagirdar as a surname in Maharashtra. If you have seen Hindi movies in the ’70s and the ’80s then you know Gajanan Jagirdar.

According to Wikipedia, the word jagirdar is derived from jagir and sardar. Mansabdar, probably was derived the same way. But we will let that pass for this post. While reading, Parties and Politics at the Mughal Court, 1707-1740, I stumbled upon the terms: Zat and Sawar. While the context of it all made sense regarding what these two terms went, I felt the need to know more and I found some information that was fairly interesting.

[Before I start, a quick note: Ideally, I think, these should be spelled as Zaat and Sawaar because of the way they are pronounced, however most authoritative historical texts, books and documents spell them as zat and sawar, so I shall go with the same spelling.]

While I am not sure of the etymology of these words I suspect that zat is the same as the near-Hindi word (zaat or jaat) meaning breed, caste or class. Sawar refers to horses; a ride, perhaps linked to Sawari.

The zat and sawar were parameters of defining a mansabdar’s “level”. Before this system was introduced, there was a single parameter – the count of horses that a mansabdar maintained during Akbar’s times and therefore (possibly) the subsidy that he received in exchange for that. Mansabdars didn’t often maintain the required troops or horses, and this new, fairly elaborate system was used to classify mansabdars.

The zat was a rank conferred by the king on the mansabdar, whereas the sawar was a count of horsemen that were to be maintained. The actual number of horses that they had to maintain is a different and interesting story.

There were three levels of mansabdars and this was a factor of the zat and sawar count.

The mansabdar at the highest level was the one who had equal zat and sawar, e.g. 4000 zat and 4000 sawar. The second level was when the sawar was half the zat, e.g. 4000 zat and 2000 sawar. The lowest level of mansabdar was when the sawar was less than half of the zat.

One would imagine that a mansabdar with a sawar of 10 would have 10 horses, but this wasn’t so. And for good reason. A sawar of 10 was to maintain 20 horses. There were to be three backup horses for the first 3 sawar, 2 backup horses for the next 4 sawar and no back up for the last 3 horses in the sawar of 10. So you had 20 (9+8+3) horses for a sawar of 10. The good reason being that the backup horses would come in use in case for fatigue or death of the mounts.

The system was actually more elaborate than what I have presented.

However, I shall leave that for when I compare this with the Saranjam system employed by the Marathas. It would be an interesting study, given that the Marathas were well versed with the Mughal mansabdari system, given that a few Marathas actually served as mansabdars or jagirdars for the Mughals.

Primary References:

Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part – II, Satish Chandra, Har-Anand Publications, ISBN: 8124110662

Secondary References:

Parties and Politics at the Mughal Court, 1707-1740, Satish Chandra, Oxford University Press, ISBN13: 9780195667905

Maratha Confederacy: A study in its Origin and Development, V. S. Kadam, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., ISBN: 8121505702

Mansabdar. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 10, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansabdar

Baljuna Covenant

The men, excluding Genghis Khan were nineteen in number. The water that he refers to are the muddy waters of the Baljuna (perhaps a lake, or a river).

Upon arrival at the Baljuna, the provisions were used up. It happened that from the north a wild horse ran up. Kasar brought it down. From its skin they made a kettle; with a stone they got fire, and from the river, water. They boiled the flesh of the horse and ate it. Genghis Khan, raising his hand toward the sky, swore thus: ‘If I finish “the great work”, then I shall share with you men the sweet and the bitter; if I break my word, then let me be as this water.’ Among the officers and men, there was none who was moved to tears. [Genghis Khan, by John Man, Bantam Books, ISBN13: 9780553814989]

This, according to John Man, ‘marked Temujin’s [Genghis Khan] nadir in military terms, but a turning point in terms of leadership.‘ This situation, is brought upon Temujin by way of treachery, because of which he retreats to Baljuna.

The most authoritative document on the history of Mongols is the “The Secret History of the Mongols,” and it fails to mention of this.

I can imagine why.

Such instances are the ones that go off record. You may know about it, but there is never a document about such incidents. For one, they potentially expose a weak moment about a hero, for the other, and perhaps more important, these incidents are so intimate that they are necessarily off the record. Even if you were a part of the incident and were charged with documenting history. There is something about men in difficult circumstances that binds them, bonds them.

We might think that this was pure rhetoric and exaggeration, but, you might agree that we aren’t new to rhetoric and exaggeration. I invite you to read today’s newspaper (or any day’s newspaper for that matter).

And while we are at it, here is some more, from “The Secret History of the Mongols”:

Thus Jamuqa, attempting to demoralize the Naiman soldiers
on the eve of battle with Chinggis Qahan, attributes qualities of superhuman toughness to the Mongol commanders:

Their foreheads are of cast copper,
They have chisels for snouts,
They have awls for tongues,
Their hearts are of iron,
They have swords for whips.

Bernini – 2

When I started this blog, it was with a post dedicated to Bernini. As much as the context of the post required me to use an image of the sculpture of Neptune and Triton by Bernini, I didn’t put in an image; I wasn’t quite sure of copyright issues. Whether I could use the image from the V&A Museum site. Since then, I have had the good luck of going back to the V&A and get a few photographs of the sculpture myself.

More, pictures in my Flickr Set

I still continue to love and be intrigued with this sculpture.

Yet, I was disappointed by the lighting in some of the sections in the V&A. Especially the South Asia section. Most of the artefacts are in glass cases (for obvious reasons; I understand), what I don’t understand is why the lights are so harsh at times and so far away.

One reason is, I suppose to, dissuade photographers (low lighting conditions, and flash will always bounce on the glass cases). But that should hardly be the concern for the museum. More people come there to see things.

The other reason, and I believe this may be more the reason, is that strong lights may affect the artefacts there. Yet, am sure there must be some way to get in more light without causing damage to the artefacts?

The Context of History

History is always to be looked at in the context of the future…never in the context of the past…

An Etymological Question

In the book, Genghis Khan: Life Death and Resurrection, by John Man, I stumbled upon the word – Subedei. This is the name of one of the four generals of Genghis Khan – known as the “four hounds.” The variants of that name include, Subotai, Subedei, Tsubotai, and the preferred spelling Sübeetei (Chinese). Something about this name and some further clicking from one link to another was a path to a thought – a theory.Here I go, with the theory (yes, yet another).

I believe this is another example of a person who became a word. Like Louis Pasteur. A small background, before I begin: Subedei is a Mongol word. According to the Wikipedia article on Subedei, he is also know as “Subedei Baatar (meaning Subedei Warrior/Hero in Mongolian history books)” Baatar, seems to be a common word in Mongolian – Starting from the capital – Ulan Baatar (spelling variants to this exists too, Ulan Bator, for example). I’ll stick with Baatar for this article. Ulan Baatar translates to Red Hero, named in the honour of Damdin Sükhbaatar.

And coming back to the theory, I believe that the word Subedar in Hindi (Hindustani, to be more precise), is a derivative of Subedei. Apart from his other conquests, he fought significant wars in Central Asia – I’d assume that given his fame – he lived in the history books of that time – for some time. So the word must have remained in memory for some time – let’s assume a couple of hundred years – for the sake of my theory – and that the word eventually became a more generic one – to mean a lead – in an army. Subedei died in 1248. A little more than hundred years later, Timur-e Lang was born (1336) and ruled most of Central Asia until 1405. Along comes Babur in 1526 – after the First Battle of Panipat – and establishes the Mughal Empire. Mughal, being the Turkish word for Mongol. Pretty long winded, but I’ll now get to the point.

This is how I think the word Subedar, though a title now, came as a variant of Subedei via Mongolia. The reason, by the way, about the background of Ulan Baatar earlier, is that I noticed a word, in the book, Subotai the Valiant: Genghis Khan’s Greatest General by Richard A. Gabriel – bagatur. It gives the same meaning to this word as baatar – brave, valiant, hero. Bagatur - again – closely resembles Bahadur - the Hindi word for brave, valiant, hero. Richard Gabrial further works on this word and mentions that the Russian word – bogatyr - is a derivative of bagatur.

This theory has been confirmed.

The Subedar theory however is suspect, a bit fanciful even. (Just this indulgence, however, has helped me stumble on a few things of note.) The reason why my theory may fall to pieces, is that it’s likely that the word is an extension of the word suba, meaning district, collection of villages etc. and anyone who was responsible for such a suba, would aptly be called Subedar.

But if bahadur travelled from the steppes of Mongolia via Uzbekistan to India, there may be a glimmer of hope for subedar.

PS: If you do have ideas about the root of Subedar, I’d love to hear from you – help my theory – either ways.

Panhala Fort

A new page on Panhala Fort is up, it is still being edited, please keep watching.

Updates:

1. Added image of Baji Prabhu Deshpande (24.10.2006)

Fort Panhala

Go northwest of a city ripe with Maratha history; sprinkle a few stories of valour and intrigue, and you have a taste of Panhala.

History

While the fort has witnessed many events, Chhatrapati Shivaji’s escape from Panhala and the ensuing Battle of Paavan Khind is what Panhala is most famous for. And you wouldn’t ever miss this story — if you went to Panhala, because a towering statue, all 52 kilograms of bronze, stands in the middle of the fort to honour the one person who ensured that Shivaji survived his escape to Vishalgad.

Events

The Seige of Panhala

The origins of this battle were laid a little over six months before, when Shivaji killed Afzal Khan at Pratapgad on the 10th of November in 1659. This was then followed by a very short battle a month later between Shivaji and Rustom-e-Jaman at Kolhapur on December 28, 1659. Shivaji, after this victory took over Panhala from Ali Adil Shah II, the fifth king of the Adil Shahi sultanate of Bijapur (Bijapur was one of the five Deccan sultanates including Ahmednagar, Bidar, Berar, and Golconda). Shivaji then continued spreading his influence over the region. This obviously caused distress to Ali Adil Shah II who was all set to march to Panhala. However, Siddi Johar who had defied the Shah and taken over the jagir Kurnool, offered a deal to Ali Adil Shah II to recognise his control over Kurnool in return for laying the siege at Panhala. The Shah agreed, and also gave him the title of Salabat Jung. Siddi Johar was assisted by Siddi Masud and Fazal Khan (Afzal Khan’s son). The seige was laid on March 2, 1660 with a force of fifteen thousand men.

The siege continued for six months into the month of July in 1660. The Adilshahi army cut of all supplies to the fort and made it increasingly difficult for Shivaji to continue resisting the siege. Sensing the trap, Shivaji clandestinely communicated with Siddi Johar and requested an alliance with him and a safe passage. Siddi, saw this as an opportunity to carve out a separate empire of his own with Shivaji and agreed to meet him. They met at at midnight and agreed to cooperate. Shivaji returned to the fort and the seige continued as before.

Fazal Khan, however, was adamant on taking revenge for the death of his father, Afzal Khan, at Pratapgad. He maintained a close watch on the movements of Shivaji and continued the seige in all seriousness. However, Panhala is one of the largest forst in the Sahydri Mountain Range. Fifteen thousand men were too less to take on a fort of that size. Fazal Khan, instead, chose to atatck Pavangad, a nearby fort and avoided a frontal attack. He used British guns and began shelling Pavangad. The commander of Pavangad requested for relief from Panhala. Shivaji know knew that if Pavangad fell, supplies to Panhala would be cut and would be starved.

Two teams left Panhala on the night of July 13, 1660. Shivaji and his commanders took a side road to Vishalgad, about 70 kilometres away from Panhala, while Shiva Kashid, a barber who had a strong resemblence to Shivaji, led the other team on the main road to Vishalgad, impersonating Shivaji. When news reached Fazal Khan’s camp, they captured the second team and brought them back to base. The imposter was however recognised and beheaded and Fazal Khan chased Shivaji through the night to Vishalgad.

Statue of Shiva Kashid, Entrance of Panhala

As they were nearing Vishalgad, at Gajapur, 12 kilometres away from their destination, Baji Praphu Deshpande, one of Shivaji’s commander stayed back at a narrow pass named Ghodkhind with seven hundred other maratha warriors. This is a classic rear-guard defence tactic, during an escape. Interestingly a similar situation was faced by the Greeks against the Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae

Statue of Baji Prabhu Deshpande at Panhala

Baji Prabhu’s instructions were to hold guard till he heard cannons fired from Vishalgad, which would signal the safe passage of Shivaji into Vishalgad. Baji Prabhu fought valiantly in that pass for five hours, supposedly with two swords weighing 15 kilograms each. (Shivaji later renamed that pass as Paavan Khind (Sacred Pass) in the memory of Baji Praphu Deshpande). The remaining soldiers carried his wounded body into the hills and left the pass open.

The chasing army pushed on to Vishalgad, however chose not to attack in that terrible region (If you have been there, you will know what it means.); they returned to Panhala, and eventually to Bijapur. Johar’s treason was now known to Ali Adil Shah II and he moved to Miraj to ‘punish’ him. Johar saw his position and finally made the Marathas give up Panhala on September 22, 1660 and handed over the fort to Adil Shah II. (January 1661, according to Grant Duff)

Sambhaji Imprisoned in Sajjad Kothi

(Coming Soon)

Fort Chronology

• Built by King Bhoja between 1178-1209
• First captured by Shivaji on 28 November 1659.
• Laid seige by Siddi Masud and Fazal Khan (Afzal Khan’s son) on March 2, 1660
• Shivaji escapes the seige on July 13, 1660.
• Fort recaptured by Ali Adil Shah II in January 1661.
• Annaji Pant, led by Kondaji Farzand regains Panhala, 6 March 1673.

Inside the Fort & Architecture

(Coming Soon)

The room over Andhar Bau (Dark Well)

General Information

At an altitude of 3177 feet above seal level, Panhala is a very scenic place, just 18 kilometers away from Kolhapur. It is one of the largest forts of the Deccan and has fortified walls for about 8 kilometres of its triangular structure.

You can have look at Panhala in Google Earth. Paste the text below in the search box of Google Earth.

16°48′43.75″N 74° 6′27.26″E

Or, you can see it in Google Maps here

References

1. Panhala @ Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panhala)
2. Battle of Pavan Khind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pavan_Khind)
3. Battle of Kolhapur (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kolhapur)
4. A Long Weekend in Kolhapur, a Rediff Article by V S Srinivasan (http://www.rediff.com/travel/1998/feb/24kol.htm)
5. Maratha War History, Brig.(Retd) K G Pitre (AVSM), Continental Publishers, Pune (Marathi Publication)
6. Shivaji and his Times, Jadunath Sarkar, Orient Longman, ISBN 8125013474

Notes

1. Sources on Shiva Kashid are sketchy and not verifiable. It is not known whether he was beheded by the Adilshahi army or not. Interestingly, the Shiva Kashid incident doesnt find mention in major history references, however – it is his statue that greets you as you enter Panhala.
2. All photographs, unless otherwise stated, (c) Atul Sabnis. All rights reserved.

A Hundred Names

In a poem, mind you. Possibly one of the reasons that makes the poem, the longest poem ever. So you have heard of the vile Duryodhan and of course his younger brother, Duhshasan. Ever wondered if the rest of the ninety-eight brothers ever existed? And if they did, who were they and how come they never showed up in the story – doing something specific.

Well, here are the names of all the hundred Kauravs. They were a hundred and one brothers, mind you and even had a sister. But you probably know that.

1. Duryodhana, 2. Duhsasana, 3. Duhsaha, 4. Duhshala, 5. Durmukha, 6. Vivinsati, 7. Vikarna, 8. Jalasandha, 9. Sulochna, 10. Vinda, 11. Anuvinda, 12. Durdharsha, 13. Suvahu, 14. Dushpradharshana, 15. Durmarshana, 16. Dushkarna, 17. Karna, 18. Chitra, 19. Vipachitra, 20. Chitraksha, 21. Charuchitra, 22. Angada, 23. Durmada, 24. Dushpradharsha, 25. Vivitsu, 26. Vikata, 27. Sama, 28. Urananabha, 29. Padmanabha, 30. Nanda , 31. Upanandaka, 32. Sanapati, 33. Sushena, 34. Kundodara, 35. Mahodara, 36. Chitravahu, 37. Chitravarman, 38. Suvarman, 39. Durvirochana, 40. Ayovahu, 41. Mahavahu, 42. Chitrachapa, 43. Sukundala, 44. Bhimavega, 45. Bhimavala, 46. Valaki, 47. Bhimavikrama, 48. Ugrayudha, 49. Bhimaeara, 50. Kanakayu, 51. Dridhayudha, 52. Dridhavarman, 53. Dridhakshatra, 54. Somakirti, 55. Anadara, 56. Jarasandha, 57. Dridhasandha, 58. Satyasandha, 59. Sahasravaeh, 60. Ugrasravas, 61. Ugrasena, 62. Kshemamurti, 63. Aprajita, 64. Panditaka, 65. Visalaksha, 66. Duradhara, 67. Dridhahasta, 68. Suhasta, 69. Vatavega, 70. Suvarchasa, 71. Adityaketu, 72. Vahvasin, 73. Nagadatta, 74. Anuyaina, 75. Nishangi, 76. Kuvachi, 77. Dandi, 78. Dandadhara, 79. Dhanugraha, 80. Ugra, 81. Bhimaratha, 82. Vira, 83. Viravahu, 84. Alolupa, 85. Abhaya, 86. Raudrakarman, 87. Dridharatha, 88. Anadhrishya, 89. Kundaveda, 90. Viravi, 91. Dhirghalochana, 92. Dirghavahu, 93. Mahavahu, 94. Vyudhoru, 95. Kanakangana, 96. Kundaja, 97. Chitraka, 98. Chitraka , 99. Kundasi , 100. Viranjan

The daughter’s name was Duhssala, you’d recall she is the one who married Jayadrath. The hundred and first brother was Yuyutsu, who was Dhritarashtra’s son by a Vaisya wife.

 Source: The Sacred Texts Archive; this page