Bharat's Greatest

#5 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

The first time I think encountered Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was when I moved to Mumbai for college. I liked history in school, so I would have remembered if I was taught about him in school. Either we didn’t have a lesson on him at all, or his chapter was skipped. So when I came to Mumbai, it was difficult for me to understand the city, and Maharashtra and the Marathi people’s reverence for him. The main station of the city is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the airport is called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Shivaji Park in Dadar, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Fort… you get my point. But after reading through his life, I began to understand why he is held in such a high regard and reverence by not just the people of Maharashtra, but Bharatiyas who know their history as well. He was one of the major sparks of hope in an era of darkness. When few dreamt of challenging the well established Mughal Empire and Deccan sultanates, he established an empire of his own, which would one day conquer Delhi itself. The navy started by him in a time when Indian ships had to buy permits to sail from their own coasts, would go on to reverse the tide and rightly have foreign ships rightly buy Indian permits to sail in Indian waters. He has been the subject of powadas, epics, poems, movies, series, plays, even religious songs during his life and for centuries after his death up to the present. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj continues to be an inspiration for millions of us Bharatiyas. Chapters (00:00) Introduction (01:55) Sources (02:42) Background of Bharat During Shivaji’s Time (05:03) Shivaji’s Childhood (07:05) First Steps Towards Swarajya (09:40) Shahaji’s Arrest and Relinquishment of Sinhagad (14:21) A Brief Sabbatical (15:49) Offensive Against the Adil Shahi Sultanate (19:23) Raids in Mughal Territory (21:18) North Konkan Campaign (25:01) Afzal Khan's Defeat and the Capture of Panhala (29:29) The Siege of Panhala (32:26) The Mughal Occupation of Pune (33:42) Escape from Panhala (35:36) The Southern Konkan Campaign (38:06) Shivaji Defeats Shaista Khan (41:07) The Surat Expedition (44:01) Beating Back the Adil Shahi Sultanate (46:06) The Treaty of Purandar (51:18) The Maratha-Mughal War Against the Adil Shahi Sultanate (53:16) The Escape from Agra (56:48) Temporary Cessation of Hostilities with the Mughals (58:26) Reclamation of Forts Ceded to the Mughals and Further Expansion (1:04:35) Reclaiming Panhala Fort (1:06:18) Shivaji’s Coronation as Chhatrapati (1:07:19) Shivaji’s South-Eastern Campaign (1:12:24) Sambhaji’s Estrangement and Reconciliation (1:15:03) Final Days (1:16:08) Lessons

#4 Indira Gandhi

I don’t think any of our Prime Ministers have lived as intense a life and as extreme a life as Indira Gandhi. Even though she came from as politically well-placed a family as one could in the early years of independent India, her political life almost came to an end many times, yet she bounced back each time. As India’s third Prime Minister, she led the country through drought, famine, food shortages, economic instability while conducting our first, and successful nuclear tests, launching our first satellite on an indigenous rocket, and putting the first Indian in space, and playing the key role in the liberation of Bangladesh. She also led an intense private life, battling her mother’s prolonged illness and death during her teenage years, growing up with a largely absent father and then emerging from his tall shadow, enduring a tumultuous marriage that nearly ended in divorce, and later living through the violent death of her adult son along with troubles at home with her daughter-in-law. (0:00) Introduction (1:23) Sources (1:44) Growing Up (8:52) Indira Nehru becomes Indira Gandhi (15:56) Marriage Troubles (21:21) Becoming the Third Prime Minister of India (27:34) Congress Splits for the First Time Under Indira (30:15) Bangladesh Liberation War (39:51) The Emergency (47:04) Years Out of Power (57:01) Return to Power (59:57) Trouble at Home (1:07:26) Operation Blue Star (1:11:33) Lessons

#3 Krishnadevaraya

Krishnadevaraya | If you’ve never been to Hampi, I strongly urge you to do so at least once in your life. Just go solo and soak in the history and the weight of the scale of what all of the ruins would’ve looked like at the peak of the Vijayanagara Empire and what we’ve lost. I think it will be a trip you’ll cherish for a long time.  It was the capital of one of the greatest empires of Bharat, and in this episode we’re going to talk about the greatest emperor of that empire. Krishnadevaraya built many of the famous structures of Hampi, stopped the encroachment of the Deccan sultanates into southern India and won amazing victories that we were never told about. He was a poet, a brave warrior and commander on the battlefield, a lover, and a great emperor who was mostly led by doing what was right rather than unchecked ambition. (0:00) Introduction (2:04) Sources (2:32) Becoming the Emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire (6:15) Early Days as Emperor (6:56) Krishnadevaraya Ends the Deccan Sultans’ Annual Raids (12:41) Capturing Udayagiri Fort (16:17) Krishnadevaraya Defeats the Gajapati King Prataparudradeva (20:37) Battle on the Krishna (27:44) Krishnadevaraya Defeats the Bijapur Sultanate and Reestablishes the Bahmani Sultanate (30:24) Final Years (31:09) Lessons

#2 Maharana Pratap

Maharana Pratap | “The hopes of Bharatiyas rest on one Bharatiya. Our men have lost their valour and our females their honour. He is the broker in the market of our race. He has purchased all but the son of Udai. The descendant of Hammir Singh alone has been preserved. I would sooner believe that the sun has risen from the West than Maharana Pratap has called the Turk “Badshah”.” (0:00) Introduction (0:44) Sources (1:21) Birth of Pratap Singh (2:07) The Siege of Chittor (4:50) Kunwar Pratap Singh becomes Maharana Pratap (6:19) Asserting Mewar's Independence (10:25) The Battle of Haldighati (12:08) Guerilla Warfare (15:59) The Battle of Dewair (18:07) Death (18:46) Lessons

#1 Samrat Ashoka

Samrat Ashoka | You come across the symbols instituted by this man almost every day. The lion capital instituted by him sits on top of the building that is the centre of the political power of the world’s 7th largest country. The emblem derived from it gives power to papers that have the ability to affect the lives of 1 out of every 7 humans. The emblem also features in the currency of the world’s 5th largest economy. The dharmachakra popularised by this Chakravartin who lived 2200 years ago can be found on the flags sold by a poor boy in the smallest towns of our country on August 15, all the way to the moon almost 4 lakh km away. Chapters: (00:00) Legacy (01:20) Birth (03:19) Prince Ashoka (08:48) Becoming Emperor (12:16) Chandashoka or Ashoka the Fierce (15:21) The Kalinga War (17:41) Aftermath (18:44) Chandashoka to Dharmashoka (24:53) What can we learn from Ashoka?