fighting, riding*[1] and other accomplishments." (9a.) The weight of evidence is in favour of the view that Shivaji was unlettered, like three other heroes of mediæval India, — Akbar, Haidar Ali, and Ranjit Singh. The many Europeans who visited him never saw him write anything; when they presented any
petition to him the Rajah always passed it on to his ministers to be read to him. No piece of writing in his own hand is known to exist. †[2]
But though he may not have pored over books, he certainly mastered the contents of the two great Hindu epics by listening to recitations and story- tellings. The noble examples of doing and suffering, of action and sacrifice, of military skill and statecraft, which the stories of Rama and the Pandavas afford, the political lessons and moral maxims with which these epics are filled, deeply impressed his young mind. He loved to distraction religious readings and songs (kirtan) and sought the society of Hindu and Muslim saints wherever he went. The want of book-
- ↑ * No mention is made of book-learning. Chitnis, 28, vaguely says that Shivaji at the age of ten became very learned (bahut vidvan.) Dig. 85 gives a long list of every known art and science as mastered by him in boyhood !
- ↑ † At the conclusion of a letter to Ramdas there are a few words which have been taken by the editor of Ramdasi Patravyavahar (Mr. Dev) as Shivaji's writing. But this letter has not yet been critically examined by any expert or independent historian. These very recent "discoveries" in Maharashtra require corroboration before they can be accepted.
