Thread by @thevijaymahajan

Thread on #TanajiTheUnsungWarrior

Why should we watch #Tanhaji
#GuerillaWarfare #MarathasStrategicWarfare

The #MarathaEmpire was founded by the Maratha warrior #ChhatrapatiShivaji, in response to the chaos and misrule that prevailed in the Deccans in the late 17th century,

which occurred as the Mughal Empire expanded into southern India. Hindu nationalists revere the Maratha Empire, which has its origins amongst Hindu warrior people of the western Deccan peninsula.

Hindu nationalists revere these spirited warriors who are not just supremely brave, but also are backed by absolutely brilliant warfare strategy and wisdom, because they reversed centuries of steadily increasing Muslim political control/dominance & misrule over the subcontinent.

By the mid 18th-century, it was the largest state in South Asia and the Mughal emperors in Delhi feared and are in awe of Maratha warriors. Despite the fact that their armies are outnumbered by massive Mughal armies, Marathas had prevailed over Mughals for generations.

Shivaji Maharaj had an extensive knowledge about the area where he was to fight battles. He knew every mountain, hillock, river, rivulet, fort and valley in the Deccan area like the back of his hand. His soldiers had detailed maps of the terrain.

Shivaji Maharaj had a very competent #espionage system for obtaining information. Though most have remained unnamed, some known spies are #VishvasraoNanajiDige, #BahirjiNaik, #SunderjiPrabhuji.

Contemporary British travellers have noted about meeting Shivaji Maharaj’s spies in Bihar. Bahirji Naik had mapped out the entire city of Surat to facilitate Shivaji Maharaj’s plunder of the Mughal city in 1664.

Bahirji’s information on the massive wealth and riches stored in Surat prompted Shivaji Maharaj to attack the city and humiliate the Mughals. Shivaji Maharaj’s strategy was based on taking the enemy by surprise.

The epitome of this form of attack was seen in the raid against Shaista Khan. Shaista Khan (Aurangazeb’s uncle) was camped in Pune with a 100,000 strong army for 3 years. After Shivaji Maharaj’s attack, a disgraced Shahista Khan retreated to Aurangabad within three days.

Shivaji Maharaj’s army was adept in what is known as #Guerrillawarfare. The army used unusual and out of the box ways to fight the enemy treacherous terrain.

Principles of Guerrilla attacks followed by Shivaji Maharaj’s army were sudden raid with minimum loss and maximum yield or maximum possible damage to the enemy. Though Shivaji Maharaj followed these guerrilla tactics on a large scale Shahaji was the one to promote them!