This magnificent chronicle of the life and times of Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj is an extraordinary tour-de-force of history, biography and
imagination. The epic text of Ranjit Desai s Shriman Yogi finds new voice in
Vikrant Pande s nuanced translation, an immersive narrative of the foundations
of the Maratha empire and the saga of its charismatic founder. Namita Gokhale
Young Shivaji reaches Pune, a dying fort city, with his mother Jijabai and
lights the first lamp within its ruins. While his father Shahaji Bhosale is
away on deputation by the Adil Shah sultanate after having failed in a revolt
against it, Shivaji learns how an empire is built from the ground up. Thus
begins the life of the Great Maratha. What awaits Shivaji is nothing short of
the vast scroll of history, and it takes him from Surat to Thanjavur and all
the way to Aurangzeb s durbar in Agra. He dreams of freeing his land from the
clutches of Mughal rule, and though he suffers many defeats and personal
losses along the way he never gives up his vision of Hindavi Swaraj. Amidst
political intrigue and a chain of skirmishes, Shivaji becomes a leader, a
warrior and a tactician par excellence, driven by immense pride and love for
his motherland. This is a new English translation of Ranjit Desai s much-loved
Marathi classic Shriman Yogi, and a literary rendition of the life of
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Read more