Dadoji Konddev as Shivaji’s mentor? Govt has No Historical Proof

Konddev as Shivaji’s mentor? Govt has no historical proof

Mahesh Mhatre 

IN CONTROVERSY 

Shivaji’s life has been the subject for controversy for the past five years. It started with Congress-led State government and political parties, including the Shiv Sena, celebrating his birthday on two different days. Then came US scholar James lame’s book “Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India” which led to ransacking the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune.

WHO is Chhatrapati Shivaji’s guru? The controversy has come to a boil with the State’s culture department, in a letter to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), stating that there is no historical proof that Dadoji Konddev was indeed Shivaji’s mentor.

The letter has put the PMC in a fix. In 2000, the civic body, in its golden jubilee year, renovated Lal Mahal, the palace where Shivaji and his mother Jijabai lived during his formative years. On a small plot near the entrance, it installed statues of Shivaji tilling the land with a golden plough with Jijabai and Dadoji Konddeo by his side. The tableau portrayed Konddeo as his guru. This erupted into a row with organisations like the Maratha  Seva Sangh (MSS) and Sambhaji Brigade, which believe that Konddev was not  Shivaji’s guru but only an officer appointed to look after the Kondhana fort near Pune, seeking the removal of  Konddev’s statue in 2004. This led to the closure of Lal Mahal a major tourist destination in Pune. It was reopened only recently.

Now, the culture department’s letter has made the PMC do a rethink. Municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer has said the corporation will renovate the tableau by adding Shivaji’s father Shahaji’s statue. “We may remove Konddev’s statue,” said Kareer.

Many historians consider the letter strange because for over four decades, school textbooks published by the State government have mentioned Konddev as Shivaji’s guru. Moreover, the government has even instituted an award for the best sports trainer in his name.

However, the Maratha Seva Sangh says some historian’s have deliberately portrayed Konddev and Ramdas swami as Shivaji’s gurus. Its chief Purushottam Khedekar said, “The State government has realised its mistake after so many years. It should correct it with immediate effect.”

Historians too are divided. Maratha history expert from Kolhapur Jaysingh Pawar says, “Available documents don’t mention Konddev’s name but some historians have intentionally maintained that he was Shivaji’s teacher. The culture department’s letter shows this is a baseless claim.”

Others like Babasaheb Purandare, Ninad Bedekar and Satchidanand Shewade say Konddev was the man behind Shivaji’s successful fight against the Mughals.